Tag: 2015

  • Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Callum McCaig on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the provisions in the Trade Union Bill on industrial relations within the civil service.

    Matthew Hancock

    Modernising the law governing Trade Unions will improve industrial relations. We have already seen the benefits in the Civil Service of reforming facility time, where we have delivered a saving to the taxpayer of over £52million, and the majority of departments have removed the outdated system of collecting union dues by check off. These benefits will now be delivered across the public sector.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to secure licences for existing off-patent drugs.

    George Freeman

    The Government does not normally apply for medicines licenses, which is rightly an obligation of the company who has developed the drug. The Secretary of State is the United Kingdom licensing authority for medicines and cannot become a routine applicant to himself nor can he become a routine participant in pharmaceutical markets which holders of licenses are obliged to do. The Government has not secured any licenses for off-patent drugs in the past five years.

  • Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-11-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax credit claimants lost their entitlement as a result of action taken by Concentrix in the last financial year.

    Mr David Gauke

    5,244 tax credit claims were amended as a result of checks undertaken by Concentrix during 2014-15. This includes both partial and full loss of entitlement cases.

  • Rosie Cooper – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Rosie Cooper – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, why HM Courts and Tribunals Service officials based in Lancashire were not informed that courts in that county were to be considered for closure before the consultation on the proposal for a single local justice area for Lancashire.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The consultation on the merger of the Local Justice Areas in Lancashire was launched on behalf of the Cumbria and Lancashire Judicial Business Group. This consultation closed on the 10 July 2015 and is separate to the consultation on the court and tribunal estate which I announced on 16 July 2015.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much of the £600 million additional funding for mental health announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 will be allocated in (a) the 2015-16 financial year and (b) each financial year.

    Alistair Burt

    The additional £600 million for mental health over the next five years announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement is additional to current spending. The levels of funding in individual years and the specific mental health service improvements it will fund will be determined in the new year, once the Mental Health Taskforce has reported.

  • Gavin Newlands – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gavin Newlands – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2015 to Question 11080, on deportation: appeals, in how many of the 426 cases referred to was certification withdrawn.

    James Brokenshire

    Of the 426 cases referred to in answer of 14 October to Question 11080:

    – none were certification withdrawn

    – 359 have been certified under Regulation 24AA

    – all data provided relates to the First Tier Tribunal only

    – 25 are listed as abandoned or withdrawn by the appellant

    – 89 were dismissed by the relevant tribunal

    The Home Office does not disclose country specific information as its disclosure could prejudice relations between the UK and foreign governments.

    Notes : (1) All figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.

    (2) Data Extracted on 28th September, 2015 in line with response to Question 11080

  • 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 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons the latest estimate of the cost of the Successor class submarine programme has increased to £31 billion; and whether he expects that cost to rise.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Designing and building submarines is one of the largest programmes and one of the most complex activities that the Ministry of Defence and UK Industry has ever undertaken. It is the purpose of a design phase to improve our understanding of costs and timescales, which we have now done. The current estimates reflect what we have learned since the design phase began.

    As stated in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) 2015 (Cm9161), our latest estimate of the total cost to manufacture the four Successor submarines reflects greater maturity of the design and understanding of the supply chain, amounts to £31 billion; we will also set a contingency of £10 billion. This level of contingency represents about 35% of the costs to completion and is a prudent estimate based on past experience of large, complex projects.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2015 to Question 11305, if he will ask NICE to undertake a technical appraisal of psychological therapies.

    George Freeman

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued guidelines recommending the use of psychological therapies in the treatment of a number of conditions and there are no plans to ask NICE to undertake a technology appraisal of psychological therapies.

    Details of NICE guidelines available can be found at: www.nice.org.uk/Guidance.

    “

  • Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.34 of the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence Review 2015 and to his Department’s press release dated 23 November 2015, what equipment and support (a) was to be procured with the £166 billion programme and (b) will be procured under the £178 billion programme.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Defence Equipment Plan 2015, placed in the Library of the House on 22 October 2015, set out our plans, before the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) 2015, for spending £166 billion on defence equipment and support over the next 10 years.

    In the SDSR we set out our plans for additional investment in Armed Forces defence equipment and support. This includes improving Special Forces’ capabilities, procuring three new Fleet Solid Support ships and investing in a fleet of nine Boeing P-8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft.

    Following the SDSR, we now plan to spend £178 billion on defence equipment and support over the next 10 years.

  • Stephen McPartland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen McPartland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2015-11-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on the economy of reductions in the level of the Bus Service Operators Grant that were made in 2012; and if he will make a statement.

    Greg Hands

    The Treasury has not assessed the effect of reductions in the level of the Bus Service Operator Grant on the economy.

    The Treasury do however recognise the important role buses play in supporting both our economy and society and as such ensured no further cut to the Bus Service Operator Grant was implemented through the 2013 Spending Round. The Government are also taking action though the upcoming Buses Bill to provide local areas with the powers they have requested to help them to deliver better local bus services.