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Tag: 2015

  • Richard Burgon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Richard Burgon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burgon on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to improve the UK’s productivity.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    SQW Consulting’s UK Broadband impact study in 2013 estimates that the availability and take-up of faster broadband speeds will add about £17 billion to the UK’s annual Gross Value Added (GVA) by 2024.

    This Government is helping increase productivity across the UK by investing in and widening access to key digital infrastructure. We are on track to deliver our commitment to provide superfast broadband coverage to 95% of the UK by the end of 2017.Our£40m Broadband Connection Voucher Scheme was taken up by over 55,000 small and medium sized businesses – who employ a million people right across the UK and are already reporting, on average, a £1,300 per year increase in profits and a new job being created for every four new connections. ThePrime Minister recentlyannounced plans to ensure that every home and business can have access to fast broadband by the end of this Parliament.

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

    Lord Bradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradley on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the Mental Health Taskforce report on a new five-year national strategy for mental health will be published.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Mental Health Taskforce is finalising its recommendations and supporting analysis to ensure these are robust. Their report is due to be published by NHS England in the New Year.

  • Joan Ryan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Joan Ryan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether 18 to 21 year olds who live in supported accommodation will be able to claim the housing element of universal credit when they move out of supported accommodation.

    Justin Tomlinson

    From April 2017 the Government will remove automatic entitlement to housing support for 18-21 year olds in Universal Credit. This rule, which will apply to new claims from those who are out of work, will ensure parity with those young adults who are in employment but are unable to afford to leave home. However, there will be circumstances where it is reasonable to support a young person in living independently. The Department is discussing this issue with key stakeholders in order to determine which groups might be exempt from the general rule. This includes many organisations that provide supported accommodation for young people. It is too early to confirm the outcome from those discussions.

  • Lord Kilclooney – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Kilclooney – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kilclooney on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the UK, as one of the three guarantor powers of Cyprus, was consulted in connection with the request by Russia to the government of Cyprus for the provision of military facilities on that island.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We have discussed with the Republic of Cyprus their dialogue with the Russian Federation on the provision of facilities for humanitarian and emergency purposes. The Republic of Cyprus have stated very clearly that they have no plans for a Russian military base on the island.

    The UK remains fully engaged on issues of regional security with the Republic of Cyprus, while recognising that it is for the Republic of Cyprus to decide which bilateral agreements to sign.

  • 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 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will promulgate official advice to pregnant women not to drink alcohol.

    Jane Ellison

    The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) is overseeing a United Kingdom-wide review of all alcohol guidelines so that people can make informed choices about their drinking at all stages of their lives.

    The Guidelines Development Group, a group of independent experts, was tasked with developing lower-risk drinking guidelines for the UK CMOs to consider, including UK wide guidance for alcohol and pregnancy. We will be consulting on these shortly.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will confirm that stocks of air-launched weapons such as Brimstone used in Syria and Iraq will be maintained at planned levels at no cost to the agreed defence budget.

    Earl Howe

    I am withholding details of stock levels of air-launched weapons as disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of our Armed Forces and allies. However, the cost of replenishing weapons used for air strikes in Syria and Iraq will be met from the HM Treasury Special Reserve.

  • 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 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2015 to Question 227900, how much of the £250 million additional funding that was committed has been spent; and how many children and young people with mental health problems this funding has supported.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government will be making available £1.4 billion over the course of this Parliament to transform children and young people’s mental health. £173 million of this has been allocated in 2015-16.

    It is too early to quantify how many Children and Young People have benefited from this additional investment.

    A significant proportion of the additional funding is being allocated to clinical commissioning groups upon completion of the assurance of Local Transformation Plans which every area has produced on children and young people’s mental health. These plans cover the full spectrum of mental health issues, from prevention and resilience building, to support and care for existing and emerging mental health problems, as well as transitions between services and addressing the needs of the most vulnerable. Plans are currently being assured by NHS England’s regional assurance teams. Funding is being released as individual plans receive a satisfactory assessment and expenditure will be monitored over the remainder of this financial year.

    In addition, the additional funding available this year will support continued improvement of existing services through the expansion of the Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme. It will also strengthen the capacity and capability of workforce including providing training and improve data and information in order to deliver the vision set out in Future in Mind by 2020.

  • Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of people in England entering treatment for drug misuse have left treatment drug-free in each year since 2010.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    A table which shows trend data from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System for individuals completing treatment free of dependence for the years 2009-10 to 2014-15 is attached.

    For the first time in 2014-15, the annual report brought together information on people receiving specialist interventions for drugs and alcohol. Many people experience problems with both substances and receive interventions for both, and drugs and alcohol services are often commissioned together. The figures therefore include the substance group ‘non-opiate and alcohol’, as well as those seeking services for drug-only related dependency, to ensure all individuals leaving treatment drug-free are captured. This new methodology has been applied to the years prior to 2014-15 to ensure comparable figures.

    We have provided both the total numbers leaving treatment successfully free of dependence as well as the numbers that left successfully not using drugs or alcohol at the time of exit (which is a subset of the larger number), as some individuals may, for example, be occasionally drinking when they are discharged but it will have been judged by a clinician to be non-problematic and not dependent use and that therefore they no longer require treatment.

    Public Health England will continue to support local authorities to provide effective and efficient drug treatment services, by providing bespoke data to assist the joint strategic needs assessment and to show the effectiveness of the local treatment system, as well as value for money tools, topical briefings, advice on good practice and on the benefits of investing in alcohol and drug treatment. Across the country, councils have already begun to develop new ways to deliver public health, showing that it is possible to deliver better health for local people and also better value for the taxpayer.

    The evidence-base for the effectiveness of drug treatment is robust, with United Kingdom and international evidence showing that treatment provides value for money, improves public health and reduces crime.

    The Building Recovery strand of the Government’s Drug Strategy recognises the importance of non-medical interventions, such as recovery networks, employment, housing, family support and reduced re-offending, in helping people recover and to participate more fully in society. Every person in structured drug treatment has a personal care plan based on an assessment of their needs, which maps out the steps they will take towards recovery. It covers their drug use, health, social functioning, criminal involvement, housing, employment and any other barrier to recovery.

  • Patrick Grady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Patrick Grady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether the Government plans to table amendments to the Scotland Bill in the House of Lords.

    David Mundell

    The Government tabled substantive amendments to the Scotland Bill at Report Stage of the Bill in the House of Commons. The Bill subsequently passed third reading without division. The Government’s amendments strengthened the Bill and put beyond doubt that the Smith Commission Agreement has been delivered in full. The Bill is now before the House of Lords where it will be scrutinised further.

  • Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on students of replacing maintenance grants with loans.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government published an Equality Analysis on changes to student support on 3rd December. This can be found at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/482110/bis-15-639-student-finance-equality-analysis.pdf

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