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  • Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Clement-Jones on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what involvement the Prime Minister has had in the formation of proposals for a new Cancer Drugs Fund.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence are developing the proposed new arrangements for the Cancer Drugs Fund. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health, my hon. Friend the Minister for Life Sciences and the Prime Minister have been kept informed as this work has been progressed.

  • Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Clement-Jones on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they support the proposal that NHS England will only pay for patients participating in data collection under the new NICE conditional approval route.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence have proposed that, where a drug is recommended for use within the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF), its entry into the Fund would be subject to the company agreeing to fund the collection of a pre-determined data set, during a period normally lasting no longer than 24 months, and a commercial access arrangement which is affordable within the available CDF budget.

    Access by eligible patients will not be restricted to the number of patients considered necessary for data collection, but any costs for treatment over and above this number will be paid for by the company.

    At its meeting on 25 February 2016, the NHS England Board agreed a way forward which will see the new operating model going live on 1 July 2016.

    The Accelerated Access Review is looking at ways to better use data on treatments and outcomes from initiatives, such as the CDF, to drive innovation, adoption and reimbursement of novel treatments.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 10 February (HL5652), what (1) proportion, and (2) volume, of excavated spoil from each of the HS2 Phase 1 construction sites will be transported from them by (a) rail, (b) road, and (c) river.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Excavated material arising from the construction of Phase One of HS2 will be transported along the construction corridor (site haul) where it is reasonably practicable to do so. Where that is not possible, or for movement along longer distances, the material will be transported by public highway, along designated routes. Where reasonably practicable, rail has been considered for the transportation of large quantities of excavated material over long distances. There are currently no plans to move any of the excavated material by river.

    The approximate quantities and relative proportion of each of these transportation methods, allocated to broad sections of the proposed route is set out in the table below. These figures reflect the assumptions reported in the Environmental Statement deposited alongside the Phase One Bill and, as such, are a plausible worst case in terms of both total volume of excavated material and proportion transport by highway and rail. The project has made a commitment to maximise the amount of excavated material transported by rail and are working to increase the proportion transport by rail and decrease the proportion transported by highway wherever reasonably practicable.

    (All figures are in million tons and movements may include multiple handling)

    Site Haul

    Public Highway Haul

    Rail Haul

    Central London & Metropolitan area

    16.9 (56%)

    4 (13%)

    9.46 (31%)

    Buckinghamshire Northants & Warwickshire Country areas

    72.4 (80%)

    17.9 (20%)

    – (0%)

    West Midlands Metropolitan area

    29.9 (61%)

    18.9 (39%)

    – (0%)

    Total Phase One Routewide

    119.2 (70%)

    40.8 (24%)

    9.46 (6%)
  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom regarding the findings of the UN Commission of Inquiry’s 2014 report on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) that persons who are forcibly repatriated to the DPRK are commonly subjected to torture, arbitrary detention, summary execution, forced abortions and other sexual violence; and the Commission’s recommendation that countries should respect the principle of non-refoulement and abstain from forcibly repatriating any persons to the DPRK.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We have not made specific bilateral representations to the Russian Federation Government on the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) report.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of North Koreans who work in Russia as labourers or who have entered Russia to escape North Korean human rights violations; and of the potential contravention of Russia’s international obligations and violation of human rights should North Koreans be repatriated from Russia to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We estimate that there are approximately 20,000 – 35,000 workers from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the Russian Federation. We do not hold detailed information on the number of DPRK refugees currently in the Russian Federation.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of the Russian Federation about the new extradition treaty signed between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation on 2 February, and about the likely impact of the treaty’s provisions on the transfer and readmission of North Koreans who have fled their country and would be deemed to be illegally in another’s territory as a result of the treaty.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government has not made specific representations to the Government of the Russian Federation regarding this treaty.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the decision by Germany to give refuge to 1,000 Yazidi women and girls freed from Islamic State slavery, whether they will table the Resolution of the European Parliament declaring a genocide against Yazidis and Christians in Syria and Iraq at the UN Security Council.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    As the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), and other ministers have explained in response to similar questions, it is the long-standing policy of successive governments that any judgements on whether genocide has occurred are a matter for the international judicial system rather than legislatures, governments or other non-judicial bodies. Our approach is to seek an end to all violations of International Humanitarian Law, and to prevent their further escalation, irrespective of whether these violations fit the definition of specific international crimes. We welcome the European Parliament resolution. However, European Parliament resolutions are not binding and do not create legal obligations on Member States. We have no plans to table this resolution at the UN Security Council.

    Ultimately, the best way of preventing future atrocities is to defeat Daesh and its violent ideology. That’s why the UK is playing a leading role in a Global Coalition of 66 countries and international organisations to respond to Daesh’s inhumanity.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 11 February (HL5646), when the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority changed its practice; what the reasons were for doing so; and how that change in practice had previously been communicated publicly.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) cannot confirm when this practice changed. Making provision for interested members of the public to make their views known, whilst not a legal requirement under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, was part of the HFEA’s past practice although very few applications attracted a response. This change was not communicated publicly.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Freedom of Information Act 2000 allows publicly funded bodies that are individually bound by that Act to form what is described as a private institution that is claimed to be exempt from that Act, and if so, in which clause or clauses.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Public authorities subject to the Act are listed in Schedule 1, and companies wholly owned by the public sector are automatically covered through section 6.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve educational standards in Bradford.

    Nick Gibb

    This Government is committed to educational excellence everywhere. The new powers in the Education and Adoption Bill are designed to help raise standards in underperforming areas such as Bradford, ensuring all failing maintained schools become academies with strong sponsors, and coasting schools are challenged to improve.

    The Regional Schools Comissioner has already prioritised Bradford for the Northern Fund and brought two new sponsors into the area.

    We have also significantly expanded School Direct and Teach First, to ensure schools in Bradford have access to high-quality teachers. The new National Teaching Service, which will place outstanding teachers and middle leaders into schools which most need additional support to improve their teaching, will begin with a pilot later this year; Bradford will be one of the areas eligible to participate in this pilot.

    I recently had the pleasure of being able to see some of the excellent work that is already being done to raise standards in Bradford, when I visited the outstanding Beckfoot School in Bingley, where 46% of pupils achieve the E-Bacc combination of core academic GCSEs.