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Tag: 2016

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-03-22.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what reports he has received on progress made by Greece in implementing the conditions of the 2015 EU bailout package; and if he will press for steps to improve transparency and monitor use of the bailout funds.

    Mr David Gauke

    While Greece remains in the euro, its financial stability is the responsibility of the euro area. The UK Government has secured a deal that protects UK taxpayers from any risk from financing euro area bailouts now and in the future. The UK is therefore not involved in the review of Greece’s euro area bailout package agreed in 2015.

    Ministers and officials routinely meet with international counterparts to discuss economic and financial issues within the euro area and wider European Union, including ongoing financial assistance programmes.

  • Lord Naseby – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Naseby – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Naseby on 2016-04-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 24 February (HL6112), what processes the Department of Health has reviewed in the light of the guidance issued by the Cabinet Office on 6 February; what changes they have made, including in respect of individual contracts; and what are the details of each contract subject to such changes.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department’s current policy already clearly states that grants will not be awarded if there is any indication within the application that some or all of any funding awarded will be used to support political activities. This condition is reinforced by a standard terms within the Grant Award letter.

    In light of the draft implementation guidance issued by Cabinet Office on 6 February, the Department has engaged with relevant internal and external stakeholders to prepare for the mandatory implementation of the Cabinet Office guidance from 1 May 2016.

    As announced on 27 April the introduction of the clause has been paused, pending a review of the representations made, and to give further time to consider any necessary adjustments to the wording of the clause, or the policy on its implementation.

    The Cabinet Office are continuing to consider the comments of all interested parties, ahead of the introduction into grant agreements of the clause aimed at protecting taxpayers’ money from being wasted on government lobbying government.

    The draft implementation guidance has been withdrawn, along with the go-live date of 1 May 2016. Further details will be announced in due course, including a revised implementation date and the Department will be working towards the revised timetable once it is received.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps is he taking to make a career in general practice more attractive to medical graduates.

    Alistair Burt

    The ‘General Practice Forward View’, published by NHS England in April 2016, sets out actions to double growth in the general practitioner (GP) workforce. This includes work by Health Education England (HEE) to increase the number of medical school graduates choosing general practice. HEE is working with the Medical Schools Council, higher education institutions, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the British Medical Association’s General Practitioners Committee to increase the profile of general practice in medical schools. A working group, chaired by Professor Valerie Wass OBE, will publish recommendations in summer 2016.

    HEE and the RCGP will continue to develop the current recruitment campaign to raise the profile of general practice as a career. The campaign showcases the variety of different opportunities and the flexibility of the specialty, as well as the central role that GPs play in the community and their patients’ care. HEE has recruited and trained 35 campaign ambassadors and advocates to support and promote national and regional activities including attendance at recruitment events and through social media.

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what budget his Department has set for paying staff (a) on secondment from external companies and (b) engaged as external contractors or consultants for each year from 2016 to 2020.

    Greg Hands

    Following her appointment on 13 July 2016 the Prime Minister established the Department for International Trade (DIT). The DIT aggregates UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), UK Export and Finance (UKEF), Trade Policy Units from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), as well as some new hires.

    Until such time as a transfer of functions order establishes the Secretary of State as a corporation sole, DIT remains a unified Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) department for accounting purposes.

    The use of secondments and contractors to provide commercial and sectorial experience, not readily available in the civil service and to provide additional resource for limited periods is occasionally required. DIT does not set budgets for the use of secondees, external contractors or consultants as each are deployed flexibly in line with business need. As such we cannot provide details of budgets allocated from 2016 to 2020.

    For reference, expenditure on secondees currently equates to approximately £14, 299.27 per month. Expenditure on contractors and consultants for 2015/16 was approximately £26.5 million. These costs are subject to fluctuation as the Department responds to changing requirements. Contractor costs reflect the level of senior specialist, technical and commercial knowledge required by the former UKTI department to support British businesses in international markets, and with overseas investors looking to invest in the UK.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to work with the waste and coatings industries on making better use of leftover paint.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    The Government has been engaging constructively with the British Coatings Federation on making better use of leftover paint, including identifying potential regulatory barriers to its recycling and remanufacture and how these might be overcome.

    The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) encourages consumers to recycle and re-use household paint by providing information through the Recycle Now website. This includes a postcode locator which helps pinpoint local Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) that accept leftover paint. The Government’s Innovation in Waste Prevention Fund has also supported a pilot paint re-use project in Cheshire involving local charities, working with HWRCs and housing associations to increase paint donation and minimise disposal. WRAP will publish a summary of the project, lessons learned and a video case study later in the year.

    In terms of public procurement, it is for each Government department to consider sustainability and put this into practice in its own procurement activity. Government Buying Standards do not currently include remanufactured paint. WRAP has recently published a guide on ‘How to Include Re-use in Local Authority HWRC Procurement’.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2016 to Question 20871, who the (a) applicants and (b) successful bidders were for the £5.5 million Human Rights and Democracy Programme; and how much funding each such successful bidder was allocated.

