Category: Speeches

  • Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to introduce a smoothed discount rate for the purpose of pension fund valuation.

    Baroness Altmann

    Government consulted in 2013 on whether legislation should be introduced to allow the ‘smoothing’ of asset values and liabilities in funding valuations.

    Responses to the call for evidence indicated that there was no strong case for legislating to permit smoothing, with the overwhelming majority of respondents against this option. Respondents instead favoured greater use of the flexibilities within the existing legislation governing scheme funding.

    In its response to the call for evidence the Government advised that, given the views received, it did not intend to pursue the option of legislating to permit asset and liability smoothing, and that remains the Government’s position.

  • Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2016 to Question 44420, how the Government is monitoring the extent to which the NHS is offering treatment in accordance with NICE guidelines across all areas of medicine; and what assessment the Government has made of the extent to which treatment is falling short of NICE guidelines for financial reasons.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidelines represent best practice, are based on the available evidence and developed through wide consultation. As best practice, National Health Service organisations should take them into account in the care and treatment of patients, but they are not mandatory and we have made no assessment of the extent to which the NHS is offering treatment in accordance with NICE guidelines.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many sexual offences in which the offender was under the influence of alcohol were recorded in each of the last five years.

    Andrew Selous

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

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2015 to Question 19452, if he will publish the business model referred to in that Answer; and which departments or bodies funded Just Solutions.

    Andrew Selous

    We have no plans to publish the business model for Just Solutions International (JSi). As I told the House on 14 December, services under JSi were to be provided on a cost recovery basis.

  • Heidi Allen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Heidi Allen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Allen on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of proposed changes to the employment and support allowance work-related activity group on claimants.

    Priti Patel

    The Government set out its assessment of the impacts of the welfare policies in the Bill on 20th July last year.

    We are committed to transforming people’s lives by supporting more disabled people into work. We have increased funding for support for those with health conditions and disabilities by almost 15% and are bringing in a new Work and Health Programme.

  • Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will use their membership of UN agencies to establish relevant targets for reducing carbon emissions in (1) civil aviation, (2) shipping, and (3) agriculture and forestry, by 2020 as agreed at the Paris Climate Conference in 2015.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    This Government is committed to tackling emissions from international aviation, international shipping and agriculture and forestry.

    As inherently transnational in nature, international aviation and maritime emissions are regulated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and are outside of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement. The UK is working through the ICAO and IMO to develop mechanisms which deliver emissions reductions, in line with the long term goal agreed in Paris of keeping average global temperature rise well below 2 degrees. In 2016, the ICAO is set to agree a global market based measure, to offset emissions post-2020. The UK government is engaged in this process.

    The Government is also committed to tackling emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and supporting the enhancement of forest carbon stocks (REDD+). The UK played a key role in the 2014 New York Declaration on Forests, which set ambitious targets for halving (by 2020) and halting (by 2030) the loss of natural forests and eliminating deforestation from the production of key agricultural commodities by 2020. The new UN Sustainable Development Goals, agreed in September 2015, also include targets to halt deforestation, sustainably manage and restore natural forests, and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally by 2020. At COP21 the UK endorsed a Leaders’ Statement on Forests which recognised the importance of these goals, as well as the progress on REDD+ under the UNFCCC.

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Thomas-Symonds on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total cost was of transferring the services previously provided by the General Social Care Council (GSCC) to the Health and Care Professions Council after the GSCC was abolished in 2012.

    Alistair Burt

    The function for the regulation of social workers in England was transferred from the General Social Care Council (GSCC) to the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) on 1 August 2012.

    The final set of accounts from the GSCC show that the total cost to the public purse of closing down the Council was £16.5 million. The HCPC also received £1.4 million to support it take on the functions for the regulation of social workers in England. Therefore, the total cost was £17.9 million.

    On the assumption that the costs of the GSCC remained broadly similar, the Department estimated that the closure of the GSCC saves £13.5 million each year.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what preventative programmes, other than for HIV prevention, are funded by Public Health England.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England (PHE) distributes the public health grant to local authorities; the grant funds a number of prevention programmes including NHS Health Checks, the national child measurement programme and sexual health services. PHE also provides social marketing campaigns such as Be Clear on Cancer, Stoptober and Act FAST.

    In addition PHE provides advice and evidence to local authorities and NHS England on what works best, including providing expert advice on the diabetes prevention programme.

    More information on PHE’s activities can be found in PHE’s Strategic Plan:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/516985/PHE_Strategic_plan_2016.pdf

    which sets out how the organisation intends to protect and improve the public’s health and reduce inequalities over the next four years and outlines actions PHE will take over the next year to achieve these aims and deliver its core functions.

    “

  • Chris Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Chris Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Green on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the potential number of deaths due to drug-resistant bacteria in the UK in each of the next three years.

    Jane Ellison

    Specific information on the number of deaths attributable to antimicrobial resistance is not currently available.

    However, a Europe wide study of multi-drug resistance1 estimated the number of deaths in the European Union, Norway and Iceland, due to multi-drug resistance in five specific bacteria. On the basis of population size, other things being equal, the conclusions reached in the study would imply that around 3,000 deaths per year in the United Kingdom may be due to multi-drug resistance in those specified infections. This is likely to be an underestimate as it omits consideration of large numbers of other bacteria.

    Note:

    1 European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control/European Medicines Agency Joint Technical Report: The bacterial challenge: time to react 2009

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what hard evidence they have collected that Daesh is using small commercial drones for surveillance and for conveying explosives.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government has a range of material, including images, that provides evidence that Daesh has used small, commercially available unmanned aerial vehicles in Syria and Iraq to extend their surveillance capability, produce propaganda material and carry small improvised explosive devices.