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Tag: 2015

  • Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to Fulfilling our Potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice, CM 9141, what steps he is taking to implement the commitment to double the proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds entering higher education by 2020.

    Joseph Johnson

    We have already taken significant steps. In particular, from 2015/16, we have removed the cap on student numbers. Publicly funded institutions can now recruit as many students as they wish if they deem them to be suitable. We have also established a stronger framework with increased responsibility placed on providers to widen access. The Director of Fair Access has agreed 183 Access Agreements for 2016/17 containing an estimated £745m to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

    The Green Paper Fulfilling our Potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice, CM 9141 set out steps the Government plan to take to increase the proportion of students from disadvantaged background entering higher education. Further progress will come from the new guidance that we plan to issue to the Director of Fair Access, and through the social mobility taskforce being set up by Universities UK.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what processes are in place to ensure that all finances of both parties are disclosed when divorce proceedings are commenced.

    Caroline Dinenage

    In England and Wales, the division of property on divorce is governed by the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. A court will not make a financial order in a divorce case unless it is satisfied that each party has made a full and frank disclosure of their financial circumstances. Each party in a divorce is under a legal duty to make full and frank disclosure of all material facts to the other party and to the court and must sign a Statement of Truth to that effect.

    If the court is of the view that one party has deliberately failed or refused to make full and frank disclosure and has concealed his or her true financial circumstances from the other party, it can impose a costs penalty on the dishonest party. In more serious cases, individuals who fail to disclose the full extent of their assets could find themselves in contempt of court and be at risk of imprisonment. If, following a judgment, it is discovered that assets have not been properly disclosed and the judgment would have been different if there had been full disclosure it is possible to apply to the court to have the judgment set aside to be reconsidered.

    We recently reviewed Form E in light of an error being identified in the automatic calculations and we have amended the function of the form to ensure the calculation facility is now correct. The Ministry of Justice and the HM Courts and Tribunals Service have published advice regarding Form E at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/news/divorce-form-information

    “

  • Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many clinical commissioning groups implement in full the Infertility Network UK recommendations on access to IVF treatment.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department funded Infertility Network UK (INUK) to develop advice to NHS Commissioners on standardising eligibility criteria for in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment. The Department has consistently encouraged NHS Commissioners to have regard to this advice. The INUK advice is listed as a resource for clinical commissioning groups (CCG) in the NHS England “Commissioning Fertility Services Factsheet”.

    National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines recommend that eligible couples should receive three full cycles of IVF treatment. The Government has made clear that blanket restrictions on treatment are unacceptable and all decisions on treatment should be made by doctors based on a patient’s individual clinical needs and in line with NICE Guidelines.

    While we have not made an assessment of access to IVF treatment, we are aware of the annual survey by Fertility Fairness. I have written to stakeholders, including Fertility Fairness, and invited them to discuss what could be done to improve the provision of IVF services along with representatives of NHS England and Monitor.

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much of his Department’s planned £8.4 million expenditure on armed forces veterans’ mental health services will be spent in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17, (c) 2017-18, (d) 2018-19 and (e) 2019-20; and in what areas of mental health services that funding will be spent in each of those years.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England has £1.8 million per annum baseline (recurrent to 2019/20) funding for veterans mental health services. This funding is used to provide 10 veterans mental health teams across England to meet locally identified needs of veterans and manage the network of providers of National Health Service commissioned veterans mental health services.

    The funding also provides access for veterans to on-line mental health counselling services provided by the Big White Wall.

    In addition, NHS England provides £3.2 million a year to commission the Armed Forces service charity Combat Stress to provide specialised inpatient services for the treatment of complex post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

    In 2014/15 additional funding of £1.68 million was used to fund three pilots to develop and test enhanced models of care for veterans.

    The pilots will:

    • develop a joint substance misuse and mental health service model for veterans;
    • an outpatient service for veterans with moderate to severe PTSD; and
    • develop a modal of care to address the barriers that some veterans experience in accessing mental health services.

    NHS England will soon commence a consultation to explore the future service needs for veterans mental health services. Future procurement will depend upon the outcome of this consultation as services will be commissioned to take account of revised needs assessments.

