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Category: Speeches

  • David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish NHS England’s decision making criteria for the assessment of highly specialised technologies.

    George Freeman

    NHS England is currently developing a refined process for the prioritisation of proposed new investments in specialised services and highly specialised services.

    This continues to be worked up, including formation of potential criteria and weighting. NHS England is aiming to begin using this process in June 2016. The process will be made public once complete.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to send prisoners returned to jail having broken their licence conditions to a different prison than the one from which they were released.

    Andrew Selous

    Prisoners recalled to custody having breached the conditions of their licence will be arrested by the police and then taken to the nearest local prison for the area in which they were arrested. Prisoners who, prior to release had been held in the closed training estate or in an open prison, will not therefore be returned to the same prison from which their release took place. Those prisoners who had been held in a local prison prior to release on licence, may be returned to the same establishment if that is the nearest local prison for the area in which they were arrested.

    Once returned to a local prison, prisoners will be re-assessed and a decision made on which prison is best suited to their needs, taking into account all factors in the case including the risks they present and other security issues. Prisoners recalled for short periods may remain in the local prison until release unless there are specific reasons, including security reasons, why they should be transferred elsewhere.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) consultants and (b) permanent staff are employed by Network Rail’s Infrastructure Projects division; and how much Network Rail has spent on consultants who work in its Infrastructure Projects division in (i) 2014-15 and (ii) 2015-16.

    Claire Perry

    I have requested this information from Network Rail and can confirm that the number of permanent staff in Infrastructure Projects in 2014-15 was 3641 and in 2015-2016 is 4309. During this period Network Rail insourced the High Output Team from Amey which increased permanent staff figures.

    Network Rail Infrastructure Projects’ expenditure on companies that class themselves as providing consultancy in 2014-15 was £178,401k, and in 2015-2016 is £154,430k. The majority of expenditure on consultants occurs via Network Rail’s Principal Contractors and therefore is not included above.

    We are not able to provide details of the number of consultants because the contract specification for each piece of work is based on the deliverable and not on the number of consultants working on it.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which military exercises UK armed forces have been involved in that have (a) included other EU member states and (b) been EU-led.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Exercises with international Allies and partners are critical to improving our Armed Forces’ interoperability on deployment and enhancing collective Defence through NATO. Last year we saw an excellent example of this in NATO’s Exercise Trident Juncture, the biggest military exercise in 10 years. Although the EU does not lead large scale military operations like NATO, it does support the interoperability of our Armed Forces through its battlegroup framework and small scale exercises led by its Member States. The UK will hold the leadership of the battlegroup in the second half of this year.

  • Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, by when will 2015 payments to farmers from the Rural Payments Agency be completed; and when can farmers receiving a 50 per cent bridging payment expect to be paid in full.

    George Eustice

    As of 2 May, some 79,013 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) claims have now been completed. This represents 78,102 payments and 911 that resulted in no payments being due. Bridging payments were made by the end of April to those farmers not in receipt of their BPS 2015 claim payment in recognition of the cash flow pressures they are facing.

    The Rural Payments Agency will continue to make full payments throughout the remainder of the payment window and anticipates completing this work by the end of June 2016.

  • Bob Stewart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Bob Stewart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Stewart on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will support the provision of specialist treatment at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham for seriously injured Peshmerga from the Kurdistan region in Iraq.

    Penny Mordaunt

    We would consider whether to support any individual case for such treatment on its merits. The limited treatment provided in the UK to foreign nationals in the past has only been offered in very exceptional circumstances.

  • Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support her Department is giving to dispersal centres for asylum seekers to help foster community cohesion.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Home Office funds strategic migration partnerships which are local authority-led partnerships designed to provide structures and support services for those organisations working with migrants and refugees in local communities.

    The Home Office also provides a dedicated integration loan directly to recognised refugees. The loan is designed to help refugees integrate into UK society by offering financial support towards housing costs, employment and training.

  • Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on securing a suitable funding package for the Manchester Airport interchange on the High Speed 2 line.

    Andrew Jones

    Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Manchester Airports Group have made a commitment in principle to a local contribution to funding for the airport station and we continue to work with them on the details.

  • Nick Hurd – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Nick Hurd – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Hurd on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 17 September 2015 to Question 10237, when he expects to publish proposals for the future of the National Debt Fund.

    Jeremy Wright

    I refer my Hon. Friend to my Answer of 17 September 2015. Work is on-going on the possible application to the court for directions on the future of the National Fund, consistent with its object of extinguishing or reducing the national debt. I am also continuing to consider other options. I will update my Hon. Friend as soon as I can.

  • Lucy Powell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lucy Powell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2015 to Question 13838, how many schools with whom her Department is discussing its STEM international recruitment programme have expressed an interest in recruiting teachers through that programme.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department for Education discusses international recruitment with a number of schools and does not keep a list of the schools with which such discussions take place.

    The department does not monitor individual schools’ recruitment activities. This is a matter for schools.