Category: Speeches

  • Cathy Jamieson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Cathy Jamieson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been spent on (a) advertising and (b) recruitment of staff to provide telephone and face-to-face contact for the Pension Wise service since the introduction of that service was announced.

    Andrea Leadsom

    All guidance specialists working for Pension Wise will receive high quality and rigorous training, whether they are delivering guidance face to face or over the phone. They will be required to pass a certificated test to demonstrate they have the necessary technical knowledge and guidance skills to deliver the guidance. The training programme is designed in accordance with FCA standards, and will be accredited by the Chartered Insurance Institute, a well-respected professional standards body in the financial services industry.

    HM Treasury’s delivery partners, TPAS and Citizens Advice, Citizens Advice Scotland and Citizens Advice Northern Ireland are currently recruiting guidance specialists. Recruitment strategies and the setting of pay scales is the responsibility of individual delivery partners.

    At Budget 2014, the Chancellor allocated a development fund of up to £20m to establish the initial guidance service. Spending on advertising will be published as part of the government’s Transparency Agenda. Initial funding to The Pension Advisory Service (TPAS) and the Citizen Advice organisations will be included in the HM Treasury Accounts to be published in July.

  • Steve Baker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Steve Baker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Baker on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to arrange for licensing of the Wycombe Sound radio station to be expedited.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Ofcom is responsible for licensing community radio stations and has awarded over 270 licences to date.

    Ofcom conducts licensing in rounds and invites applicants from each region of the UK in turn. Ofcom has published timetables for the latest round of community radio licensing and anticipate inviting applications from the South East of England outside the M25 in the first half of 2015.

    For reasons of fairness, Ofcom assesses all the applications it receives in a region before awarding any licenses.

  • Caroline Flint – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Caroline Flint – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much land required for (a) nuclear licensed sites, (b) operational purposes, (c) NDA offices and (d) other purposes is currently owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (i) directly and (ii) through subsidiaries including NDA Properties Limited.

    Matthew Hancock

    The land holdings of NDA Properties Ltd have been set out in the answers to Questions 224207 and 224187. Two further subsidiaries, Direct Rail Services Ltd and INS Property Holdings, own land but do not hold the information requested in the form specified.

  • Derek Twigg – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Derek Twigg – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Twigg on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the cumulative efficiency factor for NHS foundation trusts and trusts in 2015-16, taking into account (a) the proposed 3.8 per cent efficiency factor, (b) the proposed marginal rate for specialised services, (c) the marginal rate for urgent and emergency care and (d) other cost pressures; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 10 February 2015, to question 223008.

    “

  • Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress has been made in implementing each of the recommendations of the review into the needs of families bereaved by homicide, published by his Department in July 2011.

    Mike Penning

    In July 2011 we published the Review into the Needs of Families Bereaved by Homicide by Louise Casey (then Victims’ Commissioner). She made a wide range of recommendations. Since then we have worked closely with victims and victims’ organisations and the report’s findings have played a critical role in informing our approach to ensuring that families get the help they need.

    This includes plans to implement a victims law to put into statute the right of the victim to tell a court how a crime has affected them, providing families of homicide victims with a copy of the judge’s sentencing remarks following the trial, and funding a dedicated national Homicide Service with more than £2million a year to support those affected by homicide at home and abroad.

    Further information requested is in the table attached.

  • Lord Stewartby – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Stewartby – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stewartby on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to ensure that cheques will continue to be available for those who wish to use them, including in particular charities and the elderly.

    Lord Deighton

    The Government took decisive action on this matter by reversing the 2009 decision by banks to phase out cheques.

    As well as this, the Government is bringing in legislation that will require banks to accept cheques in both paper and digital forms. This digital innovation will allow consumers, firms and charities to pay in cheques using only a smartphone image if they wish. It will increase the efficiency of the cheque payment system, making it more sustainable for banks and building societies to provide cheque services. Customers who wish to use paper cheques will continue to be able to do so.

