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Tag: 2016

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the contribution of the Minister for Immigration in the public bill committee stage of the Immigration Bill on 1 December 2015, Official Report, column 206, what the terms of reference are of the detailed analysis of the purposes of immigration detention being conducted by her Department.

    Karen Bradley

    Alongside the response to the recommendations of the Shaw review, set out in a Written Ministerial Statement on 14 January 2016, Home Office Ministers are giving further consideration to the wider requirements of the immigration detention estate.

    The analysis referred to is regarded as internal policy advice, and the Home Office does not intend to release this piece of work.

  • 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 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2016 to Question 29373, what his Department’s outstanding contractual obligations are under the South East Flexible Ticketing programme.

    Claire Perry

    Contractual obligations under the SEFT programme are commercially sensitive.

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-04-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will give details of progress made by all the networks of the Public Health Responsibility Deal, including future plans and a description of the outcomes obtained.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The action notes and papers from the last alcohol network group meeting, which took place on 5 November 2014 are attached. There are no current plans for any of the Responsibility Deal networks to meet, but the Department continues to engage with key stakeholders in each of these sectors as part of its routine policy activity.

    On alcohol, 1.3 billion units of alcohol were removed from the market through improving consumer choice of lower alcohol products, exceeding the target two years ahead of schedule. 101 companies pledged to have 80% of their bottles and cans of alcoholic drinks displaying unit content, the previous Chief Medical Officer’s lower-risk guidelines and a warning about drinking when pregnant by the end of 2013. An independent report (2014) found that 79.3% of labels provided all these three elements correctly, with 92.8% providing correct pregnancy information. The pledge was considered to be met.

    On food, around 75% of the retail market and 65% of major high street restaurants and contract caterers have committed to reduce salt. This includes all the major supermarkets, many big manufacturing brands, restaurant chains and contract caterers. 43 companies, including major retailers, fast food and pubs and caterers, as well as the makers of household-name brands are taking a range of actions to help us to consume fewer calories, including through reducing the sugar content of sugar sweetened beverages. 45 major out of home businesses are currently displaying calories on their menus to help consumers make informed choices when eating outside the home, and account for approximately a quarter of all out of home meals served. 23 businesses agreed to adopt the voluntary United Kingdom front of pack nutrient labelling scheme accounting for two thirds of the market for pre-packed foods and drinks.

    Employees in a wide range of companies are seeing their health and well-being taken more seriously as more and more organisations (over 500) signed up to the health at work pledges. The focus was on making occupational health more about prevention, as well as looking at improving the management of people with chronic health conditions, the workplace environment, healthier canteen food, encouraging more active travel and helping staff to give up smoking. Over 80 construction firms signed up to the health at work pledges representing over 250,000 employees. Construction is the UK’s largest industry employing 2 million workers, 6% of the entire workforce. It is also the unhealthiest industry. Construction workers are at least 100 times more likely to die from a disease caused or made worse by their work than they are to die from a fatal accident. These diseases are all preventable. This was the first sector-specific health at work pledge.

    Working behind the scenes and reaching into the heart of communities, many businesses and organisations – around 300 – made pledges to help get more people, of all ages and backgrounds, more active. Through the physical activity workplace pledge, we estimate 1.5 million more people are now supported to be more active than before in their workplaces.

    On 11 March 2016 the Department let all partners know that they will not need formally to report on the progress of the pledges that they have signed up to by submitting their annual updates this year. The Department has not separately analysed the annual reports submitted by partners to date.

    This Government has renewed priorities and it is considering how best to work with partners and other stakeholders to deliver those. This includes tackling childhood obesity and wider work on diabetes and prevention.

    The Department will keep all partners informed of any developments on the Responsibility Deal whilst the Government is considering how it should best work with industry to deliver its new priorities. In the meantime, the Government expects that all partners will want to continue to work towards the commitments they have already made and welcomes the fact that many organisations have continued to announce significant new commitments.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Royal College of General Practitioner’s report entitled A blueprint for building the new deal for general practice in England, published in May 2015, if his Department will respond to the recommendations of that report on (a) necessary increases in the GP workforce and (b) the proportion of the NHS budget that should be invested in general practice.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department has committed to increasing the primary and community care workforce by 10,000 by 2020, including an additional 5,000 doctors working in general practice.

