Tag: David Lammy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many trade negotiators are employed by his Department.

Greg Hands

The Rt hon Member will be aware that my Rt hon Friend the Prime Minister has created a new Department for International Trade, which is responsible for promoting British trade across the world and ensuring the UK takes advantage of the huge opportunities open to us. We are building up our trade policy capability. ​The new Department has begun a process to recruit and train staff to work on the UK’s trade policy. We will adapt the resource devoted to trade policy in line with future demands.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many full-time equivalent trade negotiators his Department has in post (a) in total, (b) with at least a year’s experience, (c) with at least five years’ experience and (d) with at least 10 years’ experience.

Greg Hands

The Department for International Trade has a strong and capable trade policy team with many years of negotiating expertise. We will continue to hire the brightest and best talent from within the UK civil service and from elsewhere in order to build the world class negotiating strengths needed to deliver the best outcomes for the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the increase in the number of people sleeping rough since 2010.

Mr Marcus Jones

This Government is committed to protecting the most vulnerable in society – one person without a home is one too many – that is why since 2010 we have invested more than £500 million to prevent and tackle homelessness in England.

More rough sleepers are being found and helped quicker. Our measures include supporting the roll-out of No Second Night Out across England through the Homelessness Transition Fund. In London, two-thirds of rough sleepers come off the streets after a single night. We have also commissioned the pioneering StreetLink service, which since its launch has helped over 14,500 rough sleepers by connecting them to local support services and avoid becoming entrenched in a life on the streets.

We are committed to do more to improve services for homeless people with complex needs. Our investment includes £5 million for the world’s first homelessness Social Impact Bond, which is reaching 830 entrenched rough sleepers in London.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many migrants from other EU countries work in the NHS in London.

Ben Gummer

The Health and Social Care Information Centre collects data on the number of staff working in National Health Service hospital and community health services (HCHS) in England.

Nationality is a self-reported field within the electronic staff record system. The following table shows the number of HCHS staff from other European Union (EU) countries who declared their nationality who work in the NHS in England and in London.

Information on the number of employees from other EU countries working in London is only available for those people working in NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups.

England 30 September 2015	Headcount
	All staff	People from other EU countries working in England	People from other EU countries working in London
Employees in NHS Trusts and Clinical Commissioning Groups	1,151,138	52,812	17,735
Employees in Central Bodies and Support Organisations	36,456	1,015	n/a
Total	1,187,594	53,827	17,735

Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre, NHS Hospital and Community Health Service workforce statistics

Information on how many employees working in the NHS have no recourse to public funds is not available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 32951, what measures he plans to introduce to ensure that social housing stock sold under the Right to Buy scheme is replaced by like-for-like replacements that are built in the same local authority area.

Brandon Lewis

The voluntary agreement with the National Housing Federation states that housing associations will provide a new home for every home sold under the voluntary Right to Buy nationally, and we envisage that new build will occur in areas where there is a need. Housing Associations are best placed to understand what type of housing is best suited to their local communities; they know their customers’ needs and it is only right that decisions on tenure are taken locally.

The commitment under the reinvigorated council Right to Buy is to provide a new affordable home for every additional sale nationally. Councils are best placed to determine what property type is needed for the communities that they serve, and there is a rolling 3 year deadline to deliver additional affordable homes through new builds or acquisition. So far they have delivered well within profile. By December 2015, there had been 4,954 starts and acquisitions, delivering more than a one for one replacement on the 3,054 sales following the first year of reinvigoration.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the provision of A&E services at North Middlesex Hospital.

Ben Gummer

We are advised that NHS Improvement (NHSI) is working with NHS England to bring together colleagues from across the local health and social care system to support North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust (NMUH) to work to deliver improvements to patients.

We are informed by NHSI that to address the poor performance in NMUH’s accident and emergency, it has devised a plan titled Safer, Faster, Better. This is a whole system programme with the primary objective of improving performance, patient experience and outcomes for patients. This will build on the recent Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust analysis of the trust’s emergency care pathway, and complement previous reviews identifying root causes of the problem.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he plans to take to ensure that information held by the Land Registry that is subject to Freedom of Information requests will continue to be covered by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in the event of the privatisation of the Land Registry.

Anna Soubry

A Government consultation seeking views on options to move Land Registry operations to the private sector closed on 26 May. My department is analysing these responses and the Government will issue a response in due course. Transparency protections are amongst the factors being considered. No decision has been taken on the future of Land Registry.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate his Department has made of how long it will take to negotiate bilateral trade deals with (a) USA, (b) China, (c) Japan, (d) Canada and (e) other large non-EU trading partners once the UK leaves the EU.

Greg Hands

I refer the Rt hon Member to the answer of 21 July to UIN 42585.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what budget his Department has set for paying staff (a) on secondment from external companies and (b) engaged as external contractors or consultants for each year from 2016 to 2020.

Greg Hands

Following her appointment on 13 July 2016 the Prime Minister established the Department for International Trade (DIT). The DIT aggregates UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), UK Export and Finance (UKEF), Trade Policy Units from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), as well as some new hires.

Until such time as a transfer of functions order establishes the Secretary of State as a corporation sole, DIT remains a unified Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) department for accounting purposes.

The use of secondments and contractors to provide commercial and sectorial experience, not readily available in the civil service and to provide additional resource for limited periods is occasionally required. DIT does not set budgets for the use of secondees, external contractors or consultants as each are deployed flexibly in line with business need. As such we cannot provide details of budgets allocated from 2016 to 2020.

For reference, expenditure on secondees currently equates to approximately £14, 299.27 per month. Expenditure on contractors and consultants for 2015/16 was approximately £26.5 million. These costs are subject to fluctuation as the Department responds to changing requirements. Contractor costs reflect the level of senior specialist, technical and commercial knowledge required by the former UKTI department to support British businesses in international markets, and with overseas investors looking to invest in the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will process as a matter of urgency the asylum applications of the 114 Syrian refugees currently being held at RAF Dhekelia in Cyprus.

James Brokenshire

Under an existing agreement with the Republic of Cyprus, those who claim asylum will be processed by the Cypriot authorities on behalf of the Sovereign Base.