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  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many local authorities routinely scan pet cats and dogs that are the victims of road traffic accidents on local roads and where possible contact their owners.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government recognises the distress of owners who lose a beloved pet. The main focus for this Government is to continue to ensure we reduce road casualties and improve road safety. By doing this it is hoped that we can make our roads safer for all users, as well as reducing the risks to all animals.

    It is the Government position that it is best practice to scan deceased pets found on the local highway. Some local authorities do endeavour to identify the owners if the pet has a collar or microchip and we encourage others to adopt the same practice. On 26 March 2015 the then Minister for Roads, Rt. Hon. John Hayes MP, wrote to all local highway authorities recommending that they consider scanning any deceased cats or dogs found on the public highway for which they are responsible as a matter of standard practice.

    It is, however, for each local highway authority to determine how any deceased animals found on the roads are handled and the Department for Transport does not collect information on how many undertake scanning.

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many deceased cats and dogs have been collected and identified by Highways England since the Department for Transport committed in March 2015 to ensure that it is mandatory for all new and existing contractors to collect and identify cats and dogs killed on the strategic road network.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Backbench Business Committee Debate on 2 March 2015, considered legislating collection and identification of pet fatalities on the strategic road network (SRN). During the debate key commitments were made to immediately make the necessary arrangements to ensure it is mandatory for all new contracts to collect and identify dogs and cats killed on the strategic road network and contact their owners, where possible, and to review how to retrofit the requirements to existing contracts.

    The review was completed in September 2015. Mandatory instructions were issued to Highways England service providers in October 2015. Since this time there have been the following dog and cat fatalities on the strategic road network:

    From October 2015

    Number of fatalities

    Number identified

    Dogs

    39

    14

    Cats

    42

    2

    Service Providers are required to make a search for a collar or disc at the incident sites. Where the owner’s details are found on a collar and/or disc, the remains are bagged, separate from any debris, taken to the depot and the owner notified as soon as possible to be given the option of collecting their pet.

    Where no collar/disc is found the entire body is scanned for microchips. Any positive identification is recorded and the appropriate identification body is informed (eg PetLog).

    If remains cannot be positively identified they are cold-stored, where facilities are available, for at least seven days or until the cold store is due to be emptied, whichever is sooner. If no owner has come forward at the end of the seven-day period, the remains are disposed of.

    Due to the high speed nature of the SRN it is impossible to guarantee that remains can be fully identified e.g. the microchip may have been lost in the collision. In this case, if the remains can be identified as a dog or cat, they are cold stored and as much information as possible is recorded.

  • Lord Crisp – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Crisp – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Crisp on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government in the light of the recent inclusion of mental health targets under Sustainable Development Goal 3, whether the Department for International Development plans to review its strategy for funding mental health in low- and middle-income countries.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK’s health focus in developing countries is on improving the provision of basic health services for the poor by supporting and strengthening health systems, health worker capacity and access to essential medicines. Increasing coverage, equity, access and quality will strengthen health services to address all health problems including non-communicable diseases, like mental disorders and dementia.

    The Global Goals are a major landmark in our fight against poverty. The UK has lobbied hard to make sure the Global Goals cover the areas not covered by the Millennium Development Goals, to make sure nobody is left behind including those most marginalized. DFID’s principal approach to supporting the Global Goal for health is to strengthen health services, improving coverage, access and quality so that services better address all major causes of ill health including mental health. The UK has played a key role in creating a set of goals that are universal and inclusive and focused on ending chronic poverty forever, for everyone, everywhere. The UK has been a strong and consistent supporter of the need to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

  • Lord Crisp – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Crisp – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Crisp on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Department for International Development will value mental health equally with physical health in its funding decisions.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK has lobbied hard to make sure the Global Goals cover the areas not covered by the Millennium Development Goals, to make sure nobody is left behind, including in health, which is a significant step forward. DFID’s principal approach to supporting the Global Goal for health is to strengthen health services, improving coverage, access and quality so that services better address all major causes of ill health including mental health. The UK has played a key role in creating a set of goals that are universal and inclusive and focused on ending chronic poverty forever, for everyone, everywhere. The UK has been a strong and consistent supporter of the need to achieve Universal Health Coverage.

    We also support research, together with specific work on mental health. For example, in Ghana, addressing mental health is a specific focus within DFID’s health sector support programme as well as under the Health Partnership Scheme, DFID is helping to establish a community-based programme of mental health care in Malawi to improve care of people with common and severe mental health illnesses. DFID is also providing support for mental health services for Syrian refugees, including those traumatised by the conflict.

  • Lord Crisp – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Crisp – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Crisp on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the proportion of the Department for International Development funding for mental health in low- and middle-income countries has increased or decreased in the last year for which figures are available.

    Baroness Verma

    Tracking of inputs, allocations and expenditure is based on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC) codes, which are used for reporting official development assistance.

