Category: Speeches

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department’s press release, Government to overhaul young driver rules in bid to improve safety and cut insurance costs, issued 25 March 2013, when heplans to publish the Green Paper on young drivers referred to in that press release.

    Andrew Jones

    Every death is a tragedy and is one too many. However, there is a difficult balance to strikebetween the safety and the freedom of our young drivers, and we are currentlyundertaking research into how to make our roads safer. We will explore optionsaround how to improve learning to drive and encouraging people to practice morebefore they take their test.

  • Chris Stephens – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Chris Stephens – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to procure ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    As stated in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, we plan to procure three Fleet Solid Support logistic ships, in addition to the four Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability Tide Class tankers currently under construction. The Tide Class will enter service from 2016, and it is planned that the logistic ships will enter service from the mid-2020s.

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with (a) UK Financial Investments and (b) Royal Bank of Scotland about the effects of decisions by the bank’s Global Restructuring Group on (i) small businesses and (ii) the economy of the UK.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government is aware of the reports published by Sir Andrew Large and, separately, by Dr Lawrence Tomlinson into Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)’s treatment of customers and businesses in financial difficulty.

    The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has appointed Promontory Financial Group and Mazars to independently review the allegations in the reports against RBS’s practices. If the findings from the review reveal issues which come within the FCA’s remit, the FCA will consider further regulatory measures.

    The Government’s shareholding in RBS is managed at arm’s length from HM Treasury by UK Financial Investments (UKFI). However, UKFI’s role is to manage the investment, not the bank. Commercial affairs remain the responsibility of the bank’s independent management team.

    RBS is making progress to deal decisively with the problems of the past, which will allow it to become a simpler, safer and more focused bank that works for the UK economy. Under the leadership of Ross McEwan RBS has made good progress in becoming a simpler, safer and more focused bank that works for the UK economy.

  • Emma Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Emma Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the announcement by the Prime Minister on enhancing mental health services on 11 January 2016, what the basis is for the figure of £290 million to be invested in perinatal mental health care; how that funding will be allocated; and how the efficacy of that funding will be measured.

    Alistair Burt

    This Government is committed to improving access to perinatal mental health services for women during pregnancy and in the first postnatal year. In January 2016 the Government set out that an additional £290 million will be made available over the next five years to 2020/21, over and above the money identified in the Spring Budget, to invest in perinatal mental health services. This is funded from within the Department’s overall Spending Review settlement and means that in total from 2015/16 to 2020/21 £365 million will be invested in perinatal mental health services.

    We are aware that there is unacceptable variation in the levels of access to high quality, NICE-recommended specialist perinatal mental health care for women across England. A 2014 census identified that 40% of women in England have no access to specialist perinatal mental health services and that is why we have confirmed this additional investment. The funding should enable significant progress towards closing this gap and will help to enable women across the country to access evidence-based specialist support, in the community or through inpatient mother and baby services, closer to their home, when they need it. It is anticipated that, by 2020/21, around 30,000 more women should be able to access appropriate specialist support.

    This new funding, together with the recommendations of the forthcoming report of the independent Mental Health Taskforce, will enable NHS England to work with partners to design a longer-term transformation programme to build capacity and capability in specialist perinatal mental health services over the next five years. This will include setting detailed plans for how the additional investment will be targeted over the period to 2020/21 and setting clear outcome measures and metrics to monitor the impact of the funding on perinatal mental health provision.

    In 2015/16 work is already underway to lay the foundations for this longer-term work programme through targeted funding of activities to build capacity in specialist services. This will include, for example, a £1 million investment in strengthening clinical networks across the country. It is also expected to include the provision of national and regional benchmarking data and analytical support to regions, and work to develop clinical leadership capacity. Work will also continue to support the development of specialist mother and baby units in the regions identified as most in need of new services.

    To ensure the workforce are available and appropriately trained, NHS England is working closely with Health Education England and key stakeholders to better understand the future workforce commissioning requirements and how it is best to meet multi professional education and training needs.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of how many people in supported housing specifically designated for (a) disabled people, (b) victims of domestic violence, (c) people with substance misuse problems and (d) others will be affected by the change in housing benefit to the Shared Accommodation Rate.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information requested is not available.

  • Mike Freer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mike Freer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Freer on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that all professional bodies that provide accreditation for counselling and psychotherapy services for the NHS add their signatures to the Memorandum of Understanding on Conversion Therapy in the UK, published in November 2015.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department has no statutory powers to compel professional bodies to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). We are working closely with the group who drafted the MoU, currently led by the UK Council for Psychotherapy, which has successfully increased the number of signatories since the document was first published in February 2015. The group will continue to encourage others to sign up to their revised MoU, which will be extended to include transgender people, over coming months.

    The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) provides independent accreditation of voluntary registers for counselling and psychotherapy services.

    Accreditation by the PSA allows commissioners, employers, and service users to assure themselves that the practitioners on these registers meet high standards of training, conduct and competence, and at all times apply high ethical standards to their work.

    The PSA accredits the following voluntary registers relevant to counselling and psychotherapy:

    Association of Child Psychotherapists;

    Association of Christian Counsellors;

    British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy;

    British Association of Play Therapists;

    British Psychoanalytic Council;

    Counselling & Psychotherapy in Scotland;

    National Counselling Society;

    Play Therapy UK; and

    UK Council for Psychotherapy.

  • Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the number of households which will refuse a smart meter.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government has not made a specific estimate of the number of consumers that will refuse a smart meter. We will monitor this as the roll-out progresses.

  • Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with Govia Thameslink Railway on the closure of Govia Thameslink Railway ticket offices; and what the dates of those discussions were.

    Claire Perry

    Officials regularly meet with Govia Thameslink Railway, and their Ticket Office proposals have been discussed.

  • Stephen Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Stephen Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Twigg on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will consider extending current programme partnership arrangements until a replacement mechanism is introduced.

    Priti Patel

    I am currently considering the outcomes of my Department’s Civil Society Partnership Review, and will aim to publish it shortly.

    In July 2015, the then Secretary of State for International Development announced a 9 month extension of all PPA financing, providing 18 months-notice that all current PPA financing would come to an end in December 2016.

  • Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-10-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people in (a) Cardiff Central constituency and (b) Cardiff County local authority area have had a tax credit claim stopped by Concentrix; and how many such claims were subsequently reinstated by HM Revenue and Customs.

    Jane Ellison

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not hold data broken down specifically by constituency areas.

    HMRC is currently focussed on resolving the outstanding cases but will be preparing regional analysis, which will be available in due course.