Tag: 2016

  • Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what the annual budget is for food produced for his Department’s offices; and what proportion of food produced for his Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.

    Guto Bebb

    Given the small amount of expenditure involved, the Wales Office does not have a budget specifically for food. It uses external caterers to supply food and drink for events in its London and Cardiff offices. Records are not kept on where the food is sourced from.

  • 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 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to publish her Department’s 25 year plan on food and farming.

    George Eustice

    Work on the 25 Year Food and Farming Plan is currently on hold following the result of the EU Referendum. We now have an opportunity to consider our long term vision for food and farming outside of the EU. We look forward to continuing to work with a wide range of interests to develop that vision and to work together to deliver it.

    It remains essential that the UK has a thriving food and farming industry with high animal welfare and environmental standards, access to international markets and a long term commitment to boosting productivity through innovation and skills. We are now focused on taking forward the actions that support these objectives, and continuing to develop our long term vision, in a different context.

  • Baroness Redfern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Redfern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Redfern on 2016-09-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which five clinical procedures have the highest average waiting time in England.

    Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

    Patients have a legal right, set out in the NHS Constitution, to start consultant-led treatment within a maximum of 18 weeks from referral for non-urgent conditions. The NHS Constitution for England is attached, as is the Handbook to the Constitution, which provides a further level of detail regarding the rights and pledges. Performance is measured against an operational standard that 92% of patients who have not yet started treatment should have been waiting less than 18 weeks from referral at the end of each month. These referral to treatment waiting times are collected for 18 treatment functions (e.g. trauma and orthopaedics), but not for individual conditions or procedures. They are different from the data derived from hospital episode statistics, which show only the waiting time from decision to admit to admission, and not the waiting time from referral to start of treatment.

    Table: The five treatment functions that had the highest average waiting time from referral to treatment in July 2016, in England

    Treatment Function

    Average (median) waiting time (in weeks)

    Neurosurgery

    8.4

    Oral Surgery

    7.3

    Neurology

    7.0

    Trauma and Orthopaedics

    7.0

    Cardiothoracic Surgery

    7.0

    Source: Consultant-led referral to treatment waiting times, NHS England

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the public sector exit payments cap on morale in the Civil Service.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Civil Service has successfully changed the way it operates and become more efficient – it is now delivering far more, for less, than it did before 2010. The Government has delivered a range of policy changes over the last five years to modernise the Civil Service and save taxpayers money. During this time employee engagement rates have actually increased.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the rate of pay is for cleaners in his Department.

    Brandon Lewis

    The rate of pay for cleaners working in buildings managed by the Department for Communities and Local Government is between £6.70 and £8.00 per hour depending on seniority, location and duration of tenure. From April 2016, the Department will pay the National Living Wage.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of internet service provision across all Government departments in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

    Matthew Hancock

    The information requested is not held centrally, departments have responsibility for their own Internet service provision.

  • David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policy on the Falkland Islands of the recent decision by the UN to grant rights over waters surrounding those Islands to Argentina.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) has no jurisdiction to consider areas subject to competing claims and therefore has no locus to make recommendations in relation to the Falkland Islands. The UN itself has acknowledged that the CLCS could not consider those parts of the original Argentine submission of 2009 that were subject to dispute. This would include the Falkland Islands.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Answer of 31 March 2016 to Question 31997, on employment: telephone services, if he will provide that data for financial years (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14.

    Nick Boles

    The table below shows the number of referrals (complaints) from the Pay and Work Rights Helpline (PWRH) to relevant enforcement authorities for the 2010/11 to 2013/14 financial years.

    Table 1: Referrals from the PWRH to each enforcement agencies, 2010/11 to 2013/14

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    HMRC

    2,080

    2,440

    2,610

    3,690

    EAS

    490

    530

    600

    630

    HSE

    200

    250

    210

    250

    DEFRA

    280

    210

    200

    150

    GLA

    60

    70

    50

    50

    *The Pay and Work Rights Helpline opened in May 2009

    Notes

    1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.

    2. Calls can be referred to more than one agency so the sum does not amount to the total number of calls referred for the period.

    3. Calls referred to agencies include complaints, complex queries and calls where intelligence was passed to other agencies.

    4. Figures include referrals via all PWRH communication channels, including telephone calls, post and online complaints.

    5. These figures are based on final data submitted by BSS on closure at the end of March 2015. They may not reconcile with provisional data provided while the old helpline was operational.

  • Ian Lavery – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ian Lavery – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the estimated cost to the public purse is of prescribing methadone to prisoners in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

    Ben Gummer

    This information is not collected centrally.

  • Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-09-15.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits to the economy of reducing both fuel duty and VAT on all fuels.

    Jane Ellison

    Fuel duty was frozen for its sixth successive year at Budget 2016, saving the average driver £75 every year compared to the pre-2010 fuel duty escalator plans. Like all taxes, the government keeps fuel duty under review, with all options considered and announcements made at fiscal events. Under the current legal framework there is no scope to apply a reduced rate of VAT to all fuels.