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Category: Speeches

  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-03-22.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he used any international systems to inform the formulation of his proposals to introduce a lifetime ISA.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government is always mindful of international comparisons when developing tax policy. In the case of the Lifetime ISA, the Government will explore with the industry whether there should be the flexibility to borrow funds from the Lifetime ISA without incurring a charge if the borrowed funds are fully repaid; for example, some US retirement plans allow 50% to be borrowed up to a maximum of $50,000.

    Further details about how the Lifetime ISA will work will be announced when the government brings forward legislation to enact the Lifetime ISA in the autumn.

  • Viscount Waverley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Viscount Waverley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Viscount Waverley on 2016-04-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with other EU member states about whether, in the event of the UK leaving the EU, British citizens settled in EU member states would have an automatic right to remain in the countries where they have settled.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    No such discussions have been held. As I said in my previous response of 25 April (HL7678), the Government’s view is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off in a reformed EU. Should the UK choose to stay in the EU, British citizens will be able to work, live and retire abroad as they do now. UK citizens get a range of rights from our membership of the EU. If the UK were to leave the EU, all of these rights would have to be covered in a successor arrangement. If we left the EU without agreeing what would happen to these rights, it would at the least bring them into serious question, creating difficulty for UK citizens who relied on them.

  • 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 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made to date on Recommendation 19 of the NHS England Five Year Forward View for Mental Health.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government is working with delivery partners to carefully consider the Taskforce’s recommendations and aims to publish a strategic Implementation Plan in the autumn that will set out how Government and partners will deliver the recommendations.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the total amount of arrears recovered by HM Revenue and Customs for non-compliance with the national minimum wage is in 2016-17 to date; how many (a) workers and (b) employers those arrears relate to; and how many of those employers (i) were issued a financial penalty, (ii) self-corrected and paid those arrears back to the workers concerned without being issued a financial penalty and (iii) have been named and shamed for that non-compliance.

    Margot James

    HM Revenue and Customs do not provide ad-hoc data for National Minimum Wage/National Living Wage enforcement, although mid-year figures will be available later in the year.

    Employers found to have broken minimum wage law will be issued with a Notice of Underpayment by HMRC and will have 28 days to appeal against it. If the employer does not appeal or an appeal has been unsuccessful, HMRC will issue a case closure letter to the employer and refer them to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to be considered for naming and shaming. The employer will then have 14 days from the date of the case closure letter to make written representations to BEIS outlining whether they fall under any of the exceptional circumstances for not being named under the scheme. Employers issued with a case closure letter after 1 April 2016 will be named by BEIS in future naming rounds.

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what responses he plans to give to the request by the Iraqi Kurdish forces in Mosul for equipment to protect them from an ISIL/Daesh chemical attack; and if he will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    The Ministry of Defence has provided a wide range of support, equipment and ammunition to the Kurdish Regional Government, working with the Global Counter Daesh Coalition and Coalition partners. While the UK has not itself provided chemical defence equipment, the Coalition has coordinated the provision of substantial stocks of appropriate personal protection equipment from other Coalition partners to the Kurdish Regional Government that meet the needs of the Peshmerga in this important area.

  • Helen Goodman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Helen Goodman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2015-10-30.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what work his Department is undertaking to contribute to the development of the Government’s 25 year plan for nature.

    Greg Hands

    HM Treasury is working closely with Defra and other Government Departments on the development of the 25 Year Environment Plan. A cross-Government group, which includes Treasury officials, will ensure the Plan reflects the full breadth of relevant policy interests and levers that influence the environment.

  • Emma Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Emma Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurses’ training places were available in each region in each year since 2009; how many (a) agency nurses and (b) nurses from outside the UK were used by the NHS in each year since 2009; and what the cost to the NHS was of both such categories of nurses in each of those years.

    Ben Gummer

    Non-medical training numbers are collected as part of the quarterly multi professional education and training budget monitoring returns that are submitted to the Department by Health Education England (HEE). Prior to the establishment of HEE in 2013/14 these were submitted to the Department by the Strategic Health Authority (SHA) as part of their quarterly Financial Information Management Systems (FIMS) monitoring returns. The table below shows the number of nurse training places available in each SHA from 2009/10 to 2012/13.

    2009/10

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    NHS North East

    1,095

    1,045

    1,000

    992

    NHS North West

    3,630

    3,358

    3,082

    3,066

    NHS Yorkshire and Humber

    2,299

    2,278

    1,848

    1,805

    NHS East Midlands

    1,735

    1,660

    1,462

    1,430

    NHS West Midlands

    2,597

    2,557

    2,102

    2,102

    NHS East of England

    1,889

    1,717

    1,536

    1,494

    NHS London

    3,992

    3,695

    3,401

    3,088

    NHS South East Coast

    1,335

    1,281

    1,169

    1,123

    NHS South Central

    1,175

    1,237

    1,108

    1,153

    NHS South West

    1,590

    1499

    1,361

    1,293

    Total planned

    21,337

    20,327

    18,069

    17,546

    Source: SHA quarterly FIMS monitoring returns

    The following table details the information collected by HEE in relation to available nurse training places from 2013/14 to 2015/16, broken down by Local Education and Training Boards (LETB).

