Category: Speeches

  • Lord Northbourne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Northbourne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Northbourne on 2016-04-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether their proposal to change the status of all secondary schools in England to academies would mean that maintained schools no longer have an obligation to deliver sex and relationship education.

    Lord Nash

    Maintained secondary schools must continue to meet their existing statutory duties. All maintained secondary schools are required to teach sex and relationship education and we expect academies to teach it as part of a broad and balanced curriculum.

    As announced in February, we will continue to keep the status of PSHE under review and work with a group of leading headteachers and practitioners to identify further action we can take to ensure that all pupils receive high quality, age appropriate PSHE and sex and relationship education.

    When any school, including academies, teaches sex and relationship education, they must have regard to the Secretary of State’s statutory Sex and Relationship Education Guidance (2000). The guidance makes clear that all such lessons should be age-appropriate and that schools should ensure young people develop positive values and a moral framework that will guide their decisions, judgments and behaviour.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many medical consultations took place in GP practices in the Southampton City Clinical Commissioning Group area in the last five years.

    Alistair Burt

    The information requested is not collected centrally.

  • Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-09-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the average car insurance premiums paid by (a) existing customers and (b) new customers in each of the last five years.

    Simon Kirby

    The Government does not hold information on average annual household and motor insurance premiums. There are a range of estimates of the cost of insurance published by industry, including the Association of British Insurers (ABI), the AA and Confused.com. The ABI’s data is available at: https://www.abi.org.uk/News/Industry-data-updates.

    The Government encourages consumers to shop around for the most suitable cover at the best price. To this end, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently published rules and guidance requiring insurers to disclose the previous year’s premium on renewal notices for general insurance products including motor and home insurance. The measures also require insurers to identify consumers who will be renewing with them for the fourth consecutive time and give them a prescribed shopping around message. The rules will come into force in April 2017.

  • Richard Arkless – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Richard Arkless – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how his Department monitors the obligations it places on its subcontractors to pay bills within 30 days.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is committed to implementing a prompt payment policy throughout the supply chain. We place a contractual obligation on our prime contractors to pay their subcontractors within 30 days.

    As with all contractual issues, in relation to direct contracts between the MOD and its suppliers, we would investigate any breaches to contract conditions on a case-by-case basis. While there is currently no established method of monitoring prompt payment outside of our direct contracts, we are working to update MOD contractual conditions to strengthen the prompt payment obligation throughout the supply chain.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much of the £15 million new funding allocated to perinatal mental health for 2015-16 has been spent to date; and what that funding has been spent on.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England will spend £1 million on strengthening clinical networks across the country to drive forward change and they have also commissioned the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health to set up an Expert Reference Group to provide an extensive package of national analytical and expert clinical advice to support the delivery of the perinatal mental health programme at a cost of £300,000.

    Work is underway on how they spend the rest of the money. This work has yet to be completed but decisions will be made by Christmas.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2015 to Question 17025, what plans he has to increase the borrowing and investing powers of clinical commissioning groups to ensure that employment terms and conditions for GPs encourage employment in areas with (a) an elderly demographic and (b) a high workload.

    Alistair Burt

    There are no current plans to increase the borrowing and investing powers of clinical commissioning groups. Responsibility for ensuring all patients have access to NHS primary medical services rests with NHS England.

    Those providing services under a contract with NHS England, or clinical commissioning groups acting on their behalf, are independent contractors and not employees of the NHS.

    Practices may employ general practitioners to assist them in the provision of services under the contract. Where they do so, they are required to apply, as a minimum, model terms and conditions of service as agreed between NHS Employers and the General Practitioners’ Committee of the British Medical Association.

  • Vernon Coaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Vernon Coaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vernon Coaker on 2016-01-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent progress has been made on the remaining legacy issues in Northern Ireland.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    During the talks last autumn, significant progress was made on how to implement the legacy bodies set out in the Stormont House Agreement. It was regrettable that agreement on all the legacy issues could not be reached during the talks process. I have, however, commenced a round of engagement with victims and others as we seek to achieve the consensus needed to bring forward legislation to address the outstanding legacy issues.

  • Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to publish a funded arthritis action plan.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department is in regular contact with stakeholders, such as Arthritis Research UK, and hosted a roundtable with them in November. The group is in the process of producing a toolkit for commissioners to support commissioning of physical activity interventions for people with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions.

    Whilst the Department has no plans to publish an arthritis action plan, NHS England and Public Health England are taking forward a number of projects.

    Specifically on MSK conditions, the National Health Service National Clinical Director for MSK, Peter Kay, has been working in partnership with the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance, to develop new MSK clinical networks across England to build consensus on the way forward for models of care. In addition, in February 2015, Public Health England, in partnership with NHS England and the Department, ran a local pilot campaign to raise public awareness of the signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis in Nottingham City and Hardwick Clinical Commissioning Group. The aim of the campaign was to support earlier diagnosis and thereby enable treatment to begin earlier to improve the quality of life for people with the condition. The results of the campaign are currently being evaluated.

  • Maggie Throup – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Maggie Throup – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maggie Throup on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support NHS England plans to provide clinical commissioning groups relating to the transfer of obesity surgery commissioning responsibilities from NHS England after that transfer.

    George Freeman

    Although the transfer is effective from April 2016, the handover process will be agreed between specialised commissioning and individual clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), in line with their preparedness.

    Specialised commissioning teams will continue to provide advice and support CCGs post-handover in line with the CCG’s need. CCGs already have mechanisms in place to monitor provider performance and quality through the existing quality assurance processes.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Israeli counterpart on settlement activity in the West Bank.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued a statement on 16 March condemning the Government of Israel’s decision to expand settlements in the West Bank.

    On 18 February, during my visit to Israel, I discussed the issue of settlements with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, reiterating the UK’s position. Our Embassy regularly raises this issue with the Israeli authorities, making clear the UK’s firm and consistent opposition to illegal construction of settlements.