Tag: 2016

Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-05-26.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what data from which year of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey has been used to inform the development of the soft drinks industry levy.

Damian Hinds

A wide range of data shows that children in the UK are consuming too much sugar, and this is a cause of obesity and a driver of obesity-related disease. A single 330ml can of cola may contain 9 teaspoons of added sugar, which is more than a child’s daily recommended intake. This is why the government has announced an industry levy designed to encourage producers to reduce the amount of added sugar in drinks.

The most recent published National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) includes data from 2008 to 2012. It reports that sugar sweetened soft drinks are a major contributor to daily sugar intake for children, accounting for about 30% of the daily sugar intake alone.

01/01/2023
Rachael Maskell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals on the breeding and selling of pet animals.

George Eustice

Defra is currently reviewing the laws on the breeding and selling of pet animals. Earlier this year we held a consultation on a number of proposals for improving the legislation in this area. Later this year we will be publishing a summary of the responses and will then work towards drafting regulations to replace the existing laws.

01/01/2023
Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2016 to Question 46000, when the pre-concept phase activity for the General Purpose Frigate program began.

Harriett Baldwin

The pre-concept phase activity for the General Purpose Frigate programme began in November 2015, following the publication of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.

01/01/2023

Graham Brady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Brady on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on average, how many patients were admitted to A&E on a (a) Monday, (b) Tuesday, (c) Wednesday, (d) Thursday, (e) Friday, (f) Saturday and (g) Sunday in the last 12 months for which data is available.

Jane Ellison

The average (mean) number of patients who died in accident and emergency (A&E) and who attended A&E on a (a) Monday, (b) Tuesday, (c) Wednesday, (d) Thursday, (e) Friday, (f) Saturday and (g) Sunday in 2013-14 is shown in the following table. These figures are taken from the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s Hospital Episode Statistics (HES). Final data for 2014-15 will be published on 28 January 2016.

Weekday	Average (mean) deaths in A&E department	Average (mean) attendances at A&E
Monday	59.3	55,212.7
Tuesday	54.0	49,660.8
Wednesday	56.0	48,667.0
Thursday	53.7	48,600.3
Friday	55.6	47,932.3
Saturday	55.8	48,614.6
Sunday	57.1	50,202.9

Source: (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

Notes:

1. The table shows the mean of A&E attendances, and the mean of A&E attendances where the patient died in the department, by weekday for 2013-14. The HES A&E database is recorded at attendance level, not patient level.

2. The data cannot be described as an average number of people as the same person may have had more than one A&E attendance within the time period presented.

3. The data excludes planned follow-up attendances.

01/01/2023

Tom Tugendhat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Tugendhat on 2016-01-27.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department has taken to ensure transparency of commission and other charges levied by financial advisers on individual pension plans.

Harriett Baldwin

Adviser remuneration is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Through the Retail Distribution Review (RDR), introduced at the end of 2012, the FCA has taken a number of steps to ensure that adviser remuneration on retail investment business is disclosed in advance of any services required. Product providers no longer have any influence over the remuneration received for advising on investments. Where commission remains on investments sold prior to the RDR, this will have been disclosed as required by the rules in force at the time the product was sold.

01/01/2023
Chuka Umunna – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of proposals to impose mandatory rent reductions on social landlords of one per cent each year for four years on housing co-operatives which have had a policy of maintaining low levels of rent.

Brandon Lewis

The Housing Benefit bill for England in the social sector now has risen by a quarter over the last 10 years, reaching £13.2 billion in 2014/15. Rising rents in the social housing sector are fuelling this increase in Housing Benefit, with average social rent increases of 55% over the last ten years, compared to 23% in the private rented sector. In the interests of fairness the Government plans to bring rent increases within the social sector back into line with the private rented sector by cutting rents for social housing tenants by 1% a year, for four years.

The Government recognises that rent reductions may have a bigger impact on some providers and some specific types of housing and has decided to put in place a one-year exception from the rent reduction for fully mutual co-operative housing, almshouses, community land trusts and supported housing while we consider the approach for the second year of the reductions onwards.

01/01/2023
Kate Osamor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2016-03-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the Post Office’s franchising plans on local communities.

George Freeman

Franchising plans for its directly managed Crown post offices is the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited.

The Post Office’s aim in seeking franchise partners for some of its Crown branches is to ensure continued access to Post Office services for customers in local communities on a sustainable basis going forward. Over 97% of the network already operates through agency or franchise branches and the change from a Crown to a franchise branch has been undertaken previously in many locations across the UK and is a successful way of sustaining Post Office services in those areas.

01/01/2023
Lord Moonie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Moonie on 2016-04-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Ajax vehicles are to be procured for the British Army; and of those, how many will be assembled in Spain, and how many in Wales.

Earl Howe

The British Army will receive 589 Ajax vehicles which will come in six variants. A total of 100 vehicles will be fully manufactured and assembled in Spain. The hulls for the remaining 489 will be transported to the Merthyr Tydfil facility where they will be combined with constituent parts to make complete vehicles.

01/01/2023
Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-05-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to reduce the cost to the NHS of postage of appointment notifications to patients.

George Freeman

The National Information Board’s strategy document Personalised Health and Care 2020 (published November 2014) set out the aim to support greater uptake of the use of digital systems in health and care to create a National Health Service paper free at the point of care by 2020. This will remove the system’s reliance on paper and will help reduce postal service costs for the NHS.

In the case of appointment letters for patients the new NHS e-referral system, introduced last year, already allows healthcare providers to choose not to send out appointment letters, instead allowing patients to access the information directly from the NHS e-referral system. Patients have an option to print off the details of their appointment if they prefer to have a paper copy of the information. We expect increasing numbers of providers will use this functionality to help contain costs.

01/01/2023
Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the Government will take steps to work with local authorities and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to improve air quality in West Yorkshire.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

We are aware that local authorities have a crucial role to play in improving air quality across the UK. The Government is already taking a number of steps to support them in this role.

The national air quality plan for nitrogen dioxide, published in December 2015, sets out a comprehensive approach for meeting air quality challenges by implementing a new programme of Clean Air Zones in five cities in England, one of which is Leeds. The Plan combines targeted local and national measures, forming part of a wider approach that exploits new and clean technologies, such as electric and ultra-low emission vehicles.

We have allocated funding to help Leeds City Council implement the Clean Air Zone and are working closely with City officials on its development. Delivery of the Clean Air Zone will also take account of the need to work closely with related authorities and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

Local authorities additionally have a duty to evaluate local air quality against standards set by the Government. They designate air quality management areas (AQMAs) at locations where these standards are not met and take remedial actions to improve air quality at these locations. Six local authorities in West Yorkshire – Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, Wakefield and York – have declared AQMAs and are implementing remedial action plans to improve air quality in their areas.

Defra introduced regulatory and guidance changes in 2015 to provide better and clearer guidance to local authorities on local air quality management to enable them to improve air quality in their areas and achieve better health and environmental outcomes.

Defra supports local authorities through the Air Quality Grant Scheme, a competitive fund they can bid into to support local action to improve air quality. Details and criteria for this year’s scheme will be available later in the year.

01/01/2023