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Tag: 2015

  • Angela Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Angela Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Smith on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to evaluate the effectiveness of the Soil Protection Review form in reducing soil erosion.

    George Eustice

    Defra commissioned research, published in 2012, to evaluate the implementation of the Soil Protection Review (SPR). The research took the form of a telephone survey of 800 claimants, with 30 in-depth interviews across a sample of farms by region, farm type and size.

    Following recommendations by the Farming Regulation Task force, a review of the SPR was conducted. In January 2015, new national standards for agricultural soils under cross compliance were introduced. These rules require farmers in receipt of payments under CAP to prevent soil erosion, to maintain soil cover and to protect the level of organic matter in their soils.

    The Government will continue to monitor the implementation of the new rules.

  • Lady Hermon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lady Hermon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make it his policy to ensure that interest earned on Libyan assets frozen in the UK is used to compensate the victims of IRA/Libyan-sponsored violence; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    There is no legal basis upon which the UK could re-direct Libyan assets or the interest accrued to individuals for the purposes of compensation. Regarding assets which belonged to Qadhafi or other regime figures, the UN Security Council has stipulated that when these are unfrozen, they will be made available to, and for the benefit of the Libyan people. For the duration of time that these assets are frozen, they and any interest they accrue will be governed in accordance with the specific sanctions in place over the individuals or entities to which the assets belong. In this case, the asset freezing measures are set out under EU Regulation 204/2011 which prohibits the release of frozen funds and the interest accrued belonging to listed individuals or entities except in very specific circumstances, which do not apply here.

  • Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to improve the physical and mental health of homeless people.

    Alistair Burt

    Homelessness can lead to significant physical and mental health problems, and without accommodation and support, the chances of recovery are very limited. The £10 million Homeless Hospital Discharge Fund promoted new ways of improving the discharge arrangements of homeless people from hospital by working with other local services to help their recovery and improve their health.

    In April, the £40 million Homelessness Change/Platform for Life programme was launched. This programme will join up health and housing services, and help support young people at risk of homelessness across the country. We will be announcing the successful programme bids shortly.

    Talking Therapies, like the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme are a key weapon in addressing the mental health needs of vulnerable groups, like homeless people. While the normal referral processes to IAPT services are through general practitioners (GPs), individuals can self-refer, meaning that homeless people can refer themselves to services without the need for a GP.

    Public Health England is also working with local authorities to help them understand better the physical and mental health needs of homeless people in which access to IAPT will play a part.

  • Rushanara Ali – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rushanara Ali – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to improve the morale of junior doctors in the last 12 months.

    Ben Gummer

    My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote to the Chair of the Junior Doctor’s Committee Dr Johann Malawana on 8 October providingfour cast iron guarantees on contract reform. He said that he was not seeking to make savings from the pay bill, he wished to have a contract that improves patient safety, that reduces not increases the number of hours junior doctors work each week and which ensures that in future the great majority of doctors will be at least as well paid as now. In particular, he referenced negotiations with the British Medical Association (BMA) consultants committee to make sure there is proper consultant cover at weekends so junior doctors are better supported. He also wanted Health Education England (HEE) and the Royal Colleges to continue working with the BMA and NHS Employers to look at how the training experience can be improved more generally for juniors to better support work life balance including leave arrangements and recognising that juniors often have family responsibilities and choose to work part time. He asked the Junior Doctor’s Committee to re-enter negotiations and to work with others on the wider work on improving the training experience.

    Employers across the National Health Service are responsible for the morale of all their staff including junior doctors.

    The Department commissions NHS Employers to help trusts improve staff morale through advice, guidance and good practice on staff experience (which includes staff engagement1 and staff physical and mental health and wellbeing) which should lead to a happier workforce. The guidance they are promoting includes resources on medical staff engagement.

    The work the Department commissions from NHS Employers is aimed at helping embed the rights and pledges staff should expect from their employers as set out in the NHS Constitution2.

    The Chief Executive of NHS England, Simon Stevens announced on 2 September a major drive to improve health in the NHS workplace.This includes creating a positive working environment that listens to frontline staff, tackles bullying and discrimination, reduces stress and promotes health and positive mental wellbeing.

    [1] http://www.nhsemployers.org/

    2 http://www.nhs.uk/choiceintheNHS/Rightsandpledges/NHSConstitution/Documents/2013/the-nhs-constitution-for-england-2013.pdf

  • Nigel Evans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Nigel Evans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Disclosure and Barring Service has to protect vulnerable groups from exposure to unchecked employees and unregistered employers.

    Karen Bradley

    The responsibility for protecting vulnerable groups in the workplace lies with employers. The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) provides access to criminal records and other relevant information held by the police to assist employers in considering suitability to work with children or vulnerable adults. It also maintains lists of those who are barred from work with either or both those groups.

  • 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 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department spent on external legal advice not from Queen’s Counsel since 7 May 2010.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    It would incur disproportionate cost to obtain this information.

  • Ian Lavery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Ian Lavery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the total cost was of London International Shipping Week (LISW) 2013; how much of that cost was borne by his Department; and what those costs were for LISW 2015.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    London International Shipping Week is an industry-led and organised week, comprising over 80 events arranged by many organisations. The total cost of the week is not, therefore, information which is held by the Government.

    The Department hosted or jointly hosted a small number of key events in both years, costing just over £4,000 in 2013 and £5,500 in 2015.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what financial support is available to people spending more than 21 hours per week in education who are the principal carers for elderly relatives with a disability.

    Justin Tomlinson

    People in full-time education, including those with caring responsibilities, are not normally entitled to benefits. Rather they are supported through the educational maintenance system, via its range of loans and grants. Support may also be available through local councils and health services.

    Students undertaking a part-time course have access to carer related benefits in the usual way.

    People with a disability can claim benefits in their own right in order to meet their needs. Depending on individual circumstances, such financial support can be through universal, extra costs benefits and/or means-tested benefits. Means-tested benefits, such as Pension Credit, include an additional amount for people with a severe disability (currently £61.85 a week for a single person) which can be paid to a disabled person to help meet the costs of caring if their carer is not receiving Carer’s Allowance.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who were affected by the benefit cap in August 2015 were also affected by the benefit cap in September 2013.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Benefit cap statistics for the period to August 2015 have been pre-announced for publication on 5th November 2015.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-10-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether Monitor was instructed by officials to delay publishing Q1 financial figures for NHS Foundation Trusts ahead of the Conservative Party Conference, and if so, why.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Departmental officials have no legal powers to instruct Monitor to delay publication of financial performance data. Departmental officials regularly have conversations with the Department’s arm’s length bodies, including with Monitor, about the ongoing work of Government business, including the publication of Quarter 1 financial figures from both Monitor and the Trust Development Authority.