Tag: 2016

Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to make available to people without online access guidance on comparisons of energy prices among different energy providers.

Andrea Leadsom

Consumers without access to the internet can shop around to find a better deal for their energy by using a price comparison company, which is accredited to the Confidence Code operated by Ofgem and provides a free telephone price comparison service. In addition Citizen Advice offers advice and support on energy switching.

The following companies offer such a service:

Energyhelpline 0800 074 0745

Moneysupermarket 0800 177 7087

SimplySwitch 0800 011 1395

UK Power.co.uk 0800 188 4906

uSwitch 0800 051 5493

Energylinx 0800 849 7077

01/01/2023
Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-07-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made to bring forward regulations to introduce electrical safety checks, as set out in the Housing and Planning Act 2016.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

The Government is committed to protecting tenants and, as part of this, introduced the enabling power into the Housing and Planning Act 2016, allowing regulations to protect private sector tenants from electrical hazards in the home to be set at a later date.

This is a highly technical area and we need to explore appropriate options with relevant experts in the sector to test the most effective approach. My Department intends to set up a working group to identify what, if any, legislative requirements are needed and envisage this work being completed this year. This will ensure any introductions are beneficial and strike the right balance by protecting tenants while not over burdening the sector.

01/01/2023
Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps NHS England is taking to encourage local communities to input into individual sustainability and transformation plans; and if he will publish contact details for lead officers co-ordinating proposals on the way maternity services are delivered in each NHS area.

David Mowat

NHS England, with other national health and care bodies, released guidance to the local areas developing Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STP) entitled ‘Engaging local people’ in September 2016 which can be found on their website. Local proposals for health and care transformation are not expected to have gone through formal local National Health Service or other organisations’ board approval and/or formal public engagement or consultation at this early stage. We expect that areas will publish a version of their Sustainability and Transformation Plans between late October and the end of the year. We would also expect that most areas will undertake public engagement during this period, building on the engagement they have already done to shape thinking. Every area will be working to a different timeframe, based on its own circumstances and how well-progressed its plan is.

As with the current arrangements for planning and delivery, there are layers of plans which can sit below STPs, with shared links and dependencies. STPs act as an umbrella, holding underneath them a number of different specific plans to address key local issues. Clinical commissioning groups remain accountable for securing high-quality healthcare services for their local populations.

01/01/2023
Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the difference between the public finance forecasts for 2015–16 and the actual financial figures available to date, and what assessment have they made of the reasons for the difference.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) jointly with HM Treasury publish the public sector finances statistical bulletin on a monthly basis, which provides the latest available estimates for key aspects of Public Sector Finances.

The latest release was published on 22 December covering the November 2015 public sector finances.[1]

Borrowing for the 8 months to November is £6.6 bn less than the same period last year against an Autumn Statement forecast of a £15.7bn full year fall. It’s clear that there is no shortcut to fixing the public finances. That’s why the Chancellor used the Autumn Statement and Spending Review to set out our plan to finish the job and build a resilient economy.

The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) are responsible for producing the forecasts of the public finances. They have published a detailed commentary on 22 December, which assesses the latest estimates included in the bulletin against their latest forecast^{^[2]}.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/public-sector-finances-bulletin

[2] http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/wordpress/docs/Dec-2015-Commentary-on-the-Public-Sector-Finances-release.pdf

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01/01/2023
Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-01-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice they received from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute during the set-up phase of Genomics England regarding the appropriateness in cases of cancer of using comparisons of tumour to normal whole genome sequencing at moderate sequence coverage, as opposed to focused actionable gene panel testing at deep sequence coverage; and what current technology is used by Genomics England.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The set up phase of the 100,00 Genomes Project was based on advice from Expert Working Groups which included experts from across the United Kingdom, including the Sanger Centre. The Working Group concluded that a more fundamental understanding of cancer would be delivered by whole genome sequencing compared to gene panels. This approach is part of the wider aim of the 100,000 Genomes Project to transform the National Health Service diagnostic pathway for patients and to build a dataset which will enable new scientific research. Adopting whole genome sequencing has already catalysed a fall in the costs which was also anticipated by the Expert Working Group.

01/01/2023
Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of offences under sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 related to abortions in each year since 2009-10.

Mike Penning

Sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 (only applies in England and Wales) makes it an offence to intentionally procure a miscarriage, including for a woman to procure her own miscarriage.

The Abortion Act 1967 creates exceptions to the offences of procuring a miscarriage. The Act makes an abortion legal where the pregnancy is terminated by a registered medical practitioner and where two registered medical practitioners agree that the grounds specified in the Act are satisfied.

The number of offenders found guilty at all courts for offences relating to sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Persons Act 1861, in England & Wales, from 2009 to 2014 (the latest data available) can be viewed in the attached table.

01/01/2023

Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many nationals of other EU member states have been refused entry to the UK in each of the last 10 years; and for what reasons they were refused.

James Brokenshire

The Government has prevented EEA/EU nationals entry into the UK on public protection grounds in each of the last five years. The Home Office is unable to provide figures for refusals within each refusal category. Total refusals for each of the last ten years are provided in the table below.

Numbers of EU nationals granted entry to the UK through Regulation 11 (2) of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 are not recorded centrally.

EU Passengers initially refused entry each year since 2006
Year	Total refusals
2006	1663
2007	973
2008	753
2009	618
2010	594
2011	688
2012	787
2013	1078
2014	1755
2015	2165

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01/01/2023

Bob Blackman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Blackman on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his international counterparts on reports that a UN-funded Palestinian non-governmental orgaisation, Rural Women’s Development Society, organised an event commemorating a Palestinian terrorist who killed three Israeli civilians.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

While we have not made any representations to our international counterparts about this specific issue, we condemn all acts of terrorism and incitement to commit violence, whichever side it comes from.

01/01/2023
Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Nigerian government on securing the release of girls who have been abducted by Boko Haram.

James Duddridge

We regularly raise the issue of abducted girls, and indeed everyone abducted by Boko Haram, with the Nigerian government at the highest levels. Most recently the Foreign Secretary reiterated UK support for Nigeria’s efforts to tackle Boko Haram, when he met President Buhari in Abuja in May.

We are providing a substantial and increasing package of intelligence, military and development support to Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram including support to those targeted by its indiscriminate campaign of violence, and assistance to find those who are missing.

01/01/2023
Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2016-07-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 18 July (HL948 and HL949), how many judges in HM Courts and Tribunals service who are over 50 years of age are from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

Lord Keen of Elie

The Government recognises that judges from a Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic (BAME) background are under-represented in the judiciary in England and Wales when compared with the general population. We are committed to continue working with the judiciary and all others concerned to make sure that, while appointments will always be made on merit, the pool of candidates is as diverse as possible.

On average over the last 5 years, 11 per cent of candidates recommended for judicial appointment were from BAME groups. Meanwhile, 10 per cent of appointed judges aged over 50 were from BAME backgrounds on 1 April 2015.

The Government is committed to working with other members of the Judicial Diversity Forum, including the Judicial Appointments Commission, the judiciary and the legal professions, to explore ways of increasing the percentage of judges from under-represented groups, including individuals from a BAME background, whilst continuing to safeguard the fundamental principle of appointment on merit. The Forum is considering the feasibility of proposals around pre-application training. The Government fully supports such work and is strongly committed to the judicial diversity agenda.

01/01/2023