Category: Speeches

Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what section 54 undertakings have been given for which rolling stock fleets; and what the (a) owning group and (b) terminating date is for each such undertaking.

Paul Maynard

The table below represents the expiry dates of the Section 54 undertakings in England and Wales which have been entered into between the Secretary of State and the owners of the rolling stock. Since September 2014 the Department has not entered into any Section 54 undertakings. Our current policy is that trains should be purchased in the market and the owner should take residual value risk.

The Scottish Government has powers which it can exercise in relation to Section 54.

Class	Owner/Lessor	No of vehicles	Current lessee	Expiry Date of Section 54
800 / 801	Agility Trains East	497	Virgin Trains East Coast	27.5 years after the Actual Acceptance Date of the first set in the fleet.
800 / 801	Agility Trains West	369	First Great Western	27.5 years after the Actual Acceptance Date of the first set in the fleet.
180	Angel Trains	25	First Great Western	31 December 2016
700	Cross London Trains	1140	GTR	21 March 2036
377	Porterbrook Leasing	792	GTR	07 March 2022
390	Angel Trains	574	Virgin Trains West Coast	31 March 2022
221	Voyager Leasing	102	Virgin Trains West Coast	31 March 2019
444 / 450	Angel Trains	733	South West Trains	23 April 2025
455	Porterbrook Leasing	364	South West Trains	01 February 2018
707	Angel Trains	150	South West Trains	31 March 2019
350/1	Angel Trains	120	London Midland	23 April 2025
350/3	Angel Trains	40	London Midland	19 September 2018
395	Eversholt Rail Group	174	South Eastern	17 years from Acceptance Date of last initial unit which was 2009.
333	Angel Trains	64	Northern	24 July 2020
350/4	Angel Trains	40	TPE	19 September 2018
165	Angel Trains	89	Chiltern	31 December 2018

01/01/2023

Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-10-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which stations on the Govia Thameslink Railway Southern routes operate unstaffed some or all of the time; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Maynard

Within the GTR network, there are 156 stations on the Southern route. Of these:

UNSTAFFED

Aldrington, Amberley, Ashurst, Appledore, Belmont, Birkbeck, Bishopstone, Banstead,

Box Hill & Westhumble, Collington, Cooksbridge, Cowden, Doleham, East Worthing, Edenbridge, Epsom Downs, Faygate, Fishbourne, Fishersgate, Glynde, Godstone, Hever, Holmwood, Leigh, Newhaven Harbour, Normans Bay, Nutbourne, Nutfield, Ockley, Ore, Penhurst, Pevensey Bay, Southease, Three Oaks, Warnham, Winchelsea.

Total – 35 stations

PARTLY STAFFED – STAFFED FOR SOME PART OF THE DAY

Arundel, Balcombe, Berwick, Billingshurst, Bosham, Burgess Hill, Buxted, Chipstead, Christ’s Hospital, Cooden Beach, Crowborough, Dormans, Durrington-On-Sea, Earlswood,

Edenbridge Town, Emsworth, Eridge, Ewell East, Ford, Goring-By-Sea, Ham Street, Hampden Park,

Hassocks, Hurst Green, Ifield, Kingswood, Lingfield, Littlehaven, London Road, Moulescoomb,

Newhaven Town, Pevensey & Westham, Plumpton, Preston Park, Pulborough, Purley Oaks, Rye, Salfords, Seaford, Southbourne, Southwick, Tadworth, Tattenham Corner, Uckfield, Upper Warlingham, Warblington, West Worthing, Whyteleafe, Whyteleafe South, Wivelsfield, Woldingham, Woodmansterne.

