Category: Speeches

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

    David Nuttall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on what earliest date a still unresolved investigation by the Claims Management Regulation Unit under regulation 35 of the Compensation (Claims Management Services) Regulations 2006 was begun; and on what earliest date such an investigation was begun but no proceedings have yet commenced.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The CMR Unit aims to conduct all investigations in a proportionate and efficient manner. This means determining as quickly as possible whether a CMC under investigation is in breach of the conditions of its authorisation. If following an investigation it is clear that those conditions have been breached and there is a public protection issue, any proposed enforcement action will be expedited.

    (1) 6 June 2013 was the earliest date from when the Claims Management Regulation (CMR) Unit began an investigation under regulation 35, which remains unresolved but no enforcement proceedings have yet commenced.

    (2) Information is available for the period, 12 months to 18 June 2014. The CMR Unit conducted 46 investigations under regulation 35, which took an average of 5 months, 21 days before enforcement proceedings were taken, and an average of 2 months, 8 days before being closed without the requirement for enforcement proceedings.

    (3) As at 18 June 2014, the CMR Unit was investigating 24 CMCs under regulation 35.

  • John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what levels of stock his Department holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.

    Mrs Helen Grant

    DCMS holds a minimal stock of stationery to supply staff, and orders items as required.

  • Yasmin Qureshi – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Yasmin Qureshi – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many child victims and witnesses have given evidence from a remote site in each of the last five years.

    Damian Green

    We must do everything we can to support child witnesses and help them give their best possible evidence to bring offenders to justice.

    The department does not hold data on the number of child victim and witnesses that use video links to give evidence (either a court building, or from a remote site).

    The list below sets out the number of courthouses in each of the seven HMCTS Regions in England & Wales; criminal justice is a devolved matter for Scotland and Northern Ireland. These facilities enable any victim or witness to appear by video link from a different court location to that of the trial court; it is also possible for third party users to access the court system through a secure bridge.

    HMCTS Region

    Number of courthouses enabled for remote video link.

    Wales

    22

    London

    32

    South East

    52

    South West

    35

    Midlands

    40

    North West

    31

    North East

    37

    Total

    249
  • Charlotte Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Charlotte Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to deal with emotional neglect of children.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Our revised statutory safeguarding guidance, ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children 2013′, includes a definition of emotional abuse which social workers already act on when deciding on what action to take to keep a child safe.

    We want social workers and other professionals who work with children and families to recognise the early signs of all forms of abuse and neglect and take appropriate action. To support this, the Department is working on a number of initiatives. We have brought together a panel of experts to review the evidence concerning indicators of neglect that are associated with a likelihood of future harm to babies, pre-school children and school-age children.

    We are reviewing the recommendations in the Action for Children report ‘Child Neglect: The scandal that never breaks’ and the Ofsted report ‘In the child’s time: professional responses to neglect’ and will consider how to support professionals in recognising early signs of all forms of neglect. We are also working with the Department of Health on their proposals for the development of a new criminal offence of ill-treatment or wilful neglect. Following the Narey review, we are improving social work training and developing further the skills of social workers in critical areas including neglect and how to undertake a good quality assessment.

    We have also published training materials commissioned from Action for Children and the University of Stirling. These materials, ‘Childhood neglect: Improving outcomes for children’, contain guidance and training resources to help staff identify and respond early to all signs of neglect and to know what types of interventions are the most effective.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are enrolled in National Employment Savings Trust (NEST); how many such people enrolled in NEST are making additional payments by direct debit each month; and what the average additional contribution by direct debit each month is.

    Steve Webb

    The National Employment Savings Trust announced on 1 April 2014 that they have over a million members.

    The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold information about the number of scheme members making monthly additional payments by direct debit to NEST nor does it hold information on the average additional contribution by direct debit each month to NEST.

  • Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in what circumstances he uses a calculation of the (a) value of preventing a fatality, (b) willingness to pay and (c) cost-per-quality adjusted life year approach to quantify the value of a policy intervention; what other tools he uses to quantify the benefit of a policy intervention; and if he will make a statement.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Green Book and associated supplementary guidance is publicly available on the Treasury web site. It sets out a range of approaches and methods that may be appropriate in a number of different appraisal circumstances.

  • Biography information for David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Biography information for David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for David Amess on International Development.

    1

    Lynne Featherstone

    The Department for International Development (DFID) will provide approximately £45.8m to Marie Stopes International (MSI) during the period 2014-15. DFID adheres to Development Co-Operation Directorate (OACD-DAC) expenditure coding requirements to allow comparison across donor spending towards attainment of the millennium development goal targets. This does not include the facility to calculate spend for individual components of sexual and reproductive health.

    DFID assesses the value for money (VfM) of all its expenditure through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on an annual basis. Every project is subject to an annual review and a judgement is made as to whether the funding is achieving good VfM. More generally, investing in reproductive, maternal and newborn health is excellent value for money due to its low cost and far reaching benefits.

  • John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what levels of stock his Department holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.

    Mr David Lidington

    Responsibility for stationery is devolved to all posts and directorates and procured as required. Data on levels of stationery is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

    Stationery in the UK is procured through the Crown Commercial Services frameworks, in accordance with Cabinet Office guidance.

  • Biography information for Toby Perkins – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Biography information for Toby Perkins – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Toby Perkins on Home Office.

    1

    Karen Bradley

    We are currently considering how the information contained in the marriage
    entry can be updated to reflect changes since the coming into force of the
    Registration of Marriages Regulations 1986, as well as the most suitable
    opportunity for doing so.

  • Tracey Crouch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tracey Crouch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tracey Crouch on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the sufficiency of access to information about support and services for people diagnosed with a brain tumour; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England has made a recent assessment of the sufficiency of access to information about support and services for people diagnosed with a brain tumour through its Peer Review Programme (PRP). This programme includes measures that require all brain and central nervous system multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) to demonstrate the availability and adequacy of patient information. The outcome of the 2013-14 assessment of compliance with these measures indicated that out of 91 MDTs and 36 treatment centres, 84% were compliant with the patient information measure at the most robust level.

    There is a programme of work aimed at improving the care and experience of people living with a diagnosis of cancer, developed in collaboration with Macmillan Cancer Support which draws from a wide range of evidence based good practice.

    The National Cancer Intelligence Network runs a brain and central nervous system- related cancers Clinical Reference Group, which works closely with a brain cancer charities. In addition to this, the PRP measures participation in drug trials and research internationally.

    The Department works closely with its cancer research funding partners through the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI). The NCRI is a strategic partnership of 22 government, charity and industry cancer research funders, together with patients. The NCRI is a member of the International Cancer Research Partnership (ICRP), which includes cancer research funders from USA, Canada, Europe, Japan and Australia. The ICRP is a unique alliance of cancer organisations working together to enhance global collaboration and strategic coordination of research. Researchers can search the ICRP database to avoid duplication and identify collaborators in specific areas of cancer research including brain tumour research.