Category: Speeches

Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many meetings he has had with his Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser in the last 12 months.

Mr Hugo Swire

I have regular meetings with the Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser in my capacity as Foreign and Commonwealth Office Science Champion. However, as was the case under previous administrations, details of these internal meetings are not normally disclosed.

01/11/2022
David Blunkett – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Blunkett on 2014-04-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Written Statement of 27 March 2014, Official Report, columns 35-6WS, on primary and 16-to-19 assessment and accountability, what account will be taken of the progress made by children who have entered the school beyond the baseline reception assessment procedure, but who do not warrant exemption under the final two years prior to Key Stage 2 exams.

Mr David Laws

Schools will continue to be expected to assess all of their pupils upon entering school and track their progress. Ofsted will expect to see evidence that pupils are making appropriate progress, with inspections informed by the school’s data on pupil progress. Assessment at key stage 1 will remain a statutory requirement.

01/11/2022

Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people received funding through the Cancer Drugs Fund in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each of the last five years.

Norman Lamb

Prior to April 2013, information on the Cancer Drugs Fund was administered through clinical panels based in each strategic health authority (SHA) and data on the number of patients who received funding in each constituency and city was not collected. Information on the number of patients funded in West Midlands SHA and England in 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 is shown as follows:

	Number of patients funded in 2010-11	Number of patients funded in 2011-12	Number of patients funded in 2012-13	Total number of patients funded since Oct 2010¹
West Midlands SHA	292	1,658	1,534	3,484
England	2,780	11,798	15,456	30,034

¹Some individual patients may be double-counted where a patient has received more than one drug treatment through the Cancer Drugs Fund

Source: Information provided to the Department by SHAs

NHS England has had oversight of the Fund since April 2013 and publishes information on patient numbers routinely on its website at:

www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/cdf/

In 2013-14, 5,695 patients in the Midlands and East region and 19,282 patients in England received funding through the Fund. In addition, 28 individual cancer drugs fund request applications were approved by the Cancer Drugs Fund panel in the Midlands and East region with 278 applications approved nationally.

01/11/2022

Mark Tami – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Tami on 2014-04-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the water industry to discuss the cost of water bills.

Dan Rogerson

The Secretary of State discussed the cost of water bills when he met water industry representatives in July 2013. He emphasised the need to secure the best deal possible for customers while continuing to attract essential investment in the long-term resilience of the sector. He sent a follow up letter in November 2013.

As the independent economic regulator for the water industry, Ofwat reviews water prices every five years. Securing a fair balance between the needs of water companies and their customers is central to Ofwat’s approach to the price review.

Water companies have now submitted their business plans to Ofwat to inform the 2014 price review. The plans set out how they intend to meet their obligations to customers and the environment during the 2015 to 2020 period. Most water companies are proposing flat or declining bills from 2015.

Water UK has also announced that most water companies will be holding bills below the rate of inflation in 2014/15, the final year of the price and investment package agreed in 2009.

01/11/2022
Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the TecSOS system for high risk victims of domestic abuse; and what plans she has to rollout the programme to other areas of the country.

Norman Baker

The report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) on the police
response to domestic abuse, published in March 2014, clearly set out the
importance of using new technology to help protect victims of domestic abuse.
Whilst it is an operational matter for chief constables on procuring
technology, we are aware that the TecSOS system is used by 16 police
forces across England and Wales.

Through the National Oversight Group, set-up and chaired by the Home Secretary
to drive delivery against the HMIC recommendations, the Government is ensuring
that best practice on the use of new technology, like TecSOS, is identified and
shared so that the policing of domestic abuse is robust.

As part of its commitment to support high risk victims of domestic abuse, the
Government part-funds 144 Independent Domestic Violence Advisors and 54
Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference co-ordinator posts. This funding
amounts to £3.4 million per year.

01/11/2022
Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the carbon emissions resulting from the production, transport and disposal or recycling of paper bags.

Dan Rogerson

The calculation of lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from paper bags is available in the 2011 research report Life cycle assessment of supermarket carrier bags, which was commissioned and funded by the Environment Agency. This forms part of the evidence base for the Impact Assessment that will be available in due course. I have placed a copy of the report in the library of the House.

01/11/2022
Simon Burns – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Burns on 2014-06-16.

To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, what assessment will be made, prior to the appointment of the next Clerk of the House and Chief Executive, of each candidate’s knowledge of and expertise on procedural and constitutional issues.

John Thurso

Three organisations specialising in executive search services were invited to tender to provide support for the recruitment of the next Clerk of the House and Chief Executive. Saxton Bampfylde was selected through this process.

The selection panel comprises Mr Speaker, Rt Hon Andrew Lansley MP, Angela Eagle MP, John Thurso MP, Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP and Dame Julie Mellor (Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman). No confirmation hearing is envisaged. The composition of the panel for the recruitment of the present postholder was Mr Speaker, Rt Hon Sir George Young MP, Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, John Thurso MP, Rt Hon Sir Alan Beith MP, Rt Hon Lindsay Hoyle MP and Sheila Drew Smith.

Knowledge of procedural and constitutional issues will be tested as part of the formal interview process. The Clerk of the House is appointed by the Crown by Letters Patent, on the recommendation of the Speaker to the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister to the Crown. As part of normal pre-appointment checks it will be a requirement for the next Clerk of the House to be subject to security vetting. The terms of the recruitment brief were agreed by the Commission by correspondence, and the advertisement, finalised by the Speaker and the Director General of HR and Change, was based on the agreed brief.

01/11/2022
Stephen Phillips – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2014-04-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to work with other EU member states to reduce the number of deaths of immigrants illegally coming to the EU via the sea.

James Brokenshire

The Government continues to have regular discussions with our EU partners in
order to ensure that all Member States operate effective asylum and border
management systems, including through cooperation with countries of origin and
transit beyond the EU. This includes the UK’s participation in the EU’s Task
Force Mediterranean, established following the Lampedusa tragedy last year to
develop actions to prevent further deaths at sea.

The Task Force involves Member States, the European Commission, the European
External Action Service (EEAS) and key EU agencies (including Frontex, the
European Asylum Support Office and Europol). It has developed a series of
coherent actions, including cooperation with third countries and combating the
organised criminals who facilitate many of these dangerous sea crossings.

The Government strongly supports the Task Force proposal to develop information
campaigns in countries of origin and transit as part of wider prevention
efforts, and has shared our experience in this area with EU partners.

01/11/2022
Kate Hoey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions the Royal Prerogative of Mercy has been granted in relation to offences occurring as a result and in the course of escaping from or breaking out of prison in the last 25 years; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright

We do not centrally hold data on the number of occasions the Royal Prerogative of Mercy has been exercised for the time period in question. Consequently, the information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, as it would involve a manual trawl through the records of every prisoner who has formed part of the prison population for the last 25 years, to identify, firstly, if they have ever escaped from prison custody and secondly, if a request to exercise the Royal Prerogative of Mercy was successful.

01/11/2022
Gavin Shuker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Shuker on 2014-04-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with which non-governmental organisations and agencies her Department is working to help residents in the desert region of Thar in Sindh Province, Pakistan.

Justine Greening

The UK Government provides funding to the World Food Programme and UNICEF who are responding to the situation in Thar.

01/11/2022