Category: Speeches

  • Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people have been convicted of an offence contrary to section 42 of the Armed Forces Act 2006 which (a) corresponds to an offence contrary to any provision specified in part 1 of the table in paragraph 1 of the Schedule to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (Prescribed Criteria and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2009 and was committed in circumstances specified in the entry in the second column of that part of that table which corresponds to the relevant entry in the first column of that part of that table or (b) corresponds to an offence contrary to a provision specified in part 2 of that table in each of the last four years.

    Anna Soubry

    The information will take time to collate, I will write to the hon. Member shortly.

  • David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent assessment he has made of the operation of (a) section 1 and (b) section 2 of the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000; what recent representations he has received on the operation of this Act; and what responses he gave to such representations.

    Gregory Barker

    The Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000 has been amended through the Energy Act 2013. In line with the provisions of the amended Act, the Government will lay draft Regulations in Parliament setting out a new fuel poverty objective for England. Once the new objective has been made in Regulations, we will publish a strategy for meeting that objective.

    Both my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and I receive representations and meet with stakeholders regularly to discuss a range of issues relating to fuel poverty. For example, we attend meetings of the Fuel Poverty Advisory Group when possible, most recently in April 2014.

  • – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by on 2014-03-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remark by Lord Nash on 9 July 2013 (HL Deb, col 225), that they are focusing heavily on ensuring that teachers have the resources to deliver the new curriculum

    Lord Nash

    The new national curriculum sets out very clearly what should be taught to pupils. However, it deliberately gives teachers the flexibility to decide how to teach it. We expect schools to identify the support that they need to prepare for the new curriculum, recognising that different schools will face different challenges.

    The Department for Education has provided funding to teaching schools to work with their alliances and beyond, and we have been signposting schools to the range of free support that is available in English and mathematics including the resources developed by the National Literacy Trust and the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics. The sector-led expert subject groups have been providing audit tools and guidance, and publishers are bringing a variety of new materials to market.

    The Government is funding a national network of around 30 Maths Hubs to drive up the quality of mathematics teachers. Each hub will be led by an outstanding school and will provide support to all schools in the area, across all areas of mathematics education. Systematic phonics has been emphasised in the teaching of early reading in the new national curriculum because evidence shows that it is the most effective way of teaching all children to begin to read. We have provided match-funding of £23 million to primary schools to purchase high quality phonics resources.

  • 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 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many women (a) of each age group, (b) in each health authority area and (c) suffering from each type of complication suffered health complications following abortion procedures in (i) 2012, (ii) 2013 and (iii) 2014 to date.

    Jane Ellison

    The following table shows categories of information collected on form HSA4 about complications of abortion up to time of discharge. The categories are headed ‘none’, ‘haemorrhage’, ‘uterine perforation’, ‘sepsis’, and ‘other’. Health Authority data is not available. Data were analysed by local authority and grouped into regions to protect patient confidentiality. The data is for 2012 only, 2013 and 2014 data has not been published yet.

    Abortions with complications by age, residents of England and Wales, 2012

    Age

    Total

    Under 20

    35

    20-24

    73

    25-29

    72

    30-34

    57

    35 and over

    41

    Total

    278

    Abortions with complications by region, residents of England and Wales, 2012

    Region

    Total

    Yorkshire and the Humber

    30

    North West

    32

    North East

    12

    West Midlands

    25

    East

    36

    London

    48

    South East

    34

    South West

    22

    Wales

    17

    Total

    278

    Total abortions by complication, residents of England and Wales, 2012

    Complication*

    Total

    Haemorrhage

    216

    Uterine Perforation

    22

    Sepsis

    40

    Other

    0

    Total

    278

    *Complications are those reported up to the time of discharge

  • Lord Ouseley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Ouseley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2014-03-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action has been taken against those responsible for the abandoned case involving eight South Wales police officers charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice in the 1988 Lynette White murder inquiry.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    This case is the subject of civil litigation. HM Government is, therefore, unable to comment at the present time.

  • Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Warrington North constituency received universal credit at any time since the start of the Warrington pilot; and how many were in receipt of it on 1 April 2014.

    Esther McVey

    The Department published the latest set of experimental Official Statistics on UC on the 14th May 2014 which can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics

      

    Statistics covering the periods to the end of March and April 2014 will be published on the 11th June and 16th July 2014 respectively.

    “

  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of local authorities which registered for emergency financial assistance under the Bellwin Scheme as a result of recent flooding have received payment within 15 working days.

