Category: Speeches

  • Lord Harris of Haringey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Harris of Haringey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harris of Haringey on 2015-12-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what arrangements are in place to ensure that the obligations under regulation 15A of the National Health Service (Personal Medical Services Agreements) Regulations 2004, as amended, to establish and maintain a Patient Participation Group are being met.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England is responsible for the assessment of general medical practices compliance with contractual requirements.

    NHS England operates an annual practice declaration to support its local teams assess contractual compliance. The annual declaration was amended this year to include key areas of enquiry in relation to the new responsibilities to establish and maintain a Patient Participation Group.

    The NHS (Personal Medical Services Agreements) Regulations contain steps which NHS England may take where a practice does not comply with the terms of the agreement. These include issuing a remedial notice and, if no action is taken as a result of this notice, a breach of contract notice which could result in NHS England withholding money, due under the agreement, or terminating the agreement.

    NHS England does not currently hold information nationally on the use of contractual sanctions. NHS England is developing its reporting systems to identify the number of breach notices issued periodically and to identify common themes associated with contractual non-compliance.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations his Department has received on trends in the number of curry houses closing down.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government does not hold information on the value of the curry industry, the number of curry houses, trends in the number of curry houses or the number of curry chefs.

    Official statistics carry figures on the value and number of restaurants, takeaways and other food service businesses in general, but do not detail specific types of food being served. Similarly while the number of chefs and catering staff will be estimated there is no consideration of their specialisation in terms of cuisine.

  • Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support the Government (a) has provided and (b) plans to provide to governments in Africa for eradicating the killing of animals for the ivory trade.

    Rory Stewart

    The UK Government works closely with African and other countries to promote the conservation of the world’s wildlife, including through galvanising action to end the illegal trade in ivory.

    We hosted the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade in February 2014, and supported the Government of Botswana in its hosting of a follow-up Conference in March 2015.

    The UK actively supports the African-led Elephant Protection Initiative, launched in the margins of the London Conference, which now has eleven African countries as members. We have committed over £1 million to this initiative over the last two years.

    Defra’s Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund has made grants to 19 projects in its first round, including eight projects in Africa, worth £2.1 million, tackling the ivory trade. Projects to be funded under a second round will be announced shortly.

    The UK is also providing training in counter-poaching activity in Gabon, through the Ministry of Defence, and has provided support for judicial capacity building in skills related to tackling the illegal trade in wildlife products in Kenya and Tanzania.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Prime Minister, if he will publish the guidance provided to government Ministers by the Cabinet Secretary on the entitlement of such Ministers to make use of (a) special advisors, (b) departmental officials and (c) legal advisors to provide advice on the implications of (i) remaining in and (ii) leaving the EU.

    Mr David Cameron

    I refer the hon. Member to the letter of 23 February from the Cabinet Secretary, a copy of which can be found on the gov.uk website.

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what funding formula and criteria were used by his Department to assess which local authorities would receive a transitional funding grant.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    An explanatory note on the method of allocation of the Transition Grant has been published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/510870/Explanatory_note_on_the_allocation_of_the_Transition_Grant.pdf

    Copies have been made available in the Library of both Houses.

    “

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (a) how much funding was allocated by her Department to and (b) how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by (i) Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism Command and (ii) each Counter-Terrorism Unit in the UK in each year since 2009-10.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office does not publically provide a breakdown of Counter-Terrorism Police funding or resources by police force for security reasons.

  • Yvette Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Yvette Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yvette Cooper on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigration and asylum officials of her Department have been seconded to (a) Greece, (b) Italy and (c) France since the beginning of May 2016.

    James Brokenshire

    We have a number of officials already working on migration matters in France, Greece and Italy. A number of deployments to France from the Home Office and Foreign Office are supporting joint efforts with France to ensure Dublin Regulation transfers are carried out effectively and efficiently. Our support included the secondment of a UK asylum expert to the Dublin unit in France to assist and facilitate the improvement of all stages of the process of identifying, protecting and transferring relevant cases to the UK. A team of Home Office officials are part of the joint communications programme in Calais and there are weekly meetings between the heads of the UK and French Dublin Units. There is a Home Official seconded on a bi-lateral basis to the Italian Dublin Unit and we are about to second a UK official to Greece as additional support for Dublin family transfers to the UK.

    Since May we have also deployed asylum experts to support hotspots and Dublin units in both Greece and Italy under the European Asylum Support Office and as notified in my statement of 21 April, HCWS687, up to 75 UK expert personnel will be deployed to Greece to support implementation of the EU-Turkey Migration Agreement. These officials are being deployed in stages. We are considering if we need to deploy any additional resource to assist with the family reunification of children.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many deaths by suicide have been recorded in England among people within (a) seven days, (b) 14 days and (c) one month of being released from prison for each year since 2010.

    Nicola Blackwood

    This information is not held centrally.

  • Catherine McKinnell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Catherine McKinnell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to address variations in stroke care and treatment across England.

    David Mowat

    The Sentinel Stroke National Audit programme (SSNAP) continuously monitors the quality of stroke care across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Audit results are returned to providers so that they can identify areas for improvement.

    There is good evidence that providing detailed information in a timely way has enabled the quality of stoke care to steadily improve. Since the introduction of SSNAP nearly four years ago when no teams scored an ‘A’, there are now units achieving this level, indicating excellent care. The National Clinical Director for Stroke, in association with the clinical networks, continues to work with hospitals to support those in need of improvement.