Total – 53 stations

FULLY STAFFED – STAFFED FROM THE FIRST TO LAST TRAIN

Angmering, Ashstead, Balham, Barnham, Battersea Park, Bexhill, Bognor Regis, Brighton, Carshalton, Carshalton Beeches, Caterham, Cheam, Chichester, Coulsdon South, Coulsdon Town, Crawley, Dorking, East Croydon, East Dulwich, East Grinstead, Eastbourne, Epsom, Falmer, Gatwick Airport, Gipsy Hill, Hackbridge, Haywards Heath, Horley, Horsham, Hove, Kenley, Lancing, Leatherhead, Lewes, Littlehampton, Merstham, Mitcham Eastfields, Mitcham Junction, Norbury, North Dulwich, Oxted, Peckham Rye, Polegate, Portslade, Purley, Queens Road Peckham, Redhill, Reigate, Reedham, Riddlesdown, Sanderstead, Selhurst, Shoreham-By-Sea, South Bermondsey, South Croydon, Streatham, Streatham Common, Streatham Hill, Sutton, Thornton Heath, Three Bridges, Tulse Hill, Waddon, Wallington, Wandsworth Common, West Norwood, Worthing.

Total – 68 Stations.

01/01/2023
Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2015-11-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish any background advice and research provided to Lord Strathclyde’s review of the powers of the House of Lords.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston

The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Stowell of Beeston):

Lord Strathclyde is being supported in his review by a panel of external experts and a small secretariat of civil servants in the Cabinet Office. The secretariat does not include political advisers. The expert panel comprises Sir Stephen Laws, former First Parliamentary Counsel; Jacqy Sharpe, a former Clerk in the House of Commons and Clerk to the Joint Committee on Conventions; and Sir Michael Pownall, former Clerk of the Parliaments.

Several reviews have examined the powers of the House of Lords, including the Royal Commission on the reform of the House of Lords (2000) and the Joint Committee on Conventions referenced above (2006).

The review led by Lord Strathclyde is due to consider how to protect the ability of elected Governments to secure their business in Parliament in the light of the operation of certain conventions. The review will consider in particular how to secure the decisive role of the elected House of Commons in relation to its primacy on financial matters; and secondary legislation.

Ministers regularly discuss a wide range of issues with the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service.

Lord Strathclyde will determine the way in which the review is undertaken and the content of his recommendations, including any definitions required. It is not possible to provide an estimate of the cost of the exercise at this stage, but neither Lord Strathclyde nor his panel of experts will be paid a fee. Lord Strathclyde is expected to seek views from a wide range of Parliamentarians, parties and groups in undertaking his review, and has issued a letter to all Parliamentarians inviting their input. He is also seeking views from the Clerk of the Parliaments and the Clerk of the House. Lord Strathclyde will report to the Prime Minister, and the Government will decide how to proceed upon receipt of his recommendations.

01/01/2023
Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2015-12-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what incentives and performance targets exist to encourage HM Prison Service to improve rates of testing for hepatitis C among prisoners.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Improving the proactive detection, surveillance and management of infectious diseases in prisons is a shared priority for the National Offender Management Service, NHS England and Public Health England, as described in the Second National Partnership Agreement published earlier this year. A copy is attached.

Included within this work programme is implementation of the blood-borne virus (BBV) opt-out testing programme for people in prisons, which includes testing for Hepatitis C virus infection as well as Hepatitis B virus and HIV.

The ambition is to have BBV opt-out testing in all adult prisons in England by end of the financial year 2016-17.

While there are currently no financial incentives or direct performance targets, performance in this activity is measured by NHS England through the collection of data via the Health & Justice Indicators of Performance. The data are used by NHS England commissioners to performance manage healthcare providers in prisons.

01/01/2023
Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-01-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment the National Institute for Health Research Horizon Scanning Research and Intelligence Centre and Genomic England have made of the barriers to adopting national molecular pathology.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Genomics England undertook a comprehensive assessment of the technological and scientific challenges faced by molecular pathology in the context of the 100,000 Genomes Project. As part of the Project there has been extensive experimental work to identify best practice for molecular pathology (and more specifically genomics). In particular, the sequencing of whole tumour genomes at scale poses a significant scientific and clinical challenge. The Project is pushing these boundaries, driving new scientific knowledge and transformational change. Like all transformative projects there are barriers but the Project is providing the impetus to address those challenges.

