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Tag: 2015

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

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with the Royal Colleges on a link between social media and mental health problems.

    Alistair Burt

    Departmental Ministers meet with representatives from the Royal Colleges regularly and discuss a wide range of issues, including mental health. We know that social media may have an effect of the behaviour and attitudes of people in relation to mental health issues and we are specifically aware of its influence in relation to suicide and self-harm. We are working with the Samaritans and the National Suicide Prevention Alliance to better understand the effect of social media on suicide and self-harm prevention.

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2015-12-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether opposition to the death penalty remains a key human rights priority for them, in the light of the UK’s candidacy for the UN Human Rights Council.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Our UN pledges renew our enduring commitment to promoting universal human rights. This includes work to abolish the death penalty. As I have said repeatedly in this House, this Government opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and we continue to call on all states to abolish it.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what campaigns he plans to implement over the Christmas period in 2015 to draw public attention to the dangers of drinking and driving.

    Andrew Jones

    On 1st December the Department for Transport’s THINK! campaign will launch a new Drink Drive campaign in England and Wales. The campaign will use paid-for advertising (including TV and radio) alongside social media and PR activities. We are also working with commercial partners including Coca-Cola, Johnnie Walker and Budweiser who provide incentives to help drivers make the right choice not to drink and drive.

    Targeted at men aged 17-34, the campaign aims to contribute to a reduction in the number of people killed and seriously injured as a result of drink driving by highlighting the potential danger of driving after drinking lower levels of alcohol. The campaign also aims to maintain the social unacceptability of drink driving amongst a wider ‘all adult’ audience who will see some of the advertising.

  • Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank on 2015-12-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest assessment of the arrangements for preserving departmental archives, including the role of the Cabinet Secretary.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Each government department is responsible for managing its own records up to the point when such records are transferred to the National Archives. This complies with the Lord Chancellor’s Code of Practice on the management of records issued under section 46 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

    The Cabinet Secretary has commissioned two recent reviews of record management practices. The first covered the arrangements for the annual release of departmental papers to the National Archives and was published in November 2014. The second, which was published earlier this month, focuses on the transition from paper-based to electronic record keeping; HM Government has accepted all the recommendations of the review and will begin to implement the actions he recommends through the course of 2016.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of foreign nationals convicted of a crime in the UK were deported to their country of origin in each of the last three years.

    James Brokenshire

    The following table shows the number of Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) who have been convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to a period of imprisonment and subsequently referred to Immigration Enforcement for consideration of removal action.

    Whilst we aim to deport foreign national offenders at the earliest opportunity not all of those referred to the Home Office will meet the deportation threshold, some may later be confirmed as British or exempt from Immigration Control and some will be successful at appeal. Removal may also be delayed as some offenders will repeatedly refuse to comply with the deportation and documentation process, deliberately seek to flout the system to disrupt our efforts to deport them or attempt to lodge multiple appeals. Factors such as these can lead to deportation being delayed.

    In May 2013, a new system was introduced for recording and monitoring all FNO referrals, even where an offender did not meet the deportation threshold. Prior to this, referrals of those who did not meet deportation criteria were not routed through a central system so this data was not centrally recorded. The introduction of this system therefore shows an increase in the referral numbers from 2012/13 onwards.

    Financial year

    Number of referrals to Immigration Enforcement

    Number of removals

    2010/11

    6,452

    5,367

    2011/12

    7,326

    4,539

    2012/13

    6,874

    4,720

    2013/14

    10,786

    5,118

    2014/15

    10,461

    5,277

    2015/16 (to Sept 2015)

    5,262

    2,855

    The National Offender Management Service operate on a nationality self declaration basis, which means that not all those referred for action will be in scope for removal. Some offenders may later be confirmed as British nationals or exempt from immigration control.

    The removals shown are not a representative proportion of those referred in the same period. Those referred will not always be removable in the same year due to sentence length. The removals data will include those who have been referred prior to the period shown in the table.

    Please note that figures prior to the 2011/12 financial year precede the implementation of a later reporting application and as such were not subject to the same level of data assurance for data recorded after 2011/12.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Sharon Hodgson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to recommendation 85 in the Independent Cancer Taskforce’s report entitled, Achieving world-class cancer outcomes, a strategy for England 2015 to 2020, published in July 2015, what plans he has to recruit internationally to address workforce deficits.

    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.

  • Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how her Department plans to ensure that data is collected on stateless children so that such children can be taken into account in measuring progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK has played a key role in creating a set of Global Goals that are universal and inclusive; underpinned by a commitment to leave no one behind. Goal 17 target 18 concerns the need for high-quality, timely and reliable disaggregated data. It will be essential to have this data to ensure we leave no one behind, including data on stateless children. DFID is currently undertaking a bilateral aid review to address priorities for this parliament and this will address how we will support better data to ensure the Prime Ministers Leave No One Behind promise is delivered.

  • 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 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2015 to Question 16399, what discussions he has had with the Accelerated Access Review team on biosimilars medicines; and whether he has been given assurance that the final report will make specific recommendations on their use.

    George Freeman

    In accordance with the terms of reference the Accelerated Access Review is not excluding any particular type or class of medicine, but is creating a framework through which to accelerate access for National Health Service patients to innovative health technologies including biosimilar medicines where appropriate.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland of 18 November 2015, Official Report, what steps her Department is taking to support military veterans who served in Northern Ireland in 1972.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    The Government accepts that we have a duty of care to all current and former members of the Armed Forces, and the MoD pay for independent legal advice when both current and former members of the Armed Forces face prosecution in matters related to their service.

    The Armed Forces Covenant sets out the relationship between the nation, the government and the armed forces recognising that the whole nation has a moral obligation to members of the armed forces and their families, and it establishes how they should expect to be treated.

    In Northern Ireland, there is a bespoke aftercare package in place to support former members of the UDR and R IRISH (Home Service), their dependents and widows. This consists of welfare teams spread across Northern Ireland which offers vocational resettlement training, medical support, and a UDR/ R IRISH benevolent fund. In August 2015, the MoD agreed that the UDR & R IRISH (HS) Aftercare Service should continue to exist and be funded since circumstances leading to its inception have not markedly changed, need is still evident and demand is being effectively met. However, in line with other defence restructuring, it has been decided that eventually it should become owned by the MoD’s main veterans’ support organisation, known as Veterans UK.

    This is in addition to the services available to all veterans; including Veterans UK (in particular the Veterans Welfare Service which has welfare representatives based across the UK); Service and ex-Service charities such as the Army Benevolent Fund – the Soldiers charity, SSAFA – the Armed Forces charity and Combat Stress.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Seema Malhotra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will estimate the proportion of people in London who will be able to afford to (a) rent and (b) buy a home in 2016.

    Brandon Lewis

    My Department does not produce estimates on the proportion of people who will be able to afford to rent or to buy a home in London.

    The Spending Review doubled investment in housing to more than £20 billion over the next five years to support the largest housing programme by any Government since the 1970’s, including:

    • £4 billion for 135,000 Help to Buy: Shared Ownership homes, which will allow people to buy a share in their home and increase that equity over time;
    • £2.3 billion towards delivering 200,000 new Starter Homes, which will be available at 20 per cent discount to young first time buyers;
    • £1.6 billion for 100,000 affordable homes for rent;
    • £12 billion of additional housing investment to provide thousands more homes, including expanding Help to Buy in London where the scheme will increase equity loans up to 40% instead of the standard 20% to support thousands of aspiring homeowners in the capital.