    Veterans are also able to access the full range of NHS mental health services in the same way as the wider public.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Sharon Hodgson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans his Department has to assist and promote the UK video games industry in areas outside London.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The video games tax relief, launched in April 2014, is available to support video games productions based anywhere in the UK. Additionally, in October 2015 we launched our new £4m UK Games Fund to accelerate video games sector growth in all UK regions offering grants, mentoring and skills support for micro-businesses and SMEs. Of the first 24 successful grant applicants announced in February 2016, 18 were based outside London. Grant winning companies located in the North East of England for example included Coatsink Software in Sunderland, Nosebleed Interactive in Newcastle and Cardboard Sword and Double Eleven, both in Middlesbrough. The second call for applications is currently underway and closes on 18th April.

    The UK Games Fund’s talent programme, Tranzfuser, is currently in development and will be working with a UK-wide network of regional hubs including Vector 76 in the North East of England, The Digital Creativity Hub in the North West and Sheffield Hallam University in South Yorkshire.

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of (a) armed forces personnel, (b) civilian staff, (c) equipment and (d) other military assets have been withdrawn from Germany since 2014.

    Mark Lancaster

    We remain on track to meet the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010 commitment to withdraw our forces from Germany by 2020. The proportion of Armed Forces Regular personnel and civilian staff who have been withdrawn from Germany between the period 1 January 2014 and 1 December 2015 is 40% and 43% respectively. So far 74% of Service personnel based in Germany have relocated to the UK, which exceeds our 2010 SDSR target to relocate 50% of Service personnel by 2015.

    Units are responsible for returning their equipment and other assets to the UK as required. Some equipment, for example left-hand drive vehicles and Main Battle Tanks, has remained in Germany and is managed on a fleet basis. Other equipments have been moved from the UK to Germany to be held in existing UK climate controlled facilities as part of our high readiness posture. As a result the overall proportions withdrawn from Germany are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  • Anna Turley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Anna Turley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department was consulted by HM Treasury before the Government announced its intention to exclude subsidised renewable energy generation by community energy organisations from eligibility for social investment tax relief.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The Government is committed to helping social enterprises access finance as part of its drive to build a bigger, stronger society. This is why we developed the world’s first Social Investment Tax Relief. Cabinet Office continues to work closely with HM Treasury, the relevant social regulators and social investment market champions like Big Society Capital to ensure that this tax relief achieves its policy goals in a way that is fair and provides value for money to taxpayers.

  • 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 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2015 to Question 18970, what measures are being taken to stop the Daesh trade in oil and hydrocarbon products.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Coalition’s military efforts in Syria are an important part of the strategy to cut off Daesh oil revenues. The UK has launched strikes targeting Daesh oil facilities in Omar oil field. In total, Coalition airstrikes have damaged or destroyed over 260 oil infrastructure targets so far, taking out crucial Daesh oil facilities and convoys. The UK has led international efforts to make it illegal for any state, company or individual to trade in oil and oil products with Daesh, including co-sponsoring UN Security Council Resolution 2199 in February 2015. The Chancellor was in New York on 17 December for the first ever meeting of Finance Ministers at the UN Security Council to strengthen the sanctions regime against Daesh. We are also working with the private sector to ensure Daesh cannot access the spare parts and fuel additives it needs for its oil industry to function.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-11-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will ensure that all staff in HM Revenue and Customs authorised to cancel late-payment penalties are authorised to provide the person concerned with written confirmation of that cancellation.

    Mr David Gauke

    All staff in HM Revenue and Customs who are authorised to cancel late-filing penalties and late-payment penalties are also authorised to provide the customer concerned with written confirmation of that cancellation. The process to advise the person of the cancellation may differ between taxes, and the notification may in some cases be on-line rather than in a letter.

  • Justin Madders – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that Health Education England implements the recommendations on the training of workforce contained in the report of the Independent Cancer Taskforce, Achieving World Class Cancer Outcomes.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to determine how best to take forward the recommendations in the independent Cancer Taskforce’s report, Achieving world-class cancer outcomes: a strategy for England 2015 to 2020, and has appointed Cally Palmer CBE as NHS National Cancer Director to lead on managing implementation. She is currently setting up a new Cancer Transformation Board to lead the roll-out of the recommendations of the new strategy, including on workforce, and a Cancer Advisory Group, chaired by Dr Harpal Kumar, Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, will oversee and scrutinise their work.

    We announced in September that Health Education England (HEE) is developing a new national training programme for an additional 200 staff to get the skills and expertise to carry out endoscopies by 2018. The content of the next mandate from the Government to HEE is currently being determined.