Category: Speeches

Lisa Nandy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Nandy on 2016-06-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what representations officials, advisers and Ministers in her Department made to the Competition and Markets Authority on the date of publication of its final report on the energy market.

Andrea Leadsom

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) are an independent body and the date of publication of their reports is their decision. Officials, Advisors and Ministers in the Department have not made any representations to the CMA, and the CMA have not consulted Ministers or advisors, on the date of the publication of this report. Officials in my Department have discussed with the CMA their intended date of publication for final report on the energy market to inform the Department’s own planning.

01/01/2023
Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-09-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, (a) how much funding and (b) how many full-time equivalent staff will be transferred to her Department from the former Department for Business, Innovation and Skills as a result of her Department’s policy responsibility for universities.

Caroline Dinenage

Discussions and negotiations are still ongoing. We are currently unable to provide information on how much funding and how many full-time equivalent staff will transfer as a result of the Department for Education receiving policy responsibility for universities.

01/01/2023
Craig Mackinlay – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Mackinlay on 2015-11-10.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the number of people that will be subject to the provisions of the High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge as a result of Clause 24 of the Finance Bill 2015 (restriction to Landlords’ interest deductibility) in each year between 2017-18 and 2020-21.

Mr David Gauke

It is assumed that the questions refer to clause 24 of the Summer 2015 Finance Bill: relief for finance costs related to residential property businesses.

15897

The additional taxation receipts arising from restrictions to Landlords’ interest deductibility of the Summer Budget Finance Bill 2015 has been estimated and published in the “Summer Budget 2015: policy costings” page 21:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/443195/Policy_costings_summer_budget_2015.pdf

15898

The number of taxpayers who will become higher rate taxpayers as a result of Clause 24 of the plans to restrict finance cost relief for individual landlords will not be estimated. It would only be possible to provide an estimate for the specific years requested at disproportionate cost.

15899

The number of taxpayers who will become subject to Personal Allowance restrictions as a result of the plans to restrict finance cost relief for individual landlords will not be estimated. It would only be possible to provide an estimate for the specific years requested at disproportionate cost.

15895

No estimate is available of the number of people that will be subject to the provisions of the High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge as a result of Clause 24 of the Finance Bill 2015. The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

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01/01/2023
Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Turkish government about the use of curfew, martial law and the deployment of the military in (a) Cizre and Silvan and (b) other mainly Kurdish towns.

Mr David Lidington

We welcome the visit on 15-16 October of Turkey’s national human rights body to Cizre and Sirnak to conduct analysis and research on the recent events there. We continue to monitor the human rights situation in Turkey closely and raise concerns regularly with the Turkish authorities.

01/01/2023
Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with (a) the police and (b) retailers on the sale of zombie knives in the UK.

Karen Bradley

The Government continues to work with the police and partners to ensure we reduce violence and knife crime, and in the year ending June 2015, knife crime recorded by the police was 17% lower than 2010. We are aware of concerns about zombie knives and we are currently considering representations including the letter of 13 January from the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for the West Midlands and on 21 January from the prospective mayoral candidate for London Zac Goldsmith. A reply will be sent shortly and we will offer to meet with the PCC.

We are currently considering what action to take against the prevalence of zombie knives on our streets. We are talking to retailers, including Amazon, about the action they can take. There are strict laws on the sale of knives to under 18s and on how knives can be marketed. We are concerned about any knives being carried in public especially if used to threaten and inflict violence. It is a criminal offence to possess a knife in public without good reason, and if a person is convicted a second time they now face a minimum mandatory custodial sentence following the introduction of this change by the Government in July 2015.

01/01/2023
Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce deaths of premature babies.

Ben Gummer

We are committed making sure every baby receives consistently high quality care, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

In November 2015, the Government announced a national ambition to halve by 2030 the rates of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries occurring during or soon after birth.

To support the National Health Service in achieving this ambition we also announced:

― a £2.24 million capital fund for equipment to improve safety;

― over £1 million to roll out training programmes to make sure staff have the skills and confidence they need to deliver world-leading safe care; and

― £500,000 to develop a new system that can be used consistently across the NHS to enable staff to review and learn from every stillbirth and neonatal death.

The announcement also committed to publishing an annual report to update the public, health professionals, providers and commissioners on the progress we are making towards achieving the ambition.

The National Maternity Review, chaired by Baroness Cumberlege, will include proposals for the future shape of modern, high quality and sustainable maternity services across England. We anticipate that its report will have an important role in shaping the system to achieve our ambition.

For those babies who are born sick or premature, NHS England commissions Neonatal Care from 165 neonatal units. These units are organised and supported by 13 Operational Delivery Networks. The organisation of networks has brought tangible benefits in the delivery of babies in the right place to receive specialist care when it is needed.

