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Tag: 2016

  • Julie Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Julie Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what steps he plans to take to consult representatives of the higher education sector as part of his Department’s preparations for the negotiations on the UK exiting the EU.

    Mr Robin Walker

    The Department for Exiting the EU has engaged with a number of higher education institutions and groups including Universities UK. Over the next few months the department will continue to engage with key stakeholders in business and civil society, including universities, through a series of roundtables, bi-laterals and visits across the UK.

    We have been clear that we want to create an environment in which the UK as a whole can continue to be a world leader in research, science and the tertiary education sector more broadly.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Prime Minister, what contingency arrangements 10 Downing Street has made for the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the upcoming EU referendum.

    Mr David Cameron

    The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in the United Kingdom – so we can get a better deal for our country and secure our future. We are confident that the right agreement can be reached.

  • Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what research is being carried out into urticaria, and whether they plan to increase funding for research into the condition.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network is recruiting patients to an international dose-finding study of QGE031 as add-on therapy to evaluate efficacy and safety in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria.

    The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including urticaria. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.

  • Lord Wallace of Saltaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will refer to any non-commercial criteria in calculating the economic rent to be charged to HM Treasury, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the Cabinet Office, for their occupation of historic buildings in Whitehall.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    HM Treasury does not pay an economic rent for its occupation of 1 Horse Guards Road and therefore non-commercial criteria are not applied. HM Treasury’s occupation of the building is financed via a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract, let on the commercial market, essentially a commercial leaseback arrangement ‎for 35 years.

    No information is held by HM Treasury regarding the occupation of historic buildings in Whitehall by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office or the Cabinet Office.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what provisions his Department has put in place as part of the rail franchise package for the Calder Valley rail line to improve rolling stock on that line.

    Andrew Jones

    The new Northern franchise will introduce at least 140 additional new DMU vehicles by the start of 2020. The new trains will be capable of operating at 100mph, be fitted with CCTV, fully air conditioned and have Wi-Fi fitted. These trains will operate on Northern Connect services including those on the Calder Valley route. In addition, over 600 existing vehicles will be fully refurbished to include improved seating, repainted interiors, Wi-fi, real time passenger information screens and improved lighting.

  • David Davis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    David Davis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Davis on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any MOD personnel have been seconded to positions in Yemen since 2012.

    Penny Mordaunt

    There are currently no Ministry of Defence (MOD) personnel in Yemen. No MOD personnel have been seconded to the Yemeni government since 2012.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what interim milestones he has set for the armed forces to improve their response time to complaints to the target level of 90 per cent closed within 24 weeks.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Secretary of State for Defence has set no interim milestones. The single Services continually monitor and assess the performance of the service complaints system to learn lessons, and to understand what might be causing Service personnel to make complaints. Where it is identified that there are issues that are causing undue delay in the resolution of complaints, action can be taken to prevent this from occurring in the future.

  • Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he anticipates an increase in the uptake of medical thrombectomy for the treatment of acute stroke in NHS hospitals; and if he will make a statement.

    David Mowat

    NHS England’s National Clinical Director (NCD) for stroke is leading work to develop a full proposal which will consider the evidence and logistical issues involved in delivering mechanical thrombectomy to stroke patients across the country. This includes working with the relevant specialist societies, Royal Colleges and Health Education England to consider the workforce implications. Once the proposal has been developed, NHS England will decide whether the procedure should be made widely available.

    To ensure there is equitable access to high quality hyper acute stroke care regardless of time of stroke or where a patient has their stroke, NHS England’s NCD for stroke continues to work with Clinical Networks, Urgent and Emergency Care Networks, clinical commissioning groups and the Sustainability and Transformation Plan footprints on how stroke care is best delivered to their local communities.

    In some places, this is ‘the London type model’ of focussing care in a small number of centres and equipping these to be able to deliver specialist care 24/7. In other parts of the country, centralisation of care into specialist centres is not feasible for geographical reasons. In these cases, alternative solutions (such as the use of telemedicine) have to be considered. Whatever the scenario, NHS England is fully committed to ensuring that all patients receive the best quality of care and the most up to date treatments.

  • Lord Birt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Birt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the conclusion by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) that there was no consistent evidence that the Troubled Families Programme had any significant or systematic impact on those families which took part in the programme, what evidence they have for the statement by the Communities Minister, Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, on 17 October that this programme has transformed the lives of thousands of families”; and what is their response to the NIESR report National Evaluation of the Troubled Families Programme.”

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    The NIESR Impact Study was just one of 6 reports comprising the independent evaluation of the first Troubled Families Programme. The evaluation found that the programme had many positive achievements. These include:

    • Families feeling more confident and optimistic about being able to cope in the future

    • Joining up local services for families by encouraging a single keyworker approach to work with the whole family on all of its problems

    • Raising the quality and capacity of local data systems

    • Better joint working with partners such as Jobcentre Plus

    The data shows that nearly 120,000 of the families on this programme saw their lives improve – more children attending school, youth crime and anti-social behaviour significantly cut and, in more than 18,000 families, an adult holding down a job. The evaluation does not dispute this fact.

    Unsurprisingly, the ambitious and innovative impact study which used national administrative datasets to track changes in families circumstances over comparatively short time periods, was unable to specifically attribute positive outcomes achieved in employment, youth crime or school attendance to the Troubled Families Programme.

    This was because at that time the level of change achieved was not significantly different from that seen in a group of families not on the programme with whom comparisons were made. This is not the same, however, as saying that the evaluation shows family outcomes did not improve, as some have wrongly inferred.

    Of course, we will continue to review all evidence of how the programme is working, to learn from it and see if there’s more we can do to help families facing such multiple problems. In fact, we have already adapted the new programme in a number of ways, including extending the length of time over which family outcomes will be tracked – from 12 months to 5 years.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of the decline in the broadcast of free-to-air sport on the accessibility of sport to young people.

    Tracey Crouch

    Our ‘Sporting Future’ strategy, published in December, 2015 highlighted the importance of sport being available for the public to enjoy, whether live or on television, radio or online. We encourage National Governing Bodies and other rights holders to sign up to the accessibility principle of the Sport and Recreation Alliance’s Voluntary Code of Conduct on the Broadcasting of Major Sporting Events, which ensures as wide access as possible to free to air sport.