    Brandon Lewis

    [Holding Reply: Monday 31 March 2014]

    Bellwin provides emergency financial assistance to local authorities to help them meet uninsurable costs they incur when responding to a major emergency in their area. The level of funding over time is casually linked to the scale of flooding or other emergency. It operates by local authorities retrospectively claiming spending back.

    As at 27 March 2014, only five local authorities have submitted Bellwin claims in respect of the recent flooding. One of these claims was paid within 15 days. The other four claims have only been received in the last few days and should also be paid within 15 days. Local authorities have until the end of June 2014 to apply.

  • Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what role the Information Commissioner’s Office has in (a) the trial of the Aeroyn Skyranger drone around Gatwick Airport and (b) any other use of other surveillance aircraft operated by Government departments, agents or public bodies in the UK.

    Simon Hughes

    The Information Commissioner’s Office has no specific role in the trial of the Aeryon Skyranger drone around Gatwick Airport. Members of the Information Commissioner’s staff sit on the Cross-Government Working Group on Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems. They advise on any data protection compliance issues that arise.

    In addition the ICO is currently consulting on its revised CCTV code of practice which includes a section on remotely operated vehicles, or drones:

    http://ico.org.uk/about_us/consultations/our_consultations

    “

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps the Government plans to take to deliver the commitments on nuclear security contained in paragraph 21 of the Hague Nuclear Security Summit Communiqué of the Nuclear Security Summit held in the Hague on 24 and 25 March 2014 to keep the national stockpile of separated plutonium to the minimum level.

    Michael Fallon

    The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has published strategies for the management of spent Magnox and Oxide fuel; it is from these spent fuels that plutonium is separated. These strategies are aligned with UK Government policy and their implementation is expected to see cessation of reprocessing in Magnox and THORP facilities during this decade.

    With respect to Magnox fuel, the intent is to reprocess all of it. Only a finite amount of Magnox fuel remains, which limits the amount of further separated plutonium that could be produced from reprocessing. Reprocessing is the only approved process for managing this metal fuel.

    With respect to Oxide Fuel management, an NDA paper sets out the strategy which is to complete the reprocessing contracts in THORP, as far as is reasonably practicable, and place the remaining fuel and any future arisings into interim storage pending disposal. The paper can be found at http://www.nda.gov.uk/documents/upload/Oxide-Fuels-Preferred-Options-June-2012.pdf

    Both these strategies see the amount of plutonium separated in the future being limited in line with national requirements.

    “

  • Oliver Colvile – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Oliver Colvile – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the changes in the level of access to prostate cancer treatments since 2010.

    Jane Ellison

    The NHS England Specialised Commissioning team introduced nationally developed service specifications for a range of areas, including prostate cancer, during 2013-14. Prior to 2013, prostate cancer was routinely commissioned by primary care trusts, and as such an assessment of the changes in the level of access to prostate cancer treatments since 2010 is not technically feasible.

    Routinely commissioned treatments for prostate cancer are: (i) radical prostatectomy; (ii) radical external beam radiotherapy; and (iii) radical brachytherapy. In addition, NHS England routinely commissions systemic treatments for prostate cancer, including hormone therapy and chemotherapy.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published technology appraisal guidance which recommends docetaxel (Taxotere) for hormone-refractory prostate cancer and abiraterone (Zytiga), in combination with prednisolone or prednisone, for castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer previously treated with one docetaxel-containing regimen. NICE is also currently developing technology appraisal guidance on a number of other drugs for prostate cancer.

    National Health Service commissioners are legally required by regulations to fund those treatments recommended by NICE in its technology appraisal guidance.

    Five-year survival rates improved from around 42% in the late 1980s to 79.7% in 2007 (currently 80.2% according to data for 2006-2010 published in October 2012) due in part to the effects of increased Prostate Specific Antigen testing and earlier detection. However, survival rates in England are still lagging behind comparable countries in Europe.

    Cancer Research UK has estimated that men with advanced, incurable prostate cancer treated in trials or under drug access schemes at the Royal Marsden Hospital survived on average 41 months, compared to between 13 and 16 months 10 years ago.

    The Government’s Mandate to NHS England sets out an ambition to make England one of the most successful countries in Europe at preventing premature deaths from all cancers, including prostate cancer. Cancer indicators in the NHS Outcomes Framework and the Public Health Outcomes Framework will help NHS England to assess progress in improving cancer survival and mortality for men with prostate cancer.