Category: Speeches

  • Derek Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Derek Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Twigg on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people undertake quality assurance in the NHS outside of clinical commissioning groups.

    Ben Gummer

    We do not hold information centrally on the number of people working in the National Health Service who have a quality assurance role.

    However, the fundamental standards set out the standards against which care should not fall and all providers are expected to have systems and processes in place to assure themselves that they are assessing, monitoring and improving the quality and safety of their services.

    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is responsible for the inspection and regulation of quality of all healthcare providers and its findings are published together with a performance rating. Where a provider’s performance falls below the fundamental standards the CQC has specific powers to take appropriate action.

  • Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the efficacy of the present design of ballot papers for persons with difficulties of sight.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The design of ballot papers used in elections and referendums in the UK was revised by the last Government to make them clearer and easier to understand for voters. The changes were subject to a programme of user-testing involving representative samples of the voting public. RNIB, who were consulted on the changes, considered that they did not raise significant issues for blind and partially sighted people

    Returning Officers are required to display an enlarged version of the ballot paper in each polling station and provide upon request a large hand-held sample copy to assist visually impaired electors to vote. They must also ensure each polling station is equipped with a tactile voting device to assist blind / partially sighted electors. This device has raised numbers and numbers in Braille and fits over the ballot paper. When the Presiding Officer or a companion reads out the list of candidates or parties to the voter, it enables them to cast their vote independently and in secret.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with representatives of local authorities on possible amendments to the meaning of the term supply in the Video Recordings Act 1984 to include adults providing children with access to recordings categorised as containing age-inappropriate content.

    Matt Hancock

    Following public consultations involving representations from classification bodies, child welfare groups, local authorities, content producers and many others, since 2010 we have legislated twice to strengthen the protections provided by the Act. This has ensured that retailers now cannot sell or rent any age-inappropriate DVDs or video games discs or cartridges to children. It also ensures these products are all labelled with relevant British Board of Film Classification (DVDs) and PEGI (video games) age ratings and content advice. This means adults have better information to help them make responsible decisions about the material children can access.

    We will continue to work with industry and the age ratings bodies to encourage further promotion of the BBFC and PEGI age ratings to consumers including through initiatives such as BBFCInsight and AskAboutGames.

  • Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to provide financial assistance to local authorities which are increasing their insurance cover against the risk of terrorism.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Local authorities are democratically elected organisations, and as such are responsible for managing their budgets and insurance arrangements in line with local priorities and risks.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have given any detailed consideration to requiring train operators to offer more flexible season tickets in order to protect the needs of those who work part-time or flexible hours.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    We are committed to introducing part-time season tickets and the industry is making progress on delivery of more flexible tickets. Two major commuter franchises – GTR and c2c – have obligations to start offering carnet-based season tickets on smartcards. Smartcard technology will make flexible ticketing possible and provides the necessary security and revenue protection to make it attractive to both passengers and operators. Many thousands of part-time workers will benefit from these new products when they are introduced.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of provisions in place to provide psychological treatments for victims of FGM.

    Jane Ellison

    As part of its £3 million Female Genital Mutilation Prevention Programme, the Department is actively looking at the provision of mental health and wellbeing services for FGM survivors.

    A ministerial roundtable with senior stakeholders was held on 29 October 2015 to discuss this issue. The Department is working with specialist mental health professionals and professional bodies to evidence the needs of FGM survivors, and will consider how best to support commissioners to ensure FGM survivors can access existing mental health services that are able to meet their individual needs.

    The Department has also commissioned specialist FGM mental health e-learning and we are also updating existing mental health training materials to support awareness and recognition by health professionals of how FGM may impact mental health.

  • Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of allegations of electoral fraud in the recent legislative and presidential elections in Haiti.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    Our (non-resident) Ambassador to Haiti and (resident) Chargé d’affaires regularly meet the European Observer Mission (EOM) to the recent Haitian elections, as well as observer teams from the Organization of American States (OAS) and ParlAmerica. While irregularities did take place, and are being investigated, none of the official observer groups has substantiated specific claims of fraud, or called the results of the election into question. The UK shares this assessment.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) First Tier Tribunal (mental health) hearings in England and (b) Mental Health Review Tribunal hearings in Wales there have been in each year since 2010.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The First-tier Tribunal (Mental Health), administered by HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), hears applications for the discharge of patients detained in psychiatric hospitals, and applications to change community treatment orders in England.

    The following table shows the number of First-tier Tribunal (Mental Health) hearings which took place in England in each year from 2010 to March 2015 (the latest full year period for which statistics are available).

    Year Number of hearings [1]

    April 2010 – March 2011 17,799

    April 2011 – March 2012 19,330

    April 2012 – March 2013 19,945

    April 2013 – March 2014 22,008

    April 2014 – March 2015 22,246

    HMCTS does not hold information on the number of Mental Health Review Tribunal hearings in Wales. The Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales is an independent judicial body administered by the Welsh Government.

    1 Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system, and are the best data that are available.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure that (a) Shropshire Council, (b) Telford and Wrekin Council and (c) Highways England put in place road safety improvements to reduce the number of road deaths and injuries on roads in (i) Shropshire and (ii) Telford and Wrekin.

    Andrew Jones

    Local authorities are responsible for road safety on the local road network. Section 39 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 puts a ‘statutory duty’ on the local authorities to deliver an appropriate road safety education service and for the provision of a safe local road network.

    It is up to individual authorities to determine how they meet their “statutory duty”. However, following the 2015 Spending Review the Government will continue to provide funding through the Integrated Transport block for local highway authorities to support small-scale initiatives, including road safety schemes. This funding is not ring-fenced and gives local authorities the freedom to develop and implement solutions which best suit their localities.

    More widely, from within the record £6.1 billion to be allocated to local highways authorities between 2015 and 2021 for road maintenance, Shropshire has been allocated £86million and Telford and Wrekin £18million (including indicative allocations from 2018/19 to 2020/21) plus Telford has also been allocated £10.3million from the Highways Maintenance Challenge Fund. This compares to £79million allocated to Shropshire and £15.6million to Telford and Wrekin covering the period 2010 to 2015.

    Highways England has made a commitment to review routes in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin over the next five years.

    Safety improvements are proposed on the A5/B5070 at Gledrid Roundabout in the 2016/17 financial year. Potential safety schemes have also been identified in Shropshire, and in Telford & Wrekin, and these will be considered over the 5-year Roads Investment Strategy. These are detailed below.

    • A483 Maesbury Road
    • A49/A456 Wooferton
    • A5 Montford Bridge and Shrawardine Junctions
    • A5/B5009 Gobowen
    • A49 Laybys

    All of these works will be subject to available funding and are not, as yet, programmed for delivery.

    An A5 corridor study has also been commissioned to identify a long term strategy for addressing the changing needs and function of the A5 trunk road corridor between Chirk and Preston Boats. This study will consider current issues with the existing corridor, summarising the implications of growth and providing a set of highway options to address congestion and safety, for consideration within future financial years.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with the Treasury on the business case for delivery of the final phase of the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme.

    Rory Stewart

    Ahead of the Budget, Defra and the Treasury discussed support for communities in areas at high risk of flooding, including Leeds.

    A scoping study for further work in Leeds is underway and due for completion by the end of March this year. This will lead to the development of a full feasibility study and business case looking at how Leeds could be better protected. An additional £35 million has been made available to support work in Leeds up to 2021, with a commitment that the Government will provide funding to support the completion of the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme in later years subject to business case approval.