The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-03-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the staff who manage the gardens in Chevening country residence are employed as civil servants; whether such staff are enrolled under the civil service pension scheme; and under what terms and conditions such staff are employed with what pension entitlement.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
No members of the Civil Service are employed at Chevening.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jenny Chapman on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services on the health, wellbeing and performance of young people in schools and colleges.
Mr Sam Gyimah
We want children to do well academically. Attainment is supported if students have good health and mental wellbeing and when they have access to specialist mental health services where they need it.
The Government is investing an additional £1.4bn in children’s mental health this Parliament. Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) across the country have worked with partners, including schools and colleges, to produce local transformation plans for children and young people’s mental health services. These should set out what will be done locally to make the best use of the resources available – changing how child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) are delivered in response to the challenges set out in the Future in Mind report and increasing the focus on preventative activity. NHS England has put the plans through an assurance process before releasing funds and is carrying out an analysis of plans to identify practice that can be shared to inform future planning.
In addition we have contributed to a £3m joint pilot with NHS England which is testing how single points of contact in CAMHS and schools can secure effective mental health support to pupils. The pilots are involving over 250 schools in 27 CCG areas through joint training, which supports schools and CAMHS leads to identify specific activity to improve support in their area.
The Department of Health has commissioned a new survey into the prevalence of mental health conditions in children and young people in England, the first since 2004. They expect this to be published in 2018.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-05-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he plans to take to improve the rail network and services between London and Stafford.
Claire Perry
As part of the Rail Investment Strategy, Network Rail has delivered a package of major infrastructure improvements in the Stafford area. This includes the grade separation of Norton Bridge junction – which was been brought into use almost 12 months early this May – and has created additional capacity for services on the West Coast Main Line.
Rail services between Stafford and London are currently provided by the West Midlands and InterCity West Coast franchises. These franchises are due be replaced when they expire in October 2017 and April 2018 respectively. The Department has completed a consultation in respect of the replacement West Midlands franchise, and commenced another in respect of InterCity West Coast earlier this month. The outcomes of those consultations will be published in due course.
Looking to the future, HS2 will deliver high-speed services between London and Stafford from 2026.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-07-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she intends to allow children with refugee status to sponsor their parents for the purposes of refugee family renunion.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The current family reunion policy meets our international obligations and strikes the right balance. There are no plans to extend the criteria. Allowing children to sponsor parents would create perverse incentives for them to be encouraged, or even forced, to leave their family and risk hazardous journeys to the UK to sponsor relatives. This plays into the hands of criminal gangs who exploit vulnerable people and goes against our safe guarding responsibilities.
Where a family reunion application fails under the Immigration Rules we consider whether there are exceptional circumstances or compassionate reasons to justify granting a visa outside the Rules.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will undertake an Equality Impact Assessment of the proposed changes to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme.
Ben Gummer
The Government consulted on its reforms to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme and considered the responses it received from civil servants and others carefully. It held several meetings with unions during the consultation and then further meetings with unions that agreed to participate. An equalities impact assessment was published on 26 September alongside the Government’s consultation response.
The Government believes its proposed reforms will provide a firm foundation for the management of the Civil Service and its people for a generation. The new terms compare favourably with exit terms in the wider economy and will align the Civil Service Compensation Scheme with reforms across the public sector. It will support employers in managing their workforce and simplify the exit process while treating employees respectfully and fairly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-12-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which of their funding programmes are included within the Northern Powerhouse concept; and what is the estimate of the amount that will be spent by each department, and on what projects, in the current year and next.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
Our Northern Powerhouse initiative aims to redress the imbalance between the North and the rest of the UK, and help the North in reaching its potential through investing across a wide range of areas. This includes spending £13 billion on transport, £46 billion on schools, and £150 billion on health in the North of England over the course of the next Spending Review period.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make changes to the clinical guidelines for motor neurone disease to improve diagnosis and treatment.
George Freeman
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing robust, evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service. NICE is currently developing a clinical guideline on the assessment and management of motor neurone disease, and expects to publish its final guidance in February 2016. NICE is also producing a quality standard on motor neurone disease and its anticipated publication date is August 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the comment by Peter Wilkinson, Director of Rail Passenger Services at his Department, of 22 February 2016, about future industrial relations between his Department and transport unions is accurate.
Claire Perry
The Department for Transport is committed to continuing to work constructively with the Transport Unions in the coming years to deliver the best possible transport services for all passengers, users and taxpayers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Bradshaw on 2016-03-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made on the likely incidence of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis in the event that the (a) quadrivalent vaccine is maintained for UK HPV vaccination programme for girls and (b) bivalent vaccine is introduced for the UK HPV vaccination programme for girls.
Jane Ellison
The Department has not estimated the impact on the incidence of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis if the bivalent vaccine replaces the quadrivalent vaccine in the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme for girls.
Warwick University is carrying out some limited analysis, in the context of its modelling work on the impact and cost effectiveness of extending HPV vaccination to boys, but the results are academically and commercially confidential, and subject to review by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the independent expert body that advises Ministers on immunisation matters.
Estimates of the potential impact of the HPV vaccination programme on cancer and warts, including the incidence of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, have been previously published by Public Health England in the British Medical Journal in 2011:
http://www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d5775
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what research her Department has commissioned on the particular challenges of implementing cyber security to cover small modular reactors (SMRs); and whether the recently announced competition for research on SMRs includes research on cyber security.
Andrea Leadsom
Any nuclear reactor or facility proposed for deployment in the UK is subject to regulation. Therefore, any small modular reactor (SMR) design proposed for construction would undergo safety, security and environmental design assessment, including an assessment of cyber security.
Ensuring safety and security is the legal duty of operators and safety and security at all nuclear sites are kept under regular review. The UK’s independent regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), carries out inspections to ensure operators are fulfilling their duties and that robust safety and security measures are in place across the industry.
DECC is working with ONR to ensure that the regulatory regime is fit for any possible future deployment of SMRs. DECC is currently developing the detail of the programme that will be taken forward as part of the £250m nuclear innovation, research and development funding announced by my rt. hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer at the Autumn Statement. The recommendations and advice of the Nuclear Innovation and Research Advisory Board and key stakeholders will be taken into account in the process.