Tag: Catherine West

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to make public decisions on HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis taken at the meeting to consider the commissioning specialised services on 31 May 2016.

Jane Ellison

NHS England’s Specialised Services Commissioning Committee have considered and accepted NHS England’s external legal advice that it does not have the legal power to commission pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). However, work on PrEP is on-going and up to £2 million will be invested in a pilot programme to target those at highest risk over the course of two years.

Public Health England is working to identify the most effective locations for the introduction of this pilot. The Department will be discussing future commissioning with stakeholders.

Our £2.4 million national HIV Prevention and Sexual Health Promotion Programme also gives those at highest risk the best advice to make safer choices about sex.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average waiting time is for a Disclosure and Barring Service local intelligence check to be completed by the Metropolitan Police Service.

Sarah Newton

From June 2015 to May 2016, the average time taken to complete Disclosure checks by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) was 94 days and for the police as a whole, 22 days.

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is working closely with the small number of forces, including the MPS, whose performance does not meet turnaround time targets. The performance of police disclosure units is an operational issue for individual police forces and the MPS has established a Gold Group to oversee the recovery plan which they have in place to reduce the time taken. I have made clear to the MPS that its current delays must be addressed as a matter of priority and I continue to maintain close oversight of the progress being made.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many times he has met with Didier Seeuws since his appointment to the EU special task force.

Mr David Jones

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 12 September 2016 to the Question 44967.

The Prime Minister has been clear we will not give a running commentary on Brexit negotiations. We will ensure that we engage closely with all relevant interlocutors.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many times his Department has used the services of (a) PwC, (b) Deloitte, (c) Ernst and Young, (d) KPMG and (e) other consulting firms since his Department was established; and what (i) work was undertaken and (ii) the cost to the public purse was on each such occasion.

Mr David Jones

The Department for Exiting the European Union has used the services of a number of consulting firms to help with departmental set-up and planning. The cost to the public purse on each occasion was either nil or nominal fee (£1). Two individuals are on secondment from consultancy firms, incurring a cost to the department equivalent to median civil service salary levels.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether the Government plans to continue to participate in the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr David Jones

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 17th October 2016 to the Question 47173.

Nothing has yet been decided on whether the UK will continue participation in the European Centre for Disease Control after leaving the European Union. Officials in both the Department of Health and the Department for Exiting the European Union are considering the position and options available to us with the aim of achieving the best outcome for the UK health system and for the UK as a whole.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many instances of Islamophobic abuse have been recorded in each of the last 12 months.

Sarah Newton

The Home Office does not hold the requested information. The Home Office has published data for 2011/12 to 2014/15 on hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales for the five centrally monitored strands (race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and gender identity) but these data cannot be broken down by religion of the victim. The 2015/16 data will have been published on 13 October 2016.

From April 2016, the Home Office began collecting data from the police on the targeted religion of religious hate crime offences in order to help forces build community trust, target their resources and enable the public to better hold them to account. This information will be provided voluntarily in 2016/17, but we intend to make it mandatory from the following year. We will publish the first data from this collection in the 2016/17 Hate Crime statistics publication in 2017.

This Government is committed to tackling hate crime. The UK has one of the strongest legislative frameworks in the world to tackle hate crime. We are working across Government with police, (including National Community Tensions Team), the Crown Prosecution Service and community partners to send out a clear message that hate crime will not be tolerated and we will vigorously pursue and prosecute those who commit these crimes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with (a) the Prime Minister, (b) the Attorney General and (c) the Secretary of State for Defence on the implications for Government policies of the Joint Declaration for the Export and Subsequent Use of Armed or Strike-Enabled unmanned Aerial Vehicles issued on 5 October 2016.

Sir Alan Duncan

The Foreign Secretary has had no direct discussions with the Prime Minister, or Defence Secretary on this US-led initiative. It is longstanding government policy not to comment on consultations with the Attorney General. Both the Foreign Secretary, and the Rt Hon Earl Howe (as Defence Minister with responsibility for this area) agreed that the Joint Declaration by 45 nations on the export and subsequent use of armed or strike-enabled unmanned aerial vehicles was consistent with, a reiteration of, existing UK Government policy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what overseas visits he has made since his appointment.

Mr David Jones

The Prime Minister has been clear we will not give a running commentary on our EU exit negotiations. We will ensure that we engage closely with all relevant interlocutors.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2016 to Question 47281, if her Department will allocate funds to long-term projects in Haiti to address the lack of health infrastructure in that country caused by Hurricane Matthew.

Rory Stewart

In addition to the £5m of support to help thousands of people affected by Hurricane Matthew in Haiti, DFID announced a further £3m on 16 October to strengthen the response to cholera and wider health concerns. The UK has provided a total of more than £46m to Haiti since 2010, which has included support to Haiti’s health sector. The priority now is to reach those affected by Hurricane Matthew and provide them with water, sanitation, healthcare and shelter. DFID is leading, with other key donors, on lobbying for an improved response to the hurricane, and is working to meet the needs of the most affected. DFID continues to provide support, including to the country’s health infrastructure, through multilateral contributions to UN agencies, the World Bank, the EU and other international institutions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-01-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he plans to publish a timetable for those UK’s Overseas Territories with financial centres producing credible plans to adopt public registers of beneficial ownership.

James Duddridge

The Government is in discussion with the governments of the Overseas Territories on their plans to improve company transparency. The Territories have agreed to hold beneficial ownership information in central registers, or similarly effective systems, which need to meet the three criteria the UK set out in a letter to Territory leaders in March 2015. These are laid out in the answer my hon. Friend, the Member for South West Hertfordshire (David Gauke MP), gave on 16 October 2015 (PQ10437, PQ10438 and PQ10448).