Tag: Catherine West

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-04-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Annual Report and Accounts of the Office of the Public Guardian 2014-15, page 22, for what reasons was the review of the Office’s fee structure put on hold at ministerial level.

Caroline Dinenage

Work to review the Office of the Public Guardian’s (OPG) fee structure is ongoing. Depending on the outcome of that work, a consultation will be published in due course if required.

No estimate has been made of the average cost to a user of OPG services of the over recovery of costs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the purpose was of the HIV pre-exposure prophylaxsis stakeholder consultation in January 2016.

Jane Ellison

All specialised commissioning policy propositions go through a short period of stakeholder testing to check, amongst other things, whether all relevant evidence has been considered.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 11 May 2016 to Question 36734, what steps his Department is taking to prevent those individuals identified as high risk not enrolled on the PROUD study from contracting HIV.

Jane Ellison

There are a number of workstreams within the national HIV Prevention and Sexual Health Promotion Programme that offer men who have sex with men (MSM), who remain one of the populations most at-risk from HIV, advice and resources to make sustainable and safer sexual health choices.

Public Health England has also published its strategic action plan 2015-16 “Promoting the health and wellbeing of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men” (a copy is attached) which aims to promote the health and wellbeing of MSM by focussing on three interrelated areas in which MSM are disproportionately affected: sexual health and HIV, mental health and in the use of alcohol, drugs and tobacco.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many child refugees have been accepted by the UK under the Immigration Act 2016.

Mike Penning

The Government is firmly committed to bringing vulnerable unaccompanied refugee children from Europe to the UK, in accordance with the Immigration Act 2016. Over 20 children who meet the criteria in the Act have been accepted for transfer from Europe since Royal Assent, the majority of who have already arrived in the UK.

We are in active discussions with the UNHCR, UNICEF and NGOs, in addition to the Italian, Greek and French governments, to strengthen and speed up mechanisms to identify, assess and transfer children who meet the criteria to come to the UK where this in their best interests.

As is required by the Immigration Act 2016, we are consulting with local authorities to confirm available capacity and to ensure appropriate support systems are in place.

We cannot put a fixed number on arrivals at this point. The legislation is clear that consultation with local authorities is needed before any figure is set. It is vital that their capacity and ability to help is taken into account. We must also ensure that we are able to continue to fulfil our obligations to children who are already in the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, when he expects to have a permanent address for his Department.

Mr David Jones

The Department is permanently headquartered at 9 Downing Street.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government plans to continue to participate in the European Railways Agency after the UK leaves the EU.

Andrew Jones

The Government is considering carefully all the potential implications arising from the UK’s exit from the EU, including the implications for our future relationship with agencies such as the European Railways Agency and the European Maritime Safety Agency. Until we leave, EU law still applies, and current arrangements will continue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-09-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether it is the Government’s position that the UK can sign new trade deals before the UK has formally exited the EU.

Greg Hands

The UK will remain a member of the EU until we formally exit, with all of the rights and obligations that membership entails. This means that the EU currently retains competence for most aspects of trade policy. We are, however, engaging with a broad range of international partners to best promote British trade, and to ensure that Britain becomes the global leader in free trade once we leave the EU.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with her counterparts in (a) Chad, (b) Cameroon, (c) Niger and (d) Nigeria on the humanitarian situation in the Lake Chad basin.

James Wharton

We are deeply concerned about the scale of the humanitarian crisis across the Lake Chad Basin. This will require a sustained, multi-year response to support communities devastated by the conflict. The UK is scaling up our support.

In addition to the £90 million of humanitarian assistance we are already delivering in the region, the UK has now pledged a further £80 million of humanitarian funding. £50 million will go towards meeting the needs of the worst affected communities in Nigeria with food assistance and access to essential household items and services, and £30 million to support those who have been affected by the spread of Boko Haram into Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

HMG is using a range of opportunities to push our partners and governments across the region on scaling up and improving the quality of the response. This includes calling for a Security Council briefing on the humanitarian situation which took place in July 2016; a joint demarche to the UN with the French and USA on the need to improve humanitarian capacity and performance in mid-August; chairing a Lake Chad Basin meeting in the margins of UN General assembly in September 2016, and ongoing high level bilateral meetings with UN officials.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to include in the proposed Education for All Bill a contractual obligation on schools to provide sex and relationships education.

Edward Timpson

We want schools to provide all young people with a curriculum that equips them for success in adult life. High-quality sex and relationship education (SRE) and personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education have a vital role to play in this.

SRE is compulsory in maintained secondary schools. Academies and free schools do not have to teach SRE, but many choose to do so as part of their statutory duty to provide a broad and balanced curriculum.

When teaching SRE, all schools, including academies through their funding agreement, must have regard to the Secretary of State’s Sex and Relationship Education guidance. The existing SRE guidance was last updated in 2000. We have received requests about updating the guidance which we will consider carefully.

Schools and teachers have the freedom to design lessons that meet their pupils’ needs, taking account of pupil and parent views. Teachers are encouraged to develop their practice with the support of specialist organisations and expert professionals. Many of these specialist organisations have produced resources that can be used and adapted by schools.

We hold regular meetings with Ofsted about a range of matters. As the Secretary of State said at the Education Select Committee hearing in September 2016, we need to look again at how schools deliver high-quality PSHE, including SRE. We are considering all the options, including the need for any statutory powers, and will come to a view soon.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what overseas visits he has made since his appointment.

Alok Sharma

Since his appointment, the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson), has visited Belgium, the United States of America, France, Germany, Austria, Slovak Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Italy, Netherlands,Turkey, Israel and Luxembourg on official business. Details of ministerial travel are published quarterly: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/minister-data.