Category: Speeches

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish the feedback NHS England gave to the Coast, Humber and Vale footprint area on the first draft of their Sustainability and Transformation Plan which was submitted on 30 June 2016.

    David Mowat

    The Coast, Humber and Vale Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) footprint area submitted their draft plans on 30 June, along with all STP footprint areas in England. Following this, conversations were held with each footprint area and a panel of National Health Service arm’s length body chief executives and Local Government Association representatives. These discussions were based around each footprint’s identified priorities, their key critical decisions and requests for support. Feedback was provided during these discussions to support the ongoing development of their plan. All local STP areas should now be having conversations with local people and stakeholders to shape the future of their local services – understanding what matters to them and explaining how services might be improved. All footprints will submit an updated plan in October, with further formal public engagement and consultation taking place from this point, as appropriate.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of deaths caused by the naval blockade of Yemeni ports; and what part the UK has played in that blockade.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    There is no blockade, although some measures were put in place to prevent the flow of arms to Yemen. We welcomed the Government of Yemen’s announcement in October 2015 that all of Yemen’s ports were open.

    It is vital that commercial shipments of food and fuel enter the country to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis. That is why the Department for International Development is providing £1.42 million to support the establishment of the United Nations Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM), which became operational on 5 May. It is successfully verifying, and where necessary inspecting, ships in line with UNSCR 2216 (2015). This should speed up the clearance process for ships and improve commercial confidence, increasing supply and in turn aiming to reduce the price of basic goods. We call on all parties to facilitate and respect the operation of UNVIM.

  • Neil Coyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Neil Coyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average number of personal independence payment assessments undertaken each week was in September and October 2015.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time was for a Disclosure and Barring Service check at (a) standard, (b) enhanced and (c) enhanced with list checks level to be conducted in each year since 2010.

    Karen Bradley

    The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is funded through fees charged for disclosure certificates and from subscriptions to the DBS disclosure update service. DBS operates on a full cost recovery basis. There has not been a fee increase in four years and volunteers receive free checks.

    The table below sets out the average time taken to process all three types of checks.

    Timeframe

    Standard Disclosures

    Enhanced Disclosures

    Enhanced Disclosures with List Checks

    01st Nov 2010 to 31st Oct 2011

    5.21

    16.84

    16.81

    01st Nov 2011 to 31st Oct 2012

    5.34

    11.24

    11.25

    01st Nov 2012 to 31st Oct 2013

    4.57

    10.60

    10.63

    01st Nov 2013 to 31st Oct 2014

    6.37

    14.12

    14.17

    01st Nov 2014 to 31st Oct 2015

    5.97

    14.92

    14.94

    The fluctuations in processing times over the years relate to a number of factors, including changes in demand and demand forecasting, changes to IT systems and the performance of police forces for enhanced disclosures.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on potential links between the terrorist attacks in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Diyarbakir, Turkey, in January 2015.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    This Department holds no information on potential links between the terrorist attack in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Diyabakir, Turkey, in January 2016.

  • Baroness Jolly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Baroness Jolly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jolly on 2016-02-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many reserve police officers of the Royal Military Police they estimate will be deployed in (1) 2015–16, (2) 2016–17, (3) 2017–18, (4) 2018–19, and (5) 2019–20.

    Earl Howe

    The Army does not produce forecasts for Army Reserve personnel by Cap Badge. As at 1 April 2015, the number of Royal Military Police (RMP) Reserve personnel trained or in training was 370. The future liability for RMP Reserve personnel for 2016-17 to 2019-20 is 453.

  • Catherine McKinnell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Catherine McKinnell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to run a pilot of tax-free childcare before that scheme is launched.

    Damian Hinds

    The Government confirmed that Tax-Free Childcare will be launched from early 2017. To roll out the scheme in a safe and managed way, we will be gradually opening up the scheme to all eligible parents within 12 months.

    We will provide further details of the exact plans for this rollout in due course, in good time for parents and childcare providers to prepare for the introduction of Tax-Free Childcare.

    Once the scheme is fully open, we estimate that around 2 million families will be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare. And we estimate that up to 1 million families may take up the scheme in ‘steady state’.

    The Tax-Free Childcare system will be extensively tested with users before the scheme is launched.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many stroke survivors are in (a) receipt of employment and support allowance and (b) the work-related activity group.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will instruct exam boards to offer GCSE and A-Level examinations in Persian after 2018; and if she will make a statement.

    Nick Gibb

    Examination boards are independent organisations and the Secretary of State cannot instruct them to offer any particular qualifications. On 22 April we announced the successful preservation of community language qualifications following negotiation with the examination boards. This fulfilled the commitment made by the Government in 2015. The announcement can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/future-of-community-language-qualifications-secured.

    It remains open to the exam boards to decide to offer qualifications in Persian in future.

    “

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding for children and young people with special educational needs was allocated to East Sussex local authority area through the dedicated schools grant in each of the last three years.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Funding for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) is allocated to local authorities through the dedicated schools grant (DSG), which includes both funding to be delegated to mainstream schools, and funding for the additional costs associated with educating children and young people with high needs.

    The Department does not allocate specific amounts of funding for children and young people with SEN within the funding allocated to local authorities for their mainstream schools. Schools are funded through a formula set by their local authority, and local authorities are required to delegate funds to a level that enables schools to meet the additional costs of pupils with SEN, up to £6,000 per annum. For those pupils whose additional support costs more than £6,000 the local authority pays top-up funding to the schools from their high needs budget.

    East Sussex County Council’s high needs allocation, within the dedicated schools grant, in each of the last three years was as follows:

    2015-16: £44.06 million

    2014-15: £42.82 million

    2013-14: £40.94 million