Blog

  • Tessa Munt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tessa Munt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tessa Munt on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when NHS England will publish a tariff for stereotactic ablative radiotherapy.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I have her on 25 November, 2013, Official Report, column 160W.

    Monitor and NHS England published Methodology Discussion Paper on the 23 April 2014, which is available at:

    www.monitor.gov.uk/node/6272

    where the sector can provide feedback on the 2015/16 national tariff payment system. A copy has been placed in the Library.

    The sector will have further opportunities to comment and provide evidence during the summer of 2014 prior to the final tariff publication. Services which have been subject to local price setting will also be reviewed for the local pricing arrangements as part of the review for 2015-16 and 2016-17.

  • Harriet Harman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Harriet Harman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Harriet Harman on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support the Nigernian government in its efforts to protect schools in north-eastern Nigeria and to re-open schools that have closed for security reasons.

    Lynne Featherstone

    DFID is supporting the Nigerian government to reduce instability in the north-east of Nigeria, helping to provide a more stable and secure environment for schools to operate. This approach includes DFID Nigeria’s Stability and Reconciliation Programme which promotes conflict resolution and supports local organisations to tackle violence against women and girls. DFID also supports the Presidential Initiative for the North East which is promoting economic recovery and meeting basic needs, including education.

    DFID’s education programme operates in eleven states in Nigeria, including the north-eastern state of Bauchi. Here DFID is working with UNICEF and the state government to improve girls’ access to better education.

  • Harriet Harman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Harriet Harman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Harriet Harman on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he last discussed with his Nigerian counterpart the recent abduction of schoolgirls in that country; and when he next intends to raise this issue.

    Mark Simmonds

    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) spoke to Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs on 18 April about the case. The Foreign Secretary expressed the UK’s sympathies about this outrageous crime and offered UK assistance to Nigerian efforts to recover the girls.

    Officials at our High Commission in Abuja have met their Nigerian security and military counterparts regularly since the abductions and have repeated the Foreign Secretary’s offer of assistance.

  • Harriet Harman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Harriet Harman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Harriet Harman on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will discuss the abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok in north-eastern Nigeria on 14 April 2014 at the next European Union meeting of Foreign Ministers.

    Mark Simmonds

    We expect the next Foreign Affairs Council to focus on Ukraine. Nigeria is not currently on the agenda. Our High Commissioner in Abuja has discussed the abductions with his EU colleagues.

  • Harriet Harman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Harriet Harman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Harriet Harman on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many schoolgirls were abducted in Chibok in north-eastern Nigeria on 14 April 2014; and what reports he has received on their current location.

    Mark Simmonds

    Approximately 230 schoolgirls were taken. A small number appear to have escaped or been released. There is no confirmation of the current location or condition of those still being held. Most reports suggest the girls were initially taken to the Sambisa forest, where insurgents are believed to have a number of camps. The girls may have now been split into several smaller groups.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people classified as disabled left work as a result of their disability; and how many such people entered new work in each of the last four years.

    Mike Penning

    The information requested is not available. We do not hold information on the reason for an individual leaving employment, therefore we are unable to ascertain how many disabled people left employment as a result of their disability.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what average extra costs are incurred by disabled people as a result of their disability.

    Mike Penning

    We do not hold current information on the extra costs incurred by disabled people as a result of their disability.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, for what reason the empty home premium starts when a property first becomes empty rather than when a property is bought with the intention of renovating and occupying it.

    Stephen Williams

    The empty homes premium aims to reduce the total length of time for which properties are empty, not the length of time for which they are empty under a particular owner.

    Since the power came into effect on 1 April 2013, 239 councils in England have introduced the empty homes premium. The number of long-term empty homes fell by 38,009 between October 2012 and October 2013.

    Properties that are left empty due to the death of the occupier are exempt from council tax for up to six months after the granting of probate, or after letters of administration have been signed.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools which cater for students with severe or complex disabilities have indicated to his Department that they plan to reduce provision for such students since December 2013; and what reasons have been given for these plans.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    This information is not collected centrally.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effects of reductions in education funding for 18 year olds on students with severe or complex disabilities and who attend specialist schools.

    Matthew Hancock

    The reductions in education funding for 18-year-old students do not apply to those with severe and complex disabilities who attend special schools. From August 2014 special schools will receive a flat rate £10,000 for all their 16- to 18-year-old student places, together with top-up funding from local authorities for individual students.