Category: Speeches

  • David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Chief Executive of NHS Improving Quality on (a) preserving the legacy of the work of NHS Diabetes and (b) improving care for people with diabetes; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    Jonathan Valabhji, the National Clinical Director for Obesity and Diabetes, has had no discussions with my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health specifically about Action for Diabetes.

    There have been no recent discussions about diabetes between the Secretary of State for Health and NHS Improving Quality.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department has issued to personal independence payment providers on calling in clients for personal independence payment assessments who are terminally ill.

    Mike Penning

    The ‘PIP Assessment Guide’, the Department’s guidance for Personal Independence Payment assessment providers, states that face-to-face consultations are not required where a claim has been referred under the ‘Special Rules for Terminal Illness’ provisions.

    More information can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/210722/pip-assessment-guide.pdf

    “

  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who were convicted of a sexual offence have been prosecuted for having failed to notify their personal details to the police in the last 10 years.

    Norman Baker

    Figures for the number of registered sex offenders who were either cautioned or convicted for breaches of their notification requirement in England and Wales are contained in the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) Annual Report, published by the Ministry of Justice. The MAPPA reports for 2009-2013 may be found on the GOV.uk website. Reports published prior to 2009 may be found on the national archives website.

    Management of sex offenders is a devolved matter, so the figures do not include Northern Ireland.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the early operational performance of each private sector company providing personal independence payments assessments.

    Mike Penning

    Personal independence payment (PIP) is a new benefit and processes are currently bedding in. The Department’s contracts with Capita and Atos Healthcare for the delivery of assessments for personal independence payment include a full set of service level agreements setting out the Department’s expectations for service delivery, including quality of assessments and the number of days to provide advice to the Department.

    Officials meet regularly with both assessment providers to discuss performance. We are closely monitoring their progress against the Department’s expectations for service delivery and are taking action to drive up performance where this does not meet the required standards. In particular, for both providers, the end-to-end process for many claimants is taking significantly longer than originally anticipated. We are working with the providers to ensure that they are taking all necessary steps to improve performance, speed up the process and ensure claimants receive a satisfactory experience. Special rules claims for terminally ill claimants are dealt with urgently by our assessment providers. The latest published statistics show that over 99% of people with terminal illnessess who have applied have been awarded the benefit, which means over 9,500 terminally ill claimants are now receiving personal independence payment.

    Although limited data has started to feed through, we need to wait until the Department has quality assured, meaningful figures for publication. We intend to publish official statistics on PIP from spring 2014 in line with our publication strategy. An ad-hoc release of PIP information was published on 11 February 2014.

  • Liam Fox – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Liam Fox – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Fox on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential risks of imprisoned extremists returned from terrorist operations overseas (a) radicalising the Muslim prison population and (b) recruiting other prisoners to commit terrorist acts in the UK or overseas.

    Jeremy Wright

    I am responding to this question as I am the Minister responsible for the prison estate. We are well aware of the risks posed by individuals who return to the UK having gained experience, through training or participation, in terrorism overseas. At the current time clearly those travelling to and from Syria are of particular concern.

    The Prison Service works closely with the Police and other Agencies in all areas of Counter Terrorism work; including where individuals are held in custody having returned from overseas. All prisoners are managed according to the risk they pose, taking into consideration all relevant information and intelligence that is identified.

    The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has long recognised the threat posed by terrorists and extremists, and has considerable experience in managing this threat. The Prison Service will continue to use its well established and effective three-tiered response: to identify behaviour that may indicate extremism, to report it using established intelligence systems, and to manage it through disruption and intervention.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the percentage cost over-run established by the management board for any budget in HM Treasury to merit being tabled at the departmental management board; and how many times in the last 12 months that has occurred.

    Lord Deighton

    HM Treasury does not have a prescribed percentage for which a forecast overspend is tabled at the executive management board. Each month the board receives a summary of the forecast expenditure against budget and a commentary in which any significant forecast variances to individual budgets are described and explained.

  • Ian Austin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Ian Austin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had on tendering for contracts to run community rehabilitation companies.

    Jeremy Wright

    The tendering process is being run in accordance with standard Government procurement practice. Ministers are being kept updated on progress and throughout the programme have engaged in discussions with a wide range of stakeholders. Bids to run the Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) are expected in June 2014 and the contract winners for each Community Rehabilitation Company will be announced by the end of 2014.

  • Lord Empey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Empey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they accept claims for hearing loss from former members of the Ulster Defence Regiment who served before 1986; and if not, why not.

    Lord Astor of Hever

    Section 10 of the Crown Proceedings Act 1947 prevented service personnel, including former members of the Ulster Defence Regiment, from suing the Crown for alleged negligence which occurred before that section was repealed in 1987. The repeal was not retrospective. Depending on their level of hearing loss, they may, however, be eligible for a War Disablement Pension.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Prime Minister, if he will attend (a) Ban Ki Moon’s Climate Summit in September 2014 in New York and (b) the European Council meeting in October 2014 to finalise the EU’s climate and energy goals for 2030.

    Mr David Cameron

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Ms Lucas) on 11 June 2014, Official Report, column 176W.

    It is my normal practice to attend Heads of Government EU Council meetings.

  • Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are taking steps to encourage the governments of China and Vietnam to cease the trade in ivory.

    Lord De Mauley

    The Governments of both China and Vietnam participated at Ministerial level in the London Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade on 12 and 13 February 2014. They joined the other participating countries in agreeing to the London Conference Declaration. In this, Governments have committed to support the existing CITES commercial prohibition on international trade in elephant ivory until the survival of elephants in the wild is no longer threatened by poaching. They have also committed to taking a wide range of actions to reduce the demand for wildlife products, including ivory, and to agreeing for the first time to renounce the use of any products from species threatened with extinction. We very much welcome this strong signal by China and Vietnam of their commitment to join the rest of the international community in tackling the scourge of the illegal trade in ivory and other wildlife products.

    In the margins of the Conference I had constructive meetings with both Forestry Vice Minister Jianlong Zhang of China and Deputy Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Ha Cong Tuan of Vietnam to discuss the impacts of the illegal wildlife trade and the action needed to tackle the problem. I hope to visit Vietnam in the near future to continue this constructive dialogue.

    We will also fund two projects in Vietnam which applied through the 2013-2014 Darwin Initiative Funding Round, at a total cost of just over £0.5m. These will be supported from the £10m of new funding for tackling the illegal wildlife trade, announced on 23 December 2013 by the Secretaries of State for Environment and International Development. One project is focused on combating wildlife trafficking by cutting out the ‘middle man’. The other will support action to reduce demand for rhino horn.