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Category: Speeches

  • Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with motor vehicle insurance companies on reducing the number of uninsured drivers.

    Andrew Jones

    Officials in my Department have regular contact with the insurance industry to discuss measures to reduce uninsured driving.

    I last met with representatives from the insurance industry in January to discuss a range of issues related to motor insurance including measures which can reduce the cost of insurance and thereby reduce the incentive to drive without insurance.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what proportion of staff in her Department were (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff in each financial year from 2010-11 to 2015-16.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    My Department has not incurred any expenditure on non-payroll staff during this period.

    All staff employed by the Northern Ireland Office during this period were paid through the Department’s payroll.

  • Margaret Hodge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Margaret Hodge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Hodge on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times his Department has used the services of (a) PwC, (b) Deloitte, (c) Ernst and Young, (d) KPMG and (e) other consulting firms in the last three financial years; and what (i) work was undertaken and (ii) the cost to the public purse was on each such occasion.

    Caroline Nokes

    We are unable to provide the requested information on the number of times the Department for Work and Pensions has used the services of consulting firms, including details of the work undertaken and cost to the public purse for each occasion. To do so would incur a disproportional cost to the Department because of how the data is held on our systems, and the time and resource required for extracting and analysing it.

  • Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure the provision of high quality urgent care in Brighton and Hove.

    Jane Ellison

    The provision of urgent care is the responsibility of NHS England, which is currently reviewing nationally urgent and emergency care and proposes a fundamental shift in the way urgent and emergency care services are provided, delivering more care closer to home where clinically appropriate.

    The review is now within its implementation phase. A key aspect of this implementation is the establishment of Urgent and Emergency Care Networks (UECNs).

    NHS England has developed a suite of tools and guidance to support implementation of the review, including advice on the role and establishment of UECNs.

    In the hon. Member’s constituency, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) undertook a two-day unannounced inspection of urgent and emergency services at the Royal Sussex County Hospital during June 2015. The CQC published the report of this inspection on 23 October 2015 and rated urgent and emergency services inadequate at this hospital.

    The CQC expect the Trust to regularly report, in a single and standard approach, the improvements in quality to all stakeholders through the risk summit process.

    Following the CQC report publication, the Trust will take the following actions:

    – Changes to the Emergency Department floor;

    – Improving ward processes;

    – Hospital Rapid Discharge Team will review support packages with patients and their family when they first arrive in the Emergency Department; and

    – The opening of additional beds at the Princess Royal Hospital.

  • 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 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the target strength is for the Royal Navy Reserve.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    I refer the hon. Member to the Written Statement made by my right hon. Friend the previous Secretary of State for Defence (Philip Hammond) on 19 December 2013, (Official Report, column 124WS) on Future Reserves 2020, and the accompanying document that was placed in the Library of the House which sets out the planned growth of the trained strength of the Reserve Forces, together with the enlistment targets for the next five years.

    I also refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 October 2015 to the hon. Member for Strangford (Mr Shannon) to Question 11812 which explained the improvements we have made to ensure we reach our target strength of 35,000 trained volunteer Reservists by 31 March 2019.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward legislative proposals for a statutory duty for fire and rescue services to respond to flooding.

    Mike Penning

    The Hon. Member will be aware that the Prime Minister announced on 5 January 2016 that responsibility for fire policy was being transferred to the Home Secretary with immediate effect. I am, therefore, answering the Hon Member’s question as Fire Minister. As fire is a devolved matter in Wales, my response applies only to England.

    Fire and Rescue Authorities are required to put in place integrated risk management plans, coordinated with the community risk registers produced by Local Resilience Forums. These documents should identify the full range of risks to which fire and rescue services should be able to respond. The effective response of fire and rescue services to the recent flooding demonstrates that the system is working.

    I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those at the frontline involved in that response. The commitment and dedication they showed throughout the Christmas and New Year period in helping communities affected to deal with the largescale flooding and to rebuild their lives afterwards is a demonstration of public service at its very best.

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-01-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what independent research is being carried out on the availability and affordability of flood insurance for small businesses in flood affected areas.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    We have recently published a report, carried out on our behalf by Ipsos MORI that considers the availability of flood insurance for small businesses in areas of high flood risk.

    The study found that uptake of insurance in small and medium sized businesses is high, with 95% of businesses having commercial insurance cover and only 2.5% reporting any difficulties in accessing insurance.

    The report is available on-line on the science and research section of Defra’s website, under the heading “Affordability and Availability of Flood Insurance – FD2688”.

    We continue to keep this important issue under review.

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs were destroyed following violent behaviour in each of the last three years.

    George Eustice

    The numbers of dogs destroyed as a result of being dangerously out of control (section 3 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991) are not held centrally. Such records would be held by each police force.

  • David Tredinnick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Tredinnick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Tredinnick on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the Government plans to pursue any initiatives similar to that announced in the joint statement made by President Obama and Prime Minister Modi in January 2016 during the President’s visit to India on expanding the India-US health collaboration in health sectors including complementary and traditional medicine.

    Jane Ellison

    The UK Government continues to work closely with the Government of India within the health sector, including working with the Indian Government to open health centres. In 2013 the Department agreed a five year Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of India. This prioritises action on antimicrobial resistance, training and development and universal health coverage. There are no plans to expand this to include complementary and traditional medicine.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they anticipate being in a position to reply to the representations made to Lord Bates and to Lord Keen of Elie about Syrian Christian families seeking asylum after the beheading of family members.

    Lord Keen of Elie

    I understand the Noble Lord is referring to correspondence dated 25 April from a member of the public on behalf of people they believe are at risk in Syria.

    I can confirm that a response was sent on 9 May.