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Category: Speeches

  • Tom Brake – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tom Brake – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that all parents with a child admitted to a neonatal unit have access to psychological and bereavement support.

    Alistair Burt

    The NHS locally is expected to ensure that appropriate facilities and services are in place to support parents following the illness or death of a newborn baby. NHS England’s Neonatal Critical Care Service Specification states that “the service will deliver the aim to improve both life expectancy and quality of life for newborn babies by:

    – Delivering care in a family-centred way that seeks to minimise the physical and psychological impact of neonatal care on the baby and their family, for example by improving psychological outcomes and breastfeeding rates

    – Providing an environment where parents are enabled to make informed decisions about treatment and become involved in the care of their baby / babies, thereby minimising the psychological trauma of premature or sick term babies.”

    The MBRRACE-UK report on the confidential enquiry into term antepartum stillbirths, published on 19 November 2015, found a good standard of bereavement care documented as being given to parents immediately following birth. However, several areas for improvement were identified including the finding that there was wide variation in the availability of a specialist bereavement midwife, with only one third of case notes showing evidence of their involvement.

    Following that report, and following a debate in the House of Commons on 2 November, (Official Report, columns 844-852) the Department is looking at the number of bereavement suites around the country and will engage with the NHS to reaffirm the importance of putting into practice existing guidance on bereavement including through mandated accountability processes.

    Health Education England is working with partners to ensure that pre and post registration training in perinatal mental health is available to enable specialist staff to be available to every birthing unit by 2017.

  • Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the scenarios and charges in the Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles Regulations 2008 were last reviewed to ascertain whether they should be updated.

    Mike Penning

    The current scenarios and charging regime in the Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicle Regulations dates from 2008, when a table of varying rates for different prescribed scenarios replaced the previous flat rate charge in place since 1989. The Government keeps these scenarios and charges under regular review. Currently, there are no plans to change this.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of recent disruption due to flooding in Northern England on railway passengers.

    Andrew Jones

    The impact of the recent storms on the rail network across the North of England has clearly created difficulties for passengers, businesses and communities. Operators and Network Rail have worked together to implement and operate services so as to cause the minimum of disruption to customers.

    I pay tribute to the efforts of Network Rail’s teams which are still working to repair the damage, and thank passengers for their patience while these works are going on. The Rt Hon Member will have noted that the line between Newcastle and Carlisle has now reopened, following repair of the serious damage between Prudhoe and Hexham.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in which months since March 2012 his Department has withheld performance payments from Capita as a result of it not meeting the recruitment targets required by the Recruitment Partnership Programme contract.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    I am witholding the information as its disclosure would prejudice commercial interests.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of e-cigarette users who have (a) resumed smoking and (b) purchased vaping supplies from black market sources.

    Jane Ellison

    The best thing a smoker can do to improve their health is to quit smoking for good.

    The Department recognises that electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) can help smokers quit and the evidence indicates that they are considerably less harmful to health than cigarettes.

    This Government has committed to publishing a new tobacco control plan to further reduce the prevalence of smoking in England. The development of this plan is underway and will be published later this year. The new strategy will consider the role of e-cigarettes in further reducing the prevalence of smoking in England. To help inform this element of the strategy the Department has been engaging with e-cigarette experts to ensure that local authorities and Stop Smoking Services are provided with up to date, evidenced based advice on e-cigarettes.

    Whilst the Department has not made a formal assessment of the number of e-cigarette users who have resumed smoking, the evidence suggests that in the short-term, relapse rates are lower in those using e-cigarettes to quit.

    The Department has not made an assessment of the number of e-cigarette users who have purchased vaping supplies from black market sources.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to ensure that the commitments made at the Anti-Corruption Summit (a) are ambitious, (b) are specific, (c) include a timeframe for implementation and (d) are enforceable.

    Matthew Hancock

    Yes.

  • – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by on 2016-06-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) the humanitarian challenges faced by people fleeing Fallujah following the military offensive there, and (2) the views expressed by the International Committee of the Red Cross that fleeing refugees are now facing the harshest weather” that they have ever encountered

    Baroness Verma

    According to the UN, 85,000 people have been displaced from Fallujah and the surrounding area since May. The UK is concerned by the humanitarian situation in the Fallujah area, including overcrowded camps and the risks posed by the extreme heat of the Iraqi summer.

    The UK is working closely with UN, government and other partners to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches people who have fled Fallujah. We call on all sides to the conflict to respect International Humanitarian Law and to ensure free, unimpeded access for humanitarian agencies.

    Since June 2014, the UK has committed £79.5 million in humanitarian assistance to the crisis in Iraq. The UK is the largest contributor to the Iraq Humanitarian Pooled Fund, through which we are funding projects to support those leaving Fallujah.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment her Department has made of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

    Rory Stewart

    Yemen is one of the most serious and complex humanitarian crises in the world. The United Nations (UN) estimates that 21.2 million people in Yemen require humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs for food, water, sanitation, and healthcare, or protect their fundamental rights. Yemen is also experiencing an economic crisis, which has driven up food and other prices, and reduced people’s purchasing power.

    Ultimately, only an end to the conflict will address the humanitarian crisis. The UK is working closely with other countries to de-escalate the conflict and is providing significant support to UN-led peace talks. The UK is also working with the UN and other countries to improve commercial and humanitarian access to and within Yemen. We are providing desperately needed humanitarian aid to Yemen and have so far committed to spending £72 million in Yemen this year.

  • Tom Brake – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Brake – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to table a new statutory instrument relating to the Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committees and to change their title to reflect their new role.

    Mark Lancaster

    This matter is under consideration.

  • Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Police and Crime Commissioners have powers to instruct the police to impose fines on motorists found to be travelling at 71 mph in 70 mph zones.

    Mike Penning

    How the police enforce road traffic law, including in respect of speeding offences, is a matter for their professional judgement and operational discretion.

    Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) do not have powers to instruct the police in operational policing matters. The operational independence of the police is a fundamental principle of British policing. The Policing Protocol Order 2011, which sets out how the relationship between PCCs and Chief Constables should work, is explicit when it states that “At all times the Chief Constable, their constables and staff, remain operationally independent in the service of the communities that they serve.”

    Regardless of the PCC in office, the police have the discretion to use their judgment when deciding who to investigate or arrest, and must by law be wholly without influence of the PCC in respect of operational policing.