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Tag: 2015

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to encourage other nations in the Levant and Arabian peninsula to accept refugees from Syria.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We have been at the forefront of the humanitarian response to the crisis in Syria, having committed over £1.1bn, which includes funding for regional countries to assist arriving refugees.

    The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), recently visited Lebanon and Jordan, where he paid tribute to the efforts of these countries in hosting Syrian refugees. Syria’s neighbours have been incredibly generous in welcoming huge numbers of refugees. There are now over four million Syrian refugees in the region, including over one million who fled Syria in 2014 alone. Turkey hosts the highest number of refugees, at over 2 million, followed by Lebanon at over 1 million and Jordan at over 628,000. The UK has allocated £559 million to support refugees in the region and vulnerable host communities to date, including £304 million in Lebanon and £193 million in Jordan. The Gulf States continue to contribute generously to humanitarian support for the Syria crisis, and there are large numbers of Syrians already in the Gulf.

  • Ms Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ms Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Margaret Ritchie on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to establish a database of people suffering from secondary breast cancer; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England is responsible for collecting cancer data to support national cancer registration in England, and recognises the importance of collecting data on recurrent breast cancer. At present pilot work in acute trusts has improved the reporting for breast cancer recurrence and metastasis totheNational CancerRegistration Service,but the data is not complete. Further work is being scoped by NHS England and Public Health England based on the recommendation in the recent Independent Cancer Taskforce report to establish robust surveillance systems to collect this data on all cancers.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if Ministers or officials of his Department will meet Jeena International, Karma Nirvana and other organisations representing women who have been the victim of coerced sex-selective abortion to discuss the implications of his Department’s assessment of the evidence of termination of pregnancy on grounds of gender.

    Jane Ellison

    Officials are happy to meet with these organisations and have already offered to meet Jeena International.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policy of the potential link between the HPV Vaccine and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome; and what assessment he has made of the effect of such a link on the progress of the Government’s HPV vaccination programme.

    Jane Ellison

    The human papillomavirus (HPV) sub-committee of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which advises the Department on immunisation matters, considered the safety of HPV vaccine when it met in June 2015. The sub-committee reviewed safety information provided by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), as well as reports in the media and literature investigating temporal associations of the HPV vaccine to a range of overlapping syndromes including postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). The HPV sub-committee agreed that no available evidence supports a causative link between HPV vaccination and POTS or other overlapping syndromes. It strongly supported the continued use of the HPV vaccine to prevent infection with HPV and to protect adolescent girls from cervical and other HPV associated cancers. This position was agreed by the JCVI, which concluded it has no concerns about the safety of the HPV vaccine.

    As with all vaccines and medicines, the safety ofHPV vaccines will be kept under continual review.

  • Dr Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dr Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dr Matthew Offord on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many ePassport gates are in operation at (a) Heathrow, (b) Gatwick, (c) Luton and (d) Stansted airports.

    James Brokenshire

    ePassport Gates are in operation at many ports across the UK. At present there are (a) thirty five operating across Heathrow, (b) twenty at Gatwick, (c) ten at Luton, and (d) fifteen at Stansted.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department’s consultation, Enabling closer working between the Emergency Services, whether firefighters employed by police and crime commissioners will retain the right to take part in industrial action; and if he will make a statement.

    Greg Clark

    The Department for Communities and Local Government, the Home Office and the Department of Health led joint consultation ‘Enabling closer working between the Emergency Services’ has made clear that should Police and Crime Commissioners assume responsibility for fire and rescue services, the important distinction between operational policing and firefighting will be maintained. The consultation did not propose to change the current rules around industrial action.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to reduce the incidences of non-payment of wages to seafarers working in (a) UK and (b) Europe.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The United Kingdom has ratified and transposed into domestic law the International Labour Organization’s Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC) which includes provisions on the payment of wages.

    For UK registered ships other than those which are subject to the MLC, section 30 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 makes provision for the late payment of wages, and interest is payable on late sums under specified circumstances.

    Enforcement is carried out by Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) surveyors (and any surveyors nominated by the MCA to carry out surveys and inspections) on UK registered ships in routine surveys and inspections, and, where applicable, on non-UK registered ships during port State Control inspections.

    We are not aware of any incidents of non-payment of wages on board any UK registered vessels.

  • Cat Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Cat Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what meetings he has planned over the next six months with maritime trades unions on the recommendations of his Department’s Maritime Growth Study published in September 2015.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government regularly meets with unions on maritime matters. They were fully engaged in the Maritime Growth Study, contributing through interview, workshops and written submissions to the evidence gathering process that informed the Study. Representatives of the unions also attended the publication event for the Study report on 7 September. We will continue to engage with unions and keep them fully informed and involved as we take forward any recommendations.

  • Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-10-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of changes in the level of scam activity associated with pensions following the introduction of pensions freedoms.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Figures from Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and internet crime, show that there were 261 crime reports from 1st April to 30th August 2015 classified as Pension Liberation Fraud. The average number of reports per month has declined so far this financial year, with an average of 52 reports per month compared to an average of 79 crime reports for financial year 2014/2015.

    However, it is too early to tell what impact the freedoms have had on prevalence of fraud. These figures relate to “reported fraud” only – figures taking account of “actual fraud” will take much longer to flow through.

    Monitoring the market for scams and misselling is the responsibility of the regulators, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Pensions Regulator. The FCA, in line with its remit to protect consumers and ensure markets function in consumers’ interests, has specifically committed to monitoring developments in the retirement income market closely and to take action where consumers are coming to harm or where the market is not operating competitively. The Government remains in close contact with the regulators, and other organisations such as industry trade bodies, on these issues.

    Pension Wise, the Government’s free and impartial guidance service, also helps individuals understand how to spot and avoid scams. Where its users are at risk or have been scammed, they are referred to the appropriate organisations, such as Action Fraud.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-12.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people in each Office for National Statistics age group were diagnosed with melanoma in each of the last five years.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.