    The disaggregated data for 2013/14 is not held within the format requested. The published national workforce plan for 2013/14 stated that there would be 18,009 training commissions available for nursing.

    LETB Region

    2013/14

    2014/15

    2015/16

    North East

    1,105

    1,089

    North West

    3,415

    3,322

    Yorkshire and Humber

    2,010

    2,059

    West Midlands

    2,157

    2,192

    East Midlands

    1,613

    1,661

    East of England

    1,783

    2,015

    North West London

    820

    917

    North, Central and East London

    1,201

    1,280

    South London

    1,138

    1,171

    Kent, Surrey and Sussex

    1,126

    1,209

    Thames Valley

    768

    795

    Wessex

    941

    1,011

    South West

    1,368

    1,432

    Total

    18,009

    19,445

    20,153

    Source: Multi-professional education and training budget monitoring returns

    The Department does not collect data centrally on the number of agency nurses working in the NHS. This information may be held locally at Trust level.

    The Department started to collect financial data from NHS trusts and foundation trusts in respect of net temporary and agency staffing costs specifically from 2013/14. Available data on spending nationally on all agency staff in England is set out in the table below. We are not able to separately identify total spending with agencies on nurses from centrally held data.

    Total cost to the NHS of temporary staff in 2013/14 and 2014/15

    2013/14 £000s

    2014/15 £000s

    Total NHS Providers

    2,605,378

    3,355,723

    Source: Department of Health Annual Report and Accounts 2014/15

    The Department does not hold information on the total cost to the NHS of nurses from outside of the United Kingdom working in the service. The information provided in the table below shows the number of declared non-British nurses working in the NHS in England dating back to 2009. Non-British nursing numbers working in the NHS in England covers hospital and community health services in the NHS but not primary care.

    2009

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    Non-British

    40,034

    41,642

    40,911

    40,030

    40,330

    43,258

    Proportion of non-British nurses as % of the nursing workforce

    14.4%

    14.3%

    13.8%

    13.3%

    13.0%

    13.5%

    Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre.

  • 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 2016-01-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the second bullet point of page 26 of the report, entitled Getting it right in social welfare law, published by the Low Commission in March 2015, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the Commission’s recommendation.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Ministry of Justice welcomes the work done by the Low Commission in producing its reports, and notes its recommendation on Alternative Dispute Resolution. As part of our work to reform the courts we are considering how to make processes speedier and more accessible.

  • Stuart Andrew – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Stuart Andrew – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart Andrew on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the (a) terms of reference and (b) timeline are of review of blood donations policy.

    Jane Ellison

    The Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood Tissues and Organs (SaBTO) decided at its meeting in January 2016 to carry out a review of deferral criteria for blood donors in relation to risks both from sexually transmitted diseases and from infections potentially transmitted by other routes, for example, tattooing or intravenous drug use.

    The process will fully involve stakeholders (who can share thinking with and seek feedback from their communities), and will be incremental, with published progress reports and any intermediate advice. The terms of reference will be published once approved by SaBTO.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will reverse its decision to impose an annual charge to Australian and New Zealand citizens for use of the NHS.

    James Brokenshire

    The Impact Assessment published on 4 February 2016, alongside the draft Immigration (Health Charge) (Amendment) Order 2016, estimates that a net additional £41 million could be raised for the NHS in present value, over 5 years, in 2016-17 prices, by applying the health charge to Australian and New Zealand nationals and reducing the annual health charge for Youth Mobility Scheme visa applicants from £200 to £150.

    The Impact Assessment can be viewed at the link below and is also available in the Vote Office (Commons):

    http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2016/9780111143278/impacts

    These changes are subject to affirmative resolution and will be debated in the House of Commons and House of Lords. If they are approved by Parliament, the Government plans to implement the changes from 6 April.

    The Government think it only fair that Australian and New Zealand nationals contribute to the UK’s health service in the same way as other non-EEA nationals.

    The changes will only apply to Australian and New Zealand nationals who plan to enter the UK for a temporary period of more than six months; visitors will not need to pay the charge and Australians and New Zealanders will continue to benefit from our reciprocal healthcare agreements.

    Further, the Government has in recognition of the close and important links between our countries, agreed during discussions with the Australian and New Zealand Governments, to reduce the health charge that applies to the Youth Mobility Scheme from £200 to £150 in line with students. This is the category used by more than half of Australian and New Zealand nationals granted visas to the UK.