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Category: Speeches

  • 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 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2016 to Question 30689, when his Department plans to publish the declaration of actual or potential conflicts of interest made by Paul Newby for the role of Pubs Code Adjudicator.

    Anna Soubry

    The appointment panel satisfied itself there were no conflicts of interest when they made recommendations to ministers in relation to the appointment of the Pubs Code Adjudicator.

    The Department does not intend to publish any information provided by candidates during this appointment process.

    In due course and as is usual practice, the Adjudicator’s office will publish a register of interests.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the findings of the Annual Report 2015 of the Service Complaints Ombudsmen for the Armed Forces, what steps he is taking to raise awareness of the Service Complaints Commissioner among junior members of the armed forces.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Service Complaints Ombudsman’s annual report for 2015 was published on 25 April 2016. Whilst there are no recommendations in this year’s report, given the introduction of a reformed complaints system and a fundamentally new Ombudsman role, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is curently considering the report in detail to see what lessons there are for the complaints process or wider policies.

    The aim of the reforms introduced on 1 January 2016 is to address long-standing concerns raised by the Service Complaints Commissioner that confidence in the system has been affected by complexity which has led to delay and by a lack of strong independent and effective oversight. Such a lack of confidence can in turn leave our personnel reluctant to raise issues and so have them resolved. The new process is streamlined, and Service personnel will now be able to approach the new Service Complaints Ombudsman if they are dissatisfied, which will make a real difference for individuals. The Ombudsman has significant new powers to hold the MOD to account for fair, effective and efficient complaints handllng. The Ombudsman comments in her report that she is hopeful that the new system will make a real impact on confidence levels. The MOD shares that view, and looks forward to the Ombudsman’s 2016 report for her assessment of whether the aims are being achieved.

    It is important that all Service personnel know where to get information about how to make a service complaint, as well as about the role of the new Service Complaints Ombudsman and how to contact her. We will take further steps to communicate as widely as possible through appropriate channels the role of the new Ombudsman, particularly to junior personnel, which will supplement and support the visits undertaken and communication material produced by the Ombudsman.

    Bullying, harassment and discrimination are not tolerated in the Armed Forces. Tackling such behaviour depends on our Service personnel having confidence that the complaints system will deal with their concerns appropriately and will treat them fairly. The Service Complaints Ombudsman will hold the MOD to account for how it handles complaints and how it treats its Service personnel under the complaints process. It is by raising complaints and approaching the Ombudsman if they are dissatisfied that complainants can ensure that the MOD is openly held to account. It is also through the Ombudsman’s recommendations that the MOD can identify where action needs to be taken to improve.

    The finding by the Service Complaints Ombudsman that proportionately more women feel moved to make a Service complaint than their male colleagues is a concern. The Ombudsman goes on to commend the work that is being done by the Army in particular, where the issue is the most acute, to tackle this. The initiatives that she sets out in the report are continuing.

    It is the responsibility of all those involved in the service complaints process to ensure complaints are handled effectively and efficiently. All complaints are to be dealt with promptly but fairly, regardless of the complainant’s rank or whether they are still serving. There have been no discussions with the Chief of the Defence Staff on the issues raised.

  • Ian Mearns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Ian Mearns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average cost is to the (a) Royal Navy and (b) Royal Fleet Auxiliary of training (i) an officer cadet and (ii) a rating.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of skills within the NHS England workforce to deliver mechanical thrombectomy to stroke patients.

    David Mowat

    NHS England’s National Clinical Director (NCD) for stroke is leading work to develop a full proposal which will consider the evidence and logistical issues involved in delivering mechanical thrombectomy to stroke patients across the country. This includes working with the relevant specialist societies, Royal Colleges and Health Education England to consider the workforce implications. Once the proposal has been developed, NHS England will decide whether the procedure should be made widely available.

    The Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP) is now collecting data on patients treated with mechanical thrombectomy and the latest data shows that 124 patients were treated between October 2015 and March 2016. It should be noted, however, that this may not reflect all patients treated as some may not have had their data entered into SSNAP.

    The SSNAP team is addressing this issue with the relevant clinicians. SSNAP data is freely available at:

    https://www.strokeaudit.org/

    “

  • Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many meetings Ministers of her Department have had with social media companies to discuss harmful online content since May 2015.

    Sir Oliver Heald

    Details of ministerial meetings with external companies are published on gov.uk.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with her counterpart in the Northern Ireland Executive on the need for that Executive to help increase shared and integrated education.

    Nick Gibb

    At this time, no such discussions have taken place.

    The International Education Division leads the relationship with the devolved administrations and is currently developing a Devolution Plan that will outline the steps that we as a Department will take to improve our collaboration with the devolved administrations.

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons the latest estimate of the cost of the Successor class submarine programme has increased to £31 billion; and whether he expects that cost to rise.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Designing and building submarines is one of the largest programmes and one of the most complex activities that the Ministry of Defence and UK Industry has ever undertaken. It is the purpose of a design phase to improve our understanding of costs and timescales, which we have now done. The current estimates reflect what we have learned since the design phase began.

    As stated in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) 2015 (Cm9161), our latest estimate of the total cost to manufacture the four Successor submarines reflects greater maturity of the design and understanding of the supply chain, amounts to £31 billion; we will also set a contingency of £10 billion. This level of contingency represents about 35% of the costs to completion and is a prudent estimate based on past experience of large, complex projects.

  • Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to page 3 of the HMG Strategy for Abolition of the Death Penalty 2010-2015, as revised in October 2011, what bilateral agreements his Department promotes between the Government and the government of Saudi Arabia on reducing the number of executions carried out as part of that government’s judicial process.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The British Government remains firmly opposed to the use of the death penalty in all circumstances and in every country, including Saudi Arabia. The death penalty undermines human dignity and there is no evidence that it works as a deterrent. We continue to remind the Saudi authorities of our views on the death penalty at every suitable opportunity.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to ensure that out-of-hours GP services have access to patients’ medical records.

    Alistair Burt

    Summary Care Records are being introduced to improve the safety and quality of patient care. The Summary Care Record is a single electronic record held centrally so will give healthcare staff faster, easier access to essential information and help to give patients safe treatment during an emergency or when their general practitioner (GP) surgery is closed.

    55.06 million people have had a Summary Care Record created and the Summary Care Record is currently enabled in 102 out of 154 Out of Hours GP Services.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce crimes against wildlife in the UK.

    Karen Bradley

    We fully understand the importance of tackling wildlife crime. This is reflected in the fact that, along with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Home Office provides specific funding to support the work of the National Wildlife Crime Unit.

    The funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit is in addition to the funding central Government provides to the police in England and Wales to tackle all types of crime, including wildlife crime. Additionally, Border Force leads the operational response in respect of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.