Tag: 2016

  • Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the new open access operators using the East Coast Main Line will pay access charges that provide for fair competition with other operators, including VTEC; who determines those charges; and whether those charges reflect the opportunity costs that arise from using trains offering less seating capacity than the principal franchisee’s trains.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Setting the framework for track access charges is the responsibility of the independent regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (the ORR). The ORR will set the charging framework for all operators as part of the regulatory process leading up to the next control period (April 2019-2024). As part of that process, the Government has clearly indicated that it supports fairer charges for open access operators and has set out its desire to see changes to those charges as soon as possible.

    Track access charges are not set on the basis of opportunity costs.

  • Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if his Department will look at examples of best practice in attracting foreign direct investment (a) in Swindon and (b) across the UK.

    Greg Hands

    The Department is continuously seeking to identify and share best practice from across the UK.

    The Department works in partnership with Swindon & Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Swindon Borough Council to deliver foreign direct investment to Swindon. My officials will continue to work with them to look at further examples of best practice.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with Ministers in the devolved administrations on fully funded NHS Continuing Healthcare.

    David Mowat

    My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not had discussions with Ministers in the devolved administrations on fully funded NHS Continuing Healthcare.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the Ross Fund will include funding to tackle HIV/AIDS; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    Whilst the Ross Fund is not directly focused on HIV and AIDS, the UK continues to invest in research on HIV and AIDS. This includes research into understanding the structural drivers that can increase HIV (including gender inequality, stigma and limited livelihood opportunities), HIV prevention technologies (such as microbicides and vaccines) and studies to identify cost-effective ways to deliver HIV services.

    The Ross Fund will target infectious diseases including malaria, diseases with epidemic potential, neglected tropical diseases which affect over a billion people globally, and antimicrobial resistance which poses a substantial and growing threat to global health. The goal of the Ross fund is to develop, test and deliver a range of new products (including vaccines, drugs and diagnostics) to help combat these diseases in developing countries.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether Concentrix has met its targets set in its service level agreement.

    Mr David Gauke

    In HM Revenue and Customs’ contract with Concentrix there are three Key Performance Indicators. These cover post and telephony expectations, and all three are currently being met. There is also one Quality Performance Indicator, where the most recent indicative result is 95.2% against an expectation of 97%.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to paragraph 3 on page 5 of the Five Year Forward View Mental Health Task Force report, published on 15 February 2016, if he will make it his policy to provide equal funding for mental health services.

    Alistair Burt

    We are committed to achieving parity of esteem between mental health and physical health. The Mental Health Taskforce estimates that the priority recommendations for the National Health Service set out in their report will cost an additional £1 billion annually by the year 2020/21. By the end of this Parliament we will make the Taskforce’s recommendations a reality.

    This builds on the £1.4 billion over this Parliament that has been previously announced for transforming children and young people’s mental health and improving support for eating disorders.

    All of the Taskforce report recommendations are funded from within the overall envelope agreed in the Spending Review. All of the £1 billion announced with the Taskforce report represents additional investment over and above what was allocated to the NHS in 2015/16.

    We are already spending more money on mental health than ever before – an estimated £11.7 billion last year. This shows our commitment to achieving an equal status between mental and physical health services. We have been clear that commissioners must continue to increase investment in mental health services each year at a level which at least matches their overall expenditure increase.

    We will monitor this closely to ensure this happens and know that clinical commissioning group spend is on track to increase as expected.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of incorporating flood rescue into the statutory duties of the fire and rescue services.

    Mike Penning

    The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 already set out clearly the roles and powers of fire and rescue authorities in respect of emergency response and rescue in a wide range of situations, including flooding.

    Fire and rescue authorities are required to produce Integrated Risk Management Plans which identify the full range of risks to which an authority’s service is expected to respond, and these plans are subject to consultation with local communities. This approach is enshrined in the National Fire Framework which was given statutory effect in August 2012.

  • The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to combat Daesh in Libya.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are extremely concerned about the rise of Daesh in Libya. We are engaging with the new Libyan government and working closely with international partners to develop a comprehensive approach to defeat Daesh in Libya. Initial planning has focused on building the capabilities of Libyan security forces.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to ensure that NHS England works closely with the Wheelchair Leadership Alliance to produce a positive outcome for the future arrangements for wheelchair users through Wheelchair Services; and what resources will be made available for that process to be completed.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Minister for Community and Social Care (Alistair Burt), together with the Minister for Disabled People (Justin Tomlinson) recently met with Baroness Grey-Thompson, Chair of the Wheelchair Leadership Alliance, and NHS England to discuss what action could be taken to improve wheelchair services. This includes NHS England discussing the focus and content of a model service specification for wheelchairs with the Alliance.

    NHS England made available a further £10,000 to the Wheelchair Leadership Alliance for support during 2015/16.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his policy is on future collaboration with the European Commission on competition enforcement and cooperation between the Competition and Markets Authority and the EU.

    Margot James

    The Competition and Markets Authority works in cooperation with other competition authorities internationally on enforcement cases and other issues of mutual interest. It will continue to seek to work with other competition authorities in the future, where appropriate.