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Tag: 2015

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what transmission charges (KW/hour) are levied by the National Grid on organisations commuting electricity from one place to another for each region of the UK in the most recent period for which figures are available.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Transmission Network Use of System charges are charged on £/KW basis and include a locational element to reflect the extent to which the transmission system is used to move electricity from where it is generated to the centres of demand. Details of the 2015-16 charges are in National Grid’s charging statement which can be found at this link:

    http://www2.nationalgrid.com/UK/Industry-information/System-charges/Electricity-transmission/Transmission-Network-Use-of-System-Charges/Statement-of-Use-of-System-Charges/

    “

  • Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to prohibit the use of raised laying cages for breeding pheasants and partridges.

    George Eustice

    Recent Defra funded research into the use of cages for gamebirds showed that enrichment and space allowance, in the forms provided, had little impact on the welfare of caged pheasants. However, egg production and quality and most measures of pheasant welfare were improved in cages compared to floor pens. For the partridges, the behavioural results indicated that enrichment might be positive for welfare and was probably a more valuable modification than increasing the size of an otherwise barren cage. However, the research also concluded that there might be penalties from parasitism and reduced egg production if enrichment is offered at a conventional space allowance. The published research can be found:

    http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&ProjectID=17541&FromSearch=Y&Publisher=1&SearchText=aw1303&SortString=ProjectCode&SortOrder=Asc&Paging=10#Description

    We intend to discuss the findings of the research with industry and welfare organisations as part of next year’s review of the “Code of Practice for the Welfare of Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes”.

    “

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what technical support his Department plans to provide to the forthcoming elections in the Central African Republic.

    Grant Shapps

    The Central African Republic’s Electoral Authority needs to adopt, without further delay, a revised calendar for the holding of elections. Free, fair and inclusive elections are crucial for the Central African Republic’s future stability and progress towards reconciliation. The UK welcomes the Central African Republic’s Constitutional Court ruling that all citizens of the Central African Republic, including internally displaced people and refugees in neighbouring countries, have the right to vote in upcoming elections. The UK recognises the significant progress achieved in the voters registration process in the Central African Republic and emphasises the importance of the registration of refugees in neighbouring countries. The UK is supportive of an EU Electoral Observation Mission to the Central African Republic, subject to further discussions in Brussels later this year.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government has taken to stop UK funding being used to pay the wages of convicted terrorists from the Palestinian Territories in custody in Israeli prisons.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    No UK money is used for payments to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. The UK’s direct financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) is used to pay the salaries of PA public sector workers only. Our support is provided through a World Bank trust fund which carries out close monitoring of PA expenditure. The whole process is independently audited, which means we know exactly how our money is spent. We also have robust accounting procedures in place which mean we are confident that our funds do not benefit terrorist groups, and we ensure that our partners do the same.

  • Mark Durkan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Durkan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Colombian counterpart on the number of Colombian human rights defenders assassinated in the last six months.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    Human rights continue to be an integral part of our dialogue and relationship with Colombia. We remain concerned by the number of threats that continue to be made against human rights defenders (HRDs) in Colombia and I raised the issue of human rights with the Colombian Deputy Foreign Minister, Patti Londoño, on 29 September 2015 during the UN General Assembly.

    Although the number of HRDs murdered fell by a third between 2013 and 2014, threats and assassinations continue. Colombian non-governmental organisation Somos Defensores reports 32 murders and 332 threats from January to July of 2015. Our Embassy is supporting a project on collective protection measures for HRDs in rural areas through our Human Rights and Democracy Fund and regularly raises concerns about the violence and intimidation suffered by human rights defenders in Colombia with the Colombian government. In his last meeting before leaving Post, the then British Ambassador met the Colombian Interior Minister on 5 August 2015 and raised a number of human rights cases of concern. We continue to monitor the situation closely.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what cost benefit assessment his Department has made of a policy of providing Group B strep tests to new-born babies on the NHS.

    Ben Gummer

    Routine testing of babies for Group B Streptococcus (GBS) infection is not recommended. Therefore, no cost benefit assessment has been made by the Department on providing GBS tests to newborn babies.

    A search of the Department’s Ministerial correspondence database has identified 41 items of correspondence received since 1 January 2015 on GBS. This correspondence relates mainly to offering testing for GBS carriage in pregnancy.

    If a woman has previously had a baby with GBS, her maternity team will either monitor the health of her newborn baby closely for at least 12 hours after birth, or treat them with antibiotics until blood tests confirm whether or not GBS is present. The Department’s policy is not to offer antenatal screening for GBS carriage. This is based on advice from the UK National Screening Committee the body responsible for advising Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy, and their advice is because there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that the benefits to be gained from screening would outweigh the harms.

  • Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans next to update the public health outcomes framework.

    Jane Ellison

    The consultation on updating the Public Health Outcomes Framework was published on 3 September and closed on 2 October. We are considering the responses and intend to publish our proposals in due course.

  • John Glen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    John Glen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to procure extended half-life blood clotting factor products for use in the NHS.

    George Freeman

    The Department plans to tender for extended half-life Clotting Factor VIII and Factor IX for use in the National Health Service once the products are granted European Union licences and are commercially available.

    NHS England has made no decision at this time to whether it will develop a clinical commissioning policy for extended half-life productsbut, through the Clinical Reference Group and discussion with the Department’s Commercial Medicines Unit, will continue to review commissioning of these extended half-life products in the future.

  • David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on implementation of a national screening programme for prostate cancer.

    Jane Ellison

    The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy.

    The UK NSC re-affirmed in March 2012 that a national screening programme for prostate cancer should not be offered. This is because:

    – The test for prostate cancer, the prostate specific antigen test, is not effective enough and does not identify a large proportion of men who in fact have prostate cancer;

    – A positive test will lead in most cases to a biopsy, which often does not give a definitive answer and leads to anxiety and to further investigations; and

    – Current research indicates for every 100,000 men at age 50 offered screening, 748 would end up being treated. The men accepting screening would have their lives extended on average by a day – while 274 men would be made impotent, 25 incontinent and 17 would have rectal problems as a result of the treatment.

    The UK NSC is currently reviewing its recommendation on whether a national screening programme for prostate cancer should be offered. Ministers expect to receive a recommendation shortly.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what forecasts his Department has made of the proportion of NHS (a) nurses and (b) doctors that will be recruited from agencies in each of the next five years.

    Ben Gummer

    The information requested is not held by the Department.