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Tag: 2016

  • Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make an assessment of the financial and humanitarian effect on Turkey of keeping its border with Syria open to refugees while restricting their access to the EU.

    Justine Greening

    The UK recognises Turkey’s extraordinary generosity in ably hosting so many refugees from Syria and elsewhere. The EU-Turkey Summit on 29 November 2015 highlighted the importance that the EU attaches to its wide-ranging partnership with Turkey and need to support Turkey in its hosting of Syrians. The EU and Turkey have agreed to an Action Plan and a €3 billion Refugee Facility for Turkey to help implement it. We have committed our share to the €3 billion Facility

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure accurate and early diagnosis of Kawasaki disease.

    George Freeman

    The Government published the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases in November 2013. The strategy contains over 50 commitments to ensure people living with a rare disease, such as Kawasaki disease, have access to the best evidence-based care and treatment that health and social services, working with charities, researchers and industry can provide.

    It is the responsibility of the professional regulators to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricular to ensure newly qualified healthcare professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. This includes training in both scarlet fever and Kawasaki disease.

    Health Education England works with bodies that set curricula such as the General Medical Council and the Royal Colleges to seek to ensure training meets the needs of patients.

    The Department and its arm’s length bodies have not published any specific guidance on the similarities between Kawasaki disease and scarlet fever.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guideline on the assessment and initial management of fever in under 5s sets out the circumstances in which a diagnosis of Kawasaki disease should be considered, and Public Health England (PHE) has endeavoured to keep healthcare professionals, schools and the general public informed of the increased incidence of scarlet fever through timely information, news stories and updates on the PHE website and by using social and other media. These awareness raising measures assist general practitioners and other frontline healthcare professionals in reaching a correct diagnosis more quickly and encourage patients to seek medical advice early so that suspected cases receive prompt antibiotic treatment to reduce the risk of complications and limit further transmission.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to seek agreement on country-by-country reporting on multinational companies at the Anti-Corruption Summit on 12 May 2016.

    Matthew Hancock

    At the Anti Corruption Summit we will be seeking commitments on a number of measures to increase tax transparency, and reduce tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance. The UK has called for a multilateral agreement on public country by country reporting of tax information by businesses. We welcome the recent European Commission initiative on public country by country reporting for large multinational enterprises within the EU and will work to support this.

  • Gordon Henderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Gordon Henderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Henderson on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to bring forward proposals in the Neighbourhood and Planning and Infrastructure Bill to remove the requirement for developers to carry out archaeological and wildlife surveys before starting housing projects.

    Brandon Lewis

    There are no plans to change a Local Authority’s ability to propose conditions that meet the policy tests in the National Planning Policy Framework; including conditions related to archaeology and wildlife. The Neighbourhood Planning and Infrastructure Bill will include measures to ensure that pre-commencement planning conditions are only imposed where they are absolutely necessary.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many Development Consent Orders for (a) energy and (b) transport projects his Department considered in each year since 2009-10 in each region; and how many such orders were (i) accepted and (ii) rejected by him.

    Gavin Barwell

    Following the abolition of the Infrastructure Planning Commission by the Localism Act 2011, decisions on whether to grant development consent for energy projects have been made by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (formerly the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change) and transport projects have been decided by the Secretary of State for Transport. Prior to decision making powers being transferred to the Secretary of State by the Localism Act 2011, the Infrastructure Planning Commission determined one application for development consent for an energy project, granting consent in 2011.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to safeguard access to the Interreg programme of interregional cooperation projects (a) until and (b) after the UK leaves the EU.

    Andrew Percy

    The Chancellor’s statement of 3 October 2016 explains that UK participants in European Structural and Investment Fund projects who have funding agreements signed after the Autumn Statement but before the UK leaves the EU will have their funding guaranteed, so long as they provide strong value for money and are in line with domestic strategic priorities. UK participants will not see a funding shortfall.

    Leaving the EU means that we will want to decide how we deliver the policy objectives currently delivered by EU-funded programmes. We will consult closely with stakeholders to review all EU funding schemes in the round, to ensure that any on-going funding commitments best serve the UK‘s national interest, while ensuring appropriate investor certainty.

    The source of ERDF funding is provided by the overall contributions made by each EU Member State. The United Kingdom currently makes a contribution to the EU, net of what it receives in return.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the ease by which UK SMEs can access the export market.

    Anna Soubry

    Increasing exports is a key factor in the Government’s long-term economic plan and, through the GREAT campaign, it continues to promote the support available to those UK businesses looking to take advantage of overseas opportunities.

    According to data from the Office of National Statistics, since 2010 UK exports have increased from £444.4bn to £513.5bn per annum. At the same time, the number of UK exporting businesses has increased from 188,000 in 2010 to over 221,000 in 2014. The Government commitment is to increase this figure to over 288,000 UK exporting businesses per annum by 2020; an increase of 100,000 on the 2010 figure.

  • Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department has spent on debt collection agencies in each of the last seven years.

    Joseph Johnson

    The core Department has spent £0 on debt collection agencies in the last seven years.

  • Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, with reference to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report, Uneven Growth: Tackling City Decline, published in February 2016, what steps he plans to take to address the findings of that report on the relative decline of Dundee.

    David Mundell

    I refer the hon Gentleman to my answer of 4 March 2016.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he has taken to ensure that the sale of the pre-2012 income contingent repayment student loan book will not affect the amount of debt current graduates owe.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Sale of Student Loans Act 2008 prevents Government from treating less favourably borrowers whose loans are sold, compared to the treatment of borrowers whose loans remain on the Government’s books.

    After a sale, the Government continues to finance student loans and collect repayments through HM Revenue and Customs and the Student Loans Company. Purchasers will have no direct relationship with borrowers, and no power to amend the terms of repayment.