The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of fatal opioid overdoses in the UK.
Mr Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yvonne Fovargue on 2015-11-23.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many rent-to-own firms have applied to the Financial Conduct Authority for authorisation; and how many such firms have been so authorised.
Harriett Baldwin
This question has been passed on to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA will reply to directly to the Honourable member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases were referred to the National Referral Mechanism as potential victims of trafficking for domestic servitude in each year since 2009; and how many such cases had a (a) positive reasonable grounds decision and (b) positive conclusive grounds decision.
Karen Bradley
Statistics relating to the National Referral Mechanism are published quarterly by the National Crime Agency in their “Human Trafficking: National Referral Mechanism Statistics” report, which includes information on exploitation type and decision outcomes. These can be found here:
http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/national-referral-mechanism-statistics
Data prior to April 2012 is held for internal use but has not been validated for publication.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, who authorised the report entitled, BIS 2020, What-why-when-how; and what the cost to the public purse was of that report.
Joseph Johnson
“BIS 2020: What-why-when-how” (September 2015) was one of a series of internal briefings for BIS staff. Staff are briefed on our change programme on a regular basis. The briefings are not formal documents and, as such, we do not publish them.
The cost of this report to the public purse consists of the hours worked by Civil Servants on its development. These were not recorded at the time of production separately from the authors’ other work.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Davies on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps the Government has taken to encourage underground cabling connecting (a) wind farm and (b) other such installations to distribution centres in order to present visual amenity and prevent adverse environmental impacts.
Andrea Leadsom
The Government expects network companies to use the most appropriate technologies available to provide the required connection for the particular project in line with its customer’s connection needs, its statutory obligations to have regard to the environment and to mitigating adverse impacts where reasonable, and relevant planning requirements.
This is reinforced by the Government’s energy National Policy Statements (NPSs) in particular NPS EN-1[1] and NPS EN-52, which make it clear that proper consideration should be given to all feasible means of connection, including undergrounding.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what consultation his Department conducted prior to the launch of its consultation on infected blood: reform of financial and other support.
Jane Ellison
We developed proposals in the consultation document based on a wide range of views we have heard over time including via numerous debates, representations from Members and several inquiries conducted by Parliamentarians.
In addition, an independently facilitated meeting was held on 5 October 2015 with some members of three groups (Tainted Blood, the Contaminated Blood Campaign and the Haemophilia Society). The aim was to further inform the Department’s understanding of what matters most to members of these groups in terms of financial and non-financial support. A separate meeting was held in November with members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Haemophilia and Contaminated Blood, where we sought views on proposals for reform ahead of consultation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-04-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to invite any leaders of foreign countries to come to the UK ostensibly on a courtesy visit but with the intention that they should canvass directly on any internal national issue.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The views expressed by the US President during his recent visit to the UK were his own.
I refer the noble Lord to the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron)’s oral response to the Rt Hon. Member for Exeter (Mr Bradshaw), on Wednesday 27 April, Official Report, Column 1427, which is copied below for ease of reference:
‘Obviously I think we should listen to our friends and our allies, and as I look around the world it’s hard to find the leader of a country that wishes us well that wants us to do anything other than stay inside a reformed European Union.’
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch on 2016-06-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 1 June (HL344), which countries participate in the EU Gendarmerie Force; what is its purpose; and whether it could operate on British soil.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The European Gendarmerie Force comprises police forces with military status from Spain, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, and Poland. Its work relates to crisis management operations and it’s purpose is set out in the Treaty of Velsen and the Declaration of intent, both of which are available at: http://www.eurogendfor.org/organisation/what-is-eurogendfor.
The European Gendarmerie Force’s insignia differs from the EU’s flag or branding. The UK does not participate in the European Gendarmerie Force and in the event that it ever sought permission to operate in the UK that would require the agreement of the appropriate authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-07-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2016 to Question 40286, asked by the hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich, what the title is of the group that meets monthly.
Paul Maynard
The title of this group is the South East Quadrant.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve early diagnosis of childhood cancers; and if he will make available additional funding to improve such early diagnosis.
David Mowat
Improving early diagnosis of cancer is a priority for this Government, and was clearly highlighted in the report Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes published last year by the Independent Cancer Taskforce. Earlier diagnosis makes it more likely that patients, including children with cancer, will receive effective treatments. We have committed to implementing all the recommendations of the Taskforce including that, by 2020, everyone referred with a suspicion of cancer will receive either a definitive diagnosis or the all-clear within four weeks (28 days).
NHS England has the funds necessary to improve cancer services over the next five years, including up to £300 million by 2020 to support earlier diagnosis of cancer and the £10 billion of real terms increase in National Health Service funding by 2020-21. The recommendations in the Taskforce report give direction as to where these funds should be targeted.
In order to continue to support general practitioners (GPs) to identify patients whose symptoms may indicate cancer and urgently refer them as appropriate, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published an updated suspected cancer referral guideline in June 2015. The guideline ‘Suspected cancer: recognition and referral’ includes new recommendations for childhood cancers.
NICE also addressed generally, non-site specific symptoms of concern in children and young people, recommending that GPs should take into account the insight and knowledge of parents and carers when considering making a referral for suspected cancer. NICE noted that more lives could be saved each year in England if GPs followed the new guideline, which encourages GPs to think of cancer sooner and lower the referral threshold.