Tag: 2016

Patricia Gibson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patricia Gibson on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to publish the Government’s response to the BBC Charter renewal consultation.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Government’s BBC Charter Review Public Consultation closed in October. Over 190,000 people responded to the consultation – the second largest response to any Government consultation. We are in the process of reading and analysing all the responses, and will publish the results once this exercise is completed.

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

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of how much money would be needed to eradicate Lyme disease from the UK.

Lord Prior of Brampton

It is not practical to eradicate Lyme disease in the United Kingdom through treatment of human cases, therefore no cost estimate has been made. The disease is endemic in much of the small mammal and bird population in the UK, and is spread to humans by the bite of infected ticks which have fed on these animals. The number of human cases can be reduced by raising public awareness of how to avoid tick bites, and by environmental measures in public places to reduce the long grass and scrub which harbour ticks.

The number of laboratory confirmed cases of Lyme disease in England and Wales varies annually, in 2013 there were 878 and in 2014 there were 730, but the majority of diagnoses are made clinically by general practitioners and those figures are not recorded. Patients with late or complicated Lyme disease may be diagnosed in a variety of specialist clinics, and the numbers are not recorded. Based on the clinical information supplied with the laboratory request, only a small proportion of the annual number of cases fall into this category.

The Health Protection Research Unit of the University of Liverpool in partnership with Public Health England (PHE) has funding from the National Institute of Health Research for research into Lyme disease, covering diagnostics and biomarkers and public awareness. PHE is working on clinically linked studies for diagnostics with the Czech Republic, as no single centre in the UK has sufficient patients for a suitable study; funding for this work is not yet in place. PHE undertakes limited studies on ticks and Lyme disease in the UK. The Research Councils fund some additional work on ticks and the environment.

01/01/2023
Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-02-22.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans the Government has to provide funding to the Welsh Government until the end of the Parliament for payments under the Independent Living Fund.

Greg Hands

Following the closure of the Independent Living Fund, £30 million was transferred to Welsh Government budgets to reflect the ILF’s previously-forecast expenditure in Wales. The Welsh Government is responsible for the allocation of this funding, in line with its devolved responsibilities. This funding was subsequently included in the Welsh Government’s Spending Review 2015 allocation.

01/01/2023
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-03-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they support NHS England’s decision to penalise providers for treating patients when numbers breach levels designated for Operational Delivery Networks, even if that treatment is in accordance with NICE guidance.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England is operationally independent, and it is for them to determine how best to deliver the objectives in the mandate to NHS England, as well as ensuring the best use of resources available to it.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) specifically requires Operational Delivery Networks (ODNs) to prioritise hepatitis C patients on the basis of clinical need, as part of a progressive rollout of treatments over the next five years.

NHS England is funding providers to treat patients at the rate outlined in NICE’s guidance, apportioned to local ODNs based on local health needs. NHS England has invested in a Commissioning for Quality and Innovation scheme to incentivise ODNs to meet their agreed rate of roll-out. If their treatment rates deviate from this agreed rate of treatment, they are no longer eligible for these incentives.

01/01/2023
Luke Hall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luke Hall on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department is making available to the South Gloucestershire Unitary Authority for completion of new road projects.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Department’s funding for major road projects sits within the Local Growth Fund. The West of England Local Enterprise Partnership, which includes South Gloucestershire, has already been allocated £230.7m from the Local Growth Fund from 2015/16 to 2020/21 to take forward their growth priorities, including transport projects. Up to a further £1.8bn from the Local Growth Fund will be awarded competitively to LEPs later this year, with an additional £475m available for exceptionally large transport projects.

01/01/2023
Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers in Cumbria Constabulary are absent from work as a result of sickness or injuries caused by violence inflicted on them in the course of their duties.

Mike Penning

The Home Office collects data on the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) officers on certified long-term sick leave as at 31 March each year. This can be broken down by those on long-term sick leave as a result of assault, and those on long-term sick leave for other reasons. Long-term sick includes officers on leave for 28 days or more.

The latest published data shows that there were 16 officers (FTE) on long-term sick leave in the Cumbria Constabulary, as at 31 March 2015. None of these were following assaults.

Data on the number of officers on short/medium-term absence due to sickness are published by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, and show that 16 officers were on short/medium-term sick leave as at 31 March 2015. These data do not identify the reasons for the absence.

01/01/2023
Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-07-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to devolve the setting of VAT rates to the Scottish Parliament after the withdrawal of the UK from the EU.

Mr David Gauke

In line with the all-party Smith Commission, the UK and Scottish Governments have agreed that receipts from the first 10p of the standard rate of VAT and the first 2.5p of the reduced rate of VAT in Scotland will be assigned to the Scottish Government from 2019-20. The UK Government is getting on with implementing that agreement.

01/01/2023

Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much coal the UK has used for non-power generating purposes in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Jesse Norman

(a) The table below gives the amount of coal used for non-power generating purposes:

	UK coal demand for non-electricity generating purposes⁽¹⁾ (thousand tonnes)
2006	10,156
2007	10,158
2008	10,577
2009	9,037
2010	9,827
2011	9,658
2012	9,141
2013	10,139
2014	10,021
2015	8,174

(1) Includes coal used for heat generation, coke manufacture, blast furnaces, patent fuel manufacture, energy used in coal extraction and final consumption by industry, transport, domestic and other users.

Source: Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) table 2.4 available at

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solid-fuels-and-derived-gases-chapter-2-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes

(b) BEIS does not hold data at that level. BEIS cannot disaggregate coal used by the carbon fibre industry from coal used by all industries.

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01/01/2023

John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much parents and guardians have been fined for taking their children on term-time holidays in the academic year 2013-14.

Nick Gibb

The Department for Education does not hold information on the reason for a penalty notice (fine) being issued to a parent or guardian.

The department collects and publishes local authority level annual data on the number of penalty notices (fines) issued to parents in England, for offences relating to Section 444(1) of the Education Act 1996. The most recent data published by the department is for the academic year 2012/13.

01/01/2023
Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what effect the European Commission’s decision to grant the Green Investment Bank scope to operate with aided capital until mid-2017 has had on his Department’s policy on privatising that bank.

Anna Soubry

The original European Commission state aid decision on the Green Investment Bank (GIB) gave approval for GIB to operate until October 2016. While we expect to move GIB into private ownership during the course of 2016, the Government has obtained an updated state aid approval that provides the scope for GIB to operate as a state funded enterprise until the end of March 2018. This ensures GIB could continue to operate should the sale process extend beyond October.

01/01/2023