Tag: 2016

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps the UK Embassy in Israel has taken to monitor attacks on Christian places of worship.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv are in regular contact with representatives of churches on a range of issues, including concern about attacks on places of worship. The last attack occurred on 17 January when the Dormition Abbey compound of the Orthodox Church in the Old City of Jerusalem was vandalised with anti-Christian slogans. The ‘Tag Meir’ organisation has listed 44 cases of vandalism and arson on Christian and Muslim places of worship in Israel and the West Bank since December 2009.

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

    Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-03-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of (1) how many health professionals will return to permanent NHS jobs as a result of price caps on agency staff spending, and (2) how many nurses will leave nursing as a result of those caps.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    No formal assessment has been made by the Department to estimate the specific numbers of health professionals that will return to permanent National Health Service jobs as a result of the introduction of price caps on agency staff spending, or on the number of nurses that may leave nursing as a result.

    Trust boards have primary responsibility for monitoring the local impact of the price caps and ensuring patient safety.

  • The Lord Bishop of Coventry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Lord Bishop of Coventry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Coventry on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assistance, if any, they have provided to the government of Iraq to document and investigate reports of missing persons.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We have funded a project to support the victims of Daesh’s persecution and help them pursue justice. We will continue to look at all options to ensure accountability for human rights abuses and violations committed in Iraq. We have not provided any direct support to the Government of Iraq in relation to investigating reports of missing persons.

  • Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Government has made on its target to plant 11 million trees by 2020.

    Rory Stewart

    The Forestry Commission publishes progress against the 11 million trees target quarterly. The latest report shows that over 640,000 trees have been planted towards meeting the 11 million target in 2015. This reflects the fact that we are at the opening stage of a new grant scheme. We are confident that more trees will be planted in the next phases of the scheme.

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

    Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to adapt the cancer recovery package and investigate new models of care for blood cancer patients who are (a) given treatment and (b) put on a watch and wait regime after diagnosis.

    Jane Ellison

    It is important that people with cancer have the best possible experience throughout their cancer pathway and are treated with dignity and respect.

    The independent Cancer Taskforce published its report Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes – A Strategy for England 2015-2020 in July 2015, and identified a key priority of establishing patient experience as being on a par with clinical effectiveness and safety. In May 2016 the National Cancer Transformation Board published Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: Taking the Strategy Forward outlining the detailed steps being taken to make this a reality.

    In September 2015, the Government announced that by 2020, the 280,000 people diagnosed with cancer every year will benefit from a tailored recovery package. The packages will be individually designed to help each person, including those with blood cancer, live well beyond cancer. In April 2016 NHS England published guidance for commissioners on commissioning and implementing the recovery package effectively.

    In order to continue to support general practitioners (GPs) to identify patients whose symptoms may indicate cancer and urgently refer them as appropriate, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published an updated suspected cancer referral guideline in June 2015. The guideline includes new recommendations for haematological cancers. NICE noted that more lives could be saved each year in England if GPs followed the new guideline, which encourages GPs to think of cancer sooner and lower the referral threshold. Following publication of the updated guideline, the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) has worked in collaboration with Cancer Research UK (CRUK) on a programme of regional update events for GPs to promote the new guideline. RCGP and CRUK have also worked to develop three summary referral guidelines for GPs to enable them to adopt the guideline. These are available at:

    www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/learning-and-development-tools/nice-cancer-referral-guidelines

    “

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

    Lord Aberdare – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Aberdare on 2016-09-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the finding of the recent British Red Cross research report Are prehospital deaths from trauma and accidental injury preventable? that up to 59 per cent of pre-hospital deaths from injury could have been prevented with basic first aid, what they are doing to ensure that first aid education features within public health strategies.

    Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

    The Government recognises that the timely application of first aid can help minimise the impact of injuries, as well as health conditions such as heart attacks and strokes, and contribute to avoiding preventable deaths.

    The NHS Choices website contains information for the public on first aid responses to various injuries and health incidents including burns, bleeding, choking, drowning, fractures, heart attacks, strokes and poisoning; the possible symptoms to note; how to respond to them; and how to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A copy of the relevant NHS Choices web page is attached.

    In addition, the Government is making available another £1 million to make public access defibrillators and coronary pulmonary resuscitation training more widely available in communities across England. This builds on last year’s funding of £1 million, which provided almost 700 more publicly accessible defibrillators in communities across England and increased the numbers of people trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

    The national Act Fast campaign also aims to raise awareness of the symptoms of stroke, teach people what to look out for in themselves and others, and encourage those who notice the symptoms to call 999. Since Act Fast launched in 2009, it is estimated that an additional 47,000 people reached hospital within the vital three-hour window and over 5,000 fewer people became disabled as a result of a stroke.

    Local authorities in England have the lead responsibility for identifying and meeting needs for local interventions to improve the health of their populations, including steps to reduce preventable deaths.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Prime Minister, whether he plans to issue a new Memorandum of Understanding under section 2(2) of the Justice and Security Act on the remit of the Intelligence and Security Committee in the current Parliament.

    Mr David Cameron

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Ms West) on 21 January 2016, UIN 22720.

    By long-standing convention under successive Governments the Law Officers’ advice is not published. The legal basis for the airstrike against Reyaad Khan is set out in the Government’s Memorandum to the Joint Committee on Human Rights.

    The Government’s legal position in relation to UK airstrikes against Daesh in Syria is reflected in my response to the Foreign Affairs Committee Report on the extension of offensive British military operations to Syria.

    The current Memorandum of Understanding together with the Justice and Security Act 2013 provides the necessary scope for the ISC to conduct robust oversight of those matters that are within its statutory remit.

    “

  • Baroness Smith of Basildon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Smith of Basildon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice has been provided this Session for ministers or senior officials in the Department for Work and Pensions on whether to use secondary legislation or primary legislation for significant legislation.

    Lord Freud

    There has been no change in approach to the use of primary and secondary legislation since the General Election. Each piece of legislation is approached within the context of the policy and the existing legislative framework. There is no evidence of an increase in the number of statutory instruments　laid　since 2010　or since the General Election. Briefing produced by the House of Commons Library (CBP 7438) shows that　the　number of statutory instruments laid before the House of Commons peaked　at 1,885　in the 2005-06 session, compared to 1,378 last session and 540 so far this session.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials in his Department have responsibility for examining the resilience of the UK’s infrastructure.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Cabinet Office role on infrastructure resilience is focused on providing a co-ordination and assurance function for infrastructure resilience. Other departments have staff working directly on infrastructure resilience according to sector.

    There are currently fifteen officials in the Cabinet Office who spend a significant amount of their time working on infrastructure resilience.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made an assessment of the number of UK merchant seamen, officers and men required to man the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and other merchant shipping taken up from trade in time of national emergency or war.

    Earl Howe

    Should extra capability or capacity be required at a time of national emergency or war, as has been the case in the past, the Ministry of Defence would charter suitable merchant ships from the commercial market. The extent of such a requirement would of course depend on the nature of the circumstances faced.