Tag: 2016

Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-02-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the additional capabilities the Joint Force 2025 will provide to the armed forces.

Penny Mordaunt

Joint Force 2025 is about rebalancing our Armed Forces to strengthen the front line and maintain our military advantage. It will ensure that the Armed Forces are able to tackle a wider range of more sophisticated potential adversaries.

Joint Force 2025 will be able to deploy a larger force more quickly or undertake a large number of smaller operations simultaneously and will include enhanced Counter Terrorism capabilities; more fighter jet squadrons; new Protector armed remotely piloted aircraft; Maritime Patrol Aircraft; increased Carrier capability and readily deployable STRIKE brigades. Joint Force 2025 will also benefit from greater investment in new areas of capability such as cyber and space.

January 1, 2023
Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2016-03-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many diabetes specialist nurses are currently employed by (1) each Clinical Commissioning Group area, and (2) each hospital trust, in England.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Health and Social Care Information Centre provides information on the number of nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff employed in the National Health Service in England but it does not separately identify diabetes specialist nurses.

It is for local NHS organisations with their knowledge of the healthcare needs of their local population to invest in training for specialist skills and to deploy specialist nurses.

January 1, 2023
Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to publish a draft agenda for the Anti-Corruption Summit to be held in May 2016.

Matthew Hancock

Information about the London Anti-Corruption Summit can be found on the summit web pages of the GOV.UK website. Further details about the summit will be announced in due course.

January 1, 2023
Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, under what circumstances the Government can take ships up from trade which are registered with flags of British Overseas Territories.

James Duddridge

Any vessel registered in the UK, an Overseas Territory or a Crown Dependency, is a ‘British ship’ and is entitled to fly the British Merchant Shipping flag (the ‘Red Ensign’). The UK remains the flag State for all ships flying the Red Ensign and is ultimately responsible under international law for these ships. The UK has general superintendence over the ship registers in the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. This general superintendence derives from the UK’s obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea regarding ships flying its flag; these obligations have been implemented in domestic legislation.

Under prerogative powers all British flagged vessels (including those on UK Overseas Territories and Crown Dependency registers) can be requisitioned where there is deemed to be a threat to the realm. Conscription of all British flagged vessels is done by Government Order. Such Order is enacted only during national crisis, such as war. The decision to use such Order is decided on a case by case basis by the Government of the day. For example, this Order was enacted during the Falklands War.

January 1, 2023
Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to increase cervical screening rates among (a) women with learning disabilities and (b) women in deprived communities.

Jane Ellison

There is a range of work going on to understand the reasons for the decline in cervical screening uptake amongst women aged 25 to 29 and to try to address them. They include:

a) Data and information – access to data, cleansing, benchmarking for providers, timely and useful information for commissioners;

b) Behavioural insight – communication with commissioners, providers, patients and public;

c) Commissioning levers – commissioning contracts in public health (S7a) and primary care;

d) Partnership work – relationships with commissioners and providers; and

e) Sharing best practice – what works well, evaluation and how to embed quality improvement

Public Health England (PHE) is working with colleagues in NHS England and Health and Social Care Information Centre to implement the Accessible Information Standard which is intended to improve access to services for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. Through the re-development of cervical Information Technology systems opportunities will arise to review how to help improve uptake.

PHE supports providers to help meet the Accessible Information Standard through the provision of high quality information for people with learning disabilities or sensory loss. A national group of experts and service users has been set up to oversee this work and will be updating the existing easy read leaflets and developing new materials over the next 18 months.

PHE is aware that there are a range of factors which may act as barriers in hindering women from attending cervical screening. It is hoped that through the STRATEGIC (Strategies to Increase Cervical screening uptake at first invitation) interventions will be identified to help minimise barriers and assist women to attend screening whilst increasing uptake across all quintiles. The STRATEGIC trial was completed in 2015 and researchers are expected to publish findings later this year.

January 1, 2023
Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the relative viability of securing an investigation into alleged acts of genocide by Daesh by means of establishing an independent panel through the UN rather than the International Criminal Court.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We continue to look at every available option to bring Daesh to justice, and to work closely with our international partners and the UN on what can be done to assist the victims and to bring those responsible to justice.

January 1, 2023
Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the diplomatic and trade opportunities presented for the UK by the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Qatar has an ambitious infrastructure programme for the 2022 World Cup worth over £140billion, offering significant opportunities for UK companies. UK Government officials are in regular contact with the Qatari World Cup’s organising body, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy. As part of their discussions they highlight British companies’ expertise in fields such as security, hospitality, stadium management in staging global sports events.

The UK wants Qatar’s 2022 World Cup to be a success and to be Qatar’s key delivery partner. As the UK showed during London 2012, international sporting events help to build stronger friendships between people of different countries. This is the first time that the Gulf has hosted this tournament and the UK has lots of experience it can share. This means opportunities for even stronger cooperation and engagement across all aspects of our bilateral relationship.

January 1, 2023
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 2016-01-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the requirement laid down by the NHS Commissioning Board for Commissioning Support Units to become autonomous by the end of 2016 is to be removed.

Lord Prior of Brampton

No decision has been made. The proposed change was at the request of Clinical Support Units’ (CSU) Managing Directors – to give greaterflexibility to apply to become autonomous when they are ready, rather than having to work to a fixed timetable. A decision will be taken once NHS England’sCommissioning Committee has met.

January 1, 2023
Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-02-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2016 to Question 22396, on park homes and the Warm Homes Discount, when that pilot scheme started; when that pilot scheme is expected to end; and what she plans the terms of eligibility for park home residents to apply to that pilot scheme will be.

Andrea Leadsom

Energy suppliers participating in the Warm Home Discount this year (2015/16) have been given the voluntary option to provide a rebate to mobile home residents who meet the qualifying benefit as part of the Industry Initiatives section of the scheme. This scheme called the Park Homes Warm Home Discount pilot scheme is funded by obligated energy suppliers in the scheme and is open to permanent park home residents in England, Scotland or Wales. Residents on a Park Home site who pay for their electricity through their park site owner and meet one of the qualifying eligibility criteria can apply. If successful, residents will receive a one-off rebate of £140 towards their electricity bill.

The pilot scheme opened in November and is only open for a limited period and once a certain number of applications have been received and are successful, the pilot scheme will close. The pilot is currently expected to deliver just over 1000 rebates. This translates to just over £140,000 of support being delivered before the 31st March 2016.

January 1, 2023
Baroness Northover – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Northover on 2016-03-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that their work supporting humanitarian emergency responses delivers long-term change that empowers women from affected communities.

Baroness Verma

Through meaningful participation and inclusion during humanitarian preparedness and response, women and girls can be included in long-term change and recovery efforts following natural disasters, conflicts, and other crises. The Women, Peace, and Security agenda offers an opportunity to link women’s participation in immediate crises response to wider political, social, and economic participation, including their inclusion in peace processes. Along with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence, DFID is a partner in delivering the National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security.

The World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016 offers an opportunity to ensure that women are empowered during the delivery of humanitarian assistance, which has been demonstrated to accelerate the transition from response to recovery and lead to longer-term efforts to promote and achieve gender equality. One the Government’s priorities for the Summit is to push for it to deliver outcomes for women and girls.

January 1, 2023