Category: Speeches

  • Ben Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ben Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Bradshaw on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recent finding by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine that pre-exposure prophylaxis could reduce HIV rates in men who have sex with men by between 40 and 60 per cent; and what steps he is taking to make pre-exposure prophylaxis available to people in this group.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England is working with local authorities, clinicians, patient representatives and Public Health England to consider the clinical and cost effectiveness of providing Pre-exposure prophylaxis to at-risk groups to prevent them acquiring HIV. This includes a full review and analysis of published literature in this area.

  • Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions her Department has had with the Department of Health on implementation of the Ross Fund.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The Ross Fund is a new £1 billion fund that will be used to support the global fight against malaria and other infectious diseases. Programmes will be led by either the Department for International Development or the Department of Health. By bringing together the range of DFID and DH’s activity into the Ross Fund and ensuring coordination, we can maximise synergies and avoid duplication.

    The accountability and responsibility of delivering on the individual programmes within the Ross Fund is with the respective lead department. The teams in each department are working closely together to ensure there is a complementary approach. A cross-government senior officials group (including Department for International Development and Department of Health) is also meeting on a regular basis to provide strategic direction in global health, including for the Ross Fund.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many former civil servants who worked on JSi projects have now left his Department.

    Andrew Selous

    I refer my the Rt Hon Member to my Written Ministerial Statement of 14 March:

    http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2016-03-14/HCWS619/

    I will update the House once the investigation is complete.

    “

  • Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the levels of awareness among parents of the (a) School Admissions Code and (b) ability to object to a school’s admission arrangement through the Office of the Schools Adjudicator; and what steps she plans to take to increase that awareness.

    Nick Gibb

    The School Admissions Code imposes requirements on local authorities and school admission authorities. Local authorities are responsible for providing parents with the information they require about the admissions process. It is available at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-admissions-code–2

    Information about how to object to the Schools Adjudicator is available here: www.gov.uk/guidance/schools-adjudicator-make-an-objection-appeal-or-referral#objections-to-and-referrals-about-determined-school-admission-arrangements

    “

  • Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2016-06-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the North East Commissioning Service has not accepted an offer from Newcastle City Council’s Director of Public Health to place a contract to modify data systems to facilitate analysis at council ward level.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    This is an operational matter for the Commissioning Support Unit and the local Council.

    The North of England Commissioning Support Unit advises that it has held discussions with the Director of Public Health but is not aware of any offer to place a contract with the organisation.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-09-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to ensure that EU law relating to traffic will continue to be enforced when the UK leaves the EU.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government is considering the impacts of the decision to leave the EU, including future arrangements for existing legislation. Until we leave the EU, EU law continues to apply, so we continue to comply with the requirements relating to traffic.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rachel Reeves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2015-11-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of tax credit claimants who claim housing benefit are entitled to a higher rate of housing benefit due to the childcare cost disregard.

    Damian Hinds

    This Government is committed to moving from a high welfare, high tax, low wage economy to a lower welfare, lower tax, higher wage society. As the Chancellor made clear, the Government will set out at Autumn Statement how we plan to achieve the same goal of reforming tax credits, saving the money we need to save to secure our economy, while at the same time helping in the transition.

    As announced at Summer Budget, the Chancellor announced that free entitlement childcare would be doubled from 15 hours to 30 for working parents. This will not be rolled out until September 2017, with early implementation in some areas in September 2016.

    Information about the age, gender and number of children in receipt of tax credits can be found in HMRC’s Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics, April 2015. Available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-tax-credits-provisional-statistics-2013-to-2009

    “

  • Emma Lewell-Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Emma Lewell-Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Lewell-Buck on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department has taken to encourage (a) UK-owned and (b) UK-based private sector companies to invest in UK energy and manufacturing supply chains.

    Anna Soubry

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has worked jointly with Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) and UKTI to encourage investment in UK energy supply chains, in both UK-owned and UK-based companies, and to achieve higher levels of UK content in energy infrastructure. We have worked constructively with project developers to enhance the opportunities for UK-based companies to win contracts and with top tier suppliers to encourage them to invest in the UK.

    BIS continues to work with DECC and the Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) to encourage investment in the UK Continental shelf (UKCS) and these arrangements include the formation of a Supply Chain Board to promote development of the oil and gas supply chain. Subsequent to the Oil & Gas Skills Analysis Report we maintain a regular dialogue with Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organisation (OPITO), the oil and gas skills body, who advise on skills gaps.

    For large renewable energy projects, developers are required to have their Supply Chain Plans approved by Government, setting out how they will boost competition, innovation and skills, before they are eligible to apply for price support under the Contract for Difference regime. BIS has supported the GROW: Offshore Wind programme to help SMEs in England to compete in the offshore wind supply chain and the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult to help companies bring new technologies to market.

    Open competition is important to bring down the costs of energy and, in open competition, UK bidders do not always win the contracts. We have made no specific assessment of the impact of UK contractors failing to win contracts on the UK economy, including the Scotland economy, and on the UK skills base.

    More widely, the Government is taking a number of steps to strengthen UK manufacturing supply chains and help these businesses compete in global markets.

    First and foremost, we are building a strong economy and a competitive business environment. We are backing manufacturers by cutting corporation tax, slashing red tape by a further £10billion and investing £6.9billion in the UK’s infrastructure. This is creating the right economic conditions to encourage the business investment crucial to UK manufacturing productivity growth and jobs.

    Through the sectors councils we are working closely with manufacturing companies to understand their needs and remove barriers in their path. The Government continues to invest in our world leading aerospace, automotive, defence and transport sectors and has reformed procurement rules so the supply chain can reap maximum benefit; whilst the High Value Manufacturing Catapult shows how companies can adapt to new technologies reduce their costs and boost productivity. One in six manufacturers have reshored production over the past three years and around one third of the 2,000 new Foreign Direct Investment projects landed in 2014/15 were in the areas of advanced manufacturing and life sciences. Business has the confidence to invest and make things in the UK again because the Government is getting the fundamentals of the economy right and creating a highly competitive, pro-business environment.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-01-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people currently hold ISAs worth more than £1 million.

    Harriett Baldwin

    HM Revenue and Customs publishes detailed statistics relating to Individual Savings Accounts on Gov.uk. Links given below:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/487119/Dec15_expenditure_reliefs_Final.xlsx.pdf)

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/423438/Table_9.10_2012-13_for_publication.pdf).

    “

  • 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 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of proposed changes to housing benefit on tenants in supported housing and their access to mental health services.

    Alistair Burt

    Shortly, we will be engaging colleagues across Government on the proposed changes to housing benefit. As the cross-Government lead, the Department for Work and Pensions is coordinating any work to understand the likely impact of the reforms.