Tag: 2016

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will issue a response to Early Day Motion 660, Legal recognition for people who do not associate with a particular gender.

    James Brokenshire

    UK passports currently recognise only male and female genders. To introduce a third category, such a denoted by an ‘X’ in the passport, would require a change in UK primary legislation.

    The Government is currently considering this issue as part of its response to the report on Transgender Equality by the Women and Equalities Select Committee.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the legal status of a Sustainability and Transformation Plan will be.

    George Freeman

    The Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STP) has no legal basis. Any plans submitted will be proposals that will form the basis for discussion. Depending on the level of local and national agreement, they may form the basis for further plans and actions that will be subject to the same legal and best practice requirements that govern the National Health Service.

    The local, statutory architecture for health and care remains, as do the existing accountabilities for Chief Executives of provider organisations and Accountable Officers of clinical commissioning groups. Organisations are still accountable for their individual organisational plans, which should form part of the first year of their footprint’s STP.

    The June STP submissions will be work-in-progress, and as such we do not anticipate the requirement for formal approval from boards and/or consultation at this early stage. Plans have no status until they are agreed. When plans are ready, normal rules around engagement and public consultation will apply.

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the circumstances were of the collision involving HMS Ambush near Gibraltar on 20 July 2016; and whether there will be a board of inquiry investigation into that incident.

    Harriett Baldwin

    It is UK policy that we do not comment on matters relating to submarine activity or operations as this would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

    HMS AMBUSH is undergoing repairs at Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde, the duration of which is under review.

    On 28 July 2016, the Director General of the Defence Safety Authority convened an independent Service Inquiry to investigate the circumstances of this incident. It would be inappropriate to comment further while this investigation is on-going.

  • Kate Osamor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Kate Osamor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what representations she has received on trends in life expectancy in Northern Nigeria; and if she will make a statement.

    Priti Patel

    Survey data on infant and child mortality rates shows that mortality rates are much higher in the north of Nigeria compared to the south.

    In 2015/16, of a total DFID bilateral spend in Nigeria of £214m, approximately 60% of programming focused in six northern states. Additionally, over the last two years, DFID has scaled up its response to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the northeast, bringing life-saving support to those affected by the Boko Haram insurgency.

  • Keir Starmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Keir Starmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keir Starmer on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he has taken to introduce a Victims’ Law since May 2015.

    Mike Penning

    In the Queen’s Speech we made a commitment to bring forward measures to increase the rights of victims of crime. Further detail on our plans will be published in due course.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the reduction in single-use plastic carrier bag usage in England since the carrier bag charge was introduced.

    Rory Stewart

    Retailers are required to provide data for the first reporting period ending 6 April 2016 by 31 May 2016. Any assessment the department makes on the reduction of single use carrier bags will be after that point.

    In December, Tesco reported a 78% reduction in the number of single-use carrier bags distributed since the introduction of the charge. They also reported an increase of nearly 50% in the number of online shoppers selecting ‘bagless’ deliveries.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many civil law suits have been brought against her Department based either wholly or partially on grounds provided by the Human Rights Act 1998; how many such suits were settled out of court before a court judgment was delivered; and how much such settlements have cost the public purse since 2010.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Office deals with thousands of cases every year and litigants frequently rely on arguments based wholly or partly on the Human Rights Act 1998. In most cases, the 1998 Act is relied on in addition to other claims. The Government Legal Department’s records do not, historically, distinguish between cases where the 1998 Act is invoked and cases where it is not. Nor do they record how many suits were settled out of court before a judgment was delivered; or how much has been paid out in such settlements. Consequently, it is not possible to provide the information requested.

  • Christopher Pincher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Christopher Pincher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Pincher on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many tonnes of air pollution control residues were captured at municipal energy from waste incineration facilities in 2015; and what estimate she has made of the total tonnes of air pollution control residues that will be generated by municipal energy from waste incineration facilities in 2016.

    Rory Stewart

    The derogation to allow the landfilling of air pollution control residues that are three times above normal waste acceptance criteria was originally granted because there was a lack of alternative treatment capacity at the time to either treat certain wastes to levels meeting normal waste acceptance limits, to treat the wastes via alternative treatment technologies or to recycle or recover the residues. The availability of sufficient alternative treatment capacity and the costs of that treatment are therefore the two central criteria that the government will use to decide whether or not to remove the derogation.

    The Government is making an assessment of the quantity of air pollution control residues produced at energy from waste facilities to inform its decision on whether or not to remove the derogation to allow the landfilling of air pollution control residues that are three times above normal waste acceptance criteria. These figures will be available following the announcement of that decision.

    The Government is making an assessment of the costs of the different forms of treatment for air pollution control residues, including their mixing into concrete blocks and their disposal to hazardous waste landfill, to inform its decision on whether or not to remove the derogation to allow the landfilling of air pollution control residues that are three times above normal waste acceptance criteria. These figures will be available following the announcement of that decision.

  • Lady Hermon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lady Hermon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what estimate she has made of the projected savings of closure of the Area Electoral Office in Newtownards, County Down; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    Management of Electoral Office resources is an operational matter for the Chief Electoral Officer.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he has had discussions with the West London Mental Health Trust on future funding of the Corsellis Brain Collection.

    George Freeman

    The Department has not made any specific assessment of the importance of the collection for promoting research into brain diseases.

    The excess costs of maintaining the collection compared with the income from specimen preparation over a number of years have rendered the collection unsustainable as a research resource. Every effort is being made to ensure as much of the collection as possible is available to researchers and the West London Mental Health Trust has been working with BRAIN UK (an initiative funded by the Medical Research Council which co-ordinates the distribution of tissue across the country) to support this.

    As part of this strategy the Trust has therefore decided to publicise the decision to close the collection and invite requests from appropriate academic departments for tissue relevant to their research and teaching programmes, and to respectfully dispose of those tissue samples for which no scientific purpose can be envisaged. Some 7,500 out of 8,500 specimens have identified destinations as a result of this process, to departments across the United K and in the Netherlands, in Canada and in Hong Kong. The Trust has obtained the appropriate Human Tissue Authority licenses for this work. We understand that the collection will close by the end of June 2016.

    The UK Brain Bank Network, which is funded by Government through the Medical Research Council, has established a national network of UK brain tissue resources (banks) for researchers to access. The Network currently involves 10 brain banks across the UK which now hold over 14,000 well characterised brains.