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Tag: 2016

  • Baroness Howe of Idlicote – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Baroness Howe of Idlicote – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Howe of Idlicote on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Faulks on 22 December 2015 (HL4639), what recent discussions they have had with the National Offender Management Service about bringing the guidance on Incentives and Earned Privileges schemes for men’s prisons in line with the guidance for women’s prisons set out in issue 297 of Prison Service Order 4800, which states that incentive schemes should never be linked to any access to family visits”.”

    Lord Faulks

    Men and women prisoners have the same entitlements to visits. Both are eligible to family days where relevant, in addition to the normal visits entitlement. Prisons should not treat men and women prisoners differently with respect to visits solely on the basis of their gender.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, of all the schools that have had their admission arrangements objected to in (1) 2014, and (2) 2015, what percentage were found not to have violated the School Admissions Code at least once.

    Lord Nash

    In 2013/14, the percentage of objections referred to the adjudicator which were not upheld was 14%. In 2014/15, the percentage was 20%.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to promote the export of Scotch whisky.

    George Eustice

    We are committed to increasing and promoting sales of our excellent food and drink here and overseas. This is why we have launched the Great British Food Campaign, created a new Great British Food Unit and designated 2016 “The year of Great British Food.”

    Scotch whisky is a phenomenal global success. In 2014 exports were worth £3.95 billion* representing 21% of total UK food and drink exports. We are working with the industry to boost exports by developing a new Exports Action Plan, taking every opportunity to promote our products overseas and working hard to secure a global liberalised market for all our spirit drinks.

    *Source: Scotch Whisky Association

  • Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department spent on (a) consultancy fees, (b) legal advice, (c) civil service staffing costs and (d) all other expenditure relating to the Education and Adoption Act 2016.

    Nick Gibb

    Officials from across the Department were involved in different ways and at different times on work for the Education and Adoption Act. It is therefore not possible to distinguish costs from the wider business of the Department. There was no external legal or consultancy expenditure.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has assessed the effect on HIV infection amongst men in sexual contact with unvaccinated women from countries with no or low-uptake HPV vaccination programmes.

    Jane Ellison

    No such assessment has been made.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel about reports of its intention to reduce the budget for Arab teacher training colleges in Northern Israel to half that of the budget allocated to Jewish teacher training colleges.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The British Embassy in Tel Aviv regularly raises the need for equal treatment of all of Israel’s citizens with the Israeli government. Although we have not raised this particular issue, we recognise the importance of equality regarding teacher training, access to education and the role of education in building understanding between communities.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to target the recruitment of new GPs to practices with high levels of clinical need and deprivation.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    NHS England, Health Education England (HEE), the British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners (GPs) have been working together to support recruitment in areas to which it has traditionally been hard to recruit to.

    NHS England is offering £20,000 bursaries to attract over 100 GP trainees to work in areas of the country where GP training places have been unfilled for a number of years. The offer is open to GP trainees committed to working for three years in one of the locations. The initiative is designed to relieve pressure on some of the GP practices in England currently facing the most severe recruitment challenge.

    The GP Forward View complements the 10 point plan that was introduced in January 2015. A £10 million investment was announced by NHS England from the infrastructure fund to kick start a new plan to expand the general practice workforce. The money is being used to recruit new GPs, retain those that are thinking of leaving the profession, encourage doctors to return to general practice and to develop a multi-professional workforce. HEE is responsible for five areas of the 10 Point Plan:

    – Promoting General Practice;

    – Improve Breadth of Training;

    – Training Hubs;

    – New Ways of Working (which includes the Primary Care Workforce Commission); and

    – Easy Return to Practice.

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

    Lord Dholakia – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Dholakia on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what health and social support is in place upon their release for individuals who are diagnosed with blood-borne virus while in prison or a secure institution.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England, Public Health England (PHE) and the National Offender Management Service in their National Partnership Agreement have committed to support continuity of care for patients on transfer from custody to the community. This includes people diagnosed with blood-borne viruses (BBVs). The needs of such individuals will vary depending on the infection and whether they are receiving or need to receive treatment as well as the nature of the treatment itself.

    Ensuring patients leaving prison are registered with a general practitioner (GP) in the community is a key component of ensuring ongoing primary and specialist care. GPs are provided with a care summary record when the patient is discharged from prison. Patients are further supported by probation services, including Community Rehabilitation Companies who begin work ‘through the gate’ to support people leaving prisons in accessing accommodation, employment, welfare payments and education.

    PHE, the National Offender Management Service and NHS England published their Second National Partnership Agreement published in 2015. The scope of work described in the agreement includes “continuity of care through the prison gate into the community". A copy of the report has been attached.

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what training is provided to staff in the UK Border Agency to help them deal with abuses of the Pet Travel Scheme by those involved in illegal puppy smuggling for commercial purposes.

    Lord Bates

    Core skills training provided to Border Force officers includes awareness training on controls on the movement of live animals into the UK. Specific guidance is also available to officers on the application of the Pet Travel Scheme. Border Force is also developing its targeting capability across all border related risks, including bio-security risks.

    Border Force is working closely with the Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra), the lead government department with responsibility for imports of live animals, to ensure the effective enforcement of legislation governing the import of animals.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many and what proportion of officials of his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in each of the last five years; and what proportion of total sick leave that leave was in each such year.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The number and proportion of staff (percentage of the FCO’s workforce for the relevant year) who took stress related absence for each of the last five years (1st January 2011 to 31st December 2015) is as follows:

    2011

    46 (0.79%)

    2012

    43 (0.89%)

    2013

    47 (0.99%)

    2014

    27 (0.59%)

    2015

    42 (0.97%)

    The proportion of stress related absence episodes against the total sick absence episodes for each of the last five years is as follows:

    2011

    1.96%

    2012

    2.12%

    2013

    2.41%

    2014

    1.51%

    2015

    2.15%