UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Speeches

  • Maggie Throup – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Maggie Throup – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maggie Throup on 2015-10-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will request that NICE publishes its reasons for including a recommendation on the use of C-reactive protein testing for patients presenting with lower respiratory tract infection in primary care in its guidance on pneumonia but not in its pneumonia draft quality statement.

    George Freeman

    The prioritisation of topics for inclusion in quality standards is a matter for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). NICE has advised that its Quality Standards Advisory Committee considered the inclusion of a quality statement on the use of C-reactive protein testing for patients presenting with lower respiratory tract infection in primary care in its draft quality standard on pneumonia, but felt that this was not an area to be prioritised.

    The minutes of Quality Standards Advisory Committee meetings are published on NICE’s website at:

    www.nice.org.uk/get-involved/meetings-in-public/quality-standards-advisory-committee

    “

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-11-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the viability of biodiesel made from waste products in comparison to biodiesel made from virgin products.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) provides double rewards for biofuels derived from wastes.

    The Department concluded a post-implementation review of the RTFO in April 2014. Evidence from the review indicates that double rewards for biofuels from wastes, which were introduced under the RTFO in 2011, have encouraged a strong market for biodiesel from used cooking oil in the UK.

    Since the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) was established waste based biofuels have risen from 12% of total biofuel supply in the first year of the obligation 2008/09, to 50% according to the data for 2014/15 (Biofuels Statistics obligation year 7 2014/15 – Report 5).

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of pupils achieved five A* to C GCSEs in (a) community schools and (b) state-funded academy converter mainstream and foundation schools in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2015.

    Nick Gibb

    The figures for pupils achieving five or more A* to C GCSE grades in converter academies are published in the following GCSE and equivalent statistical first releases for the years 2012/13[1] and 2014/15[2]. The lower level breakdown of local authority maintained schools are not published.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2012-to-2013-revised (Table 3a)

    [2] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provisional-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2014-to-2015 (Table 3a)

    “

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what specific funding has been allocated to provide support for rough sleepers in each year since 2010.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Government is committed to protecting the most vulnerable in society. Over the last Parliament, we invested over £500 million to enable local authorities and the voluntary sector to support the most vulnerable in society, including rough sleepers, by preventing and tackling homelessness in their local areas.

    Some specific initiatives that targeted rough sleeping includes:

    • Rolling out No Second Night Out across England through the £20 million Homelessness Transition Fund(2011-12 to 2013-14). Over two-thirds of rough sleepers in 20 key areas outside London did not spend a second night on the streets.
    • Investing £5 million in the world’s first homelessness Social Impact Bond(2013-14 to 2016-17), run by the Greater London Authority to turn around the lives of 830 of London’s most entrenched rough sleepers. Over half have achieved accommodation, employment or reconnection outcomes.
    • Investing £1 million to support the StreetLink service(2012-13 to 2015-16), a website, app and telephone line that allows members of the public to connect rough sleepers into local support services. Over 17,000 rough sleepers have been found and helped since December 2012.
    • Investing £8 million in the Help for Single Homeless Fund (2014-15 to 2015-16) to improve services for vulnerable single homeless people, including rough sleepers. 34 successful projects in 168 local areas are supporting around 22,000 individuals.
    • Supporting local areas to improve the quality of hostels through the Homelessness Change Programme(2012-2015), which provided £42.5 million of capital funding for new and refurbished bed spaces and facilities to provide meaningful activities to support pathways to independent living.

    But one person without a home is one too many, which is why we will increase central investment over the next four years to £139 million for innovative programmes to prevent and reduce homelessness and rough sleeping. We also want to help local authorities provide advice and assistance to those at risk of homelessness which is why we have protected the homelessness prevention funding for local authorities through the provisional local government finance settlement, totalling £315 million by 2019-20.

    The Government will continue to work closely with the voluntary sector and local authorities on how we improve the impact of homelessness services and break the cycle of homelessness.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills about the effect of bus franchising in the vehicle manufacturing sector.

    Andrew Jones

    I refer my hon Friend the Member for Brigg and Goole to the answer I gave on 15th February, to Question UIN 26533.

    “

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding he plans to provide to local authorities for the provision of pre-exposure prophylaxis.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England has announced that it will make available up to £2 million in 2016/17 and 2017/18 for early implementer test sites for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). This funding will be made available to successful applications from local authorities.

    These will run over the next two years and will aim to test the ‘real life’ cost effectiveness and affordability of PrEP as part of an integrated HIV and sexually transmitted infection prevention service.

    NHS England, Public Health England and the Department will consider the relevant findings from the test sites to inform their respective commissioning responsibilities for HIV care and treatment and HIV prevention.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-04-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Disabled People on 13 April 2016, Official Report, column 151WH, on personal independence payments, what the statistical evidential basis is for the statement that more often than not decisions are overturned at reconsideration and appeal because of additional evidence that has been provided.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department gathers information on the reasons why PIP decisions have been overturned from its Presenting Officers and the summary reasons it gets back from the Tribunal hearing. Internal Management Information for 2015/16 indicates that either new oral or documentary evidence supplied at the hearing are the leading reasons for PIP decisions being overturned in 75% of overturns recorded.

    These figures are from internal DWP systems, where only one of possible multiple reasons can be recorded, and are derived from unpublished information and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics standard.

    This is consistent with findings from a pilot held in 2012 which published statistics on why benefit decisions by DWP decision makers were overturned at Tribunal. Early analysis of appeals allowed from pilot data based on pilot data from July to October 2012 is available here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/223139/sscs_appeals.pdf

    “

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information the Government has provided to British citizens living abroad who are eligible to vote in the EU referendum on that referendum.

    Mr David Lidington

    Before the purdah period began, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) supported the Electoral Commission’s global campaign to encourage eligible British citizens living abroad to register to vote, using its network of posts to reach British nationals around the world.

    The Government has made its position on the UK’s membership of the EU clear. It has published a number of papers analysing the choice facing the British people. These were made available on Gov.UK.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Security Industry Authority’s processing of license applications.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Home Department receives regular performance updates from the SIA, including information around the processing of licence applications. In the last financial year the SIA met its performance target for processing licence applications. We are however aware of some delays in the issuing of SIA licences following the launch of its new IT system in July 2016. The SIA have introduced a series of measures to address the issues and we will continue to monitor its performance in this area.

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to tackle global climate change.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The UK played an important role in securing the global climate Agreement reached in Paris in December 2015. The UK has started its domestic process to enable ratification of the Paris Agreement and will complete this before the end of the year.

    The UK also played a key role in securing a major global climate deal to combat aviation emissions, reached at the 39th Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization on 6 October 2016.

    We will provide at least £5.8bn from the UK aid budget between 2016 and 2020 as climate finance which will continue to support developing countries to mitigate and adapt to climate change. This should help promote green investment required to meet the well below 2 degree goal set in Paris.

    Domestically we are delivering against the Paris climate deal through our UK Climate Change Act which commits us to reduce emissions by at least 80% by 2050. One of the first acts of this Government was to pass the fifth carbon budget into law – it is equivalent to a 57% reduction on 1990 levels by 2030.