Genomics England is working in partnership with NHS England, Health Education England and the newly inaugurated NHS Genomic Medicine Centres to facilitate the translation of scientific developments into practice, and to support the development of the molecular pathology workforce.

The Project will involve in-depth analysis of tumour genomics, creating new scientific discoveries which will in turn inform precision oncology. The Project includes both common and rare tumours to spread the transformative impact of the project across a range of cancer types.

In 2014, theNational Institute for Health Research Horizon Scanning Research and Intelligence Centreadvised the NHS England Molecular Testing Group (cancer) on the potential for horizon scanning in the use of genomic tests for cancer.

01/01/2023
Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department’s agreement with the Department of Health to secure the Harperbury Free School site included a provision that the Department of Health would meet the costs of relocating Harperbury Bowls Club elsewhere on the Harperbury site.

Edward Timpson

The negotiation for land for the site of Harperbury Free School was part of a wider land sale for new homes which was being negotiated by the Department of Health. Heads of Terms for the sale were agreed in September 2014 and subsequently revised in October 2015.

01/01/2023
John Glen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with NICE on its policy on a European relative effectiveness assessment for new drugs.

George Freeman

In October 2015, the Department nominated the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as a partner organisation in the planned third Joint Action on Health Technology Assessment (HTA).

NICE has advised that it has had a number of discussions with European Commission officials, as well as other partner organisations, about NICE’s participation in this planned Joint Action.

The Department is responsible for the policy framework for the assessment of health technologies and officials remain in close contact with NICE regarding the European Union collaboration in HTA, including the proposals for the production of joint products as part of the third Joint Action.

01/01/2023
Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to use the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) registry to get an accurate number of people living with IBD.

Jane Ellison

The IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) Registry provides a United Kingdom-wide repository of anonymised IBD adult and paediatric patient data for prospective audit and research purposes. Patients must consent for their data to be added to the registry. The Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) has allocated transitional funding this year to incorporate IBD audit data collection into the IBD Registry, providing an enhanced system for data capture and quality improvement that will be available to every hospital in the UK. This will allow the entry of data locally and support service improvement. Initially the focus will be for IBD patients receiving biologic treatments, but the system will address other key aspects of IBD care in the future.

The second step of data collection will be to focus on new patients with IBD to begin to understand the incidence of IBD in the UK. This picture will build up over a number of years and be dependent on the engagement of clinicians.

No specific assessment of the potential effects on healthcare due to the introduction of a registry of patients with IBD in England has been made. However, the data provided through the register can support National Health Service services in areas such as the assessment of local IBD populations as well as in measuring incidence and outcomes with services in other parts of the UK.

Although there is no direct Department funding, HQIP have given £290,000 for a year’s transition funding to join the audit data with the registry.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends faecal calprotectin testing as an option to help doctors distinguish between inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and non-inflammatory bowel diseases, such as irritable bowel syndrome.

The NICE IBD Quality Standard states that general practitioners (GP) and GP practices should ensure that testing is offered and clinical commissioning groups should ensure the diagnostic services are in place to support this.

01/01/2023
Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-04.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full-time equivalent staff were employed in HM Revenue and Customs’ Criminal Finance Intelligence Operations branch in each year since 2009-10; and (a) how much was recovered by that branch, (b) how many bank accounts were closed by that branch and (c) how many referrals to the Crown Prosecution Service were made by that branch in each of those years.

Mr David Gauke

The information is not held in the form requested.

The Criminal Finance Intelligence Operations team in HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) was formed on 1 April 2015 and so statistics for periods before this are not available.

The team is an intelligence gathering operation. The intelligence they gather assists others in HMRC to recover funds and refer cases onto the Crown Prosecution Service.

01/01/2023
Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2016 to Question 38502, what estimate she has made of her Department’s (a) core total evidence spend and (b) core research and development spend in each of the next five years; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice

The estimated evidence spend for core Defra for 2016/17 is £50m, of which £31m is planned to be spent in research and development (R&D). The estimates for each of the remaining years of the Spending Review 2015 (SR15) period will not be finalised until the annual business planning round is concluded before the new financial year begins.

01/01/2023