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Category: Speeches

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 6 January (HL4745), on what evidence the forecast in Health Education England’s (HEE) commissioning and investment plan for 2016–17 of a rise in podiatry workforce demand of 1.5 per cent between 2015 and 2020 is based; and why HEE decided to reduce the number of commissioned education and training courses in podiatry in 2016–17 by 9.7 per cent compared to 2015–16.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    National Health Service future workforce demand is based on a comprehensive collection of NHS provider forecasts taken up by Health Education England (HEE) and discussed both locally and nationally with commissioners and professional leaders as to likely direction of travel.

    In order to afford the expansion of priority areas such as adult nurse, paramedic and mental health training numbers, HEE has taken a risk assessment based approach to deciding on where to focus commissions for training places in 2016/17.

    The HEE commissioning and investment plan – 2016/17 includes a forecast increase in the level of podiatry commissions of 36.4% by 2020.

  • Michael Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Michael Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making Disclosure and Barring Service certificates portable and valid from organisation to organisation by the person concerned.

    Karen Bradley

    The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) offers an Update Service which can deliver savings in both time and costs. With the certificate holder’s permission, a potential employer or another person with a legitimate interest can check via a DBS online portal whether any new information has been recorded since the certificate was issued. Only if there has been a change is there any need for the individual to obtain a new certificate. This enables portability of certificates between organisations. It is only applicable where the certificate holder is moving within the same workforce – such as work with children or work with vulnerable adults. Where the person is moving between workforces a new certificate will be required, as there may be different factors affecting decisions about whether information is appropriate for disclosure.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Tier 2 (Minister of Religion) visas have been granted by each licensed sponsor in each of the last five years.

    James Brokenshire

    I will arrange for the list of current Tier 2 (Minister of Religion) licensed sponsors and the number of certificates of sponsorship they have assigned to migrants for each of the last five years to be placed in the House Library. This includes certificates assigned to migrants who are within the UK as well as overseas.

    Each of the sponsors listed have had to provide mandatory documentation to demonstrate that they are bona fide religious organisations, trading lawfully within the UK. This information is assessed and used to validate an application prior to the issuance of a sponsor licence. Visits may also be conducted at the premises of prospective sponsors, to ensure that an organisation is eligible, suitable and genuine. Those who fail to meet UKVI’s requirements will have their application refused.

    In cases where an application has already been granted, UKVI continues to monitor their compliance against the published guidance. Those sponsors who fail to adhere to their duties will have action taken again them; this includes but is not limited to the revocation of their licence.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Department for Transport on the proposal to develop a work plan to define the shipping industry’s fair share in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions ahead of the International Maritime Organisation meeting on 18 to 22 April 2016.

    James Duddridge

    Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials are in regular contact with Department for Transport counterparts who lead for the UK at international negotiations to reduce emissions from the global aviation and shipping sectors. All countries agreed in Paris in December 2015 to limit global temperature increases to well below 2°C, and to pursue efforts towards 1.5°C. International negotiations on how the global shipping sector can contribute to this are at an early, technical stage.

  • Ian Paisley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ian Paisley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Paisley on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government’s policy on the soft drinks levy will lead to a higher rate of tax per volume of product levied on some soft drinks than on some non-spirit alcoholic beverages.

    Damian Hinds

    The tax rates for the Soft Drinks Industry Levy have not yet been set. The levy will not capture drinks with an alcoholic content above 0.5% ABV, which cannot be purchased by children.

  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to take steps to ensure that the costs of social care do not rise as a result of the introduction of the national living wage.

    Alistair Burt

    The introduction of the National Living Wage is part of Government’s wider approach to move from a low wage, high tax, high welfare society to a higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare society. The national living wage is an important step in rewarding the valuable contribution made by care workers, who often fall into the lowest earning occupations. It is expected that any increase in costs in the care sector associated with the National Living Wage will be partly met by higher productivity, efficiencies and will also help deliver better-quality care through improvements in staff retention and commitment.

