Tag: 2016

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the UK’s relationship with Saudi Arabia on human rights in that country.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We use the strength of our relationship and engagement with Saudi Arabia to encourage reform. Saudi Arabia remains a Foreign and Commonwealth human rights priority country and we do not shy away from raising legitimate human rights concerns when it is appropriate to do so – I raised them most recently when I visited Riyadh last month. The Government of Saudi Arabia is well aware of our position on Human Rights issues.

  • Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to make the entitlement to an early education place a legal requirement.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    English local authorities have a statutory duty under section 7 of the Childcare Act 2006 to secure a free early education place of 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year for all three- and four-year-olds and two-year-olds who meet the eligibility criteria. The early education entitlement is not a legal requirement for parents, and we know that the current model is extremely successful, with 99% of four-year-olds and 94% of three-year-olds taking up a place. And, Based on survey data collected from local authorities in the autumn of 2015 it is estimated that 182,000 two-year-olds – around 72% of eligible children – have taken up a place on the two-year-old programme.

    The Secretary of State has a statutory duty under the Childcare Act 2016 to secure an additional 15 hours a week of free childcare for 38 weeks of the year for working parents of three- and four-year-olds.

    The Secretary of State will discharge the duty in clause 2 of the Childcare Act, the duty to secure 30 hours of free childcare for working parents, through all local authorities in England. Local authorities will, therefore, be required to secure childcare provision free of charge to qualifying children.

  • David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department has made an assessment of how much it costs on average to fill an individual pothole; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department for Transport has estimated that on average it costs £53 to repair a pothole. However, the cost of filling an individual pothole will depend on a range of variables including geography, the type of road and whether the repair is temporary or permanent.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients discharged from assessment and treatment units were re-admitted to hospital settings in each of the last five years.

    Alistair Burt

    The data on patients discharged from assessment and treatment units and re-admitted to a hospital setting or an assessment and treatment unit in each of the last five years is not available.

    Health and Social Care Information Centre has been collecting data through the Learning Disability Assuring Transformation data collection since February 2015. Between March 2015 and February 2016, 1,835 patients were admitted to inpatient settings, of these, 250 patients were re-admitted within a year, including 75 patients who were re-admitted in the last 30 days.¹ Data on discharge has also been collected since February 2015 but readmission and discharge data are not linked and therefore may not relate to the same person.

    Note:

    ¹ To note for those readmitted, Health and Social Care Information Centre can only consider the data they have from February 2015 onwards. Therefore if a patient was discharged in January 2015 and then readmitted in March 2015 they would not be counted as a readmission. The readmission figures may currently be under counting; however this will improve over time as the data set grows.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of reports that one in seven women in South Sudan do not survive childbirth, what steps they are taking to ensure the improvement of conditions for pregnant women in that country.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK leads the £200 million, five year, multi-donor Health Pooled Fund which provides comprehensive health care for pregnant women, including skilled care during labour and delivery, in eight of the ten states in South Sudan. Over the last three years this programme has enabled 493,316 pregnant women to receive anti-natal care services.

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress his Department has made on reaching a decision on NHS England’s commissioning responsibilities for drugs capable of preventing HIV infection in high-risk groups.

    Nicola Blackwood

    In September the Court of Appeal heard an appeal against an earlier judgement of the High Court, which ruled that NHS England does have powers to commission pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for people at risk of contracting HIV. Judgement is still awaited. No decisions on commissioning of PrEP have yet been made.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of current morale in the teaching profession.

    Lord Nash

    According to the OECD’s ‘Teaching and Learning International Survey’ (2013), 82 per cent of teachers surveyed in England either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that ‘all in all, I am satisfied with my job.’ This information is published in the attached research report ‘Teachers in England’s Secondary Schools: Evidence from TALIS 2013’.

    In addition, the latest statistics (School Workforce Census, November 2014) show that teacher retention rates one year after qualifying have remained stable for the past two decades, at around 90 per cent. Furthermore, 72 per cent of those who qualified in 2009 were still in teaching five years later, and the long-term retention rate is also stable, with over 60 per cent of teachers remaining in the classroom 10 years after qualifying.

    The Government is committed to raising the status of the teaching profession. We are supporting the establishment of a new, independent College of Teaching, and are offering postgraduate bursaries of up to £30,000 for trainee teachers starting initial teacher training in 2016/17, depending on their degree classification and the subject they plan to teach.

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many charities in receipt of government grant funding were found to be in breach of provisions preventing use of taxpayers’ money for political activity in each of the past three years.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    This information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of crop fed anaerobic digestion on food production and land rents.

    George Eustice

    Defra has procured research to assess the impact of crops grown for anaerobic digestion on land rental prices in England. Although concerns have been expressed by stakeholders over potential impacts on land rental prices, statistical analysis of available data did not detect significant price impacts. The development of the anaerobic digestion industry in the UK is still at a relatively early stage, so it may be that it is too early to detect impacts at present.

    The relevant report can be found at:

    http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&Completed=2&ProjectID=19655

    “

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals for the transition to a zero-carbon economy.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government believes we will need to take the step of enshrining the global goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions, reached at the UN climate summit at the end of 2015, into UK law. The question is not whether but how we do it. As a first step, our independent advisors, the Committee on Climate Change, is looking at the implications of the commitments in Paris, including the zero carbon emissions goal. It has said that it will report in the autumn. We will consider carefully the recommendations of the Committee.

    This Government is committed to the Climate Change Act and the target of at least an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Our priority this year is setting the fifth carbon budget (covering the period 2028-32) by the end of June and developing our plan on how we will meet our existing targets. We are clear that this must be done while keeping our energy supply safe and costs as low as possible for hardworking families and businesses.