Tag: Andrew Rosindell

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to increase public awareness of personal health budgets.

Alistair Burt

NHS England provides a comprehensive programme of training and support for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to help them to develop and publish a local offer of personal health budgets by April 2016. CCGs are now also required to include their personal health budget offer in their Health and Wellbeing Strategies, which are published in the public domain. To increase public awareness further, NHS England funds a national network of people with lived experiences of personal health budgets who champion their use both nationally and locally.

NHS England has made it clear that CCGs have a duty to inform people who are eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare that they have the right to have a personal health budget, for example including information in the letter that informs individuals they are eligible. NHS England is currently consulting on the new CCG Improvement and Assessment framework, which will ask CCGs to submit the number of personal health budgets in their local area. The results of this will be used to inform the public of how many personal health budgets have been given locally and how their area compares with the rest of the country.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much the Government expects to accrue to the public purse from the planned annual charge on Australian and New Zealand citizens for use of the NHS.

James Brokenshire

The Impact Assessment published on 4 February 2016, alongside the draft Immigration (Health Charge) (Amendment) Order 2016, estimates that a net additional £41 million could be raised for the NHS in present value, over 5 years, in 2016-17 prices, by applying the health charge to Australian and New Zealand nationals and reducing the annual health charge for Youth Mobility Scheme visa applicants from £200 to £150.

The Impact Assessment can be viewed at the link below and is also available in the Vote Office (Commons): http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2016/9780111143278/impacts

These changes are subject to affirmative resolution and will be debated in the House of Commons and House of Lords. If they are approved by Parliament, the Government plans to implement the changes from 6 April.

The Government think it only fair that Australian and New Zealand nationals contribute to the UK’s health service in the same way as other non-EEA nationals. The changes will only apply to Australian and New Zealand nationals who plan to enter the UK for a temporary period of more than six months; visitors will not need to pay the charge and Australians and New Zealanders will continue to benefit from our reciprocal healthcare agreements.

Further, the Government has in recognition of the close and important links between our countries, agreed during discussions with the Australian and New Zealand Governments, to reduce the health charge that applies to the Youth Mobility Scheme from £200 to £150 in line with students. This is the category used by more than half of Australian and New Zealand nationals granted visa’s to the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of apprenticeships created in 2015 were taken up by British citizens.

Nick Boles

The Department collects self-reported data on the ethnicity of apprentices, but not nationality. Skills Funding Agency funding can only be used for apprentices whose main employment or normal place of work is in England. In addition employers are responsible for checking that their apprentices have the right to work in the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the implications for the UK of the introduction of citizenship by investment schemes by EU member states; and what steps she has taken to increase transparency in that area.

James Brokenshire

I refer my hon. Friend to the answers I gave on 9 March to Question 29833 from the hon. Member for Hammersmith (Andy Slaughter) and to Question 29873 from the hon. Member for Rochester and Strood (Kelly Tolhurst).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what input officials of his Department had on the commissioning of the research study on tobacco taxation and tobacco industry pricing by the Department of Health to the University of Bath awarded in September 2014.

George Freeman

The Department’s National Institute for Health Research funds the Public Health Research (PHR) programme to generate evidence to inform the delivery of non-National Health Service interventions intended to improve the health of the public and reduce inequalities in health. The programme has two workstreams: commissioned and researcher-led. The PHR commissioned workstream welcomes outline proposals in response to specific research questions prioritised for their public health importance. The application for the study ‘Understanding the impact of tobacco tax increases and tobacco industry pricing on smoking behaviours and inequalities’ was received through the researcher-led workstream and therefore did not go through a tender process via the commissioned workstream. Details of the PHR application process are available on the PHR website:

www.nets.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/phr/application-process

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has held with his Pakistan counterparts about attacks on Christians in Lahore; and what steps he is taking to press for greater protection of Christians in Pakistan.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

I reiterate the condemnation of the appaling attack in Lahore on Easter Sunday. My thoughts are with the Government and people of Pakistan, including the families and friends of the victims, and those recovering from injuries. The explosion was a sad reminder of the terrorist threat confronting individuals regardless of age, gender, religious belief or ethnicity.

The UK continues to stand with Pakistan in tackling the shared threat from terrorism and extremism. We are partnering Pakistan to increase its capacity to confront the terrorist threat, reform the judiciary so those responsible for attacks are held to account and address the root causes of extremism and terrorism.

The Government deplores violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief. We will continue to speak up for religious minorities wherever their rights are denied. The Government regularly raises its concerns about religious minorities with the Government of Pakistan and urge it to honour its international human rights commitments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the number and location of overseas deployments of Army Reserve personnel were in the last 12 months; and what assessment he has made of potential increases in the number of such deployments in the next 12 months.

Mr Julian Brazier

The number and location of Army Reserve deployments in the last 12 months are shown in the following table:

Location	Personnel Number
Afghanistan	65
Algeria	~
Bahrain	~
Cyprus	175
Egypt	~
Ethiopia	~
Falkland Islands	10
Iraq	35
Italy	~
Jordan	~
Kenya	5
Kuwait	~
Latvia	15
Malawi	~
Nigeria	15
Oman	~
Senegal	10
Sudan	~
Sierra Leone	15
Somalia	~
Tunisia	~
Ukraine	~
Uganda	~

Rounding is necessary, as a means of disclosure control and the preservation of anonymity; it also improves the clarity of output and conveys an appropriate level of precision to users.

‘~’ is less than five.

It is expected that reserve mobilisation is likely to double during 2016.

Formed Reserve bodies will be deploying on some 23 overseas exercises this year; the majority of these will be at Company level. 4 PARA will also deploy for one rotation of the Falkland Islands Reinforcement Company in June-July 2016, while the intent is for 4 LANCS to be the Cyprus lead in October 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the provisions relating to houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) under the Housing Act 2004 on the (a) incidence of landlords renting to families rather than sharers and (b) availability of affordable housing for young professional sharers; and if he will bring forward proposals to make HMOs more accessible to young professional sharers.

Brandon Lewis

The Department does not collect this information. We see houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) as one of the most accessible tenures, especially for young professionals.

We are working to increase supply by accelerating the development of a new market for private renters, including the £1 billion Build to Rent Fund, which funds development of new purpose-built privately rented homes, alongside a £10 billion debt guarantee programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the resignation of Ahmet Davutoğlu as Prime Minister of Turkey on the viability of the agreement between the EU and Turkey on migrants.

Mr David Lidington

I pay tribute to Prime Minister Davutoğlu for his partnership with the UK both as Prime Minister and previously as Foreign Minister. Turkey is a vital friend and ally with whom we cooperate on a host of issues, including tackling the migration crisis. We look forward to continuing that strong cooperation with President Erdoğan and a new Prime Minister once installed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports the Government has received on the territorial dispute between Belize and Guatemala over the area around the Sarstoon River.

Mr Hugo Swire

The Government receives regular reports on the territorial dispute between Belize and Guatemala, including the area around the Sarstoon River.

I met Foreign Minister Elrington of Belize and Foreign Minister Morales of Guatemala on 25 May to discuss the border dispute and progress towards referring the the dispute to the International Court of Justice.