Category: Speeches

  • Rachel Reeves – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Rachel Reeves – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the IT systems supporting universal credit are able to process a change in a claimant’s circumstances when he or she (a) moves to live in an area where universal credit is not being piloted, (b) forms a new relationship and is re-classified as part of a couple and (c) has a child.

    Esther McVey

    Where a Universal Credit claimants circumstances change in the way set out IT systems support the processing of those changes.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received from (a) research bodies and academics, (b) non-governmental organisations and (c) people at high risk for prostate cancer and prostate cancer patients about accessibility of early prostate cancer screenings.

    Jane Ellison

    The Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme (PCRMP) Scientific Reference Group (SRG) keeps the evidence on prostate cancer screening under review, and has not yet seen compelling evidence that screening should be offered to high risk groups.

    The PCRMP is in place to ensure that men over 50 without symptoms of prostate cancer can have a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test free on the national health service after careful consideration of the advantages and disadvantages of the test and after a discussion with a general practitioner.

    The patient information sheets on PSA testing make it clear that the risk of prostate cancer is greater for men with a familial history of prostate cancer and black-African and black-Caribbean men.

    The National Cancer Action Team (NCAT) previously highlighted the increased risk of prostate cancer in black men through the ‘Cancer Does Not Discriminate’ campaign, including distributing over 200,000 health supplements and an editorial in The Voice newspaper.

    In 2011, the Department, NCAT, North East London Cancer Network and Prostate Cancer UK worked with NHS Newham and Barts Health Care Trust to pilot the Newham Prostate Health Drop-in Clinic at the Newham African-Caribbean Resource Centre. 322 men had a consultation at the clinic, 59 were referred to secondary care and nine new diagnoses of early stage prostate cancer were made.

    The learning gained from a formal evaluation of the pilot was shared widely with stakeholders within London and across England, including NHS England. The pilot won the in the 2013 Civil Service Diversity and Equality Award for Understanding and engaging with communities.

    The Department is represented on the multi-disciplinary PCRMP SRG and the Prostate Cancer Advisory Group, along with representatives from clinicians, professional bodies, academics, the voluntary sector and patient groups.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2014-03-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Prime Minister discussed with Chancellor Merkel during her recent visit to the United Kingdom the proposal by the European People’s Party that students should be given a European Union education”.”

    Lord Nash

    The Prime Minister did not discuss the proposal by the European People’s Party that students should be given a ‘European Union education’ with Chancellor Merkel during her recent visit.

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Andrew Stephenson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many complaints of (a) unsolicited marketing calls and (b) silent or abandoned calls were made by people in Pendle in each of the last five years.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The data recording these figures is not broken down by individual constituencies.

  • Mr Nicholas Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Mr Nicholas Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Nicholas Brown on 2014-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on devolution of the Affordable Homes programme to (a) combined authorities and (b) local enterprise partnerships.

    Kris Hopkins

    Housing policy and the provision of affordable housing is not a function of combined authorities or Local Enterprise Partnerships.

    Elected local councils act as both the local housing authorities and local planning authorities, and we should be cautious about any intervention which effectively transferred power upwards.

    Notwithstanding, in the recent Affordable Homes Programme prospectus, we have stated that local authorities will want to engage in strategic dialogue with their Local Enterprise Partnerships when identifying key areas for economic growth.

  • Alison McGovern – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Alison McGovern – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May 2014, Official Report, columns 549-50W, on Nigeria, whether her Department collects this data on a state-by-state basis.

    Lynne Featherstone

    The 2008 Demographic and Health Survey is conducted by the National Population Commission. The data requested is collected on a national basis rather than state by state.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders who were recalled to prison from home detention curfew have been subsequently released back onto home detention curfew since 3 December 2012.

    Jeremy Wright

    The information required to answer these questions is due for publication on 24 April 2014. I will write to my Honourable friend as soon as it is available. A copy will be placed in the House Library.

  • Jim Dobbin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Dobbin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Dobbin on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in England in receipt of free social care are terminally ill.

    Norman Lamb

    Local authorities have a duty to assess the needs of any person for whom the authority may arrange social care and who may be in need of such care. They have a further duty to decide, having regard to the results of the assessment, what, if any, care and support they should provide to meet the individual’s needs. Where a local authority decides to arrange care and support it will carry out a financial assessment to decide what an individual can afford to contribute towards the cost. Appeals against decisions by local authorities are considered locally. Information about appeals is not collected centrally.

    In its 2011 report, the independent Palliative Care Funding Review recommended the provision of free social care at the end of life. A series of palliative care funding pilots were established to test the review’s recommendations, and these completed their work in March 2014. NHS England is currently analysing the financial data collected from the pilots. Once this analysis has been completed, a decision will be made on the issue of free social care at the end of life, taking into account this analysis and wider policy and financial considerations.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electorial Commission

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electorial Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-10.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, which local authority databases may be consulted by local authority electoral registration officers for the purpose of data matching for the electoral register.

    Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) are entitled to access any records kept in any form by the local authority which appointed them, for the purpose of meeting their registration duties. These records may include, for example, council tax, social services and education records. Access to these records serves a dual purpose: to identify potential new electors and to check that registered electors continue to be eligible to be registered.

    As direct access to records is limited to records held by the appointing authority, in those parts of England where there are two tiers of local government, EROs are currently unable to directly access county council records (such as education records). The Commission understands that the Government is planning to legislate to enable records held by county councils to be shared with EROs for the purposes of maintaining and improving the accuracy and completeness of electoral registers.

  • Gordon Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Gordon Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Brown on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he was first made aware of health risks at Dalgety Bay.

    Mr Mark Francois

    In 2006 the then Health Protection Agency (HPA) Radiological Protection Authority advised that radioactive contamination on Dalgety Bay presented a low risk to the public. A more recent scoping risk assessment undertaken in 2011 by the HPA Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards at the bequest of the Scottish Government concluded that the risk to health was very low.

    The view of the Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards (now part of Public Health England) remains unchanged. However, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is completing a detailed quantitative risk assessment to inform the longer term management strategy which will be available in due course.

    Copies of the advice received by MOD together with a copy of the more detailed risk assessment, when published, will be placed in the Library of the House.