Category: Speeches

  • Baroness Gould of Potternewton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Gould of Potternewton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-04-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the arrangements for assessing whether pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) should be nationally commissioned in England following the NHS England statement that they were withdrawing PrEP from consideration by them.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England has agreed to carefully consider their position on commissioning Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Planning continues on the early implementer tests sites in the meantime. Irrespective of the commissioning arrangements for PrEP, decisions to fund will depend on full assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness and how it can be integrated with other HIV prevention efforts.

    The Government is investing £2.4 million in HIV prevention nationally and through this will fund a number of innovative local projects and set up a new HIV home sampling service – one of the first of its kind. National investment in home sampling has been significantly enhanced by local investment from local authorities.

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children have been reunited with their families in the UK in (a) the last five years and (b) the last year under (i) the EU Dublin III Regulation; (ii) part 11 of the UK immigration rules, (iii) any other parts of the UK immigration rules and (iv) under exceptional circumstances.

    James Brokenshire

    There are several routes for children to be reunited safely with their families in the UK. Applications for family reunion for individuals under the age of 18 years of age can be received both in country and out of country and are processed by a number of casework units within the Home Office including International Operations, Settlement, Complex Casework and Asylum Operations. Unfortunately the way these applications are processed and the method used to store the data on the main immigration database means that not all of the data is recorded in a format that can be reported on automatically and would therefore require a manual investigation of thousands of case records. As a result this data could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

    Since 2010 we have granted more than 21,000 family reunion visas and 175 visas for exceptional circumstances though we are not able to distinguish from the data how many of these applicants were under the age of 18. Internal Management information concerning applications from people under 18 processed by International Operations and Complex Casework are listed in the table below:

    Year

    Complex Casework

    2010

    14

    2011

    14

    2012

    8

    2013

    7

    2014

    24

    2015

    10

    Grand Total

    77

    Year

    International Operations

    2011

    2950

    2012

    2406

    2013

    2624

    2014

    2882

    2015

    3088

    Grand Total

    13950

    This is provisional management information that is subject to change. It has not been assured to the standard of Official Statistics.

  • Paul Farrelly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paul Farrelly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Farrelly on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to advise smokers on the range of harm-reduction products available to help them quit smoking.

    Jane Ellison

    For the first time, from May 2016, cessation information to signpost consumers to quitting support has become mandatory on tobacco products. The Government’s advice remains that the best thing a smoker can do is to quit and quit for good. Any smokers wanting to quit, with or without the help of products available on the market, are four times more likely to stop smoking and quit for good with the personalised support offered by local stop smoking services.

    The National Centre for Stop Smoking Services has issued guidance on offering advice to those wanting to use e-cigarettes as part of their quit attempts and encouraged local stop smoking services to be open to their use.

    The Government recognises that some people have found e-cigarettes helpful in quitting smoking and that they are considerably less harmful than continuing to smoke. The forthcoming tobacco control plan will consider the role of e-cigarettes and other harm reduction products in further reducing the prevalence of smoking in England.

    The Department has no current plans to review the restrictions on advertising for tobacco products.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2016 to Question 45359, whether people not from government departments have accompanied him on official visits abroad.

    Greg Hands

    My Rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade has been only accompanied by Government officials on all foreign visits.

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure consistent and comprehensive communications by tour companies and airlines with UK nationals in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department for Transport has been in constant contact with tour companies and airlines operating in Sharm-el-Sheikh. All have been working in collaboration to ensure that information on flights to the UK has been provided to UK nationals on a timely basis, supported by travel advice issued through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, who have also been providing consular assistance on the ground. Since flights restarted on Friday 6 November 2015, over 16,000 passengers have returned to the UK. This includes those that travelled independently, for example on a flight only basis. Flights on 17 November saw the return of all UK nationals that wished to do so.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure suitable training and accreditation for support dogs.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Standards for assistance dogs are maintained on the basis of a voluntary regulatory framework. There is no specific legislation for the regulation of assistance dogs.

  • Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of trends in the rate of race-related crimes in England and Wales over the last five years.

    Karen Bradley

    The Crime Survey for England and Wales estimates that there were 106,000 incidents of race hate crime a year, based on the combined data from the 2012/13 to 2014/15 surveys (the most recently available figures). There has been a clear downward trend in the number of hate crime incidents between the 2007/08 to 2008/09 and 2012/13 to 2014/15 crimes surveys, which have fallen by 28% for all hate crimes over this period. The Home Office also collects information from the police on hate crimes. This shows that were 42,930 race hate crimes recorded by the police in 2014/15, a 15% increase on the previous year. This increase is largely thought to be due to improvements in recording practices by the police over the last year rather than a real increase in race hate crime. However, it is possible in some police forces areas that recording may not be the only reason and there could be an element of real increases in certain areas.

    The Government is committed to tackling all forms of hate crime, including that perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person. That is why we announced in October last year the intention to bring forward a new cross Government hate crime action plan. This is being developed with the communities most affected by hate crime and will be published later this year.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with people who run airports on excessive VAT charging in retail outlets based in airports.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department for Transport meets regularly with airport operators and the issue of the treatment of VAT in airside retail shops has been reviewed. The Chancellor announced on the 31 December 2015 a review into airport sales to make sure VAT savings are being passed on to shoppers. It would therefore not be appropriate for me to comment at this stage whilst HM Treasury is undertaking this review.

  • Baroness Doocey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Doocey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Doocey on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many child victims of modern slavery referred to the National Referral Mechanism have passed through Calais.

    Lord Bates

    National Referral Mechanism (NRM) data on the number of child victims of modern slavery who have passed through Calais is not specifically recorded. NRM data includes the location of exploitation and the location of where the potential victim was first encountered. Border Force will refuse entry to the UK for any child presenting at Calais where they have concerns about their welfare. Such children are referred to and placed in the care of the French authorities. These children are not referred into the NRM as they are not present in the UK. Care and support for children who are suspected of having been trafficked or enslaved, under these circumstances, would fall to the French Authorities.

    The UK has funded a project run by a French non-governmental organisation, France Terre D’Asile, to identify potential victims of trafficking and exploitation (including children) in the camps in Calais and to direct them to appropriate support services in France. The Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Kevin Hyland, has been fully involved in the project by Terre D’Asile.

  • Michelle Donelan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Michelle Donelan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michelle Donelan on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to paragraph 1.302 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what progress his Department has made on consulting on options to move operations of the Land Registry to the private sector from 2017.

    Anna Soubry

    The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills launched a public consultation – Moving Land Registry operations into the private sector, on 24 March 2016. This public consultation will remain open for nine weeks until 26 May to allow public and stakeholders to respond to it.