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Tag: 2014

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the meeting between President Salva Kir and Riek Machar in Addis Ababa on 10 June 2014.

    Mark Simmonds

    The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Summit on 10 June saw President Salva Kir and Riek Machar recommit to their earlier cessation of hostilities agreement, and agree to "expedite and complete dialogue on the formation of a transitional government of national unity within 60 days". This is an important step in the peace process. Both leaders must continue to respect the commitments they have made by reining in their fighters on the ground and engaging constructively in the Addis peace talks. The UK, along with our troika (UK, US and Norway) and EU partners, continues to support IGAD efforts to resolve the crisis.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2013, Official Report, columns 455-6W, on the Electoral Register, if he will place in the Library a copy of the Electoral Commission’s review of public engagement strategies.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that its Report, titled ‘Readiness for the transition to Individual Electoral Registration’ was published on 31 March with a copy placed in the House Library. The Commission’s report includes the conclusions of its assessment of all Electoral Registration Officers’ (EROs’) public engagement strategies, which found that all EROs have the right plans in place to identify the challenges for their particular local area and what mechanisms they will use to engage with residents to maximise registration. The Commission has also written to the honourable member with a copy of its report.

  • Liam Fox – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Liam Fox – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Fox on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what efforts his Department is making to support the Iraqi government in maintaining stability in that country.

    Hugh Robertson

    We are continuing to play an active role, providing a range of political and humanitarian support. On 12 June, we deployed a team of humanitarian experts to Northern Iraq. The Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening) subsequently announced a £3million emergency aid package for civilians fleeing the violence in Mosul and surrounding areas. The package will help provide clean water and sanitation and essential medicine, as well as help the UNHCR establish camps for Internally Displaced People. We are continuing to monitor the situation closely and are working with key partners, including the Red Cross/Red Crescent and UN agencies.

    I met Iraqi Foreign Minister Zebari in London on 12 June and underlined the our support for the Iraqi government and the people of Iraq in their struggle against terrorism. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague)has been engaging actively with international leaders in recent days on how to respond to the current situation in Iraq, including discussions with US Secretary Kerry, the Iraqi, Turkish and Iranian Foreign Ministers, and the Israeli Minister for National Security.

    We have made clear the need for an inclusive and unified approach within Iraq. The immediate need is for the Iraqi Security Forces to stabilise the situation, working with civilian and regional authorities in order to establish unity and cooperation across the country. Regional actors also can and must play a constructive role.

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who have been given a prognosis that engagement in work is unlikely in the longer term have been placed in the work-related activity group for employment and support allowance since October 2008.

    Mike Penning

    The information requested is shown in the table below:

    Outcomes of functional assessments by prognosis of 2 years or more for the ESA work-related activity group, Great Britain: October 2008 – September 2013

    WRAG: Claimants with a prognosis of 2 years or more

    New Claims – Initial assessment

    11,800

    New Claims – Repeat assessment

    19,700

    Incapacity Benefit Reassessments

    73,100

    Source: Data in the tables above is derived from administrative data held by the DWP and assessment data provided by Atos Healthcare.

    Notes:

    1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.

    2. The outcome recorded is the final DWP Decision Maker’s decision or the recommendation made by the Atos Healthcare Professional where the Decision Maker’s decision is not yet available.

    3. The data presented above comes from benefit claims data held by the Department for Work and Pensions. It related to new and repeat ESA claims and Incapacity Benefit (IB) claims reassessments. In October 2008, ESA replaced IB for new claims. Starting with a trial in October 2010, and reaching a full scale national roll-out in April 2011, existing IB claims began to be phased out, with claimants reassessed to see if they qualify for ESA instead.

    The reassessment of existing incapacity benefits claimants started in October 2010 with a trial in the Burnley and Aberdeen areas. These are included in the table.

  • Eric Ollerenshaw – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Eric Ollerenshaw – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eric Ollerenshaw on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of adaptive licensing or early access schemes (a) in the UK and (b) across the EU; and if he will make a statement.

