Tag: 2015

  • Stephen Hammond – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Stephen Hammond – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Hammond on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to prepare for the implementation of the proposed General Data Protection Regulation; which non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) and agencies overseen by his Department will be affected by that regulation; and what estimate he has made of the potential liability of his Department, its agencies and NDPBs in connection with that proposed regulation.

    Mark Lancaster

    Until the General Data Protection Regulation has been finalised, the Department is not able to prepare for its implementation or make any estimate of the affect that it might have.

  • Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2015 to Question 11217, what the cost element is of the projected transmission charges within the agreed electricity strike rate of £92.50/MWh; and which party carries the risk if transmission charges are higher than predicted when the strike rate was agreed.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Generator’s estimate of transmission costs is commercially sensitive.

    The Strike Price could be adjusted, upwards or downwards, in relation to operational and certain other costs (including balancing and transmission charges) at certain fixed points including through opex reopeners at 15 and 25 years after the start date of the first reactor. Further detail on the treatment of transmission charges is included in the Departmental minute presented to Parliament on 21st October.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to increase self-sufficiency in UK food production.

    George Eustice

    The UK’s current production to supply ratio is 76% for indigenous-type foods and 62% for all foods. This has remained steady over the last decade and is not low in the context of the last 150 years.

    The Government is developing a 25 year food and farming plan to grow our food and farming industry. We want to export more and produce more for the domestic market. We aim to improve productivity and profitability through greater efficiency, the deployment of new technology and by building on the strong international reputation of the British brand at home and abroad.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received from his Department’s cleaning staff on being paid the London Living Wage.

    Mr David Lidington

    Interserve cleaning staff, contracted to clean the FCO’s London buildings, wrote to the department regarding the London Living Wage in letters dated 21 July 2015 (to which I replied on 19 August 2015); 21 July 2014 (to which I replied on 7 October 2014); and, 18 June 2012 (to which FCO officials replied on 21 June 2012 and followed up that reply with a meeting on 30 July 2012).

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will create a new duty on NHS primary care providers to identify unpaid carers.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government recognises the valuable contribution made by carers, many of whom spend a significant proportion of their life providing support to family members or friends.

    That is why we continue to support implementation of the improved rights for carers enshrined in the Care Act 2014. The Department has provided £104 million of funding to local authorities for these rights in 2015/16, which include an extended right to assessment and, for the first time, a duty on local authorities to meet carers’ eligible needs for support.

    To support implementation of the reform programme, we have established a joint Programme Management Office between the Department, Local Government Association and Association of Directors of Adults Social Services (ADASS). This unprecedented partnership is driving collaborative working with the sector, influencing the local implementation of these changes to support a consistent and coherent approach. This approach was recognised by the National Audit Office as best practice and should be adopted by other programmes.

    The programme includes a series of stocktakes of Local Authority readiness and the latest, from June 2015, demonstrates an overall positive picture on implementation:

    – Councils’ confidence in their ability to deliver the Care Act Reforms in 2015/16 remains high, with 99% very or fairly confident.

    – 89% of councils say that they are ‘on track’ with their implementation. The remaining 11% report themselves as only slightly behind.

    We have also produced a suite of implementation support documents around the new carers’ rights, one of which is The Economic Case for Investment in Carers, a short factsheet for local authorities to use in considering whether to put in place a policy of charging carers, setting out the evidence that charging would be a false economy. This expands on the position set out in the Care Act statutory guidance, which at paragraph 8.50 states that:

    “Local authorities are not required to charge a carer for support and indeed in many cases it would be a false economy to do so. When deciding whether to charge, and in determining what an appropriate charge is, a local authority should consider how it wishes to express the way it values carers within its local community as partners in care, and recognise the significant contribution carers make.”

    The Care Act replicates the previous position where charging carers was permissible. It would not have been appropriate to impose a blanket ban on charging for carers services, because in some cases small charges are necessary to the viability of services. However, the Care Act provides additional protection to carers by making it clear that local authorities cannot charge carers for services provided to the person being cared for. This means that carers may only be charged for services provided directly to them.

    Most local authorities do not routinely charge carers in recognition of the valuable contribution carers make to their local communities, and the Carers Trust report confirms that this is still the case. We will continue to make the case against routine charging of carers and to monitor the situation closely through the implementation monitoring process set out above.

    We have no plans to create a new duty around NHS identification of carers. The Care Act requires NHS bodies and local authorities to co-operate with each other in the exercise of their respective functions relevant to care and support, including those relating to carers, so we would expect local authorities and NHS bodies to cooperate in identifying and signposting carers. The Department is working with ADASS and NHS England to produce a “local pathway” for carer identification and support that will set this out in more detail.

    The Department has also provided over £2 million in recent years to the professional bodies such as the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal College of Nursing, as well as Carers UK and the Carers Trust, to develop initiatives to raise awareness of carers among healthcare professionals and to help identify and support carers.

    The Department is also leading on the development of a new National Carers’ Strategy that will be looking at the best of international practice and examine what more we can do to support existing carers and the new carers.

  • Robert Neill – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Robert Neill – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Neill on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, in which months the implementation of commitments to increase access to treatments contained in the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme has been discussed in NHS England accountability meetings.

    George Freeman

    Improving patients’ access to innovative, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence approved treatments is part of an objective set out in the Government’s mandate to NHS England. Performance against the mandate is discussed in NHS England accountability meetings chaired by the Secretary of State. The minutes of the meetings are published on the Government’s website at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-commissioning-board-accountability-meeting-minutes

    “

  • Andrew Turner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Turner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to monitor the number of Syrians seeking refugee status who enter the UK from Ireland; and if she will make a statement.

    James Brokenshire

    A person who is in genuine need of international protection should not travel through a safe country in order to choose where to claim asylum. If we have evidence that asylum seekers, including Syrian nationals, are the responsibility of Ireland we will seek to return them under the Dublin Regulation. Similarly, if we have evidence that individuals claiming asylum in the UK have already been granted international protection by Ireland we will also seek to return them.

  • Cat Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Cat Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support the Government is providing to disabled refugees from Syria who are currently in Europe.

    Richard Harrington

    The UK is prioritising its support and aid efforts where the need is greatest. Only a small percentage of Syrians displaced from Syria are seeking asylum in Europe; the vast majority remain in Syria and neighbouring countries. Those that remain in the immediate region around Syria are more likely to be particularly vulnerable and this is rightly where our focus remains. We are the second largest bilateral donor of humanitarian aid to the Syrian crisis with £1.12 billion already pledged.

    With assistance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees we will identify the most vulnerable Syrian refugees who cannot be effectively supported in the region for resettlement through our Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme with the aim of resettling 20,000 refugees during this Parliament.

    The UK is not providing direct resettlement or other support to asylum seekers in other Member States. The UK is already providing practical support to those Member States who are experiencing particularly serious pressures and will provide a further ten personnel to the European Asylum Support Office.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the oral evidence given by Michael Spurr to the Justice Committee on 13 October 2015, HC 416, how many officials of his Department have travelled to Saudi Arabia in relation to their work with Just Solutions International; and what the cost to the public purse was of that travel.

    Andrew Selous

    I refer the hon member to the Secretary of State’s statement of 13 October 2015. One official travelled to Saudi Arabia twice, both times in 2014, at a total cost of £3,425.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times his Department received complaints that an Oyster machine is not working properly on a London bus in each of the last four years.

    Claire Perry

    I am not aware of the Department for Transport having received any such complaints.