Tag: 2015

  • David Burrowes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Burrowes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department’s assessment of the risk of prosecution to Christians in Pakistan in its publication, Country Information and Guidance, Pakistan: Christians and Christian converts, published in February 2015, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the finding of the report commissioned by the British Pakistan Christian Association, entitled Education, Human Rights Violations in Pakistan and the Scandal Involving UNHRC and Asylum Seekers in Thailand, published in February 2015.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office will be considering the report commissioned by the British Pakistani Christian Association alongside a range of other material to make a full assessment of the situation of Christians in Pakistan, and will revise its country information and guidance if necessary.

    The Home Office considers that the treatment of asylum seekers in Thailand is primarily a matter for the Thai authorities.

  • Kate Hollern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kate Hollern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress he has made with the insurance industry on (a) identifying products that might be offered to drivers of mobility scooters and (b) how such products could be used to promote safety.

    Andrew Jones

    The Government is currently considering mobility scooters in the context of a European Court of Justice ruling about motor insurance known as “the Vnuk judgment”. The effect of this judgment is to broaden the circumstances in which third party insurance is required; and the range of vehicles subject to insurance requirements. We will need to amend our domestic legislation to comply with the judgment.

    In March 2015 we held a workshop to help us understand the particular issues that apply to mobility scooters and reach a decision on the position of these vehicles in the context of the Motor Insurance Directive.

    Officials are currently preparing an impact assessment which will consider, amongst other things, whether to impose compulsory insurance or derogate from insurance requirements, certain categories of vehicle. We will, of course, consult before making any changes to the legislation.

  • Baroness Whitaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Baroness Whitaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Whitaker on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the recommendations made in the report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons of February 2014 reviewing the monitoring of Gypsy, Romany and Traveller prisoners.

    Lord Faulks

    I welcome the report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, People in Prison: Gypsies, Romany and Travellers.

    Meeting the needs of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) prisoners has traditionally been challenging due to very low declaration rates. To address this, and to improve the support received by them, the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has carried out work to increase the confidence of these prisoners to declare their ethnicity.

    In March 2014, NOMS implemented a new tool to monitor various outcomes for prisoners against a range of protected characteristics, including GRT prisoners. This has proved to be successful and declaration rates have increased. The tool allows NOMS to better understand where gaps in services for GRT prisoners are, and for services to be commissioned where appropriate.

    NOMS has worked closely with organisations such as the Friends Family and Travellers and the Irish Chaplaincy in Britain to provide information to staff and prisoners regarding best practice when working with GRT prisoners.

    The Youth Justice Board (YJB) commissioned and jointly published (with HMIP) the report: ‘Children and Young People in Custody 2012-13: An Analysis of 12-18 year olds’ perceptions of their experience in secure training centres’. This was the first published annual summary of children and young people’s self-reported experiences and perceptions from surveys carried out with young people in each of the four Secure Training Centres (STCs). The YJB will continue to commission these reports and monitor the findings from this survey in future years to gain a better understanding of the representation GRT young people within STCs.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has assumed responsibility for the maintenance of the Royal Naval Division memorial from the original charity.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    In 2002, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), as the current occupant of the Old Admiralty Building, agreed to assume the costs for general cleaning of the Royal Naval Division Memorial and the costs of the water supply to the memorial’s fountain. The costs of any maintenance, other than cleaning, remain the responsibility of the Committee for the Royal Naval Division Memorial. In November 2013, the Committee informed the FCO that it intended to commission a condition survey of the memorial and had raised funds for any repair work. The survey commenced on 17 February 2015.

  • Lord Turnberg – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Turnberg – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Turnberg on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 10 February (HL4453), what plans they have to encourage NHS Trusts to employ and re-employ experienced medical staff who wish to practice part-time towards the end of their careers.

    Earl Howe

    It is for local National Health Service organisations to decide how many and what staff they employ, and they are best placed to do this based on the needs of their patients and local communities.

    Health Education England (HEE) is responsible for ensuring the NHS workforce has the right numbers, skills, values and behaviours to meet the needs of patients.

    HEE will work with NHS Employers and other key partners to develop a more strategic and cost-effective approach to staff retention including the encouragement of greater employer focus on retaining and investing in their current staff.

    To support nursing workforce requirements, HEE announced on 29 September 2014 that it is putting £4.7 million into training resources over the next three years as part of a major national campaign that will allow former nurses to return to the workforce.

    Over 1,000 have entered Return to Practice programmes this year. These programmes fast track experienced nurses back into the NHS in 3-6 months, compared to 3-4 years training new nurses.

    HEE is working with NHS England, the British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners to standardise a funded scheme which allows general practitioners to return to United Kingdom general practice following a career break. This is anticipated to be launched at the end of March.

  • Ian Lavery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Ian Lavery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether any employees of Rio Tinto plc has been seconded to his Department in the last five years.

    Jo Swinson

    The Department has not seconded any employees from Rio Tinto plc.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department has had with the US (a) Treasury and (b) Justice Department on HSBC’s licence to operate in the US since HSBC’s prosecution by the US authorities for facilitating money laundering in 2012.

    Mr David Gauke

    Treasury Ministers and officials regularly discuss a wide range of issues with their counterparts in foreign jurisdictions.

  • Tim Farron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Tim Farron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had on the inclusion of proposals to introduce direct elections to National Park authorities through the draft Governance of National Parks (England) and the Broads Bill; and with which people or organisations those discussions have taken place.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Secretary of State regularly meets with a wide range of people and organisations to discuss a wide number of issues.

  • Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what change there has been in the productivity of the NHS in England in each of the last three years for which information is available.

    Jane Ellison

    The most comprehensive and reliable estimates of productivity for the National Health Service in England are compiled by the Centre for Health Economics at the University of York. Their published series provides data from 1998/99 onwards and the latest available data relates to 2011/12, published in January 2014.

    Total factor productivity, adjusted for quality change, was -1.25% in 2009/10, +3.21% in 2010/11 and +2.13% in 2011/12. This is the first time that the series had shown two consecutive years of positive productivity growth.

    The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles a similar series for the whole of the United Kingdom, on a calendar year basis. The latest ONS results were published in January 2015 and show productivity growth rates for 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 as -1.3%, 0.6%, 3.5%, 0.9% respectively.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Virendra Sharma – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps NHS North West London took to consult residents of Ealing local authority area whose first language is not English when drawing up its Shaping a Healthier Future plan.

    Jane Ellison

    We are advised by NHS England, that NHS in North West London, through its programme Shaping a Healthier Future, undertook a number of activities (particularly in the summer of 2012) to ensure effective consultation with residents across the area, including in Ealing, whose first language is not English.

    The engagement was conducted by a post holder who speaks Urdu and Punjabi, two of Ealing’s most common non-English languages and included: working through existing voluntary and community networks within the area, such as the voluntary services councils, health and wellbeing boards, refugee/Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups and others; developing links with individual groups and communities interested and possibly affected by the proposed changes; using local authority forums and existing meetings to engage groups and communities; and engagement through commissioning organisations.