Category: Speeches

  • Fiona Bruce – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Fiona Bruce – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Revised Standard Operating Procedures for the Approval of Independent Places for the Termination of Pregnancy, what assessment he has made of the possibility that inaccurate diagnoses will follow his Department’s decision to allow women to refrain from informing their GP of a prior abortion.

    Jane Ellison

    Women seeking an abortion have the right to confidentiality and their decision must be respected if they do not want their general practitioner to be informed.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department is (a) undertaking or (b) plans to undertake a review of the check-off union subscription provision.

    Elizabeth Truss

    The Department for Education is currently undertaking a review of the check-off union subscription provision.

  • David Crausby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    David Crausby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to release statistics on the number of refusals by the Legal Aid Agency to pay legal aid in cases settled before the permission stage.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Legal Aid Agency records information on the outcome of each application for a discretionary payment in respect of remuneration for work on applications for permission for judicial review, where a case concludes before a decision on permission is taken by the court. The Government is considering the best way of publishing this information.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether his Department is (a) undertaking or (b) plans to undertake a review of the check-off union subscription provision.

    David Mundell

    The Scotland Office does not employ staff directly, all staff that join do so on an assignment, loan or secondment from other government bodies who remain responsible for all employment matters including payroll deductions for union subscriptions.

  • 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, which Directorate in his Department produced guidance on the provision of non-judgemental counselling; which Directorate has policy responsibility for implementation of this guidance; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    Departmental officials have made a number of visits and have had informal discussions with a number of counselling providers which included pro-life and pro-choice organisations; these are listed below.

    Organisations visited or with which contact was made:

    – Brook Advisory Centre, Brixton

    – British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), Richmond

    – Care Confidential, Alternatives Trust, Newham

    – City Pregnancy Counselling and Psychotherapy Service, Islington

    – Homerton NHS Trust, Hackney

    – Hull Sexual and Reproductive Health Care Partnership

    – Life Care Centre, Walsall

    – Marie Stopes International, Brixton and Bristol

    – Norwich Contraception and Sexual Health Clinic

    – Plymouth Community Healthcare

    The Government produced guidance on the provision of non-judgemental abortion counselling in A Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England (March 2013). The Framework was produced by the sexual health policy team in the Public Health Directorate.

    The Sexual Health Policy team is made up of the following staff at each grade:

    1 Senior Civil Servant (who also manages policy areas other than sexual health)

    1 Grade 6

    2 Grade 7

    1 Senior Executive Officer

    1 Higher Executive Officer (.7 whole time equivalent)

    1 Executive Officer

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2014-03-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to tackle unauthorised absences of pupils during term-time.

    Lord Nash

    We know from evidence that pupils who have regular attendance at school are four times more likely to achieve five or more A*-C grades at GCSE including English and maths than those pupils who are persistently absent. This is why the Department for Education reduced the threshold at which pupils are classified as being persistently absent, from 20 to 15 per cent of school missed. This measure enables schools to identify earlier those pupils with troubling attendance patterns, and to do something about them.

    In 2012, we increased the level of the school attendance penalty fines of £50 and £100 to £60 and £120 respectively; and in 2013 reduced the overall timescales for paying fines from 42 to 28 days. Our reforms are working. In 2012/13, 300,895 pupils were persistently absent, down from 433,130 in 2009/10. This is a fall of almost a third. 130,000 fewer pupils were missing 15% of school in 2012/13 compared to 2010/11.

  • 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 staff of each grade are employed in his Department’s Sexual Health Policy Team.

    Jane Ellison

    Departmental officials have made a number of visits and have had informal discussions with a number of counselling providers which included pro-life and pro-choice organisations; these are listed below.

    Organisations visited or with which contact was made:

    – Brook Advisory Centre, Brixton

    – British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), Richmond

    – Care Confidential, Alternatives Trust, Newham

    – City Pregnancy Counselling and Psychotherapy Service, Islington

    – Homerton NHS Trust, Hackney

    – Hull Sexual and Reproductive Health Care Partnership

    – Life Care Centre, Walsall

    – Marie Stopes International, Brixton and Bristol

    – Norwich Contraception and Sexual Health Clinic

    – Plymouth Community Healthcare

    The Government produced guidance on the provision of non-judgemental abortion counselling in A Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England (March 2013). The Framework was produced by the sexual health policy team in the Public Health Directorate.

    The Sexual Health Policy team is made up of the following staff at each grade:

    1 Senior Civil Servant (who also manages policy areas other than sexual health)

    1 Grade 6

    2 Grade 7

    1 Senior Executive Officer

    1 Higher Executive Officer (.7 whole time equivalent)

    1 Executive Officer

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Morris of Aberavon on 2014-03-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord de Mauley on 19 March (WA 34–5), what discussions they have had with the Environment Agency in recent years about the case for, and value of, dredging; and whether Ministers considered at any point the Environmental Agency’s plans for the Somerset Levels.

    Lord De Mauley

    We have had frequent discussions with the Environment Agency over the last few years about flood risk management, including the contribution and value of dredging, in Somerset and across the country. We have also been kept up to date with Environment Agency’s plans for the Somerset Levels.

    The Environment Agency will continue to undertake dredging where it is shown to be a genuinely cost effective way of managing flood risk, taking account of the other options available. In some areas, dredging will be the most cost effective approach. In others, it would divert resources away from other flood risk management activities which are far more beneficial to local communities, such as maintaining pumps, sluice gates or raised embankments. The Environment Agency will therefore continue to review the case for dredging area by area, given its variable impact on reducing flood risk.

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

    Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any UK service personnel are embedded or otherwise stationed in (a) Ethiopia and (b) Chad.

    Mr Mark Francois

    The UK has a small number of Service personnel deployed to Ethiopia in roles including diplomatic representation, defence engagement, liaison and training.

    No UK Service personnel are currently embedded or otherwise stationed in Chad.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, What recent discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues about the Government’s policy on devolution and decentralisation.

    Mr Nick Clegg

    I meet regularly with Ministerial colleagues to discuss this Government’s policy of decentralising responsibility to the most appropriate levels.