    The UK’s health focus in developing countries is on improving the provision of basic health services for the poor by strengthening and supporting health systems, health worker capacity and access to essential medicines. Increasing coverage, equity, access and quality will strengthen health services to address all health problems including non-communicable diseases, like mental disorders and dementia.

    DFID is helping countries to make fairer, transparent and evidence-based decisions about how to set priorities and allocate resources in health. We support research on mental health through our PRIME (Programme for Improving Mental Health Care) programme. This research is providing world class evidence on implementation and scaling up for treatment programmes and having this adopted by policy makers.

  • Lord Crisp – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Crisp – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Crisp on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much the Department for International Development spent on mental health in low- and middle-income countries in 2015.

    Baroness Verma

    Tracking of inputs, allocations and expenditure is based on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC) codes, which are used for reporting official development assistance.

    The UK’s health focus in developing countries is on improving the provision of basic health services for the poor by strengthening and supporting health systems, health worker capacity and access to essential medicines. Increasing coverage, equity, access and quality will strengthen health services to address all health problems including non-communicable diseases, like mental disorders and dementia.

    DFID is helping countries to make fairer, transparent and evidence-based decisions about how to set priorities and allocate resources in health. We support research on mental health through our PRIME (Programme for Improving Mental Health Care) programme. This research is providing world class evidence on implementation and scaling up for treatment programmes and having this adopted by policy makers.

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

    Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made any acknowledgement of the achievement by Network Rail in completing successfully over 99 per cent of its Christmas and New Year programme of 500 projects without impact on passengers.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin, has indeed acknowledged the achievements of Network Rail over the Christmas period on no less than three separate occasions.

    Network Rail issued a press release on 4 January in which my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Transport stated: "Network Rail and the operators have delivered essential improvements to the rail network over the Christmas period. These are crucial for providing better journeys for passengers, progressing key projects such as Crossrail and the Thameslink Programme and nearly £100m of improvements in Lincolnshire, as part of our record investment in the railways.

    I welcome the news that this has been completed on time. I would like to thank passengers for their patience, and pay tribute to the men and women who have been working in challenging weather conditions for much of the time."

    On 19 January my Rt Hon Friend informed the other place: “Over the Christmas period, Network Rail also successfully carried out its biggest ever works as part of the railway upgrade plan that is so essential to the future of the British rail industry. I pay tribute to the thousands of staff who gave up their Christmas to improve our railways.”

    And on 28 January my Rt Hon Friend remarked in the other place: “I pay tribute to Network Rail and its hard-working orange army of more than 20,000 staff who successfully delivered £150 million of essential improvements to the network over the holiday period, as part of our record programme of investment in the railways. Planning for Easter is well advanced, and the good practice demonstrated over Christmas is being embedded in the planning process for Easter and beyond.”

  • Earl Attlee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Earl Attlee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Earl Attlee on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the UK competition authorities have made an assessment of the UK market in printer cartridges; and if so, what conclusions were reached.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) carried out a market study in 2001 on consumer IT goods and services, including the printer cartridge market. It noted that consumers may find it difficult to identify which printer manufacturer had the cheapest price overall – this included the upfront price of the printer and the price of cartridges over the life of the machine. The OFT worked with the industry to introduce a labelling scheme which allowed consumers to identify how many pages they could expect to print with a cartridge. This allows consumers to consider both the purchase price and the running costs of the printer.

    The Competition and Markets Authority took over the competition functions of the OFT in 2014.

  • Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken better to enforce compliance with the Schools Admissions Code among religiously selective schools, in the light of the findings of the report by the Fair Admissions Campaign and British Humanist Association, An Unholy Mess.

    Lord Nash

    Admission authorities for all state-funded schools, including schools with a religious designation, are required to comply with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code and other admissions law.

    Where an objection is made to the Schools Adjudicator, if the arrangements are found to be unfair or fail to comply with the Code, the admission authority must make changes to ensure their arrangements are compliant without undue delay. Where an admission authority fails to implement decisions of the adjudicator, the Secretary of State may direct the admission authority to do so.

    We continue to keep the Code under review, and, where we consider any changes are necessary to make the admissions system work more effectively for parents, these will be subject to a full public consultation.

  • Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the report by the Fair Admissions Campaign and British Humanist Association, An Unholy Mess, and in particular that report’s recommendations that guidance be produced for schools to help them to ensure that they comply fully with the School Admissions Code.

    Lord Nash

    Admission authorities for all state-funded schools, including schools with a religious designation, are required to comply with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code and other admissions law.

    Where an objection is made to the Schools Adjudicator, if the arrangements are found to be unfair or fail to comply with the Code, the admission authority must make changes to ensure their arrangements are compliant without undue delay. Where an admission authority fails to implement decisions of the adjudicator, the Secretary of State may direct the admission authority to do so.

    We continue to keep the Code under review, and, where we consider any changes are necessary to make the admissions system work more effectively for parents, these will be subject to a full public consultation.