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Tag: 2016

  • Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much compensation his Department is liable for in its contract with Agility Trains in the event that the Inter City Express (IEP) fleet cannot be introduced in line with the contracted schedule for (a) delivery and (b) operation of new IEP trains on the (i) Great Western and (ii) East Coast mainlines.

    Paul Maynard

    The contract for IEP sets out the process for calculating any liquidated damages the Secretary of State would be liable to pay to Agility Trains in the event that the trains cannot be introduced in line with the contracted schedule for delivery and operation. This would be calculated as a function of the daily Set Availability Payment forgone at that time. The precise amount would remain commercially confidential.

  • Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to respond to the report of the Independent Cancer Taskforce; and what the timetable is for implementation of the recommendations of that report.

    Jane Ellison

    The independent Cancer Taskforce’s five-year strategy for cancer, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, published in July 2015, recommends improvements across the cancer pathway with the aim of improving survival rates. NHS England has appointed Cally Palmer as NHS National Cancer Director. She will lead on the implementation of the strategy, as well as new cancer vanguards to redesign care and patient experience.

    She is currently setting up a new Cancer Transformation Board to lead the roll-out of the recommendations of the new strategy, and a Cancer Advisory Group, chaired by Dr Harpal Kumar, Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, will oversee and scrutinise their work. Timeframes and phasing for implementation will be dependent on the final financial settlement reached as a result of the spending review.

    We announced in September 2015 that Health Education England (HEE) is developing a new national training programme for an additional 200 staff to get the skills and expertise to carry out endoscopies by 2018. The content of the next mandate from the Government to HEE is currently being determined.

    A commitment to whole-person care for patients, including those living with and beyond cancer, is embedded throughout the cancer taskforce report. In addition, the cancer vanguards have been established to explore new models of care, with a focus on delivering more person-centred care.

    Ensuring the National Health Service is able to support the availability and use of effective treatments and medicines for rare cancers is a key priority. Cancer 52, an organisation which specifically represents patients with rarer cancers, was represented on the independent Cancer Taskforce. The Taskforce’s report made many recommendations relevant to rarer cancers, focussing in particular on improving access to diagnostic testing, including fast, direct general practitioner access to key blood tests, and increasing patient access to the most advanced treatments.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to publish her review of children’s centres; and for what reasons that review was not published in 2015.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    We value children’s centres services. We are committed to consulting on the role of children’s centres in 2016. Details about the scope and timing of the consultation will be made available in due course and will be publicised widely to ensure the broadest possible response.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he or Ofcom have made an assessment or hold information on the proportion of BT’s ducts that were able to have fibre blown through them without further civil works in the superfast broadband rollout.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    BT and other suppliers with funding from BDUK are obliged to provide wholesale access to all new ducts and poles built using public subsidy, in line with the requirements of the BDUK European State aid approval.

    Ofcom has not conducted an assessment of the proportion of ducts that were able to have fibre blown through them without further civil works in the subsequent superfast broadband rollout. Ofcom does not hold any other information on the proportion of BT’s ducts that were able to have fibre blown through them without further civil works.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the potential additional revenue that would be generated for the BBC by extending the licence fee to include viewing content on iPlayer.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government is currently working with the BBC to come to an agreed estimate of the likely revenue impact. These measures are being introduced to ensure that payment of the licence fee is fair for the public and that those who enjoy BBC content pay the licence fee accordingly.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many restriction (a) notices and (b) orders her Department has issued to restrict inquiries under (i) section 19(1)(a) and (ii) section 19(1)(b) of the Inquiries Act 2005 in each year since 2009-10 (A) in total and (B) for the Undercover Policing Inquiry.

    Mike Penning

    Since 2009, under section 19(2)(a) of the Inquiries Act 2005,the Secretary of State for the Home Department has issued a total of four restriction notices – two in 2014 and two in 2015. All four were in relation to the Litvinenko Inquiry.

    The Secretary of State for the Home Department has not issued any restriction notices for the Undercover Policing Inquiry.

    Under section 19(2)(b) of the Inquiries Act 2005 restriction orders can only be issued by the Chair of an inquiry.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what Government funding has been awarded to (a) Welcome to Yorkshire, (b) the campaign to bring the Turner Prize to Hull in 2017 and (c) the creation of a new cycle gateway to the Yorkshire Dales National Park since the publication of the Long-Term Economic Plan for Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire in February 2015.

    David Evennett

    Over the last two financial years, Welcome to Yorkshire has received a total of ​£1,619,100 of Government funding to promote tourism and the success of cycling in Yorkshire, building on the Grand Depart.

    This Government is providing £1.5million funding for the Ferens gallery in Hull so it can host the 2017 Turner prize.

    And in 2014, the Canal River Trust won £450,000 from the Cycling Ambition in National Park programme for a range of cycling schemes, including the transformation of a 4km stretch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal centred on the market town of Skipton, which is also a key gateway to the Yorkshire Dales.

    On 24 May Government announced funding for both the Sustainable Travel Transition Year Fund 2016/17, and the North East Lincolnshire and Lincolnshire, with projects earmarked across the region but not in the specific Yorkshire Dales area.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what mechanisms are in place to monitor the application of section 60 of the Immigration Act 2016, on limitation on detention of pregnant women.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Home Office has issued guidance to Immigration Enforcement caseworkers, enforcement officers and Border Force officers on the application of section 60 of the Immigration Act 2016. This was published on GOV.UK on 12 July, and includes monitoring tools to track the detention of pregnant women.

    It is already the case that the majority of individuals liable to be detained at any one time are not actually detained but are managed in the community through the grant of temporary admission or temporary release on bail. This includes pregnant women, whose detention is now subject to the further restrictions imposed by section 60 of the 2016 Act.

    Pregnant women who are to be released from detention, but who remain liable to be detained, will be granted temporary admission or temporary release with appropriate reporting and/or residence restrictions. Pregnant women have access to the Home Office Voluntary Departures Service.

  • Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to announce the dates for the (a) planned commissioning, (b) delivery of contracted functionality and (c) installation of the first deployment traffic management system for the Rail Operating Centre at Cardiff.

    Paul Maynard

    These dates will not be announced by the Department for Transport. Network Rail is reviewing the options available for deployment of Traffic Management in Wales and will communicate the decision once it has been made.

  • Margaret Hodge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Margaret Hodge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Hodge on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the UK Genetics Testing Network plans to conduct an evaluation of genetic testing for BRCA1/2 mutations.

    George Freeman

    NHS England offers BRCA testing to individuals with a greater than 10% chance of carrying the mutation, using a model based on the individual’s personal and family history of cancers. Data is not collected centrally on reasons for women choosing to take a test for the BRCA1/2 gene mutation.

    The UK Genetic Testing Network is working with NHS England, the devolved administrations and the Health and Social Care Information Centre to collect and publish United Kingdom-wide data on molecular genetic testing activity. Data collection is expected to have been completed by the summer of 2016 with a full update prepared for publication by the end of the year. However, it is not intended that this will include specific data for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation testing activity.