Category: Speeches

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many projects under the Road Investment Strategy are (a) completed, (b) ongoing and (c) still to be launched, by region; how many of those projects which are ongoing are (i) on schedule and (ii) on budget, by region; and how many of those projects which have been completed were on or under budget, by region.

    Andrew Jones

    North East & Yorkshire

    Of the 112 projects listed in the RIS, 20 of these will be delivered in this region.

    1 scheme has opened for traffic on schedule.

    4 schemes are currently in construction – 3 are forecast to complete ahead of schedule and 1 on schedule.

    Of the remaining 15 planned schemes 1 is forecast ahead of schedule, 1 forecast behind schedule and 13 on schedule.

    North West

    17 schemes are included for this region.

    4 schemes are currently in construction – 2 are forecast to complete ahead of schedule and 2 on schedule.

    Of the remaining 13 planned schemes 2 are forecast ahead of schedule and 11 on schedule.

    Midlands

    Total of 26 scheme in this region.

    3 schemes have opened for traffic, 2 ahead of schedule and 1 behind schedule.

    6 schemes are currently in construction – 4 are forecast to complete ahead of schedule and 2 on schedule.

    Of the remaining 17 planned schemes 3 are forecast ahead of schedule and 14 on schedule.

    South West

    Total of 7 schemes in this region.

    1 is in construction and is forecast behind schedule.

    The remaining 6 planned schemes are all on schedule.

    South East & London

    Total of 26 schemes in this region.

    2 are in construction, 1 is forecast ahead of schedule and 1 on schedule

    Of the remaining 24 planned projects all are on schedule.

    East

    Total of 16 schemes.

    2 are in construction and both are forecast ahead of schedule.

    The remaining planned 14 schemes, 1 is forecast ahead of schedule and 13 are on schedule.

    Overall schemes which are under construction are coming in or under budget. For schemes under development we would expect some movement in timescales or costs but overall Highways England is on course to deliver its commitments within the allocated funding.

  • 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 2016-03-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Bahrain concerning the imprisonment of Ibrahim Sharif for making speeches about democracy.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We have raised Ibrahim Sharif’s case with the Government of Bahrain, including at the highest levels, and we understand that he has the right of appeal. The UK encourages Bahrain to respect the rights of all peaceful opposition figures. We call on the Bahraini government to act proportionately in all such cases to protect the universal rights of freedom of expression and assembly. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), most recently raised human rights with the Bahraini Ambassador to the UK, His Excellency Sheikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa , on 8 March.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all people diagnosed with HIV have access to (a) pre-exposure prophylaxis and (b) other treatments.

    Jane Ellison

    Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a new use of HIV drugs which has shown clinical effectiveness in research trials at preventing HIV in people at high risk of getting HIV such as men who have sex with men and people with HIV-positive partners. PrEP would not be suitable for people who already have diagnosed HIV. However, in July 2015, NHS England approved a significant new investment in a ‘Treatment as Prevention’ programme whereby HIV drugs are offered to all newly diagnosed patients whatever their CD4 count. Previously, treatment would begin when the CD4 count has declined to 350 cells/mm3 or less. This will significantly decrease the chance of HIV transmission between individuals and also reduces the risk of illness in the person with HIV.

    The National Health Service continues to deliver excellent HIV treatment and care for people with HIV with referrals into services within two weeks of diagnosis.

  • Ann Clwyd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ann Clwyd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Clwyd on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assistance the Government has provided to the government of Egypt for counter-terrorism in (a) 2013, (b) 2014, (c) 2015 and (d) 2016 to date; what equipment has been provided to that government for that purpose; and what types of capacity-building activity and training have been provided.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK and Egypt have a shared interest in the fight against terrorism, and we are committed to working together in a number of areas to combat the terrorist threat. These include aviation security and the protection of tourist resorts. The UK armed forces have also provided their Egyptian counterparts with counter-IED and close protection training.

    During President Sisi’s visit to the UK in November 2015, the Foreign Secretary and Foreign Minister Shoukry signed a Memorandum of Understanding committing the Home Office and Egyptian Ministry of Interior to a regular high-level dialogue to increase cooperation across a wide range of areas, including counter-terrorism, illegal migration and organised crime.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment her Department has carried out of the effect of proposed changes to the size of the budget for the Equality and Human Rights Commission on (a) the service it is able to support and (b) access to justice for (i) people who do not qualify for legal aid, (ii) people who cannot afford tribunal fees and (iii) people who do not have a local law centre or whose local Citizens Advice Bureau has closed.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has and will continue to receive sufficient funds to enable it to fulfil its statutory functions. These functions include duties to promote and encourage equality and diversity and human rights, and powers for implementing inquiries, investigations and enforcement actions for equality and diversity. As now, the EHRC will continue to support people in individual cases where these are of strategic significance, for example in clarifying the relevant law.

