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  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what work his Department is undertaking with partner countries to address the inequalities experienced by Bedouin Arab communities in Israel.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are concerned about the inequalities faced by Bedouin Arab communities in Israel. The British Embassy in Tel Aviv is particularly focused on issues related to housing and supports several Arab town planning projects in Green Line Israel. These projects provide professional training and practical solutions for dozens of urban planners and engineers in Arab towns, helping them to overcome planning obstacles. This year our projects include: establishing an engineers’ task-force, professional advice for Arab local authorities in planning matters and a piece of research into planning obstacles.

    We continue to lodge our concerns about ongoing evictions and demolitions with contacts at Israel’s Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Agriculture and to encourage the development of a policy based on genuine consultation, which secures the buy-in of the community. We have pursued this with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s chief advisor on Arab affairs, who told us that the state has invested 1.2 billion NIS in Bedouin education, employment and infrastructure.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations his Department has made to the Israeli government about the restrictions on construction in government-planned Bedouin towns.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Officials at our Embassy in Tel Aviv are monitoring the situation closely and will continue to demonstrate UK concern by regularly visiting Bedouin communities in the Negev. The Embassy has arranged for the Arab Centre for Alternative Planning to meet Israel’s Minister of Construction to discuss the issue of restrictions on construction in Negev Bedouin towns. The Ambassador plans to raise this issue with the Minister of Construction in January.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reasons references to UK objections to the death penalty were omitted from his Department’s policy paper, UN Human Rights Council: United Kingdom 2017-2019.

    Mr David Lidington

    Our UN pledges reflect our enduring commitment to promoting universal human rights which includes work to abolish the death penalty. The position of this Government is clear: We oppose the death penalty in all circumstances and we continue to call on all states to abolish it.

  • Martyn Day – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Martyn Day – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the timescale is for reaching a decision on the proposals to add Dupuytren’s Contracture to the list of industrial injuries disablement benefit diseases.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The proposal to add Dupuytren’s Contracture is still under consideration and a decision on this will be made in due course.

  • Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing mandatory reporting of major vehicle malfunction incidents by the emergency services to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.

    Andrew Jones

    The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is not aware of any requirement for mandatory reporting of major vehicle malfunction incidents by the emergency services. There is a voluntary method by which emergency services can report to DVSA concerns of design or construction defects in automotive products. This has been in place for many years and is an efficient and effective method used by the emergency services.

  • Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-12-14.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, by when the Government expects to have compiled a list of all people eligible to receive payments as a result of the decision by the Pensions Ombudsman in the case of Mr. W. Milne.

    Greg Hands

    Payments to individuals affected by the ruling are being administered by relevant fire and rescue authorities and police forces. I understand that authorities have identified all affected individuals and are in the process of calculating the payments due. This Government is committed to ensuring a timely resolution to this issue.

  • Wes Streeting – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Wes Streeting – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wes Streeting on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much (a) NHS England, (b) Public Health England, (c) Monitor and (d) the Care Quality Commission has spent on overseas visits since 2012-13; and what the date, destination and purpose was of each such visit.

    Jane Ellison

    Using information from central travel systems the Arm’s Length Bodies have advised their costs for the years specified. Costs for 2015-2016 will be available after the end of the financial year.

    (a) NHS England

    Since 2012-13 NHS England has spent £167,492.78 on overseas travel. See attached spreadsheet for a breakdown of the costs including date, destination and purpose of visit. A summary table of annual costs is included here.

    Cost of overseas travel 2012/13 – 2015/16 – NHS England

    Financial Year

    Total Spend

    2012 -2013

    –

    2013 – 2014

    £97,389.30

    2014 – 2015

    £70,103.48

    Total

    £167,492.78

    (b)Public Health England

    Since 2012-13 Public Health England has spent £2,991,553.00 20 on overseas travel. See attached table for a breakdown of destination and type of cost. Detail of individual trips can only be supplied at disproportionate cost. PHE is the lead for the UK on International Health Regulations, which extends to playing its part in protecting the UK from international health hazards, most obviously from communicable diseases. PHE’s expert scientific and medical staff are routinely deployed across the world, for example: to respond to public health incidents of international concern, such as with the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN). A summary table of annual costs is included here.

    Cost of overseas travel 2012/13 – 2015/16 – Public Health England

    Financial Year

    Total Spend

    2012 -2013

    –

    2013 – 2014

    £1,565,958

    2014 – 2015

    £1,425,595

    Total

    £2,991,553.00

    (c) Monitor

    Since 2012-13 Monitor has spent £9,552.96 on overseas travel. See attached table for a breakdown of the costs including the date, destination and purpose of visit. A summary table of annual costs is included here.

    Cost of overseas travel 2012/13 – 2015/16 – Monitor°

    Financial Year

    Total Spend

    2012 -2013

    £994.39

    2013 – 2014

    £3,833.07

    2014 – 2015

    £4,725.50

    Total

    £9,552.96

    °Figures include central travel bookings, expenses and credit cards

    (d) Care Quality Commission

    Since 2012-13 CQC has spent £16,548.32 on overseas travel. CQC have advised that they do not collect the level of data asked for and to collate it would incur disproportionate cost. They have provided a table of year on year costs of overseas travel.

    Cost of overseas travel 2012/13 – 2015/16 – Care Quality Commission°

    Financial Year

    Total Spend

    2012 -2013

    £3,136.73

    2013 – 2014

    £5,067.78

    2014 – 2015

    £8,343.81

    Total

    £16,548.32

    °Figures include flights and travel expenses

  • Wes Streeting – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Wes Streeting – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wes Streeting on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what advice (a) Monitor and (b) the Trust Development Authority has issued to NHS trusts in England about postponing elective operations and outpatient appointments during the winter period.

    Jane Ellison

    As in previous winters Jim Mackey, head of NHS Improvement (which includes both Monitor and the Trust Development Authority) sent a letter to NHS Foundation Trust and NHS Trust Chief Executive Officers on 3 December 2015.

    The letter suggested as a guide to aim for 20% unoccupied general and acute bed capacity by Christmas Eve and stated that this might involve rescheduling of elective work. Winter always places extra demand on the NHS and we are working hard with hospitals to ensure they are fully prepared to meet this challenge. Managing planned non-emergency operations and helping patients to get out of hospital more quickly are examples of how hospitals can make sure they have enough free beds to cope with the rising number of patients needing emergency care that the winter period often brings.

  • Wes Streeting – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Wes Streeting – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wes Streeting on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) MRI scanners and (b) computerised tomography scanners there are in England; where each such scanner is; and how old each such scanner is.

    George Freeman

    Information on the number, age and location of magnetic resonance imaging scanners and computerised tomography scanners is not collected centrally.

  • Vernon Coaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Vernon Coaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vernon Coaker on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many sectarian attacks have been carried out by dissident republicans in 2015-16 to date.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    PSNI produce regular statistics on the security situation which are publicly available online. These do not specifically record ‘sectarian attacks’ by dissident republicans.

    Dissident republicans continue to represent a severe threat to national security. This year to date they have carried out 16 national security attacks in Northern Ireland.