Category: Speeches

  • Lord Trefgarne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Trefgarne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Trefgarne on 2016-06-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the criteria approved by Ministers for use by the Parole Board when considering whether to authorise the release of prisoners serving indeterminate sentences.

    Lord Faulks

    Ministers do not set criteria for use by the independent Parole Board when considering the release of indeterminate sentence prisoners. They must serve the minimum term, or tariff, set by the sentencing court after which they may be considered for release by the Parole Board. The Board is required to apply the statutory test for release contained in section 28 of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997. The Board must assess the level of risk to the public – using reports and assessments from prison, probation and other professionals involved in the management of the offender – and will only direct release if they conclude that the prisoner could safely be managed on licence in the community.

  • Flick Drummond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Flick Drummond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of wheelchair access at sports venues.

    Tracey Crouch

    I refer my honourable friend to my answer to question 44837, answered on 7th September.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the size of increase in demand of the ambulance service in the East of England in the last 12 months; and whether his Department plans to take steps to meet that demand.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    NHS Improvement (NHSI) is responsible for overseeing National Health Service trusts. NHSI advises that East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust’s (EEAST’s) performance has seen a sustained improvement since March 2016. However, the Trust is still not meeting the national standards for category A (immediately life-threatening) calls. In August 2016, it responded to 68.9% of Red 1 calls and 62.3% of Red 2 calls within eight minutes, against a standard of 75%. For all category A calls, it responded to 90.8% within 19 minutes, against a standard of 95%.

    NHSI advises that overall demand on the Trust’s services has increased by 4.6% over the last 12 months, although the higher acuity ‘Red’ demand has increased by approximately 15%. This substantial increase in high acuity demand represents thousands more calls needing a response against the eight-minute standard. In 2016/17, to the end of August 2016, the Trust had responded to 3,699 more high acuity patients (Red 1 and Red 2 calls) in eight minutes than in the same period in 2015/16.

    NHSI advises that staff turnover at EEAST has been steadily reducing over the last eight months. Turnover of EEAST frontline staff for the period 1 August 2015 to 30 September 2016 was 7.12%. The Trust’s reference period for reporting staff turnover is 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015, and within this period turnover was 8.31%. Based on the most recent national benchmarking data for June 2016, turnover for all staff at EEAST was 9.85%, fifth lowest of the 11 English ambulance trusts.

  • Baroness Stern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Baroness Stern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Stern on 2015-11-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the 20 new Protector” drones to be procured under the Scavenger Programme will be the General Atomics certifiable Predator B or any other model or variant.”

    Earl Howe

    No decision has yet been made on the choice of platform to meet the Protector (formerly Scavenger) requirement. This will be determined as part of the main investment decision, which is scheduled for 2016.

  • Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many reports have been made on the assessed material state of HMS (a) Astute, (b) Ambush and (c) Artful.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    A range of reports are generated on the material state of all Royal Navy submarines. Given the broad range of reporting that is undertaken and the large range of highly complex engineering systems reported on, this information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many parents have moved to direct pay since the introduction of the 2012 child maintenance scheme.

    Priti Patel

    As at the end of August 2015, 82,600 cases were paying via Direct Pay.

    More details can be found on page 6 of the Child Maintenance Scheme quarterly summary of statistics which can be accessed online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme-aug-2013-to-aug-2015-experimental.

    Notes:

    1. This figure only includes cases that are live with a payment that is due.
    2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.

    “

  • Lord Browne of Belmont – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Browne of Belmont – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-02-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what joint trade missions have been undertaken by the UK and the Republic of Ireland since 2010.

    Lord Maude of Horsham

    Since 2010, UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and Enterprise Ireland have organised a joint trade mission to the Singapore Air Show in February 2014.

    Her Majesty’s Government is committed to helping UK business succeed overseas, including in the Republic of Ireland where UKTI is represented and is actively promoting trade and investment between our two countries.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all GPs are trained in awareness of learning disabilities.

    Ben Gummer

    It is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC) to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricula to ensure newly qualified general practitioners are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. This includes training in awareness of learning disabilities.

    Higher Education Institutions are responsible for ensuring the programmes they provide allow healthcare students to meet the outcomes set out by the GMC upon graduation.

    The royal colleges, for example the Royal College of General Practitioners, also have responsibility for developing curricula for general practitioners, in particular postgraduate curricula.

    Health Education England (HEE) works with bodies that set curricula such as the GMC and the royal colleges to seek to ensure training meets the needs of patients.

    HEE is undertaking a review of curricula of all National Health Service commissioned training programmes to include recognised areas of health including learning disability, mental illness, physical illness and physical ill health and social support needs. HEE will work with regulatory bodies including the GMC to agree the standards and content for education and training; this is anticipated to be completed by April 2017.

  • Lisa Cameron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lisa Cameron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Cameron on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will estimate the proportion of rebel ground forces in Syria which could be considered moderate.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Prime Minister, the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) stated in Parliament in December 2015 that we assessed at that time that there were around 70,000 non-extremist fighters in Syria, standing up to both the tyranny of the Asad regime and the poisonous and murderous ideology of Daesh. Since the time of that assessment, there have been significant shifts on the ground, particularly as a result of Russia’s military escalation, the majority of which has directly targeted the moderate opposition.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel regarding the use of the roof of the Hebron Emergency Health Centre as a military base and the closure of its entrance to Palestinian patients.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Whilst we have not raised this specific issue with the Israeli authorities, we are clear that medical staff should have the protection that allows them to do their jobs in safety. Since the start of the current violence we have spoken regularly to both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority on the urgent need to de-escalate the tensions.