    Norman Lamb

    The potential merits and impact of adaptive licensing and early access to medicine schemes were considered by the Expert Group on innovation in the regulation of healthcare that was established in June 2012 following the Prime Minister’s 2011 Life Science Strategy. The Expert Group was composed of a range of experts from government, industry, patient and health professional stakeholders.

    In their 2013 report, the group welcomed the proposal for the Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS), for highly promising unlicensed medicinal products in areas of high unmet medical need, and urged the Government to introduce it as soon as possible. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency launched the EAMS on 7 April 2014.

    On adaptive licensing, the group saw opportunities for more use of the existing legal flexibilities to facilitate patient access to innovative products. The Group urged for the pilot on adaptive licensing by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to be launched at the earliest opportunity.

    The EMA published its adaptive licensing pilot project on 19 March. The Government sees this pilot as a test for current licensing flexibilities and the methodology of adaptive licensing. We welcome the pilot and will continue to be actively engaged in the debate in Europe.

    A copy of the report of the Expert Group on innovation in the regulation of healthcare has been placed in the Library.

  • Stephen Gilbert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Gilbert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gilbert on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who were temporarily exempt from the benefit cap due to their housing benefit being reduced were in temporary accommodation between April 2013 and January 2014.

    Esther McVey

    The information requested is not available. People whose housing benefit entitlement is reduced such that their overall benefit falls below the cap threshold are not subject to the cap.

  • Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the prevalence and effect of unlicensed performance enhancing drugs (a) online and (b) in shops.

    Norman Lamb

    There are strict legal controls governing the sale and supply of medicinal products in the United Kingdom.

    Unlicensed medicines which claim to enhance performance generally claim to enhance either sexual, cognitive or athletic performance.

    The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) works with domain name providers to shut down websites which are illegally trading in unlicensed erectile dysfunction medicines and which refuse to come in to compliance.

    A UK registered pharmacy may have a presence on the internet; however the requirements of legislation apply equally to both UK internet pharmacies and bricks-and-mortar premises. These legal controls also apply equally to medicines for human use sold or supplied via the internet or e-mail transactions. These restrictions do not apply to countries outside UK jurisdiction where medicines may be classified and regulated differently.

    Medicines most commonly associated with enhanced athletic performance are anabolic steroids and human growth hormones. These medicines are controlled as class C drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

    The MHRA has serious concerns about the availability of medicines being offered via the Internet and issues regular warnings to the public concerning the inherent risks of purchasing medicines online. MHRA advice is that medicines purchased from websites, particularly websites based overseas, cannot be guaranteed to meet set standards of quality, safety and efficacy and advises patients not to purchase medicines in this way.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department is (a) undertaking or (b) plans to undertake a review of the check-off union subscription provision.

    Brandon Lewis

    As I indicated in my answer of 13 September 2013, Official Report, Column 884W, Ministers in this Department do not believe it is appropriate for public resources to be used to support the collection and administration of membership subscriptions and believe is an outdated and unnecessary 20th century practice.

    It is also unsatisfactory that some trade unions collect the political levy via check-off, but make no attempt to inform would-be members that the political levy is optional, or even mention the right to opt out on their membership forms. It is the view of Ministers that this is a misleading and dubious marketing practice through omission.

    I can confirm that we are taking further steps to review such practices.

  • Jessica Morden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jessica Morden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jessica Morden on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) standard passport applications, (b) fast-track applications and (c) premium service applications were processed in (i) 1 January 2012 to 31 May 2012, (ii) 1 January 2013 to 31 May 2013 and (iii) 1 January 2014 o 31 May 2014.

    James Brokenshire

    The information requested is shown in the following table. This also includes data up until 30 June for each year.

  • Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of an offence under section 128 of the Mental Health Act 1959 where the offence was committed against a child in each of the last four years.

    Damian Green

    Section 128 of the Mental Health Act 1959 was repealed in 2004. There have been no convictions in any of the last four years. Prosecutions are now brought under modernised legislation contained in the Sex Offenders Act 2003.