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what dates the no-fly zones around nuclear facilities have been violated since May 2010; and what steps his Department has taken to ensure such violations do not occur in future.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) maintains a complaint log for three years. Since June 2011, it has received 12 complaints from onsite Security Guards about aircraft which they believe may have overflown their respective sites at low level. 　 The dates of these incidents were:

    12/06/2011 25/07/2012 25/08/2013
    14/06/2011 02/01/2013 09/09/2013
    24/06/2011 14/01/2013 03/10/2013
    17/08/2011 15/08/2013 21/05/2014

    All these recorded incidents were investigated, but due to a lack of evidence the only case which led to a successful prosecution occurred on 25 August 2013 and involved the use of a small unmanned aerial vehicle.

    The need to report to the CAA all aircraft which appear to be low flying is written in the nuclear site’s security procedures manual. 　The successful prosecution demonstrates that the CAA investigates all such reported incidents and that it will take enforcement action when there is sufficient evidence available.　In addition, both the CAA and the Department for Energy and Climate Change seek to learn what they can from the investigations into reported incidents.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how the £1 million pledged by the UK to the UN’s Safe Schools Initiative is being used to ensure that children are being protected.

    Lynne Featherstone

    DFID is providing technical support to the design and development of the Safe Schools Initiative, as well as working through our existing education programmes in northern Nigeria to ensure safe access to learning. The Safe Schools Initiative was launched in May. The Government of Nigeria are leading on implementation. The aim is to provide a response for the protection of schools and the prevention of future attacks on schools. It will include a combination of school-based and community interventions to create safer environments in which schools can operate, improve school security measures and support provision of safe opportunities for learning.

  • Grahame M. Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Grahame M. Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame M. Morris on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which senior medical and administrative staff responsible for the operation of the Gamma Knife Centre at St Bartholomew’s Hospital Trust are employees of (a) the Trust and (b) the Hospital Corporation of America.

    Jane Ellison

    We are advised that three senior neurosurgery consultants are responsible for the Gamma Knife operation at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, along with one neuro interventional radiologist and two clinical oncologists. All are employed by Barts Health NHS Trust, and are overseen by the Clinical Director for Neurosciences and the Group Director for Emergency Care and Acute Medicine, both of whom are clinicians.

    HCA employs one senior administrator, the Acting Chief Operating Officer for the Harley Street Clinic, along with the physicist and nursing staff and an administration co-ordinator who work in the Gamma Knife centre at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.

    We are advised that HCA owns the Gamma Knife based at St Bartholomew’s Hospital and that HCA pays a rental fee to Barts Health NHS Trust.

    We understand that, as the Gamma Knife was purchased by HCA, St Bartholomew’s Hospital (then part of Barts and The London NHS Trust) incurred minimal set up costs for the establishment of the service in 2009. This included costs for associated building work to accommodate the facility.

    Gamma Knife surgery is funded by NHS England as the commissioner for all specialist services. We are advised that Barts Health NHS Trust receives approximately £9,200 per patient from NHS England and that HCA charges Barts Health £7,310 per patient treated by the Gamma Knife facility at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.

    If the hon. Member wishes to obtain further information about the Gamma Knife facility at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, he may wish to contact Barts Health NHS Trust directly.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Charlotte Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the Care Quality Commission look at (a) current and (b) historic patient files and consent forms.

    Norman Lamb

    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England and has a key responsibility in the overall assurance of safety and quality of health and adult social care services.

    The CQC has provided the following information.

    CQC looks at current and historic patient records when appropriate in order to assess the quality and safety of services registered with it. Patient records are commonly reviewed during CQC inspections, in compliance with the Data Protection Act, to see how well care at a service is planned, delivered and reviewed, and form an integral part of judging the quality of care. In order to protect the confidentiality of people who use services, and to comply with legal requirements, CQC will only look at patient files where it has decided that it is both necessary and proportionate to do so for the purpose of CQC’s regulatory functions. This approach is set out in CQC’s Code of Practice on Confidential Personal Information and in guidance for inspectors on using CQC’s powers to access health and care records.

    The Code of Practice on Confidential Personal Information is available on CQC’s website at :

    www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/20121105_code_of_practice_on_cpi.pdf