Category: Speeches

  • Lord Chadlington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Chadlington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chadlington on 2016-06-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to engage with individuals who are aware of having an alcohol problem but have not, because they are too ashamed or frightened, sought help.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Local authorities and their health and wellbeing board partners have responsibility for planning the full range of alcohol services, from early intervention and prevention, through to commissioning alcohol treatment services to meet need in their area and ensure services are accessible to everyone. Furthermore in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) public health guidance (PH 24) Alcohol-use disorders: preventing harmful drinking, Public Health England (PHE) encourages health and social care professionals to carry out Identification and Brief Advice through general practitioners and programmes such as NHS Health Checks and Making Every Contact Count. A copy of the NICE guidance is attached.

    The majority of services offer interventions that are non-religious and are based on cognitive behavioural principles with motivational enhancement techniques.

    There are a number of online resources to help with alcohol issues, including the One You and NHS Choices websites. One You is an integrated social marketing campaign run by PHE which aims to engage adults in making changes to improve their own health. This includes offering users advice and information about alcohol as well as tools which help monitor their drinking. NHS Choices offers a range of information about alcohol dependence and includes an on online directory of local alcohol services that those worried about their alcohol use can approach for assistance.

  • 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 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will ensure that the Cheshire and Merseyside Sustainability and Transformation Plan is published in full before NHS England agrees transformation plans in October 2016.

    David Mowat

    Local areas will submit their plans to the national health and care bodies for review in October, with further public engagement and consultation taking place from this point.

    We expect that most areas will take a version of their Sustainability and Transformation Plan to their organisation’s public board meeting for discussion between late October and the end of the year. We would also expect that most areas will publish their plans, for more formal engagement, during this period, building on the engagement they have already done to shape thinking. No changes to the services people currently receive will be made without local engagement and, where required, consultation.

    NHS England, with other national health and care bodies, released guidance to the local areas developing Sustainability and Transformation Plans entitled ‘Engaging local people’ in September 2016 which can be found on their website.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Gareth Thomas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to increase the number of housing co-operatives; and if he will make a statement.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Government continues to demonstrate its support for the community-led housing sector and we have encouraged community-led groups, including housing co-operatives, to apply for funding from the current Affordable Homes Programme. We also strongly encourage local authorities and larger providers to identify new community-based partnership members who may be able to bring additional capacity to a bid.

    The Homes and Communities Agency is operating a process of continuous market engagement which offers all providers ongoing access to bid for grant. This should specifically help smaller community-led organisations such as housing co-operatives to prepare good bids and access funding.

  • Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many young people are classified as long-term unemployed in Poole Unitary Authority area.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many defibrillators are provided in each building his Department manages.

    Mark Lancaster

    Ministry of Defence Health and Safety Policy states that the requirement to provide First-Aid is delegated to each Top Level Budget Holder (TLB). It is the duty of each TLB to conduct risk assessments of the activities at the establishments/units they control, and supply the necessary equipment and training including first aid equipment. The information requested is therefore not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  • Lord Ramsbotham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Ramsbotham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ramsbotham on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the terms of reference for the Ministry of Justice’s internal review of the Registered Intermediary Scheme.

    Lord Faulks

    We are not currently undertaking a review of the Witness Intermediary Scheme. The provision of intermediaries forms part of our wider on-going work on the communication needs of all vulnerable court users.

  • 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 2016-03-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to remove the NHS bursary made available to medical students.

    Ben Gummer

    There are currently no plans to change the current existing arrangements for medical students who are already on the standard student support system for the first four years of their degrees.

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much was spent on improving the road network in the Easington constituency in each of the last five years.

    Andrew Jones

    The maintenance of the local road network in Easington is the responsibility of Durham County Council, as local highway authority. The table below sets out how much funding the Department for Transport has allocated to the Council since 2012/13 financial year:

    £millions

    Financial Year

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    2015/16

    2016/17

    Highway Maintenance Block

    10.679

    10.132

    9.780

    11.886

    10.897

    Incentive Fund

    N/A

    N/A

    N/A

    N.A

    0.666

    Highway Maintenance Block Top Up

    N/A

    1.836

    1.007

    N/A

    N/A

    Integrated Transport Block

    3.183

    3.183

    4.475

    13.949

    13.949

    Wet Weather Payments

    N/A

    1.242

    N/A

    N/A

    N/A

    Flood Recovery

    N/A

    N/A

    N/A

    1.100

    N/A

    Pothole Fund

    N/A

    N/A

    2.198

    N/A

    0.784

    Total

    13.862

    16.393

    17.460

    26.935

    26.296

    Local highway authorities are able to use revenue funding for maintaining their local highways and this is allocated by the Department of Communities and Local Government through the Revenue Support Grant.

    Durham County Council is part of the North East Combined Authority. From 2015/16 Integrated Transport Block Funding has been paid to the North East Combined Authority and Durham will receive a proportion of that funding.

  • 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 2016-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 3 May 2016 to Question 35790, what data her Department holds on criminal assets abroad and whether such assets are recovered or not.

    Mr John Hayes

    As the Answer to Question 35790 set out, the Action Plan for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist finance states that there is no definitive measure of the scale of money laundering, but the best available international estimate, by the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC), of amounts laundered globally are equivalent to 2.7% of global GDP or US$1.6 trillion in 2009. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not hold data on criminal assets held abroad. Criminal assets recovered since 2009 under asset sharing arrangements were set out in the previous answer.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-06-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have made for bilateral and multilateral aid to the Palestinian Authority after the UK has left the EU.

    Baroness Verma

    The Prime Minister has been clear that the negotiation for Britain’s future relationship with Europe will need to begin under a new Prime Minister, and we have now got to look at all the detailed arrangements. In the meantime, Departments continue working to deliver the Government agenda.