    NHS England is aware that the provision of stroke care in the community remains an area that has not progressed as quickly as hospital care. However, providing data to teams and working with the clinical commissioning groups to ensure that appropriate services are commissioned should help to improve care.

    In August this year, NHS England’s Medical Director Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, and Professor Anthony Rudd, NHS England’s National Clinical Director for stroke, met with Juliet Bouverie, the Chief Executive of the Stroke Association to discuss issues of common interest. Additionally, Professor Rudd meets regularly with various members of staff of the Stroke Association to ensure that the views of the charity are heard and understood. Departmental officials have also met with the Stroke Association.

  • Baroness Hamwee – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Hamwee – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hamwee on 2015-11-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) parents of a minor, (2) siblings of a minor, and (3) other persons, were granted, on the basis of exceptional compelling, compassionate circumstances outside the Immigration Rules, a family reunion visa for reunion with a family member in the UK with refugee leave or humanitarian protection, in each year from 2011 to date; and from which countries those persons have come.

    Lord Bates

    Family reunion applications are considered within the scope of the Immigration Rules. Under these Rules, only pre-existing families are eligible for family reunion i.e. spouse, civil partner, unmarried/same sex partner and minor children who formed part of the family unit at the time the sponsor (the person granted protection in the UK) fled to seek asylum.

    Family reunion visas are available to help families that become fragmented. Family reunion is intended to allow family members who formed part of the family unit before the refugee fled their country of origin, to reunite in the UK.

    The number of Family reunion visas issued and the country of application from 2011 to date can be found in the table below. It is not possible to break down the data to the applicant’s relationship with the individual that has already gained asylum in the UK.

    To note: ‘*’ appears where there are less than three applications.

    Applications issued

    Country of application

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015
    (Jan-Jun)

    Albania

    *

    *

    *

    5

    –

    Algeria

    –

    –

    *

    –

    5

    Bahrain

    *

    15

    10

    5

    5

    Bangladesh

    –

    10

    5

    10

    10

    Belarus

    *

    5

    –

    5

    –

    Belgium

    –

    5

    5

    –

    5

    Burma

    20

    25

    5

    5

    5

    Cameroon

    60

    40

    30

    55

    15

    Canada

    *

    *

    *

    –

    *

    China

    25

    15

    20

    20

    10

    Congo (Dem. Rep.)

    80

    55

    70

    45

    15

    Cuba

    –

    *

    –

    5

    –

    Denmark

    –

    *

    5

    –

    5

    Egypt

    20

    50

    145

    135

    120

    Ethiopia

    685

    475

    450

    295

    85

    France

    5

    –

    5

    *

    –

    Gambia

    40

    40

    40

    80

    50

    Georgia

    –

    5

    5

    *

    –

    Germany

    *

    –

    5

    –

    –

    Ghana

    15

    25

    25

    30

    10

    Greece

    *

    5

    5

    10

    5

    India

    45

    30

    30

    25

    15

    Iran

    190

    55

    *

    –

    –

    Iraq

    –

    –

    *

    35

    30

    Irish Republic

    *

    5

    –

    –

    –

    Israel

    5

    *

    10

    15

    –

    Italy

    5

    5

    5

    5

    *

    Ivory Coast

    –

    –

    –

    10

    *

    Jamaica

    5

    –

    –

    *

    –

    Jordan

    20

    40

    95

    385

    60

    Kazakhstan

    *

    *

    –

    –

    –

    Kenya

    160

    160

    105

    80

    20

    Kuwait

    25

    25

    30

    40

    40

    Lebanon

    10

    110

    280

    405

    260

    Libya

    *

    *

    5

    5

    *

    Morocco

    –

    –

    *

    10

    5

    Mozambique

    *

    *

    –

    –

    –

    Namibia

    *

    *

    *

    *

    –

    Nepal

    10

    –

    10

    15

    5

    Netherlands

    *

    *

    5

    5

    –

    New Zealand

    *

    –

    –

    –

    –

    Nigeria

    5

    10

    10

    10

    5

    No biometrics

    775

    595

    740

    630

    80

    Pakistan

    345

    305

    360

    525

    300

    Portugal

    –

    –

    5

    –

    –

    Qatar

    –

    *

    5

    *

    5

    Romania

    –

    –

    5

    –

    –

    Russian Federation

    5

    5

    *

    10

    –

    Rwanda

    5

    5

    5

    5

    –

    Saudi Arabia

    5

    10

    10

    25

    40

    Senegal

    5

    5

    5

    5

    5

    Sierra Leone

    35

    10

    15

    20

    5

    South Africa

    55

    25

    20

    25

    10

    Sri Lanka

    305

    250

    305

    220

    105

    Sudan

    215

    380

    360

    355

    230

    Sweden

    –

    5

    5

    *

    *

    Switzerland

    –

    –

    5

    –

    *

    Syria

    235

    105

    5

    –

    –

    Tanzania

    15

    5

    10

    10

    5

    Trinidad and Tobago

    –

    –

    –

    *

    5

    Tunisia

    5

    5

    –

    *

    –

    Turkey

    55

    215

    330

    550

    215

    Uganda

    85

    135

    225

    195

    45

    Ukraine

    *

    5

    *

    *

    –

    United Arab Emirates

    25

    100

    120

    75

    70

    United States

    *

    –

    5

    5

    5

    Uzbekistan

    10

    5

    5

    *

    –

    Vietnam

    5

    –

    –

    5

    *

    Zambia

    10

    *

    –

    10

    *

    Zimbabwe

    640

    265

    145

    110

    25

    Grand Total

    4305

    3670

    4120

    4540

    1940

    “