UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Speeches

  • Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will publish a patient-friendly guide to inform responses to the consultation on proposals for a new Cancer Drugs Fund.

    George Freeman

    NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) consultation on draft proposals on the future of the Cancer Drugs Fund closed on 11 February 2016. The NHS England Board agreed a way forward, on 25 February 2016, which will see the new arrangements for the Fund going live on 1 July 2016.

    NHS England and NICE adopted a number of different approaches to engage with audiences. This included holding four webinars for stakeholders and two face-to-face events in London and Manchester alongside a number of individual meetings with key stakeholder groups including patient organisations and cancer charities.

    NHS England has advised that it will publish a consultation report on its website in due course. Further information is available at:

    www.engage.england.nhs.uk/consultation/cdf-consultation

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  • Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what amount her Department expects to pay in penalties and disallowances required by the EU Commission in relation to air pollution in 2016-17; and what contingency has been made for that purpose in her Department’s budget.

    Rory Stewart

    The Department does not expect to pay any penalties and disallowances imposed by the EU Commission in relation to air pollution in 2016-2017.

    The Commission has started infraction proceedings against the UK for not achieving European limit values for NO2. We want to work in partnership with Local Authorities and the Commission to improve air quality and avoid any prospect of fines levied from infraction. In December 2015, the Government published air quality plans setting out a comprehensive approach for meeting EU legal limits in the shortest possible time through a new programme of Clean Air Zones, alongside national action and continued investment in clean technologies. The UK has never had to pay an infraction fine.

  • Lord Hain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Hain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hain on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 19 April (HL Deb, col 614), whether they will write to the Welsh Government Minister for Public Services setting out in full their argument that those sections of the Trade Union Bill applying only to devolved public services in Wales are nevertheless reserved matters, and if so, whether they will place a copy of that letter in the Library of the House.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Ministers have engaged with the Devolved Administrations on the Trade Union Act.

    As part of our engagement, Nick Boles, the policy Minister for the Trade Union Act, has received four letters from Leighton Andrews, Minister for Public Services in the Welsh Government. These letters related to specific aspects of the Act and the Welsh Government position on their applicability in Wales. On 5th February 2016 Nick Boles had a telephone conversation with Leighton Andrews on the Act; and on 4 March, he replied to the letters and has placed a copy of the correspondence in the Library.

    As set out throughout its parliamentary passage, the Act is about employment and industrial relations law, which are reserved matters. It will apply consistently across Great Britain, including to public services in Wales.

  • Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-07-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what tax measures he is putting in place to encourage higher levels of business investment in the UK.

    Jane Ellison

    I refer my hon Friend to the answer given by the Chancellor today in response to the oral question from the hon Member for Lewes.

  • Tom Tugendhat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Tom Tugendhat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Tugendhat on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2016 to Question 45646, how she will assess local needs and value for money to inform decisions on allocating the remaining funding from the £700 million uplift to flood defence and resilience measures.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    Local needs are assessed according to the probability of flooding in the area and the damages that could occur as a result of a flood. Investment options are assessed through an appraisal of the benefits and the costs of potential ways of reducing that risk.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the decision was taken not to grant entry to Britain to a group of medical experts from Gaza and a psychologist from Bethlehem who had been invited to contribute to a conference at Kingston University.

    Lord Bates

    In order to safeguard an individual’s personal information and comply with the Data Protection Act 1998, the Home Office is limited in what information it can provide when the request is made by someone who is not the applicant. The Home Office is therefore unable to provide the information requested.

    All applications are considered on their individual merits and in line with the Immigration Rules.

  • Mark Williams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Mark Williams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Williams on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress has been made in negotiations with Barclays Bank plc about business banking services being offered through the Post Office.

    George Freeman

    The Post Office is negotiating with the major banks, including Lloyds and Barclays, with a view to extending and standardising the services available to the banks’ small business customers. These are commercial negotiations which are still ongoing. The Government is clear that completion of these negotiations should be a priority.

    The Government is keen to see continued and wider availability of banking services through Post Office branches. In this context, we welcome the recent agreement between HSBC and the Post Office to provide HSBC’s business customers with services through Post Office branches.

  • Stewart Jackson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Stewart Jackson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the progress made by the Troubled Families initiative in the Peterborough City Council area since 2011; and if he will make a statement.

    Greg Clark

    The Troubled Families Programme in the Peterborough City Council area helped produce successful outcomes with 450 troubled families. This was assessed according to whether children were attending school, youth crime and anti-social behaviour had been reduced, and adults from troubled families were helped off out-of-work benefits and into continuous employment.

    Under the provisions of the Welfare Reform and Work Bill, I will be reporting on the progress of the Troubled Families Programme annually.

  • Derek Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Derek Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the potential effect on levels of employment in convenience stores of proposals to devolve Sunday trading restrictions; and what the evidential basis for that estimate was.

    Anna Soubry

    My Department has carried out an assessment of the impacts of devolving the power to extend Sunday trading hours. This will be published shortly.

  • Mary Creagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Mary Creagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2016-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much in legal aid was granted to prison inmates in England and Wales in each of the last five years.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The information requested is not held centrally. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) does not identify or record in its databases whether civil legal aid applicants are prisoners as this does not affect eligibility for legal aid funding.

    Information on how much in legal aid was granted to prison inmates within the prison law category of criminal legal aid in each of the last five years is published by the Ministry of Justice as part of the Legal aid statistics at the following link on the gov.uk website.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/legal-aid-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2015

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