    Local authorities are responsible for ensuring the availability of high quality social care in their areas and the commissioning of local services for those people who are entitled to public funding. They are locally accountable for how their budgets are allocated and spent. The terms and conditions of contracts negotiated between local authorities acting as commissioners of services and providers on an open market are a local matter that should reflect local conditions.

    However, under the Care Act, local authorities must have regard to fostering an effective workforce with the appropriate capabilities when shaping their local markets. The Act and its statutory guidance are absolutely clear that prices and fee rates agreed with providers must reflect these new duties, including the National Living Wage. The Department has also worked with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, the Local Government Association and care providers to co-produce a set of commissioning standards to support local authorities to assess and improve their commissioning practices. These standards are based on best practice and amplify the requirements set out in statutory guidance.

    As part of the Autumn Spending Review the Government is giving local authorities access to £3.5 billion of new support for social care by 2019/20. Councils will be able to introduce a new Social Care Precept, allowing them to increase council tax by 2% above the existing threshold. This could raise up to £2 billion a year for social care by 2019/20. From April 2017, the Spending Review makes available social care funds for local government, rising to £1.5 billion by 2019/20, to be included in the Better Care Fund. Taken together, the new precept and additional Better Care Fund contribution mean local government has access to the funding it needs to increase social care spending in real terms by the end of the Parliament and meet costs from the introduction of the National Living Wage.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether it is his policy to ensure that Type 45 ships will be repaired and fully operational in order to support the planned new aircraft carrier.

    Harriett Baldwin

    All Type 45 Destroyers remain in a planned operational cycle and continue to be routinely deployed. Included in this will be periods when they are undergoing repair.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the cost of using external agencies for recruitment to senior Civil Service posts in his Department in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

    Brandon Lewis

    The total sums spent on using external agencies for recruitment to senior civil service posts in DCLG are as follows:

    2010-2011 – £16,448.38

    2011-12 – £10,950

    2012-13 – Nil

    2013-14 – £14,200

    2014-15 – Nil

    2015-date – Nil

    These figures exclude Public Appointments and Cabinet Office recruitment but are inclusive of VAT.

  • 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 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what reports NHS England has produced on progress in achieving parity of esteem for mental health.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England and the Department jointly published Achieving Better Access to Mental Health Services by 2020 in October 2014. This publication recognised that a key element of achieving parity across mental and physical health care depends on enabling people to have timely access to evidence-based and effective care, and set out a clear vision for the development of access and waiting time standards in mental health including introduction of the first set of standards on early intervention in psychosis and psychological therapies, as well as signalling new investment in liaison mental health services in acute hospitals.

    NHS England’s Five Year Forward View set out a clear commitment to a more equal response across mental and physical health and achieving genuine parity of esteem by 2020.

    In support of this objective, NHS England’s latest planning guidance, Forward View into Action: planning for 2015-16, includes an expectation that clinical commissioning groups’ (CCG) spending on mental health services in 2015-16 should increase in real terms, and grow by at least as much as each CCG’s allocation increase to support the ambition of parity between mental and physical health.

    NHS England has commissioned an independent Mental Health Task Force to produce a five-year mental health strategy, for improved access and outcomes in all settings, to be published in the New Year.

  • Lord Condon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Condon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many police forces in the UK are operating drones for intelligence purposes, or for the prevention or detection of crime; and whether such use is being monitored by the Inspectorate of Constabulary, or any other independent body.

    Lord Bates

    The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles is an operational matter for individual police forces, and the Home Office does not hold information on which forces use them. A number of forces are conducting trials to assess whether the use of drones can bring benefits to the provision of the police service. Any use would need to comply with existing Civil Aviation Authority Regulations. Monitoring the police use of drones is not within Her Majesty’s Inspectorate Constabulary’s (HMIC) general remit. HMIC have confirmed that they have no plans to consider police use of drones at this stage.