    Advice for individuals more generally is available from the Equality Advisory and Support Service, which is also funded by the Government.

  • Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to implement his Department’s plans on childhood obesity.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The Department is confident our world leading plan, Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action, will make a real difference to obesity rates in this country.

    The Government is currently consulting on the soft drinks industry levy and a broad sugar reduction programme has been launched.

    The Department will continue to work with the National Health Service, local authorities and other partners as we move into the delivery phase of the plan.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many of the (a) core recommendations and (b) specific recommendations of his Department’s report entitled Children in Military Custody, published in June 2012, the Israeli government has implemented.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Since the publication of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office-funded independent report on Children in Military Custody in June 2012, there has been some progress on the issue of children held in military detention. This includes a pilot to use summons instead of night-time arrests, changes to standard operating procedures on methods of restraint, and steps to reduce the amount of time a child can be detained before seeing a judge. There has also been a reduction in the use of solitary confinement and an increase in the use of Arabic to give notifications of arrest.

    While we welcome the improvements to date, we continue to press the Israeli authorities to make further progress on this important issue.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of new claims for (a) jobseeker’s allowance and (b) employment and support allowance were made by (i) UK nationals and (ii) EU nationals from outside the UK in each of the last five years.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not available.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether an evaluation has been undertaken of the Ofsted pilot inspections of local area provision for children with special educational needs and disability; and if she will publish that evaluation.

    Edward Timpson

    Local authorities have made good progress complying with the statutory special educational needs duties in the Children and Families Act 2014 since they came into force in September 2014. We continue to monitor progress.

    All local authorities have published a Local Offer of the services and support available to children and young people in their area with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Responsibility for publishing and maintaining Local Offers lies with each local authority. The Department supports local authorities to help make sure they meet all statutory requirements for their Local Offer, and that the quality of services continues to improve.

    In summer 2014, the Department conducted a review of Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans and plan templates from half of local authorities. The majority of the EHC plan templates we reviewed were judged likely to meet the requirements in the SEND Code of Practice. Where changes were needed, this was often due to inaccurate labelling of the required sections. Feedback was provided to individual local authorities alongside information to all local authorities about the key areas for focus. Since September 2014, EHC plans have been continually monitored. Where individual EHC plans are considered not to be fully compliant, advice on improvement is provided to the local authority.

    Figures returned by local authorities and published in the Statements of SEN and EHC plans Statistical First Release[1] in May 2015 show that, of the 1,360 new EHC plans issued between 1 September 2014 and 15 January 2015, 64.3% were within the statutory 20 week time limit when excluding exception cases.

    The Department for Education is providing specific additional funding to Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to support their inspection of the effectiveness of local areas in fulfilling their new SEND duties. We are in the process of setting individual budgets as part of our internal business planning process.

    Ofsted and CQC conducted pilots as part of their wider consultation on their inspection proposals. These pilots explored different approaches to securing evidence in what is a complex area, involving a range of education, social care, and health providers at the local level. Ofsted and CQC will publish their response to the consultation on these new inspection arrangements in spring 2016. In addition, they will evaluate the impact of inspections, which will begin later in 2016.

    The Department draws on a wide range of evidence to determine whether the SEND provisions of the Children and Families Act have improved outcomes for children. Our intention is that a combination of local accountability measures; data and analysis; and independent inspection will show how the SEND system is performing and whether outcomes are improving for children and young people.

    The SEND inspections will evaluate local areas’ effectiveness in identifying and meeting the needs of children and young people. We will draw on a wide range of statistics[2], including information on educational attainment, absence and exclusions and research into families and young people’s experience of the new system.

    A summary of the available data on SEN and disability is available at

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/472575/Special_educational_needs-_an_analysis_and_summary_of_data_sources.pdf

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statements-of-sen-and-ehc-plans-england-2015

    [2] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-special-educational-needs-sen

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  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he will issue the draft environmental statement on Phase 2 of High Speed Two (Fradley to Crewe).

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    HS2 Ltd is already undertaking environmental surveys, meeting communities and carrying out ground investigation works on the planned line of route as part of its preparation for a Phase 2a hybrid Bill.

    This early investigation and engagement will inform a draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report, which we expect to publish for consultation in autumn 2016. The draft report will show the potential environmental impacts of the scheme and indicative steps to mitigate them.