Tag: 2015

  • Lord Birt – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Birt – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2015-12-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Deighton on 10 February (HL4482), what assessment they have made of what is an acceptable and safe level of borrowing for (1) individuals and households, (2) non-financial corporations, and (3) financial institutions.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The government does not have an explicit target for household or corporate borrowing. The government is adamant not to repeat the mistakes of the past, which is why it created the independent Financial Policy Committee (FPC) within the Bank of England to ensure that emerging risks and vulnerabilities across the financial system as a whole are identified, monitored and effectively addressed.

  • Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of steps taken by (a) his Department and (b) the Burmese government to stop the use of child soldiers in that country.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We welcomed the commitment the Burmese government made to ending the recruitment of child soldiers in signing the UN’s Action Plan in 2012. Since then Burma has made some progress, including the release of over 600 child soldiers and, in September, signing the Optional Protocol to the Convention on Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. However, we are clear that more still needs to be done. Access to military units and non-state armed groups continues to be restricted, release of child soldiers has been limited, and while recruitment of children has slowed, it has not ceased entirely. We are also aware of reports that children continue to be arrested for “desertion”. I raised this issue with Minister of the President’s Office, U Aung Min, when I visited Burma in July and we will continue to do so with the Burmese authorities, including to press for swift implementation of the Optional Protocol.

  • Lord Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lucas on 2015-12-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 8 December (HL3854), what were the dates of the last three written communications from HMRC to Trading Standards about VAT fraud among online traders operating from abroad, including email, and to what persons at what offices they were addressed.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    HM Revenue & Customs does not disclose communications it has with its enforcement partners, or the content of those communications, to avoid compromising sensitive policy and operational activities.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Debbie Abrahams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information is recorded for primary and secondary breast cancer by the Cancer Registry on (a) diagnosis dates, (b) stage at diagnosis, (c) age and (d) gender of person at diagnosis.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England (PHE) is responsible for collecting cancer data to support national cancer registration in England and recognises the importance of collecting data on recurrent breast cancer; however data on the number of people diagnosed with secondary breast cancer is not currently available. Pilot work undertaken in April 2012 in acute trusts has improved the reporting for breast cancer recurrence and metastasis to the National Cancer Registration Service (NCRS). In order to drive up data completeness for the submissions to the NCRS, monthly reports on data quality and completeness of the Cancer Outcomes and Services Dataset are made available to all acute providers.

    Since the completion of the pilot project the NCRS in PHE has been working with all acute National Health Service providers in England to improve the reporting of breast cancer recurrence. The collection of this particular item of data remains challenging because relapsed patients may represent in many different ways and through many referral routes.

    Further work is being scoped by NHS England and PHE based on the recommendation in the recent Independent Cancer Taskforce report to establish robust surveillance systems to collect this data on all cancers.

  • Lord Selkirk of Douglas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Selkirk of Douglas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Selkirk of Douglas on 2015-12-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of refugees in (1) Europe, (2) the Middle East, and (3) North Africa, and what those figures are broken down by country.

    Baroness Verma

    As of 8th December the UN estimate that more than 920,000 refugees and migrants have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe this year. Almost 770,000 have arrived in Greece, and a further 150,000 have arrived in Italy. A large number of refugees remain in the Middle East. The most accurate figures are available for Syrian refugees, of whom there currently are 2,181,293 in Turkey, 1,070,189 in Lebanon, 632,762 in Jordan, and 244,527 in Iraq. Additionally, 2,117,361 Palestinian refugees are currently registered in Jordan, and 452,669 in Lebanon. It is also estimated that North Africa is host to 234,901 refugees, the majority of whom are in Egypt (187,753) and Libya (36,984).

  • 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 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2015 to Question 11782, what discussions he has had with the professional regulators regarding the level of mental health training offered as part of the mandatory training course for (a) student doctors, (b) student nurses and (c) midwives.

    Ben Gummer

    My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had no discussions with professional regulators about mandatory mental health training. It is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC) and Nursing and Midwifery Council to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricular to ensure newly qualified doctors and nurses are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care.This includes mental health training as required.

    Health Education England will work with bodies that set curricula such as the GMC and the royal colleges to seek to ensure training meets the needs of patients.

  • Lord Bradshaw – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Bradshaw – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2015-12-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what local authorities are permitted to spend profits from parking enforcement after covering enforcement costs; and what assessment they have made of how much such profit local authorities make from such enforcement.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Unfair parking fines push up the cost of living and undermine the high street. Local authorities should be making it easier to park to support local shops, local jobs and tourism by increasing footfall. Making parking more difficult stifles local trade, driving motorists into the arms of internet retailers and out of town superstores.

    Existing legislation clearly restricts the purposes for which monies generated from parking may be spent by local authorities to off-street parking, transport and environmental improvements.

    The Local Government Transparency Code 2015 requires local authorities to publish a breakdown of income and expenditure on the authority’s parking account. This includes details of revenue collected from on-street parking, off-street parking and Penalty Charge Notices and a breakdown of how the authority has spent a surplus on its parking account.

  • 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 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with the Royal College of Nursing on links between the consumption of carbonated drinks and the incidence of heart failure.

    Jane Ellison

    There have been no recent discussions with the Royal College of Nursing on the links between the consumption of carbonated drinks and the incidence of heart failure.

  • Jamie Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jamie Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2015-12-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to offer deadline extensions for tax due by businesses affected by flooding in Cumbria.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) operates a dedicated Severe Weather helpline to offer help and advice on any tax matters to those people and businesses affected by the recent flooding. The helpline is 0800 904 7900

    Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 8.00 am to 8.00 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 8.00 am to 4.00 pm, excluding bank holidays.

    HMRC will also:

    • consider instalment arrangements where customers are unable to pay as a result of the floods;
    • agree a practical approach when individuals and businesses have lost vital records to the floods;
    • suspend debt collection proceedings for those affected by the floods; and
    • cancel penalties when the customer has missed statutory deadlines due to the floods.

      The helpline is in addition to other HMRC telephone contact numbers.

  • Jo Cox – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jo Cox – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Cox on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of a seven-day elective service in the NHS on patient (a) care and (b) safety; and if he will publish any such assessment.

    Ben Gummer

    The Government’s current plans for ensuring the same quality of care in hospitals on all days of the week are focussed on those with urgent and emergency care needs at weekends and those who are already inpatients. It is for individual health economies to determine if they wish to provide elective care at weekends, for example if they can use more efficiently additional resources that are available to meet urgent and emergency care needs.