    Mr David Lidington

    For the Financial Year 2015-16, the Human Rights and Democracy Programme (HRDP) received 27 bids for democracy projects from the following applicants:

    Ba Futuru
    British Council Libya
    Carter Centre
    DanChurchAid
    Democracy Reporting International
    Global Partners Governance
    Guatemalan Archbishopric´s Human Rights Office
    International Media Support
    International Republican Institute
    Investigative Journalists NGO (HETQ)
    Jamii Media Company Limited
    John Smith Trust
    Law Association of Zambia
    Moroccan Forum for Truth and Justice
    National School of Government International (NSGI)
    Northern Ireland-Cooperation Oversees (NI-CO) in partnership with Politics Plus
    Safer World Bangladesh and Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI)
    Saferworld
    Stakeholder Democracy Network
    The Asia Foundation
    UN Development Programme
    Westminster Foundation for Democracy
    Young African Leaders Initiative
    Youth Association for Human Rights Promotion and Development (AJPRODHO)
    Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum,
    Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights

    These bids were then considered on a case-by-case basis by the Programme Team, and evaluated against criteria including: value for money, project design, evidence of need, viability, sustainability, risk and local influence. Seven applicants were successful, and were allocated the amounts listed below:

    DanChurchAid: £80,000
    Global Partners Governance: £99,727
    NI-CO in partnership with Politics Plus: £35,000
    NSGI: £37,220
    Safer World Bangladesh and BEI: £103,422
    The Asia Foundation: £99,168
    Young African Leaders Initiative: £51,397

    The £100,000 Magna Carta Partnerships Fund, to assist democracies in crisis or transition, is also channelled through the HRDP. In the financial year 2015/16, we have so far agreed funding for the following implementers:

    Bingham Centre: £9,993
    British Embassy Mexico City: £8,000
    Chatham House: £10,000
    Citizen’s Watch International: £10,000
    Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK Branch: £20,000
    King Prajadhipok Institute: £2,752
    Northern Ireland Cooperation Overseas: £2,000
    Slynn Foundation: £9,020
    Westminster Foundation for Democracy: £5,150

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the government of Iran on the 15 per cent increase in its budget for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps; and what assessment he has made of the potential implications of that increase for regional security.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We remain concerned about Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) activity in the region, and most recently raised our concerns about regional security with Iran on 20 January in Tehran. The IRGC is a proscribed organisation by the EU, listed due to actions relating to Iran’s support for terrorism and human rights reasons.

  • Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting time is from referral to the commencement of a talking therapy course in (a) the North West and (b) Warrington.

    Alistair Burt

    The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is shown in the following table. The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) dataset contains information on referrals to IAPT services which provide talking therapies. Information is provided both for Warrington Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and for all 33 North West CCGs combined for the year 2014/15.

    Table: The number of referrals entering treatment1 in the year, with mean and median waiting times to first treatment (days), for IAPT services in 2014/15. Data shown for NHS Warrington CCG and all North West CCGs combined2.

    Total number of referrals entering treatment3

    Average (mean) waiting time to first treatment appointment (days)4

    Median5 waiting time to first treatment appointment (days)

    Organisation name

    NHS Warrington CCG

    3,265

    31

    28

    All North West CCGs combined

    123,445

    44

    24

    Notes:

    1In order to enter treatment a referral must have a first treatment appointment (an appointment with a therapy type recorded) in the year.

    2CCG is based on GP Practice. Where GP Practice is not recorded, or cannot be assigned to a CCG, the referral is categorised as ‘Unknown’.

    3In order to enter treatment a referral must have a first treatment appointment in the year. Referral received date not necessarily in the year.

    4The mean was used as the average.

    5Means and medians have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

    Waiting time is measured by counting the number of days between a referral being received and the first treatment appointment. For 2014/15, the presence of a valid therapy type is used as an indicator of whether treatment was provided in the course of the appointment.

    Entering treatment figures are rounded to the nearest 5

    Please note: It is generally advised that the median is used as the more reliable measure of average waiting time, as this accounts better for any outliers in the data

    Source: Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) Dataset

  • 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 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place a copy of his Department’s (a) civilian casualty review procedure and (b) standard operating procedure in the Library.

    Penny Mordaunt

    I am withholding publication of the UK Armed Forces’ Incident Reporting Standing Operating Procedure, which contains the civilian casualty review process, as disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness, or security of our Armed Forces.

    The UK takes all allegations of civilian casualties very seriously. Robust processes are in place to review reports of civilian casualties and to launch investigations where required.

  • Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to ensure that customers who were sold cashback warranties by PowerPlan and who did not receive their cash deposits having not claimed against those warranties receive compensation.

    Anna Soubry

    The liquidation of the companies involved in the cashback scheme is ongoing. The liquidators have the right to take action against the company if they consider the cashback scheme created an obligation to fund any liabilities.

    My hon. Friend from Grantham and Stamford is meeting the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group to discuss their findings shortly.