Category: Speeches

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the cycling and walking investment strategy will include investment for the proposed cycling and pedestrian bridge linking Rotherhithe to Canary Wharf.

    Andrew Jones

    The draft Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy sets out the Government’s plans for increasing cycling and walking in England. It is a high level document, with a long term ambition up to 2040, supported by a target and a number of objectives.

    The Strategy outlines how Government will work with local bodies and business to develop expertise and support, the tools and policies Government will deliver to support them in increasing walking and cycling in local communities, and how this work will enable progress towards our national objectives and target. It does not set out details of individual schemes as that is a matter for local bodies.

  • Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Poulter on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to ensure that the access and waiting time standards for mental health set out in the NHS Five Year Forward plan are implemented in full.

    Ben Gummer

    The Government provides direction and ambitions for the National Health Service through the NHS Mandate. NHS England are held to account in achieving the NHS Mandate commitments including the new mental health access and waiting time standards detailed in the NHS Mandate for 2015/16.

    NHS England published guidance in February this year for clinical commissioning groups that set out how the new access and waiting time standards for mental health services are to be introduced and implemented.

    Implementation of the new access and waiting time standards is supported by an £80 million funding package for 2015/16.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what budget his Department has allocated to the National Tactical Response Group for each of the last five years.

    Andrew Selous

    The budget allocation for National Tactical Response Group (NTRG) is set out in the table below.

    These figures include pay and non-pay items (including training materials, operational incident consumables and vehicle costs). It is not possible to retrieve the 2010 data information within the time available. The resource allocation for 2016-17 is yet to be confirmed.

    NTRG Budget

    2011-12

    1.6m

    2012-13

    1.6m

    2013-14

    1.7m

    2014-15

    1.8m

    2015-16

    1.8m

    “

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what measurements he has made of the UK armed forces’ carbon emissions for (a) 2015 and (b) any previous years for which data is held; and what plans the Government has to reduce UK military carbon emissions in response to the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

    Mark Lancaster

    Information on the UK Armed Forces’ carbon emissions from 2009-10 to 2014-15 can be found in pages 11 and 12 of the Sustainable Ministry of Defence (MOD) Annual Report, using the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/447951/20150723-Sustainable_MOD_Annual_Report-internet-ver.pdf

    The MOD continues to reduce carbon emissions as part of the Government’s Greening Government commitments and the new targets are being developed for 2016-2020.

  • Steve Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Steve Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential effect of exit from the EU on his Department’s work on the European Regional Development Fund.

    James Wharton

    No.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of immigration on the level of economic productivity over the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

    Greg Hands

    As noted in the 2012 report by the Migration Advisory Committee the empirical literature suggests that the impact of migration on productivity may be mixed and heavily dependent on the type of migrant coming to the UK. Migrants may increase productivity either through a simple ‘batting average’ effect if they work in higher productivity roles relative to the average for non-migrants, or through increasing the productivity of UK workers through greater specialisation and knowledge transfer.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting time for children between referral for an autism diagnosis and first diagnostic appointment was in each clinical commissioning group and primary care trust area in each year since 2010.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department does not collect this information centrally.

    No formal statistics are collected of autism referrals, initial assessments or diagnoses. The Department does however commission Public Health England each year to carry out a self-assessment exercise with local authority areas on progress they are making in implementing the Autism Strategy for Adults in England.

    NHS England has almost completed a programme to visit clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to identify and share good practice in accessing timely autism diagnosis. NHS England with support from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services has visited a selection of areas to talk to CCGs and local authorities about their Autism Diagnostic Care Pathways and post diagnostic support. A report on this work will go initially to the June meeting of the Cross Government Autism Programme Board.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 10 May 2016 to Question 36307, what the total cost was of (a) the Anti-Corruption Summit held on 12 May 2016 and (b) the Tackling Corruption Together Conference held on 11 May 2016.

    Matthew Hancock

    The full costs of the preparation and delivery of the Anti-Corruption Summit are still to be confirmed and this information will be made available in due course.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment the Government has made of the level of compliance with Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency guidance that specifies that biological medicines should be prescribed by brand name.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Guidance issued by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in 2008 states that, when prescribing biological products, it is good practice to use the brand name.

    MHRA does not have responsibility for monitoring the compliance of healthcare professionals with its prescribing guidance. The responsibility for prescribing rests with the practitioner who has clinical responsibility for their patient’s care and we would expect practitioners to take any relevant guidance into account when making their prescribing decisions. Practitioner professional bodies also have a role in setting out best practice to their members.

  • Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much compensation his Department is liable for in its contract with Agility Trains in the event that the Inter City Express (IEP) fleet cannot be introduced in line with the contracted schedule for (a) delivery and (b) operation of new IEP trains on the (i) Great Western and (ii) East Coast mainlines.

    Paul Maynard

    The contract for IEP sets out the process for calculating any liquidated damages the Secretary of State would be liable to pay to Agility Trains in the event that the trains cannot be introduced in line with the contracted schedule for delivery and operation. This would be calculated as a function of the daily Set Availability Payment forgone at that time. The precise amount would remain commercially confidential.