The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-04-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what role clinical commissioning groups have in the prevention of HIV transmission.
Jane Ellison
Local authorities are responsible for commissioning HIV prevention. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for HIV testing when clinically indicated in CCG-commissioned services (including accident and emergency and other hospital departments).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what methodology and data NHS England plans to use to determine which services it will commission at the specialised commissioning prioritisation process in June 2016.
George Freeman
The Clinical Priorities Advisory Group (CPAG) will agree recommendations as to which proposals for new investments in specialised services should be considered by NHS England in the prioritisation round for 2016/17. CPAG is scheduled to meet between 6 and 9 June 2016.
NHS England is currently considering the outcome of a public consultation that it held between April and May 2016 on a proposed method for the relative prioritisation of new investments in specialised services. The consultation guide that it published described the proposed method and the types of data that would be considered. Many detailed submissions were made by respondents to consultation, and they will all be carefully considered. NHS England is expecting to make a decision on the eventual method that will be adopted for 2016/17 in May 2016.
The consultation guide can be found at the following address:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-07-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what specific action they are taking in response to the number of Israeli settlers in occupied Palestinian territories.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
On 5 July, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), issued a statement expressing deep concerns about the announcement of new Israeli settlement units in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesperson statement, on 22 June, also expressed concern about Israel’s decision to provide an additional £12 million of funding for settlements. The position of the UK on Israeli settlements is clear: they are illegal under international law, an obstacle to peace and make a two-state solution, with Jerusalem as a shared capital, harder to achieve. We will continue to raise our objections to settlements with the Israeli government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what obligations the Government places on police and crime commissioners to commission local victims’ services to meet the specific and ongoing needs of British (a) nationals and (b) residents who have been direct victims or witnesses of a terrorist attack in the UK or abroad.
Dr Phillip Lee
This Government is committed to ensuring that victims of terrorism can access effective and timely support to help them cope, and as far as possible, recover from the trauma they have experienced.
This year we have given Police and Crime Commissioners grant funding of nearly £68m to provide emotional and practical support services for all victims of crime, including victims of terrorism, who reside within their area.
Witnesses in the criminal justice system, including witnesses of terrorist attacks, are also entitled to support as set out under the Witness Charter for England and Wales. These entitlements are currently being met through the nationally commissioned court based witness service.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-01-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how long asylum seekers have to wait before they receive financial support upon arrival in the UK.
Lord Bates
Upon claiming asylum if an applicant presents as destitute they are entitled to access support services whilst a formal application for financial support is considered.
Destitute asylum seekers are usually accommodated in an Initial Accommodation facility, which is typically delivered as hostel style, full board accommodation.
The length of time someone will stay in an Initial Accommodation centre will vary from person to person according to their particular circumstances.
However, the Home Office aims to process their application for financial support and move straightforward cases to longer term dispersal accommodation in participating dispersal towns and cities within 19 days.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-02-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will use their membership of UN agencies to establish relevant targets for reducing carbon emissions in (1) civil aviation, (2) shipping, and (3) agriculture and forestry, by 2020 as agreed at the Paris Climate Conference in 2015.
Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
This Government is committed to tackling emissions from international aviation, international shipping and agriculture and forestry.
As inherently transnational in nature, international aviation and maritime emissions are regulated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and are outside of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement. The UK is working through the ICAO and IMO to develop mechanisms which deliver emissions reductions, in line with the long term goal agreed in Paris of keeping average global temperature rise well below 2 degrees. In 2016, the ICAO is set to agree a global market based measure, to offset emissions post-2020. The UK government is engaged in this process.
The Government is also committed to tackling emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and supporting the enhancement of forest carbon stocks (REDD+). The UK played a key role in the 2014 New York Declaration on Forests, which set ambitious targets for halving (by 2020) and halting (by 2030) the loss of natural forests and eliminating deforestation from the production of key agricultural commodities by 2020. The new UN Sustainable Development Goals, agreed in September 2015, also include targets to halt deforestation, sustainably manage and restore natural forests, and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally by 2020. At COP21 the UK endorsed a Leaders’ Statement on Forests which recognised the importance of these goals, as well as the progress on REDD+ under the UNFCCC.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Thomas-Symonds on 2016-03-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what public awareness campaigns his Department has planned to improve awareness of work-related respiratory illness.
