Tag: 2015

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-10-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2015 to Question 13690, what estimate she has made of the cost of implementing her Department’s Great Britain Invasive Non-native Species Strategy, published August 2015; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    The aim of the GB Strategy is to avoid the environmental, social and economic impacts of invasive non-native species by taking early and targeted action. An implementation plan associated with the renewed Strategy includes an assessment of the costs associated with communicating the need for action, rapid responses to avoid higher costs if species become established, and the costs of managing widespread established species to minimise their impacts where possible. A prioritisation exercise that will form the basis of the assessment of costs will be completed by the end of November.

  • 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 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 31 of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, when he plans for the off-shore patrol vessels being procured by his Department to come into service.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Three River Class Patrol Vessels are already under construction, the first two of which are scheduled to enter service in 2018 and the third in 2019. The contract for two further vessels, and therefore their delivery schedule, has yet to be agreed and will be influenced by the Shipbuilding Strategy to be published in 2016.

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

    David Amess – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-10-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether standard patient health assessments by GPs include assessing eye health.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government recognises that regular sight tests are an important measure in preventing avoidable sight loss.

    Free National Health Service sight tests are available to many, including children, people aged 60 and over, people on benefits and those people at particular risk of developing eye disease.

    We do not determine what should be included in health checks or consultation between general practitioners (GPs) and their patients. This is for GPs to decide, taking into account the individual needs of patients.

  • 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 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the size of the Royal Navy Gibraltar Squadron has been in each year since 2010.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Each year since 2010 the Royal Navy Gibraltar Squadron (RNGS) has consisted of two SCIMITAR Class Patrol Boats, HMS SCIMITAR and HMS SABRE and three Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIBs). It is also frequently bolstered by Royal Navy vessels transiting the region.

    Since 2010 there have been 22 stationed personnel which were increased by five temporary augmentees following a pattern of increased Spanish incursions in 2012. After a review in 2014 the number of personnel was permanently uplifted to 26.

    The following table represents the financial expenditure incurred by British Forces Gibraltar in support of the RNGS in each year since 2010.

    Figures are in millions.

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    1.3

    1.4

    1.4

    1.3

    1.5

    “

  • Chris Heaton-Harris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Chris Heaton-Harris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Heaton-Harris on 2015-10-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons funding for Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy is due to cease in March 2016.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England has commissioned Selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) procedures as part of its Commissioning through Evaluation (CtE) programme.

    CtE schemes run in areas where the current evidence base on clinical and cost effectiveness of a particular treatment is insufficient to support routine funding, and where further research is unlikely to be forthcoming. In these circumstances, NHS England identifies funding for a CtE scheme to gather and support a review of the national clinical commissioning policy position. Each CtE scheme is funded on a time-limited basis, in just a small number of selected participating centres across England, with strict patient selection criteria.

    The CtE programme is supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which supports NHS England to identify the total number of patients that need to be treated under the scheme to answer the evaluation questions agreed. Schemes stop once the total planned number of patients has been treated and the data analysis can be concluded. In the case of the SDR scheme it is likely that the last patients will be treated by spring 2016.

    The information provided directly by NHS England to stakeholders and participating centres in the SDR scheme has been consistently clear about the time limited nature of CtE and that the funding did not present a change to the current commissioning position of the treatment not being routinely funded by the NHS.

    NHS England will continue to work closely with participating centres to ensure that messages are as clear as possible to families who may have wished to consider this treatment option.

  • 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 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to (a) merge and (b) disband military units in implementing Joint Force 2025.

    Penny Mordaunt

    There are no plans to merge or disband military units in implementing Joint Force 2025. We are committed to maintaining the size of the regular Armed Forces, not reducing the Army below 82,000, and increasing the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force by a total of 700 personnel.

  • Helen Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Helen Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2015-10-30.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy that no Department be permitted to (a) employ staff at wages below the living wage and (b) sign a contract with contractors who pay their staff less than the living wage.

    Matthew Hancock

    We are the first Government ever to deliver a National Living Wage. Every employer in the country will pay the National Living Wage, including all Government contractors, from April 2016.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the UK sought permission from the government of Syria to deploy manned and unmanned surveillance aircraft over Syria before he made his Statement to the House on 21 October 2014.

    Penny Mordaunt

    No. This activity is conducted as part of the international counter-ISIL/Da’esh Coalition in the self-defence of the UK and the collective self-defence of Iraq, under article 51 of the UN Charter, against the direct threat from ISIL’s heartland in Syria.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the current status of the plutonium disposal programme.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) are in the process of submitting advice to support DECC in its considerations. This, together with other sources of information and evidence, will enable DECC to consider options for the way forward. A decision is expected to be made by ministers on how to proceed during 2015/16. Only when the Government is confident that its preferred option could be implemented safely and securely, in way that is affordable, deliverable, and offers value for money, will it be in a position to proceed.

  • Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the introduction of statutory PHSE on the uptake of STEM subjects by girls.

    Edward Timpson

    Through the introduction to the national curriculum, the Government has made clear that all schools should make provision for Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE). PSHE is, however, a non-statutory subject.

    The Government is determined to increase the number of young people studying Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects, particularly girls. There have been 12,000 more A Level entries in STEM subjects for girls over the last five years.

    PSHE plays an important part in preparing young people for the world of work including dispelling gender stereotyping. Resources to support PSHE include those produced by Siemens in collaboration with the PSHE Association. These resourced explore equality and the world of work which aim to inspire the next generation of female scientists, technicians and engineers.

    We are also supporting schools in other ways to tackle this issue through professional development and enrichment activities, including the Stimulating Physics Network, and the inspiring “Your Life” campaign, which will transform perceptions of science and mathematics.