Tag: David Anderson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if the Prime Minister will take steps to speed up the legal process for cases involving ex-service personnel who have contracted mesothelioma; and if he will consider awarding equal compensation to the relatives of service personnel who have died while the process is ongoing.

Mark Lancaster

The Government has continuously made compensation available under the War Pensions Scheme for injuries, illness or disease caused by service before 6 April 2005, including mesothelioma. On 11 January 2016 (Official Report, column 612-613) I informed the House that 11 April 2016 would be the earliest date from which we could provide the option of a lump sum payment to Service veterans diagnosed with mesothelioma on or after 16 December 2015. If an accepted claim is concluded before 11 April 2016 and the individual has opted for a lump sum, payment of a War Disablement Pension and any supplementary allowances will begin in the normal way until the lump sum can be paid. The lump sum will be reduced to reflect the amounts paid until that point. If a claimant who has signed an option form to receive the lump sum dies before 11 April 2016 the lump sum will be paid to the veteran’s designated recipient.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that all clinical commissioning groups take account of the findings of the Commission on Acute Psychiatric Care’s review led by Lord Crisp before they take steps to alter in-patient provision.

Alistair Burt

Clinical commissioning groups have responsibility for ensuring that they are meeting the needs of those requiring acute psychiatric care. They are supported, and held to account for improving patient outcomes, by NHS England.

Both the Department and NHS England are considering the Commission’s recommendations. In the meantime, we have been clear that local areas should be making immediate improvements and phasing out ‘out of area’ treatments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-02-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his Department’s timetable is for the legislative process for election of a Regional Mayor in the north east of England.

James Wharton

Our intention is that secondary legislation to enable the election of a mayor for the North East Combined Authority in May 2017 will be made by November 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the effect on cost and on bed capacity of delayed hospital discharge at the Lane Fox Respiratory Unit at St Thomas’ Hospital, London; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt

The information is not collected centrally and no estimate has been made.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential health risks of the use of lasers by driverless vehicles.

Andrew Jones

The General Product Safety Regulations prohibit a product from being placed on the market, or otherwise supplied, unless it is safe. The lead department for these regulations is the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-04-21.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if the Government will consult on setting up a Commissioner for Older People.

Mr Oliver Letwin

There is no current plan for Government to consult on setting up a Commissioner for Older Persons.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of coal burnt in UK coal-fired power stations in each of the last three years was mined in the UK.

Andrea Leadsom

This can be estimated by subtracting the amount of steam coal imports (mainly used by coal-fired power stations) by the total amount of coal used in electricity generation. Please see the table below:

	Imports of steam coal (thousand tonnes)	Coal used in generation (thousand tonnes)	UK produced coal used for generation * (thousand tonnes)	Proportion of UK produced coal used for generation %
2013	42,995	50,041	7,046	14.0%
2014	35,294	38,400	3,106	8.0%
2015 (provisional)	20,631	29,342	8,711	29.6%

* This includes stocks from earlier years.

Source:

Energy Trends tables 2.1 and 2.4, available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solid-fuels-and-derived-gases-section-2-energy-trends.

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will raise with the Prime Minister of India during his forthcoming visit the welfare of elephants being trained to work in the tourism industry in that country; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Hugo Swire

We are very much looking forward to Indian Prime Minister Modi’s visit, which gives us an opportunity to discuss a range of issues. We will continue to work together with the Indian authorities, as well as STAE and other non-governmental organisations, on protecting elephants.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to mitigate the effect of proposed courts and tribunal closures on (a) staff with caring responsibilities, (b) disabled staff, (c) black and minority ethnic staff and (d) court users.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The staff impact of these proposals will be managed using the department’s Managing Organisational Change Framework which has been endorsed by the Departmental Trade Unions. This will make sure that the transition to new arrangements proceeds in a fair and transparent manner for all staff.

In an increasingly digital age, court users will not always need to attend hearings in person in order to access the justice system and whilst we have already established alternative ways users can interact with our services, we are looking to expand these provisions to provide more choice than is currently available.

In order to achieve these aims, we have secured over £700m of funding to invest in our courts and tribunals. We have worked closely with the senior judiciary to develop a plan for investing this in reforming the courts and tribunals so they can deliver swifter, fairer justice at a lower cost. This will include digitisation and modernisation of our IT infrastructure. This will mean court users can attend hearings remotely, and not be inconvenienced by having to take a day off work to come to court. It will also mean victims of crime can give evidence from somewhere they feel safe.

A full impact assessment will be published alongside the consultation response.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who in the Government takes decisions on what information is shared with which members of the Royal Family.

John Penrose

The decision to share Government information lies with individual Ministers and their departments as stated in Chapter 11 of the Cabinet Manual. Government information is managed in accordance with the Lord Chancellor’s Code of Practice on the Management of Records issued under section 46 of the Freedom of information Act 2000.