Justin Tomlinson
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), as the national regulator for health and safety at work, takes a lead role in raising awareness of work related respiratory diseases. HSE has run campaigns targeted at specific at-risk workers and/or their employers, a recent example being the ‘Beware Asbestos’ campaign which ran from October 2014 to March 2015 and focussed on tradespeople such as carpenters, electricians and plumbers. HSE has also supported other organisations such as the British Occupational Hygiene Society to develop its ‘Breathe Freely’ campaign targeted at work in the construction industry.
HSE has recently published a new strategy for the GB health and safety system called ‘Helping Great Britain work well’. One of the six themes of the strategy is ‘Tackling ill health’ which will include long-term and coordinated action across all sectors, bringing in additional partners such as the NHS and others to support the substantial behaviour change and awareness programmes that will be required.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reunite refugee minors with their families in the UK.
James Brokenshire
We have worked with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), NGOs, local authorities and the devolved administrations to provide a resettlement route to the UK, specifically designed for children at risk from the Middle East and North Africa region. On the UNHCR’s recommendation the scheme will target all children at risk as defined by the UNHCR. This includes unaccompanied children and separated children (those separated from their parents and/or other family members) as well as other vulnerable children such as child carers and those at risk of child labour, child marriage or other forms of neglect, abuse or exploitation.
We will commit to resettling several hundred individuals in the first year with a view to resettling up to 3000 individuals over the lifetime of this Parliament, the majority of whom will be children. Further details can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement available at:
http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2016-04-21/HCWS687
Further, our refugee family reunion policy allows immediate family members of a person in the UK with refugee leave or humanitarian protection status – that is a spouse or partner and children under the age of 18, who formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country of origin – to reunite with them in the UK.
Where a family reunion application fails under the Immigration Rules, the Entry Clearance Officer must also consider whether there are exceptional circumstances or compassionate reasons to justify granting a visa outside the Rules. This caters for family members in exceptional circumstances and would include minors applying to join a member of their extended family who has refugee status or humanitarian protection.
A British citizen or individual with indefinite leave to remain can also sponsor a child to come to the UK under the Immigration Rules if they are that child’s parent, irrespective of whether the child is a refugee.
There is also provision for a child to seek leave to enter to join a relative who has refugee leave or is a beneficiary of humanitarian protection where the relative is not the parent of the child, and the child is under the age of eighteen. Other requirements apply such as the need to be able to care for the child without recourse to public funds. Exceptional circumstance will also be considered in these cases.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-05-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the proportion of GDP spent on health in 2020-21.
Alistair Burt
Spend as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is stated on United Kingdom public expenditure figures and is produced by HM Treasury. The Department is responsible for reporting on health spend in England and is not in a position to provide equivalent spend figures for health by the devolved administrations in future years.
The Spending Review settlement, delivered by the Chancellor on 25 November, set the Department’s overall budget for the remaining years of the parliament and the level of funding that will be available to the National Health Service. It set absolute spending totals, not spending as a percentage of GDP, providing certainty for financial planning over the period.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Calum Kerr on 2016-07-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the outcome of the referendum on UK membership of the EU, if he will take steps to help the UK retain its leading scientists and engineers.
Joseph Johnson
The UK has a long established system that supports, and therefore attracts, the brightest minds, at all stages of their careers. We fund excellent research wherever it is found, and ensure there is the freedom to tackle important scientific questions. The Government is committed to maintaining and enhancing the strength of our research base, which is why at the Spending Review we committed to protect the science budget in real terms from its 2015/16 level of £4.7 billion per annum.
The Government has said that there will be no immediate changes in circumstances for EU citizens working or studying in the UK – this includes scientists and engineers.