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Category: Speeches

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

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of office space owned or occupied by (a) his Department and (b) its executive agencies is currently unused.

    Jane Ellison

    The proportion of office space owned or occupied by the Department and its executive agencies which is currently unused is (a) 0% and (b) 1.37 %.

    The Department’s executive agencies are Public Health England and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. The vacant space is leased by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and will be released on 31 March 2016.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 23 March (HL6982), how much extra money has been added to the budgets of (1) the First Sea Lord, (2) the Chief of the General Staff, and (3) the Chief of the Air Staff, in (a) 2016–17 and (b) 2017–18.

    Earl Howe

    I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave him on 23 March 2016 to Question HL6982.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that Syrian children given asylum in the UK will be able to enter in time for the start of the school year in September.

    James Brokenshire

    The Syrian resettlement scheme has already provided safe haven to more than 1,000 vulnerable Syrians since the scheme was expanded in September 2015. More than half of these were children and we expect children to make up a significant proportion of the 20,000 resettlement places we are providing under the scheme.

    In addition, we have committed to resettling up to 3,000 individuals from the Middle East and North Africa over the lifetime of this Parliament through the resettlement scheme announced on 21 April for children at risk and their family members. As announced by the Prime Minister on 4 May and now reflected in the Immigration Act 2016, we will also work to admit unaccompanied refugee children to the UK from elsewhere in the EU, where this is considered to be in the child’s best interests. Work has begun on how best to implement the legislation and we are committed to act as quickly as we can, while ensuring that we have the necessary services in place to care for these children alongside those who are already in the UK and have claimed asylum here.

    We also continue to work closely with France and other EU Member States to ensure that arrangements for transferring asylum cases under the Dublin Regulation are operating as effectively as possible. A senior UK official was seconded to the French Dublin Unit to assist with the identification and transfer of cases and since February more than 20 children have been transferred to the UK from France and there are many other cases in train.

    All Syrian and other children brought to the UK will be given the care, support and education they require.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to include provisions in the Modern Transport Bill to (a) develop a licensing regime for the sale of safe driverless vehicles and (b) establish regulations for driverless vehicles in the testing phase.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    At this stage, we have not developed plans for changes to primary road traffic legislation other than relating to motor vehicle insurance for automated vehicles. We have also announced plans to change the Highway Code and regulations to support the safe use of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). The Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles launched a consultation on these issues on 11 July.

    We will consider further legislative, regulatory, and guidance changes as ADAS and automated vehicles continue to develop and reach the market, so that people and businesses can safely take advantage of the benefits that they offer.

    We do not consider that legislative change is needed to facilitate testing of automated vehicle technologies; testing of automated vehicle technologies can be carried out on any UK road as long as carried out in line with UK traffic laws and guidance – further details are set out in the Code of practice for testing of automated vehicle technologies – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/automated-vehicle-technologies-testing-code-of-practice.

    “

  • Lord Willis of Knaresborough – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Willis of Knaresborough – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Willis of Knaresborough on 2016-09-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to make a decision about commencing recruitment of nursing students onto nursing associate programmes of study.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    In May 2016, the Government confirmed proposals to introduce a new nursing support role, a nursing associate. Health Education England (HEE) are in the process of establishing test sites to educate and train the new nursing associates, which will be confirmed in the autumn. Once the test sites are confirmed with health and care employers, HEE will recruit at least 1,000 nursing associates into training by the end of 2016.

    A draft Higher Degree Level Nurse Apprenticeship Standard has been submitted to the Department for Education for approval by the Nurse Apprenticeship Trailblazer Group. Trailblazer Group members are from a wide variety of health and care employers. Once the standard is approved, the Trailblazer Group will commence work on the associated assessment plan which will ensure employers and training providers are geared up to support the apprenticeship when it is ready to deliver.

  • Andrew Griffiths – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Griffiths – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Griffiths on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in need whose primary assessment of need was abuse or neglect were within 12 months of a previous referral in the most recent year for which figures are available.

    Edward Timpson

    The information requested is not available.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-14.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will revise the eligibility criteria for first time buyers under the Help to Buy ISA scheme to £450,000 in areas outside London where the average house price is above £250,000.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The government does not plan to revise the eligibility criteria for the Help to Buy: ISA scheme

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees from the Syrian conflict relocated in the UK to date are (a) adults with a vulnerable characteristic, (b) adults in a family unit, (c) adults not in a family unit or with a vulnerable characteristic, (d) children with parents and (e) unaccompanied children.

    Richard Harrington

    The Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme is based on need and prioritises those who cannot be supported effectively in their region of origin. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is responsible for identifying people in need of resettlement based on its established vulnerability criteria, which are: women and girls at risk; survivors of violence and/or torture; refugees with legal and/or physical protection needs; refugees with medical needs or disabilities; children and adolescents at risk; persons at risk due to their sexual orientation or gender identity; and refugees with family links in resettlement countries.

    The Home Office is committed to publishing data as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The next set of figures will be in the quarterly release on 25 February 2016 and will cover the period October-December 2015. This adheres to the standard practice for the release of information about the work of the department, both through the quarterly national statistics and the additional transparency data that is released, which ensure that statistics are published properly in a way which is open and accessible to all. This information will not include a breakdown of the vulnerability criteria, or the family composition of the refugees that have been resettled.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in her Department and non-departmental public bodies receive (a) home to work travel allowance, (b) a car allowance and (c) subsidised health insurance.

    George Eustice

    The following table sets out the number of staff in receipt of each type of allowance in 2014/15.

    Home to Work Travel

    Car

    Core Department

    7

    0

    Animal and Plant Health Agency

    185

    0

    Environment Agency

    829

    10

    Rural Payments Agency

    79

    14

    Total

    1,100

    24

    Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Consumer Council for Water, Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Marine Management Organisation, Natural England and Veterinary Medicines Directorate have no staff in receipt of these allowances.

    No staff were in receipt of subsidised health insurance.

    The Home to Work Travel Allowance mainly relates to staff receiving the Excess Cost of Travel Allowance (ECTA). This is paid as a result of ongoing estates rationalisation where the home to work commute for a staff member has increased because of an office closure or move. Where there is a requirement for a limited number of RPA managers to operate out of more than one location, RPA also pay home to work travel costs to ensure the individual is not disadvantaged as a result of business needs. The EA figure includes staff in receipt of Overtime Attendance Allowance which is a fixed amount that is paid when they are required to respond to an unplanned incident.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to ensure that seven-day GP services are provided in Southampton.

    Alistair Burt

    The Southampton City Primary Care Hub scheme supports 269,875 patients from 33 general practitioner (GP) practices, providing them with access to improved services across Southampton via six hubs. The first of these six hubs opened in June 2015 and offers GP and Healthcare Assistant appointments from 6:30pm-8:00pm in the evenings and 8:00am-8:00pm at the weekends. Two further hubs went live in September and a further two early January 2016 as part of a phased rollout.

    Information technology offerings from the hubs will feature e-Consultations and e-Feedback for patients which will be phased across the hubs in 2016. Since September 2015, the scheme has also been offering patients a physiotherapy service delivering primary care physio in the evenings and at weekends, alongside a pathway redesign to support GPs as first contact for patients with musculoskeletal problems.