    The General Practice Forward View, published by NHS England on 21 April and developed in discussion with the Royal College of General Practitioners and other general practitioner (GP) stakeholders, sets out actions to double the rate of growth of the GP workforce by introducing measures to increase recruitment, retention and return to practice.

    The General Practice Forward View states that NHS England is committed to increasing the proportion of investment going into general practice services, which should reach over 10% by 2020/21. Investment in general practice will increase by £2.4 billion per year by 2020/21, meaning that investment will rise from £9.6 billion in 2015/16 to over £12 billion a year by 2020/21.

  • Paul Farrelly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paul Farrelly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Farrelly on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to advise smokers on the range of harm-reduction products available to help them quit smoking.

    Jane Ellison

    For the first time, from May 2016, cessation information to signpost consumers to quitting support has become mandatory on tobacco products. The Government’s advice remains that the best thing a smoker can do is to quit and quit for good. Any smokers wanting to quit, with or without the help of products available on the market, are four times more likely to stop smoking and quit for good with the personalised support offered by local stop smoking services.

    The National Centre for Stop Smoking Services has issued guidance on offering advice to those wanting to use e-cigarettes as part of their quit attempts and encouraged local stop smoking services to be open to their use.

    The Government recognises that some people have found e-cigarettes helpful in quitting smoking and that they are considerably less harmful than continuing to smoke. The forthcoming tobacco control plan will consider the role of e-cigarettes and other harm reduction products in further reducing the prevalence of smoking in England.

    The Department has no current plans to review the restrictions on advertising for tobacco products.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Government plans to continue to participate in the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work after the UK leaves the EU.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The United Kingdom will continue to participate in the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work while we remain a member of the European Union (EU). Decisions on any future participation after we leave the EU will be dependent on the outcome of the exit negotiations.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-01-22.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the increasing current account deficit on the UK economy.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Despite narrowing in Q3 2015 to -3.7 per cent of GDP, the current account deficit remains high by historical standards. The widening in the UK current account deficit in recent years has been driven by a deterioration in the UK’s net investment income from abroad, while the trade deficit has continued to improve. The Office for Budget Responsibility expect the income account to “improve gradually over the forecast period” as the factors that have temporarily depressed the returns on the UK’s net assets are expected to recede, and the current account deficit continues to narrow to -2.1 per cent by 2020. Furthermore, the government’s plan to complete the repair of the public finances will support a gradual narrowing of the current account deficit, limiting any effect on the exchange rate, though we remain vigilant to the risks.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times (a) knife, (b) shiv, (c) shank, (d) chib and (e) another slang word for a blade were recorded on the Incident Report System in HM Prison Parc in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

    Andrew Selous

    The information requested, in respect of each of these four questions, could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case of Asia Bibi, currently sentenced to death in Pakistan for blasphemy.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office remains concerned about the case of Ms Bibi and continues to follow her appeal process closely. The Supreme Court suspended the death sentence to allow for appeal in July 2015, but she does not yet have a hearing date.

    The Government regularly makes known to the Pakistani government at a senior level our concerns about the misuse of blasphemy laws against both Muslims and religious minorities in Pakistan. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), personally raised the abuse of these laws with the Pakistani High Commissioner to the UK in October 2015. Both the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), have made clear to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif our concerns about the blasphemy laws.

  • Lord Palmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    Lord Palmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Chairman of Committees why the refurbishment of the toilets outside the Cholmondeley Room has not yet been completed; and when it is expected to be completed.

    Lord Laming

    The works are due to be completed before June 2016. Alternative facilities are available down the corridor, which are signposted. The refurbishment of these toilets includes replacement of worn and damaged fixtures, and addressing a number of issues including drainage and ventilation. The Administration and Works Committee is received regular updates on progress.