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Tag: 2015

  • Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to increase the number of GPs in North East Essex.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    There are now 36,294 full-time equivalent general practitioners (GPs) working and training in the National Health Service, an increase of 1,051 (3.0%) since September 2010 and a commitment to train and retain 5,000 additional GPs by 2020.

    NHS England has commissioned a project specifically for the Tendring area to review the current local workforce capacity and options to correct any deficiencies in GP workforce capacity.

    NHS England, Health Education England (HEE), the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the British Medical Association’s (BMA) GP committee are working together nationally to ensure that we have a skilled, trained and motivated workforce in general practice. In January, NHS England announced a further £10 million investment to expand the general practice workforce.

    HEE is also working with NHS England, the BMA and RCGP to standardise a funded scheme which allows GPs to return to United Kingdom general practice following a career break. We expect this to be launched nationally at the end of March 2015. 43 doctors have already completed this scheme.

  • Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2015-02-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the possible risk of Greek sovereign default and subsequent effects on the UK banking sector.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Treasury regularly monitors global economic developments and their impact on the UK as part of the normal process of policy development. The UK is one of the most open economies in the world through trade and financial channels, and we are not immune to developments in the global economy. The best way to insulate the UK economy from any such instability is to stick to our long term economic plan.

    The exposure of UK banks to Greece is small. Moreover the Bank of England’s recent stress tests showed that our banking sector is far stronger and better capitalised than before.

  • Mark Durkan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mark Durkan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of removing the reasonable person test in defence for children from the Modern Slavery Bill.

    Karen Bradley

    The statutory defence is an important additional protection for victims of
    modern slavery who have been compelled to commit certain offences as a direct
    consequence of their slavery or trafficking situation. In addition, the Crown
    Prosecution Service will continue to use its discretion to not charge an
    offence or discontinue a prosecution which is not required, in the public
    interest.

    It is imperative that the defence protects child victims of modern slavery from
    being inappropriately criminalised whilst also avoiding providing complete
    immunity for the most serious categories of offending. The reasonable person
    test is an important safeguard in ensuring that the defence cannot be abused.

    The defence for child victims has been amended in the House of Lords to remove
    the requirement for compulsion and we have also tabled an amendment at Lord’s
    Report of the Modern Slavery Bill to the reasonable person test for child
    victims to make it easier for child victims to gain protection from the
    statutory defence. This amendment will remove the reference to the child having
    no realistic alternative to committing the offence and will mean that once the
    defence is raised, the prosecution would have to show beyond reasonable doubt
    that the child acted unreasonably in committing the offence.

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Leader of the House, what assessment he has made of the implications for the Government’s policies of the report from the Speaker’s Commission on Digital Democracy entitled Open Up, published in January 2015; and which recommendations of that report he plans to implement.

    Mr William Hague

    The majority of the recommendations in the report from the Speaker’s Commission on Digital Democracy are for the House itself to consider and respond to.

    In relation to the recommendations regarding the legislative process, the Government is committed to ensuring that the legislation it puts before Parliament is of a high standard and to ensuring that Parliament has the necessary means by which to perform its scrutiny function.

    In April 2013, the Government launched the Good Law initiative, designed to promote law which is effective, clear and accessible. Various initiatives have been introduced this Parliament designed to improve the legislative process, including the use of explanatory statements on amendments, improved explanatory notes and piloting public reading stages of Bills. The Government has also given sufficient time to allow proper scrutiny in public bill committees and provided additional days at Commons report stages where necessary.

    The Speaker’s Commission also recommended that secure online voting should be an option for all voters by 2020. To make online voting available for UK elections could be attractive in light of current advances in IT. However, there are concerns that e-voting is not sufficiently transparent or secure.

    The major issue raised by those opposed to the introduction of e-voting is that it is not sufficiently robust or trusted. In addition, the cost of introducing such a system would be substantial. Public support for such measures is still far from universal and traditional means of voting (such as polling stations and postal voting) remain popular with the electorate. Therefore, any means of e-voting would have to be introduced as an additional voting channel. Whilst e-voting may be something for the Government to consider in the future, it is not an immediate priority. The experience of the referendum on Scottish independence shows us that if people are engaged in the democratic process they will turn out to vote using the existing mechanism.

  • Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Government and Merseyrail on electrification of the Wrexham to Bidston railway line.

    Alun Cairns

    On 30 January, I held a transport summit with businesses and local stakeholders in north Wales including Merseytravel and Arriva Trains Wales. The summit discussed transport priorities across north Wales and the case for investing in cross border routes including the rail line between Wrexham and Bidston.

  • Jim Murphy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jim Murphy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Murphy on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many DWP sanctions there were relating to each benefit in each Scottish parliamentary constituency in 2013-14.

    Esther McVey

    The information requested for Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance adverse sanctions, by Scottish Parliamentary constituency, for each of the last four years is published at:

    https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

    Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:

    https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm

    The available information in respect of Income Support Lone Parents (ISLP) sanctions is shown in the attached table.

    “

  • Tom Watson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Tom Watson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2015-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance he has issued to local authorities about the use of (a) Twitter and (b) other social media to communicate with the public.

    Kris Hopkins

    Digital and social media are an effective and low-cost way of communicating with the public.

    This Government has amended the law to strengthen the rights of the press and public to report and film council meetings using digital and social media. In August 2014, we published a plain English guide to help councils, the press and the public with these new rights.

    We made clear that there is no prohibition on councillors from tweeting and blogging at meetings, and they should be able to do so provided it is not disruptive and does not detract from the proper conduct of the meeting.

    Local authorities should have regard to the local government Publicity Code, which seeks to prevent the misuse of taxpayer-funded resources, including social media.

    Notwithstanding, last June, Ministers challenged and criticised guidance to parish councils issued by the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) that sought to prevent elected councillors from issuing media comments without prior written permission of the council. NALC has now produced a new Media Policy Example that takes into account the new national rules on filming and recording at parish and town council meetings.

    In December, we invited bids for local pilots to bring statutory notices into the 21st Century. This could include supporting the increased use of digital and social media by councils and commercial partners, as one of the ways that such notices could be improved and reformed.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2014 to Question 216388, if he will permit Normandy Veterans to apply for funding for independent travel to Normandy as part of the D-Day Return scheme.

    Anna Soubry

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not fund visits by veterans to return to sites of Remembrance. The long standing MOD policy on official commemorations is that only certain specific anniversaries of events of major importance receive MOD sponsorship at public expense.

    Funding is still available from the Big Lottery fund, Heroes Return 2 scheme, as long as veterans travel before 31 December 2015 and haven’t benefited from this scheme since 1 January 2013. This scheme allows veterans to return to the theatre in which they saw action, so travel is not limited to Normandy.

    In addition, and as advised by my hon. Friend the Treasury Minister (David Gauke) in his response to Question 216388, the Royal British Legion (RBL) has been chosen to run the D-Day return scheme on the Government’s behalf. As detailed on the RBL website, the D-Day return scheme will not fund independent travel.

  • 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 2015-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the labelling requirements are for the sale of halal meat.

    George Eustice

    There are no specific EU or national requirements governing the sale and labelling of Halal meat but where any information of this nature is provided it must be accurate and must not be misleading to the consumer.

    The Government believes that consumers should have the necessary information available to them to make an informed choice about their food. We are awaiting the results of a European Commission study on method of slaughter labelling which is due within the next few months. We will look at possible options in light of that report.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what data his Department holds on long term outcomes for children who stammer.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    Ensuring the most appropriate treatment for a child with a stammer is a decision for the judgement of the clinician, drawing on their professional training, their ongoing professional development, and the advice provided by the relevant professional body.

    The quality of care would be monitored by the provider, through clinical audit and other performance assurance, and by the relevant regulator of the provider (such as the Care Quality Commission), and the professional regulator (such as the Health and Care Professions Council, which regulates speech and language therapists).

    Information is not collected centrally on long-term outcomes for children who stammer.