Category: Speeches

  • John Healey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    John Healey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2014, Official Report, columns 348-9W, on social security benefits: young people, if he will publish any information relevant to the original question that is available at proportionate cost.

    Esther McVey

    Information on Jobseekers Allowance Severe Hardship decisions for 16 and 17 year olds is provided attached but please be aware that it does not relate solely to estrangement. Information on Income Support and Employment Support Allowance is not available. Similarly it is not possible to disaggregate Appeals information on an age basis.

  • 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 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of brownfield land in England is covered by a Local Development Order.

    Nick Boles

    At this point in time, this information is not centrally held.

    However, I refer the rt. hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement of 16 June 2014, Official Report, Column 71-72WS, on the steps we are taking to promote the use of Local Development Orders on brownfield land.

    In addition, the Written Ministerial Statement of 10 June 2014, Official Report, Column 33WS, provides a broader summary of steps we have taken to facilitate empty and redundant land and property being brought back into productive use.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-04-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel concerning Palestinian deaths since the beginning of the peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

    Baroness Warsi

    We have made frequent representations to the Israeli authorities about Israel Defence Forces’ use of live fire and appropriate force in both Gaza and the West Bank. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv most recently raised this issue with the Israeli Defence Force on 11 March.

  • 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 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment his Department has made of the (a) prevalence of additional health problems experienced by people with Parkinson’s Disease due to delays in receiving Duodopa and (b) costs incurred by the NHS as a result of such delays; and if he will make a statement.

    Norman Lamb

    We have made no such assessment.

    From April 2013, NHS England assumed responsibility for commissioning adult specialist neurosciences services, including the majority of services for patients with Parkinson’s disease, with some being the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups.

    NHS England has advised that it does not routinely fund Duodopa (co-careldopa) for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and is currently considering its clinical policy.

    Clinicians can submit individual funding requests for this treatment on behalf of their patients as per NHS England’s individual funding requests standard operating procedure, which is at:

    www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/cp-04.pdf

    This process is monitored against the standard operating procedure to ensure that referring clinicians are informed of outcomes in a timely manner.

    Once the commissioning position relating to this service area is agreed and service access criteria published, NHS England has advised that the number of individual funding requests from clinicians may reduce.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2014-04-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the planned hull life of the Type 23 frigate.

    Lord Astor of Hever

    Following a decision in 2005, to extend the service life of the current class of Type 23 frigates to 35 years the hull life of the class now ranges between 34 and 37 years.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisons operated on half regime during (a) January, (b) February, (c) March, (d) April and (e) May 2014.

    Jeremy Wright

    The information regarding how many prisons operated on half regime during (a) January, (b) February, (c) March, (d) April and (e) May 2014, is not collated centrally. The term ‘half regime’ is not used in prison establishments, and is unlikely to be interpreted consistently. The processes required to collect this data would incur disproportionate costs.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Emily Thornberry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Attorney General, how many (a) barristers, (b) solicitors and (c) witness care staff were employed by the Crown Prosecution Service at the end of (i) 2013-14, (ii) 2012-13 and (iii) 2009-10.

    Oliver Heald

    The information requested is contained in the following table.

    Barristers

    Solicitors

    Witness Care

    2009-10

    853

    2,353

    228

    2012-13

    677

    1,867

    131

    2013-14

    645

    1,771

    100

    Notes:Data extracted from the CPS HR Database iTrent as at the 31st March in each year
    Data may be subject to change due to retrospective changes in the HR database
    Data may differ from previously published data due to differing specifications

    .

    Notwithstanding the staff reductions, conviction rates have remained broadly unchanged since 2009/10.

    Witness attendance remains constant over the last two financial years (to February 2014).

  • Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure claimants experiencing delays in their personal independence payments assessments are kept better informed of the status of their applications.

    Mike Penning

    We have taken immediate action to ensure that claimants receive all the information they need.

    This includes a number of actions:

    – SMS updates acknowledging receipt of the ”How your disability affects you” form.

    – Updated Gov.uk to include clear information.

    – Detailed information on estimated journey times.

  • Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the effect of using Wolverhampton as a redistribution centre for all mail relating to processing benefit claims, payments and appeals on (a) time taken to process and (b) the reliability of the claims process.

    Mike Penning

    DWP post opening arrangements are delivered as part of a contract for Office Services awarded to Cofely (formerly Balfour Beatty Workplace) which commenced on 1.3.07. The contract was let in line with EU procurement legislation and offers significant cost savings and efficiencies over the previous arrangements which were a mixture of third party contractors and in house teams.

    In 2013 and in partnership with Cofely, DWP has introduced a new initiative to transform DWP’s mail services. The Mail Opening, Scanning and Indexing Project will provide a single strategic service for post opening and scanning across DWP allowing our front line staff to work more efficiently and effectively whilst drastically reducing our paper consumption, storage requirements and demonstrating the Departments commitment to the Government’s digital agenda.

    As part of the overall efficiencies we have consolidated the number of MOUs from 29 sites operated by the Royal Mail Group to just 2 locations operated by Cofely, but underpinned by a new Royal Mail sorting office in Wolverhampton.

    The consolidation to 2 MOUs is currently being transformed; the Department is working with all the Providers impacted in the supply chain to optimise quality, performance and service delivery

    As with any new way of working, time is needed for processes and procedures to be bedded in and the Department continues to work closely with the supplier, regularly reviewing their performance. The Department is confident that this new way of handling inbound mail when coupled with the increase in scanning, will deliver efficiencies and a better service to our customers in the long term.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many hospital beds per head of the population there were in (1) England, (2) London and (3) Lewisham, in each year from 2008–09 to 2013–14.

    Earl Howe

    Hospital beds data per head of population are not collected centrally.

    Hospital beds data are collected for each National Health Service trust and NHS foundation trust.

    Population estimates and projections are available for local NHS commissioning bodies; primary care trusts (PCTs) up to 2011 and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) from 2012. These data can be aggregated up to larger areas such as strategic health authorities (SHAs) up to 2011 and local area teams from 2012.

    A table has been placed in the Library which shows the estimated hospital beds per 1,000 population in England and London each year from 2008-09 to 2013-14.

    It is not possible to show the hospital beds per head of population in a local commissioning body such as Lewisham, because this would be based on the assumptions that the beds in a trust are available only for the population of the local commissioning body and that this population only uses these beds. These assumptions will not reflect reality as trusts serve populations from outside their commissioning areas and patients will access services in hospitals outside their local commissioning area.