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Tag: 2016

  • Christina Rees – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Christina Rees – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to improve awareness of available legal advice for the general public.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The legal profession in England and Wales is independent from government. We want to see an innovative and competitive market that provides people with affordable legal services that they want and need, with regulation that supports the public and consumer interest.

    We welcome the Law Society’s survey and will take account of the findings as part of the development of legal services policy.

    The legal services regulators have a duty to promote the regulatory objectives set out in the Legal Services Act 2007, including improving access to justice and increasing public understanding of the citizen’s legal rights and duties. The regulators have established the “Legal Choices” website, which provides people with information to help them in deciding whether and how to seek legal advice and the available services they might choose from. The Advicenow website, established by Law for Life, provides information on rights and the law.

  • Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 25 July (HL1340), what date has been agreed by NICE for a full technology appraisal of lenvatinib.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Ministers asked the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to develop technology appraisal guidance on the use of lenvatinb for the treatment of thyroid cancer on 22 July 2016. NICE plans to develop guidance on lenvatinib and sorafenib through the same technology appraisal and currently expects to publish draft guidance in October 2017.

    In the absence of NICE guidance, it is for commissioners to make funding decisions based on the available evidence and on the patient’s individual clinical circumstances.

  • Henry Bellingham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Henry Bellingham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Bellingham on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list the (a) names and (b) salaries of the 10 most senior officials in the Iraq Historical Allegations Team.

    Mike Penning

    In accordance with normal practice we only provide the names of officials at Senior Civil Service level and their military equivalents. The Iraq Historic Allegations Team’s most senior officials comprise a mix of civilian and military personnel as follows:

    Director, Mr Mark Warwick – Senior Civil Service Band 1, £63,000 – £117,000

    Royal Navy OF5 (Captain), £84,000 – £93,000

    Royal Navy Police OF4 (Commander), £70,000 – £81,000

    Royal Navy Police OF3 (Lieutenant Commander), £49,000 – £59,000

    Civil Service Band B1, £59,000 – £70,000

    2 x Civil Service Band C1, £37,000 – £42,000

    4 x Civil Service Band C2, 30,000 – £35,000

  • Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions the his Department, NHS England and NICE have had on the effect of proposed Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) changes on patients prescribed current CDF treatments who will not receive interim funding under that proposed new scheme.

    George Freeman

    NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence are currently consulting jointly on draft proposals on the future direction of the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF). The consultation document states that all patients receiving treatment funded through the CDF on 31 March 2016 will continue to receive treatment until the point that they and their consultant agree that it is appropriate to stop.

    NHS England has advised that the aim of the future CDF is to help patients receive new treatments with genuine promise, while real world evidence is collected for up to two years on how well they work in practice. This will then help determine whether the treatment should be accepted for routine use in the National Health Service in the future. It is not possible to make comparisons between the current and future CDF until such time as the consultation has concluded and the responses reviewed.

    The consultation was published on 19 November 2015 and is open until 11 February 2016. Further information is available at:

    www.engage.england.nhs.uk/consultation/cdf-consultation

    “

  • Stephen McPartland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Stephen McPartland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2016-02-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 23515, what estimate he has made of the total cost to people who pay council tax in (a) Stevenage, (b) Hertfordshire and (c) England of the potential increase in council tax; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Council tax rates are completely up to local councils. All local authorities have the power to freeze council tax if they wish. Any council that wants to raise council tax above the referendum principle needs to go to their local area for consent.

    Given the pressures councils face providing adult social care we are giving them the freedom to levy a 2 percent precept to help cover costs. Again, it is up to the responsible authority if they wish to exercise this.

    Even if all authorities increase by the maximum under the referendum principles, council tax will still be lower in 2019-20 in real terms compared to 2010.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding his Department is providing to museums in each region and nation of the UK.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Department does not hold information on museums spending broken down by region or nation. Museums funding is devolved to the respective administrations. The total spend on DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries (including the British Library) was £389.7m in 2014-15. The 2015 Spending Review announced DCMS spend on museums and galleries will be maintained in cash terms.

  • Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Kinnock on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the reasons are for the government policy not to support the progress of the European Commission’s proposed reforms to (a) trade and defence instruments and (b) the lesser duty rule.

    Anna Soubry

    The UK fully supports modernisation of the European Union’s/Commission’s trade defence instruments but believes that effective trade defence measures should be proportionate, not protectionist, and set tariffs only as high as necessary to remove the injury inflicted on EU industry without being punitive, which would hurt users of products, including downstream manufacturers, and consumers.

    The Government’s response to the Commission’s public consultation on the modernisation of trade defence instruments (TDI), in June 2012, stated:

    “The strongly held UK view is that the EU’s use of the lesser duty rule is one of the elements of the TDI regime which contributes to its being recognised as one of the most progressive global trade defence systems. Furthermore, it enhances the economic coherence of European TD actions as imposing tariffs no higher than that level needed to offset the injury caused by dumping / subsidy is entirely consistent with restoring fair competition. We have fully supported the Commission’s efforts to encourage FTA partners to adopt the lesser duty rule in their regimes. It would be a retrograde step to remove its position as a central part of the EU regime (2.3.3).”

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they track the performance of the fund management industry; and if so, whether they have identified any examples where managers have been able to reduce costs and passed those reductions on to investors.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The Government is committed to the principle that people who have worked hard and saved should have access to appropriate and accessible investment options and understand the charges that they face. We appreciate the efforts that industry have made to fulfil this aim.

    Since last April, the Government has ensured that trustees of defined contribution pension schemes report charges levied on members in schemes used for auto enrolment.

    We are also engaging with international work on transparency, such as the legislation agreed at European Union level through the Packaged Retail and Insurance Based Investment Products (PRIIPs) and Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID). MiFID II will introduce new measures to increase transparency of research costs for clients of portfolio managers. Under these new measures, portfolio managers may only pay for research through their own funds or from a specific research payment account funded by its clients and subject to specific controls, including a research budget.

    The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is also currently conducting a market study into asset management, which covers the issue of whether the level of fund management fees charged to consumers reflects a competitive market. We await the FCA’s assessment of competition in this sector. The FCA expect to publish an interim report in summer 2016 and a final report in early 2017.

  • 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 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2016 to Question 39847, what assessment he has made of the effect of the cycling and walking investment strategy on his Department’s estimates of future trips by mode.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy contains a target to double cycling by 2025 and an objective to increase walking activity. We are currently consulting on a programme of activity to work towards these increases.

  • Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to publish details of the Islamist de-radicalisation treatment and of the organisations that deliver it.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The new Desistance and Disengagement Programme will be launched as a pilot in October 2016. The pilot will focus on those convicted of terrorist, or terrorist-related offences, who have served their custodial sentences and are due to be released on licence.