NHS England’s Neonatal Critical Care Service Specification states that providers should ensure that expert and experienced staff treat sufficient numbers of cases to maintain a safe high quality service and move towards national standards.

It is for local hospital trusts and specialised commissioners to decide how best to use the guidance and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence quality standard for specialist neonatal care to improve babies’ chances of survival and minimise mortality associated with being born either premature or unwell. We know that that there is still more to do to ensure these services are consistent across the country and that is why the Neonatal Clinical Reference Group at NHS England has committed to review the findings of the Bliss report, (published in October 2015 which can be found here http://www.bliss.org.uk/babyreport), and will work with all of its key partners to make recommendations for further improvement.

Unless we invest in research we cannot understand how to best improve services for mothers and their babies. Significant sums have been invested over recent years in support of research looking at important questions regarding premature birth. The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funds a range of research relating to causes, risk factors and prevention of stillbirth and neonatal death. The NIHR Health Technology Assessment is funding a £6.0 million trial of an intelligent system to support decision making in the management of labour using the cardiotocogram – due to report in 2017. The NIHR is also funding a £1.2 million study on preventing adverse pregnancy outcome in women at increased risk of stillbirth by detecting placental dysfunction– due to report in 2019.

To help achieve the best outcomes, women are also offered a comprehensive programme of scans, screening tests and development examinations during pregnancy and following birth babies will receive the checks in the NHS newborn and infant physical examination screening programme and the NHS newborn blood spot screening programme .

01/01/2023
Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he has had discussions with his EU counterparts on the containment of the Zika virus.

Jane Ellison

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State regularly discusses matters across his portfolio with his European counterparts. He continues to monitor this outbreak of the Zika virus closely. In addition, Departmental officials continue to discuss the developing situation, including the measures that can be taken to contain the virus, with European colleagues through a number of channels, including at regular meetings of the European Health Security Committee.

01/01/2023
Paul Maynard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Maynard on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to introduce a national register of children with cerebral palsy that includes data on the number of children identified with that condition.

Jane Ellison

There are no plans to establish a national register of children with cerebral palsy. PACE, the charity which supports children and families affected by motor disorders such as cerebral palsy indicates that the current United Kingdom incidence rate of cerebral palsy is around one in 400 births and that approximately 1,800 children are diagnosed with cerebral palsy every year.

It is the responsibility of the professional regulators to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricula to ensure newly qualified healthcare professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. This includes training to diagnose and provide care for children with cerebral palsy.

Health Education England works with bodies that set curricula such as the General Medical Council and the royal colleges to seek to ensure training meets the needs of patients.

Employers are responsible for ensuring that staff receive appropriate development to continue to deliver safe and effective healthcare.

The Health Visitor training programme is not a condition specific programme of training. Health Visitors are all qualified nurses and/or midwives with a broad range of clinical skills. They undertake an additional year of training to be a health visitor during which they specialise in child and family issues.

Health Visitors can support families with a child with cerebral palsy in the management of the clinical aspects of the condition. They can also advise on links to other specialist services, resources and groups to support the needs of the family and the child.

The Department has asked the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence to prepare a clinical guideline on the diagnosis and management of cerebral palsy. It is expected to be published in January 2017.

01/01/2023
Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that businesses and individuals are being adequately protected from the financial impact of cybercrime.

Lord Keen of Elie

Through the National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP), we invested over £90 million during the last Parliament to bolster the law enforcement response. As the Chancellor announced in November, this Government has committed to spending £1.9 billion on cyber security over the next five years, including activity to help businesses and individuals protect themselves from cyber crime. The Government is also creating the National Cyber Security Centre, which will open in October 2016, to simplify the current cyber security landscape. This year, we will also publish a second five-year National Cyber Security Strategy which will set out our approach to how we will continue to defend the UK from cyber crime.

Through the NCSP we are funding the Cyber Streetwise campaign (www.cyberstreetwise.com), which encourages the public and Small and Medium Enterprises to adopt more secure online behaviour. The latest phase of the campaign, launched in September 2015, is focussed on addressing the estimated 80% of cyber crime that could be prevented through the adoption of three simple online behaviours: use three random words to create a strong password; install security software on all devices; and always download the latest software and app updates as soon as they appear.

We are also clear that banks have a central role in the prevention of fraud and cyber crime. The Home Secretary announced our new Joint Fraud Taskforce on 10 February. The Taskforce is a collaboration of the banks, law enforcement and government, at the most senior levels. Its aim is to protect the public from financial fraud, including cyber-enabled fraud, to reduce the impact of fraud on victims and increase the disruption and prosecution of fraudsters.

01/01/2023
Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of British nationals living (a) outside the UK and in the EU and (b) outside the UK and the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington

The UN publishes data on the number of people of UK origin living elsewhere, broken down by region and country. The dataset can be found at: http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/data/estimates2/estimates15.shtml

01/01/2023