Category: Speeches

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) start fees, (b) short placement completion fees, (c) long placement completion fees and (d) job outcome fees have been paid to providers of Community Work Placements under the Help to Work scheme since April 2014.

    Priti Patel

    From April 2014 to the end of June 2015 there were 25,340 participants who started a Community Work Placement. These would all have triggered a start fee to the relevant provider.

    The department intends to publish further information on Community Work Placements on the 22 December 2015. This release will cover the number of short placement completion, Long placement completion and Job Outcome fees paid to providers.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many full-time equivalent staff are employed by the Fit for Work service as case managers; and whether the Government plans to increase this number.

    Justin Tomlinson

    At 30th November 66.7 full-time equivalent staff are employed by the Fit for Work Service as case managers in England and Wales and 24.8 in Scotland. It is expected that numbers will increase in line with demand.

  • Chris Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Green on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that jobcentres help younger jobseekers plan for the future.

    Priti Patel

    This Government is committed to ensuring all young people are either earning or learning. That is why we have launched Jobcentre Plus support for schools and from April 2017 we will ensure all young people are supported through our new Youth Obligation.

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

    Lord Luce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Luce on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the renewal of accreditation has been granted to the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence announced on 26 February 2016 that the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network has been re-accredited until 31 March 2020.

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Thomas-Symonds on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost to the public purse was of closing down the General Social Care Council.

    Alistair Burt

    The function for the regulation of social workers in England was transferred from the General Social Care Council (GSCC) to the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) on 1 August 2012.

    The final set of accounts from the GSCC show that the total cost to the public purse of closing down the Council was £16.5 million. The HCPC also received £1.4 million to support it take on the functions for the regulation of social workers in England. Therefore, the total cost was £17.9 million.

    On the assumption that the costs of the GSCC remained broadly similar, the Department estimated that the closure of the GSCC saves £13.5 million each year.

  • Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many jobs in (a) her Department and (b) each of her Department’s non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority by 2020.

    James Brokenshire

    The Department records actual staffing levels, but does not centrally record the number of jobs by location. Records show that since 2010 neither (a) the Department or (b) the Department’s executive non-departmental public bodies and statutory bodies, including Advisory and Tribunal NDPBs, have had staff based within the Cheshire East local authority area.

    There are therefore no plans for posts to be reduced in this area. The Department’s executive non-departmental Public Bodies are:

    • the Independent Police Complaints Commission;

    • the Gangmasters Licensing Authority;

    • the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner;

    • the Security Industry Authority; and

    • the Disclosure and Barring Service

    Furthermore the National Crime Agency, a non-ministerial government department, and the College of Policing also do not have offices or staff based in Cheshire East.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how his Department monitors the progress of organisations providing NHS or adult social care towards conforming to the Accessible Information Standard.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England published the Accessible Information Standard in July 2015. Compliance with the Standard is a legal duty and organisations that provide National Health Service care or adult social care are required to implement the Standard in full by 31 July 2016. Compliance with the Standard is also a requirement of the NHS Standard Contract 2016/17.

    NHS England does not hold information on how many NHS trusts conform to the Standard.

    NHS England is not proactively monitoring progress of organisations that provide NHS or adult social care towards conforming to the Accessible Information Standard, as the Standard does not establish a new national audit or dataset which requires organisations to report centrally on their adherence. In addition, NHS England as an organisation does not have a monitoring or inspection remit.

    However, the Standard includes requirements for organisations to publish or display an accessible communications policy which explains how they will follow the Accessible Information Standard, and an accessible complaints policy. The inclusion of these requirements is intended to support ease of compliance assessment by interested organisations, and to ensure that people with information and communication support needs are able to provide feedback to organisations about their experiences.

    The specification for the Standard also makes clear that commissioning organisations must actively support compliance by organisations from which they commission services and must also seek assurance from providers in this regard.

    In addition, the Care Quality Commission will look at evidence of how services implement the Accessible Information Standard as part of their inspection of health services and adult social care services when they make judgements about whether health services are responsive to people’s needs, and adult social care services are responsive to people’s needs and whether they are well led.

  • Lord Young of Cookham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Young of Cookham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Young of Cookham on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what date they plan to publish the Tobacco Control Plan for England.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Tobacco Control Plan is currently being developed and Ministers will decide on an appropriate publication date in due course.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what type of reception institution suspected people traffickers and illegal migrants who are intercepted by Border Force or other UK government bodies are taken to.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    In all cases where there are reasonable grounds to suspect a person of trafficking, they would be arrested and processed in accordance with the provisions of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 ;at sea, Customs and Excise Management Act 1979; in Scotland Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.

    Border Force, along with operational partners, carries out a range of activity to prevent migrants from entering the UK through clandestine and illegal means.

    Border Force has specific policy, guidance, operating procedures and referral mechanisms to other government departments in order to carry out the appropriate action when an illegal migrant is encountered at a port or other location. Illegal migrants who are intercepted at the Border are processed in accordance with their individual circumstances and where appropriate detained in accommodation based on these circumstances.

  • Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Attorney General, what recent discussions he has had with the Prime Minister on the information provided to Parliament on the legal basis for supporting coalition air strikes in Syria.

    Jeremy Wright

    I refer the Hon Member to the oral answer I gave to the Hon Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Alan Brown) earlier today.