UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: 2015

  • Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 6 November 2015 to Question 14454, what (a) funding and (b) other support the Government has offered UNHCR to identify people for resettlement to date.

    Richard Harrington

    We recognise that the scaling up of the Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme is placing additional demands on UNHCR and have offered them additional support in the form of funding, equipment and seconded personnel, to help with upscaling their resettlement operations. We are currently finalising a support package and will publish details of this once agreed.

    This assistance is in addition to £122 million we have already allocated to UNHCR’s work in Syria and the region since the start of the crisis.

  • 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 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups improve (a) screening, (b) vaccination and (b) symptom awareness in order to address geographical inequalities in cancer outcomes.

    Jane Ellison

    The NHS public health functions agreement, between the Secretary of State for Health and NHS England, enables NHS England to commission certain public health services, including national immunisation and screening programmes that will drive improvements in population health.

    Through this agreement, NHS England commissions services from a variety of providers across England. It strives to reduce variation in local levels of performance between different geographical areas using contracting and commissioning levers, while national and local levels of performance are improved or maintained.

    The Independent Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, in July this year, and recognised the importance of early diagnosis and symptom awareness to improve both patient outcomes and experience. NHS England has appointed Cally Palmer as NHS National Cancer Director. She will lead the implementation of the strategy.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent support the Government has provided to Egypt for oil and shale gas development.

    Anna Soubry

    We are not aware of any support given by the Government to the Egyptian authorities for oil and shale gas development.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2015 to Question 18565, what the components are of the 12 month support package provided to resettled Syrian refugees to assist with their integration.

    Richard Harrington

    The Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme prioritises those who cannot be supported effectively in the region, and the 12 month support package which refugees are offered is therefore tailored according to their individual needs. The main components are accommodation; cultural integration, including English Language tuition; and addressing any medical and social care needs.

  • 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 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the (a) furthest and (b) average distance was which patients travelled to in-patient mother and baby units specialising in psychiatric care during the perinatal period in each of the last three years.

    Alistair Burt

    The information requested is not collected centrally.

  • Wayne David – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Wayne David – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wayne David on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to paragraph 2.149 of the Spending Review, where he expects job cuts in his Department; and how many such jobs he expects to be cut.

    Dominic Raab

    The Secretary of State for Justice has set out his vision for a one nation justice system, with swift and certain justice in a reformed courts system and transformed prisons that become places of rehabilitation, not just incarceration. Those on the frontline will be empowered to make the right decisions for those who use their services.

    This means a smaller and smarter Whitehall department with less bureaucracy, including savings which do not impact on staff numbers, such as changes to our estate, our major contracts and better use of technology.

    We also expect to reduce headquarters and administrative headcount and costs over the course of the parliament. This will include reduced reliance on contractors and contingent labour and fewer staff based in expensive London premises.

    Final decisions on the scale of staff reductions have not yet been reached.

  • 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 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to introduce a standard dementia test for all people aged between 65 and 70.

    Jane Ellison

    Improving the treatment and care of people with dementia, reducing the incidence of dementia and improving dementia research, is a key priority for the Government. That is why in February 2015, the Prime Minister launched his Challenge on Dementia 2020 as a successor to the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2012-2015.

    There are different models of diagnosis which are being utilised for all stages of the condition across all age groups. A range of different tests and diagnostic procedures are needed to diagnose dementia depending on the person and the type of dementia they may be suspected of presenting with, therefore a single standardised test would not be clinically appropriate.

    On 10 September 2014 NHS England published a new Dementia Toolkit aimed at helping general practitioners making a more timely diagnosis and what they can do in terms of vital post-diagnostic support. Decisions on specific health treatments and tests, however, are made at a local level to best meet the needs of the individual concerned.

    We will be raising awareness of dementia as a component of the NHS Health Check for all attendees aged between 65 and 74.

  • James Cartlidge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    James Cartlidge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cartlidge on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with bidders for the current East Anglian rail franchise about the closure of the Sudbury to Marks Tey railway line and other branch lines in Suffolk in November 2015 as a result of leaf damage to diesel rolling stock.

    Claire Perry

    No specific discussions with bidders have taken place in regard to leaf fall damage to diesel rolling stock. As a minimum, we expect bidders to deliver on the ambitious performance benchmarks we have set, and to minimise delay and disruption for passengers across the franchise.

    The East Anglia Invitation to Tender issued in September sets out that train performance will receive a weighting that is reflective of the level of improvements we want to see.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average response time to a 999 call for the emergency services was in (a) Barnsley Central constituency, (b) the Yorkshire and the Humber region and (c) the UK in each year from 2010 to 2015.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office does not hold these data centrally. Data on 999 response times for the police may be held by individual police forces.

    Similarly, the Home Office does not hold data on response times for other 999 emergency services. NHS England publish monthly performance statistics, which include ambulance response times. These can be found here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/2015/10/08/combined-performance-summary-august-2015/

    DCLG publish statistics on fire incident response times, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fire-incidents-response-times

  • Eilidh Whiteford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Eilidh Whiteford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eilidh Whiteford on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will automatically exempt people (a) who are homeless, (b) with mental ill health and (c) in other at-risk groups from benefit sanctions.

    Priti Patel

    The sanctions process encourages benefit claimants to do everything they can to find work. Evidence shows that they have a positive impact on behaviour – over 70% JSA & over 60% ESA claimants say that sanctions make it more likely they will follow the rules.

    Jobseekers are only asked to meet reasonable requirements, taking into account their circumstances and capability, including mental health conditions, disability housing status and caring responsibilities. These requirements are clearly explained and agreed by jobseekers with their Work Coach and set out in their Claimant Commitment.

    As we already have a number of flexibilities in place, we will not be automatically exempting people who are homeless, who have mental health issues, or other vulnerable groups from benefit sanctions.