Tag: 2016

  • Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with social media firms on countering radicalisation.

    Mr John Hayes

    Extremist and terrorist organisations, notably social media sites, are exploiting the internet to disseminate propaganda and recruit individuals to their groups or to support their aims. Some vulnerable individuals, including young people are being misled by this damaging propaganda.

    We are working closely with responsible internet and social media companies to take robust action against terrorist and extremist material and safeguard users. Since 2010 over 140,000 pieces of terrorist-related material have been removed by industry from various online platforms at the request of the dedicated police Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU). Approximately 58,000 removals were made in 2015 alone.

  • Derek Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Derek Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Twigg on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of the use of steroids on the physical and mental health of people using such drugs.

    Jane Ellison

    Information on the physical and mental health effects of anabolic steroids, as well as other illicit and licit substances, is contained in ‘A summary of the health harms of drugs: A guide to the risks and harms associated with substance misuse’ published by the Department in August 2011 and is available online:

    http://www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/healthharmsfinal-v1.pdf

    When used in clinical practice, doctors prescribing a course of anabolic steroids are expected to discuss potential side effects and to draw patients’ attention to the additional information contained in the Patient Information Leaflet.

  • Hannah Bardell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Hannah Bardell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hannah Bardell on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the number of jobs that may be lost as a result of automation in industry over the next 10 years; and what steps the Government is taking to address the risk of such job losses.

    Nick Boles

    The Department has not made a specific forecast of how many jobs will be lost (or how many will be created) over the next 10 years due to automation. However, officials across Government are exploring the implications for policy – including employment – of automation, as part of the Horizon Scanning Programme. Officials are also engaging with our international partners to ensure that we are aware of the most recent thinking about the potential impacts of automation.

    The Government is taking action to provide individuals with the skills that will help prepare them for changes to the labour market. Activities include the new school computing curriculum, developing new apprenticeship standards, growing the apprenticeships programme, and recently announcing the Institute for Coding.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-06-15.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the annual revenue arising from VAT on incontinence products is.

    Mr David Gauke

    VAT arising from the sale of incontinence products and VAT that is recovered on the purchase of incontinence products is not separately itemised on the VAT return, so the requested information is not available.

    However, there are many circumstances where incontinence products are supplied at the zero rate of VAT. This includes over the counter sales for personal use.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to Answers given on 21 July 2016 to Questions 43013 and 43014, what information his Department holds on legal advice expenditure by the (a) Economic and Domestic Affairs secretariat and (b) Propriety Ethics Unit on Freedom of Information cases in the last 12 months.

    Ben Gummer

    I would refer the Right Honourable gentleman to the answer to his previous question of 21 August 2016 (43013 and 43014).

  • Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-10-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has not been given access to HM Revenue and Customs’ freight transport data system.

    Jane Ellison

    HM Revenue and Customs has no record of a request by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Association and would be happy to give such a request full consideration.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-12.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to assist students with minimising the accrual of credit card debt.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government has fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market, which includes the credit card sector. Consumer credit regulation transferred from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April 2014.

    The FCA is currently undertaking a thorough review of the credit card market through its ‘credit card market study’. The market study is investigating three areas, including the extent of unaffordable credit card debt and how consumers can drive effective competition through shopping around and switching.

    On the 3rd November 2015 the FCA published its interim report which found that the market was working reasonably well for most customers. However, the FCA expressed concern about the scale of potentially problematic debt in this sector, and the incentives for firms to manage this.

    The interim report also included the FCA’s early thinking on potential remedies which include measures to give consumers more control over their credit limits, measures to encourage customers to pay off debt quicker when they can afford to, and proposals that firms do more to identify earlier those consumers who may be struggling to repay and take action to help them manage their repayments.

    The FCA also set out potential measures to allow consumers to open access to their credit card usage to other market participants, as well as clarifying standards for price comparison websites, in order to facilitate shopping around and switching. The FCA is currently asking for feedback on the findings and potential remedies.

    The Government is looking forward to the full report in the spring, and would encourage interested parties to give their views to the FCA to assist it in addressing the issues it has identified.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-02-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to meet the demands of increasing world-wide migration.

    Lord Bates

    The Government undertakes extensive engagement on global migration issues with international partners through multilateral and bilateral discussions. The frequency of engagement has increased since the migration crisis in summer 2015 and focuses on the root causes of the crisis and its consequences. UK participation in the Valletta Summit and the Khartoum Process are key parts of this engagement.

    In order to tackle the unprecedented levels of illegal migration to the EU, we are prioritising interventions upstream in countries of origin and transit to reduce the need for migrants to leave their country of origin or move on from a safe third country. Action is being taking through regional initiatives, including Regional Development and Protection Programmes and overseas aid, including £1.12 billion of support to Syria. We are supporting work to strengthen the EU’s external border and joint action on human trafficking to crack down on those who profit from this vile trade. The Government recently announced that it will work with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to lead a new initiative to resettle unaccompanied children from conflict regions. We have asked the UNHCR to make an assessment of the numbers and needs of unaccompanied children in conflict regions and advise on when it is in the best interests of the child to be resettled in the UK and how that process should be managed. This new initiative builds on the Government’s existing commitment to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees during this Parliament. More than 1,000 vulnerable Syrians refugees – around half of them children – have already been resettled through the scheme.

  • Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make an assessment of the financial and humanitarian effect on Turkey of keeping its border with Syria open to refugees while restricting their access to the EU.

    Justine Greening

    The UK recognises Turkey’s extraordinary generosity in ably hosting so many refugees from Syria and elsewhere. The EU-Turkey Summit on 29 November 2015 highlighted the importance that the EU attaches to its wide-ranging partnership with Turkey and need to support Turkey in its hosting of Syrians. The EU and Turkey have agreed to an Action Plan and a €3 billion Refugee Facility for Turkey to help implement it. We have committed our share to the €3 billion Facility

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure accurate and early diagnosis of Kawasaki disease.

    George Freeman

    The Government published the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases in November 2013. The strategy contains over 50 commitments to ensure people living with a rare disease, such as Kawasaki disease, have access to the best evidence-based care and treatment that health and social services, working with charities, researchers and industry can provide.

    It is the responsibility of the professional regulators to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricular to ensure newly qualified healthcare professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. This includes training in both scarlet fever and Kawasaki disease.

    Health Education England works with bodies that set curricula such as the General Medical Council and the Royal Colleges to seek to ensure training meets the needs of patients.

    The Department and its arm’s length bodies have not published any specific guidance on the similarities between Kawasaki disease and scarlet fever.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guideline on the assessment and initial management of fever in under 5s sets out the circumstances in which a diagnosis of Kawasaki disease should be considered, and Public Health England (PHE) has endeavoured to keep healthcare professionals, schools and the general public informed of the increased incidence of scarlet fever through timely information, news stories and updates on the PHE website and by using social and other media. These awareness raising measures assist general practitioners and other frontline healthcare professionals in reaching a correct diagnosis more quickly and encourage patients to seek medical advice early so that suspected cases receive prompt antibiotic treatment to reduce the risk of complications and limit further transmission.