Category: Speeches

  • Baroness Byford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Byford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have considered strengthening National Health Service data confidentiality by removing the final digit of the postcode from each anonymised patient record uploaded from hospitals, general practitioner practices and other NHS bodies.

    Earl Howe

    Anonymised records cannot include the last three digits of a postcode and would generally not include postcodes at all. A postcode is sometimes needed for analytical purposes, for example to calculate distances from a specific point such as a hazard but where this is the case, the data cannot be classed as anonymised and so there must be a clear legal basis for its use.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Virendra Sharma – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how his Department will take into account NHS England’s responsibility for commitments in the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases in its delivery of the strategy as a whole.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England recently published its statement of intent showing how it will play its part in delivering the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases in England. A more detailed plan will be built into NHS England’s five year strategy for specialised services.

    The UK Rare Disease Forum, supported by the Department, will monitor activity against the 51 commitments outlined in the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases. It will report progress to the health ministers of the four UK countries.

  • Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the number of businesses in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency who have incurred penalties under section 4 of the Statistics of Trade Act 1947 in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

    Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what recent assessment he has made of the merits of using vehicle registration databases held by the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Authority to increase levels of voter registration as part of his plans for individual electoral registration.

    Greg Clark

    Officials are currently working with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to pilot the use of data from vehicle registration databases and driver licence data to improve levels of voter registration.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what (a) central government and (b) local government databases electoral registration officers may use in undertaking their registration functions.

    Greg Clark

    The introduction of Individual Electoral Registration (IER) will require Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to confirm existing electors and verify all new applicants to register to vote against data held by the Department of Work and Pensions and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. In addition, the Government is currently exploring using data held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to further enhance the IER data matching processes as well as providing EROs with information which may help them identify unregistered eligible people.

    Under existing legislation EROs are entitled to inspect any data held by the local authority which appointed them, including data held by private companies acting on behalf of the authority, in order to check the validity of applications to register and to identify potential new electors. The data sources which are available to EROs will vary with some EROs appointed by unitary authorities having access to a greater range of data than those appointed by district councils; the Government has introduced secondary legislation to address this issue by allowing district councils to request data from their county council.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the main reasons given by electoral registration officers were for not conducting data matching activities for the purpose of individual electoral registration.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    The Commission informs me that the use of local data-matching to support confirmation and verification under Individual Electoral Registration (IER) is at the discretion of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). Ministerial guidance sets out the considerations EROs should take into account in determining whether to conduct local data matching for these purposes, which includes an assessment of the costs and benefits of doing so in their local area.

    Following the dry-run of the confirmation exercise in summer 2013, 137 EROs reported to the Commission on the trials that they had carried out of local data-matching to support the confirmation process. The reasons given by EROs for not carrying out local data-matching at that time included a lack of staff resources and an already high match rate. However, in a survey of EROs after the dry-run, 91% of respondents said that local data-matching would be important in their area during the confirmation live run in 2014.

  • Paul Maynard – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Paul Maynard – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Maynard on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which organisations have received how much funding from his Department aimed at supporting access to short breaks and respite provision for children, young people and their families experiencing all types of disadvantage in each of the last five financial years.

    Brandon Lewis

    Funding for such schemes would be a matter for local authorities, rather than being directly funded by my Department.

  • Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate he has made of the number of (a) co-operatives, (b) mutuals and (c) social enterprises which provide public services. [R]

    Nick Hurd

    The Government supports the growth of the social economy. Across England, there are now more than 85 public service mutuals, up from just 9 in 2010. Collectively they deliver well over £1bn in public services.

    Cabinet Office analysis from 2013 based on the BIS Small Business Survey estimated that 28% (c. 50,000) of SME social enterprises provide goods or services in the public sector.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Ministers for Women and Equalities, if she will place in the Library a copy of the guidance currently issued to managers at the Equality and Human Rights Commission on managing a diverse workforce.

    Mrs Helen Grant

    The Equality and Human Rights Commission is an independent body and is responsible for its own staff management, including diversity training. The guidance papers requested are internal documents that were not intended for wider publication. However, I have asked the EHRC to send copies to the Hon Member.

  • Mr Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mr Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Chuka Umunna on 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the quality of educational provision for children and young people on the autism spectrum in (a) the UK, (b) England, (c) London, (d) the London Borough of Lambeth and (e) Streatham constituency.

    Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education recognises that provision for all children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) across England, including those on the autism spectrum, needs to be improved and that is why we are taking forward the reforms in the Children and Families Act, which recently received Royal Assent. Part 3 of the Act will bring about significant reforms to the SEN system from which children and young people with autism will benefit along with their peers, in particular from earlier, and more comprehensive, assessment and intervention and stronger arrangements for the transition from children’s to adult services, which many on the spectrum can find extremely difficult.

    In 2008 the Autism Education Trust published a report ‘Educational provision for children and young people living in England’. That report found that “practice in many mainstream and special schools had improved tremendously over recent years” but that there was still much to be done “in reaching staff in schools who are not yet familiar with the particular needs of pupils on the autism spectrum and who struggle to teach them effectively.”

    The Government has continued to fund the Trust, putting the emphasis on improving awareness and skills amongst early years, schools and further education staff. From January 2012 to February 2014, 22,451 staff have received level 1 basic awareness training, 3,214 have received level 2 hands-on tools and techniques training and 775 have received level 3 training for those who want to develop their knowledge of autism further and those who will themselves take on a training role, such as school Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators.

    Education, including SEN, is a devolved matter and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have responsibility for autism educational provision in their administrations.