Tag: 2016

  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-07-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the Pensions Regulator about the length of time it will require to report on the BHS pension scheme; and whether they plan to communicate that information to fund managers.

    Lord Freud

    The right approach is to allow the Pensions Regulator to get on with its investigations into the use of its anti-avoidance powers. There is a clear legal process that must be followed and this can sometimes take a considerable amount of time. The Pensions Regulator’s Chief Executive has given a commitment that it will have made significant progress by the end of 2016. It has said that when it becomes appropriate to do so it will consider publishing a report of the case under Section 89 of the Pensions Act 2004. The Regulator is independent and Ministers cannot become involved in its decisions on whether or not to exercise its powers or seek to influence its investigations in any way.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of restrictions of water supplies on the humanitarian situation in the West Bank.

    Rory Stewart

    The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs assessed in November 2015 that 400,000 people in the West Bank required humanitarian water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) assistance. UK officials are in regular dialogue with Israel, the Palestinian Authority, the UN, World Bank, EU and other development actors on this issue.

    DFID is funding UNICEF to lead on developing and updating the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) WASH Sector Contingency Plan at the national level. This brings together the Palestinian Water Authority and other partners to monitor the water situation in the OPTs and ensure preparedness and effective response in case of an emergency.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-12-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government over what period, and under what headings, the €3 billion offered by the EU to Turkey in respect of refugees and migrants will be spent; and what verification of expenditure there will be.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    At the EU-Turkey summit on 29 November, the EU committed €3 billion of additional support to Turkey to help ease its refugee burden and prevent further irregular migration to the EU. The European Commission has proposed a Refugee Facility for Turkey to coordinate the €3 billion in 2016 and 2017, which will be financed in part by Member State contributions and in part from the EU budget.

    The details of the Refugee Facility, including the financing, governance and monitoring arrangements, are currently being discussed by Member States. All contributions from the EU budget will be fully consistent with the spending limits set out in the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2014-2020.

  • Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2016-01-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the annual cost of the Probate Registry and the yield from fee income.

    Lord Faulks

    The cost of the Probate Registry in 2014/15 was £42.5m and the yield from fee income (after remission) was £41.5m.

    The costs relate to probate for “non-contentious” cases, that is where the Will is not in dispute.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2016 to Question 26134, what the reason is for the difference between the data series given in that Answer in relation to suicides and suicide attempts on the Strategic Road Network and the data given in the Answer of 15 December 2015 to Question 19015 asked by the hon. Member for Huddersfield; and if he will update the figures given in the Answer of 15 December 2015 to include the number of suicides and suicide attempts on the Strategic Road Network in (a) 2015 and (b) 2016 to date.

    Andrew Jones

    The difference in the data given is due to the ‘Command and Control’ database, used by Highways England to record all incidents on the Strategic Road network, being reconfigured in April 2013 to improve the consistency of the data recorded. This has led to improved accuracy, particularly when logging types of incidents and the method for recording ‘suicides’ or ‘attempted suicides’ was also adapted.

    In 2015 there were 790 incidents logged as suicides or attempted suicides.

    In 2016 – from 1st January to 21st February – there have been 120 such incidents.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which non-governmental organisations have been involved in developing training materials for the training and accreditation of work coaches.

    Priti Patel

    The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is a registered centre for endorsed learning accreditation and has been delivering endorsed learning programmes for a number of years.

    The accredited learning for Work Coaches builds on the qualifications developed for the Operational Delivery Profession, in association with City and Guilds and the Chartered Management Association.

    DWP currently has a contract with Pearson Education Ltd to accredit the Work Coach learning journeys and to secure standards for those qualifications they certificate.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how his Department measures and demonstrates parity of esteem between mental and physical health in the NHS.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government accepted the Mental Health Taskforce recommendation to identify the gaps in provision between mental health and physical health and has increased funding for mental health to an estimated £11.7 billion last year and have introduced waiting time standards so people know they will be treated quickly.

    This Government continues to hold NHS England to account through the NHS Mandate for the achievement of measurable progress towards the parity of esteem for mental health and clinical commissioning groups are required through the annual planning guidance to increase spending each year on mental health at least in line with the increase in their overall allocation.

    In line with practice in physical health, from 1 April 2015, waiting times standards for mental health came into effect for:

    – treatment within two weeks for more than 50% of people experiencing a first episode of psychosis; and

    – treatment within six weeks for 75% of people referred to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme, with 95% of people being treated within 18 weeks.

    The National Health Service has already achieved waiting time standards for IAPT and we have made changes to the Mental Health Services Dataset to measure performance against the standard for Early Intervention in Psychosis.

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will ensure that the benefits of breastfeeding will be included in the upcoming obesity strategy.

    Jane Ellison

    Our Childhood Obesity Strategy, which will be launched in the summer, will look at everything that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese.

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

    Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-07-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of doctors from other EU countries who have inadequate clinical English language skills.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    In June 2014 the General Medical Council (GMC) was given powers to carry out proportionate language controls on all applicants from the European Economic Area (EEA) to ensure that doctors have the necessary English language skills to practise safely in the United Kingdom. In addition the GMC was given powers to take fitness to practise action if a doctor working in the UK has insufficient language skills to carry out their job safely. Doctors must register with the GMC to practise in the UK.

    Since June 2014 a total of 1,659 doctors from the EEA have been unable to demonstrate to the GMC that they have sufficient language skills to practise safely in the UK; 564 of those doctors have gone on to reach the standard required by the GMC and have been issued with a licence to practise.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for negotiations on the bilateral agreement regulating flights between the UK and the People’s Republic of China.

    Mr John Hayes

    Bilateral UK/China air services negotiations took place in London on 10 and 11 October 2016. An agreement was signed on behalf of the UK by the Minister for Aviation, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon. This agreement significantly increases the traffic rights available to airlines from both countries and enables airlines to operate more services to a wider range of destinations in each country.