Tag: 2016

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-12-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to help the combatants in Yemen to agree a ceasefire and to remove the external blockade, in particular of supplies.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK welcomes the positive progress made at UN-facilitated talks held between 15 and 20 December 2015 and the ceasefire that commenced on 15 December including the intention to extend this until 28 December. We fully support the UN’s efforts to return to an inclusive political process and strongly encourage all parties to the conflict to respect the ceasefire, which will allow urgent medical and humanitarian aid to reach those in need. The engagement of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), our Ambassadors, and the UK Special Envoy to Yemen Sir Alan Duncan, with key Yemeni actors has supported this process. We are also providing financial support to the UN Special Envoy’s Office. As Yemenis are highly reliant on food and fuel imports for their basic needs (food, health, water, electricity), one of our top priorities is to help commercial shipping return to pre-conflict levels. We welcomed the Government of Yemen’s commitment in October to allow commercial ships access to Yemen. The number of ships has increased in recent weeks: over 50 ships have berthed in both October and November. However, commercial imports are still far below pre-crisis levels. We will continue to monitor this closely and are funding the new UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism along with the US, EU and Netherlands to speed up clearance processes.

  • Lord Campbell of Pittenweem – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Campbell of Pittenweem – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-01-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to operate from the UK Boeing P-8 Poseidon aircraft belonging to (1) the US Navy, or (2) other allied nations, with British crews prior to the first UK P-8s entering service.

    Earl Howe

    Although a number of options are under consideration to deliver early capability, there are no current plans to operate US Navy P-8A, or those of other Allied nations, from the UK with British crews.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of people applying for a Blue Badge affected by (a) Alzheimer’s disease, (b) myalgic encephalomyelitis and (c) autism were successful in the latest period in which figures are available.

    Andrew Jones

    Local authorities administer the Blue Badge scheme and the Department does not hold this information. People with any disability may qualify for a badge if they have very considerable difficulty walking.

  • Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is his Department’s practice for staff not to action correspondence until six weeks after receipt; and if he will take steps to ensure that priority is given to correspondence remaining not actioned after four weeks.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Ministers aim to reply to correspondence from hon. Members within twenty working days. This also applies where officials are replying to correspondence to Ministers from members of the public.

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of primary care inspections by the Care Quality Commission on improving clinical outcomes for patients.

    Ben Gummer

    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England. It is responsible for assessing whether providers are meeting the fundamental standards below which care should not fall.

    The CQC has provided the following information.

    As of 31 March 2016, 3,281 general practitioner (GP) practices had received at least one overall published rating from the CQC. Of these, 4% are rated outstanding, 83% are rated good, 10% are rated requires improvement and 3% are rated inadequate. In addition to each overall rating, each practice also receives ratings for each of the CQC’s five key questions, is the service safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led set out above. This set of ratings for each practice, along with the overall rating provide a strong basis for improving clinical outcomes by highlighting where care is already good and where improvement is required.

    106 GP practices have been re-inspected following an overall rating of requires improvement or inadequate. Of these locations, 81 have had an improvement in their overall rating following re-inspection.

    There have been 153 GP practices / Out of Hours services placed into special measures. Subsequently, 43 have exited special measures and the majority of locations placed in special measures that have been re-inspected, have improved. At present 84% have improved, with over half of those improving moving up two categories to an overall good rating. Where the CQC has found unacceptably poor care, patients have been protected with a total of 16 de-registrations to date.

  • Karin Smyth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Karin Smyth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many applications for registration to the Nursing and Midwifery Council were rejected from candidates trained (a) in England, (b) in the European Economic Area (EEA) and (c) outside the EEA in each year since 2009-10.

    Ben Gummer

    The information requested in relation to the number of applications for registration to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is not held centrally.

    The NMC is the independent regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom and is responsible for nurse and midwife registration. It has informed the Department that it does not collect data on how many applications for registration are rejected or withdrawn before they were assessed.

  • Lord Sheikh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Sheikh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Sheikh on 2016-07-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the government of Sudan’s attitude and approach towards the conflict in South Sudan, and whether it will contribute to peace and stability in South Sudan.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government of Sudan played a constructive role in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development peace process in South Sudan and the recent meeting of regional Foreign Ministers on 11 July in Nairobi. We are working closely with all regional countries to end the violence in South Sudan.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will undertake research on whether alternative pricing structures of the access charges set by Eurotunnel could incentivise greater passenger and freight traffic between the UK and mainland Europe.

    Paul Maynard

    Since the 15th June 2016 responsibility for Economic regulation of the Channel Tunnel rests with the independent regulators, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) in the UK and Autorité de regulation des activities ferroviaires et routières (ARAFER) in France.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he plans to take to support manufacturers who previously used the Manufacturing Advisory Service once that service is ended.

    Anna Soubry

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills did not consult specifically on the decision to close the Manufacturing Advisory Service as this was a commercially sensitive decision. However, through our ongoing discussions with manufacturers and their representatives, there has been wide recognition that the best way for Government to support manufacturers is by getting the fundamentals of the economy right. We are creating a highly competitive business environment to make the UK an attractive location for manufacturing investment, supporting export success, boosting skills and protecting spending on innovation and the cutting edge smart digital manufacturing technologies which will drive the strong UK productivity growth in the future.

  • Lord Donoughue – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Donoughue – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Donoughue on 2016-01-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the extra electricity cost to steel producers related to climate change policies in financial terms per tonne, and as a percentage, (1) in the UK, (2) in Germany, and (3) in France.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government assessed, and published a report about, the impact of energy and climate change policies on industry and how this compares to other countries. That report was published on 11 July 2012. Based on this data the projected cost per MWh of energy and climate change polices for industry for 2015 (expressed in 2010 prices) was £18.50 in the UK, £5.80 for France, and £13.10 for Germany. However the Government has since taken action to mitigate most of the indirect costs arising from energy and climate change policies for industry, specifically by compensating for the indirect costs of carbon taxes and now by implementing relief from the costs of renewables policies passed through in bills. These measures will save the steel industry around £100m over the financial year – roughly 30% of their electricity bills.