Category: Speeches

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the number of people using railway stations in West Yorkshire since 2010.

    Paul Maynard

    The Office of Rail and Road publish estimates of passenger demand for all railway stations in West Yorkshire since 2010. These figures can be found in their ‘Estimates of Station Usage’ publication, which can be found at the following link: http://orr.gov.uk/statistics/published-stats/station-usage-estimates.

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  • Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that the introduction of a new national funding formula will prioritise schools in disadvantaged areas for the allocation of funding.

    Nick Gibb

    The national funding formula will ensure that all children, whatever their background, are supported to achieve their full potential. Children from deprived backgrounds will attract funding in addition to the basic per pupil amount so that they get the extra help they need to succeed. We will also continue to provide targeted funding through the pupil premium, worth £2.5 billion this year.

    We proposed in the first stage of the national funding formula consultation to use a combined pupil-and area-level deprivation measure in the formula to best identify those children and schools that need additional support. We will put forward our detailed proposals in the next stage of consultation later this year.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what average time his Department took to respond to freedom of information requests in each year since 2005.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Government publishes statistics on the operation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 within central government, including on timeliness. These can be found at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics

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  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what formal mechanism exists for sharing information between the Accelerated Access Review and Lord Carter’s review of NHS efficiency.

    George Freeman

    The Accelerated Access Review (AAR), chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor, will make recommendations to government on reforms to accelerate access for National Health Service patients to innovative medicines and medical technologies making our country the best place in the world to design, develop and deploy these products. The terms of the reference for the review focus on faster access to innovations, which may include certain off-patent repurposed drugs, as opposed to the routine availability of medicines or medical technologies.

    Prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR, the Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS including the Innovation, Health and Wealth report. As a result, building upon the lessons of previous reviews is explicit with the terms of reference of the AAR.

    The AAR has regular meetings with senior officials from NHS England via a steering group as recommendations are being developed. In addition, some staff from NHS England have been assigned to support the review team.

    Sir Hugh is still in the process of developing final recommendations which will be published in spring 2016. In his Interim Report published in October, Sir Hugh sets out a proposition on “galvanising the NHS”. This involves supporting the NHS to adopt innovation, more rapidly through better practical support, stronger incentives and the potential streamlining of local structures.

    The Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR. It was clear that whilst progress has been made on the uptake of innovation in the NHS there is still much to do. Sir Hugh and the head of the External Advisory Group, Professor Sir John Bell, set out the case for uptake of innovation in the recently published AAR Interim Report.

    The AAR has senior level contact with officials working on Lord Carter’s review of NHS efficiency to ensure that information is shared between the two teams.

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the expected investment spending on housing by central government will be between 2016-17 and 2020-21.

    Brandon Lewis

    Spending Review 2015 prioritised housing by doubling the housing budget from 2018-19 to deliver at least 400,000 new affordable homes. It sets out the most ambitious plan since the 1970s to build homes that support working people in their aim to buy their own home.

    Taken together the capital programme, loan schemes, Help to Buy and other measures amount to over £20 billion investment in housing over the Spending Review period.

    The detailed list of housing programmes for 2016-17 to 2020-21 is outlined in the five point Housing plan in the Spending Review 2015 document (pp. 40-42).

  • Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Prime Minister, when the Cabinet will next hold a meeting in Wales.

    Mr David Cameron

    Details of Cabinet meetings outside London will be announced in due course.

  • Melanie Onn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Melanie Onn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support the growth of the red squirrel population.

    Rory Stewart

    The Government is committed to protecting and expanding red squirrel populations and tackling the threats that grey squirrels pose to them.

    Since December 2014 the Forestry Commission has been undertaking a number of actions to protect red squirrels from the impact of grey squirrels resulting from an updated grey squirrel action plan for England. These have included measures to control grey squirrels in red squirrel areas, through forestry options under Countryside Stewardship and the previous English Woodland Grant Scheme.

    Additionally, the Government participates in and supports Red Squirrels Northern England, a partnership project between the Red Squirrel Survival Trust, Natural England, the Forestry Commission and the Wildlife Trusts, which is helping to protect and expand the biggest population of red squirrels left in England.

    We are also working together with a range of stakeholders under the UK Squirrel Accord, which aims to promote partnership working to increase public awareness and support for action to protect red squirrels and woodlands from grey squirrels.

  • Rebecca Pow – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Rebecca Pow – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Pow on 2016-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which coal mining projects are being supported by UK Export Finance.

    Anna Soubry

    UK Export Finance is currently providing support to five coal mining projects, as follows:

    Exporter name

    Buyer name

    Joy Global (UK) Ltd

    Siberian Coal & Energy Company

    Joy Global (UK) Ltd

    Mechel Mining OAO

    Joy Global (UK) Ltd

    Siberian Coal & Energy Company

    Joy Global (UK) Ltd

    Siberian Coal & Energy Company

    Joy Global (UK) Ltd

    Siberian Coal & Energy Company

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to support Christians facing persecution in Nigeria.

    James Duddridge

    In Nigeria, the right to freedom of religion is protected by the Constitution. Boko Haram seeks to undermine this right by attacking Nigerians of all faiths who do not subscribe to its extremist views. They have caused immense suffering in both Christian and Muslim communities. We assess that the majority of their victims are Muslim.

    We are providing a substantial package of intelligence, military and development support to Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram, including training and advice on counter-insurgency, £5 million of support to a regional military taskforce and humanitarian aid to support those affected by the conflict.

    Elsewhere Nigeria faces inter-communal conflicts between farmers and herdsmen over land, farming rights, grazing routes and access to water. Through our development assistance, the United Kingdom supports initiatives to reduce these conflicts and build bridges between communities.

    We will continue to work with the Nigerian Government, non-governmental organisations and civil society to improve the security situation and human rights for all in Nigeria.

  • 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 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has assessed the effect on (a) patients and (b) patient choice of centralised procurement.

    George Freeman

    ‘Centralised procurement’ can sometimes be used to refer to the services of NHS Supply Chain. NHS Supply Chain offers a procurement and logistics service to all National Health Service trusts in the United Kingdom under a central service contract on behalf of NHS Business Services Authority.

    There is currently no centralised procurement model mandated to the NHS by the Department, and as such no assessment has been made as to an effect on patients or patient choice. NHS trusts may choose to utilise the service offering of NHS Supply Chain, or choose an alternative. It is for NHS trusts to make their own choices with regard to products and services they purchase; therefore it is for individual trusts to assess any impact on patients and patient choice.