Tag: Fiona Bruce

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-10-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that primary care records accurately record the number of (a) children and (b) adults with a diagnosis of autism.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department has discussed with NHS England the difficulties that people on the autistic spectrum can have in getting an appropriate diagnosis in a timely manner. With support from the Department, NHS England and the Association of Directors of Social Services will undertake a series of visits to clinical commissioning groups to discuss good practice in meeting the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard 51 Autism, and those that do not, with the aim of supporting more consistent provision. These NICE guidelines already recommend that there should be a maximum of three months between a referral and a first appointment for a diagnostic assessment for autism. We expect the National Health Service to be working towards meeting the recommendations. Information on the average waiting time for an autism diagnosis in Devon in each of the last three years is not collected centrally.

    General practitioners (GPs) are required to keep adequate records of their attendance on, and treatment of, their patients and this should include details of autism where it is known. For this to work successfully locally services undertaking autism diagnosis should pass information back to the GP who has made the original referral. This is outlined in the recent Autism Statutory Guidance for local authorities and the NHS.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the contribution of the Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Affairs Committee on 15 September 2015, Qq 9-11, HC467, whether the promotion of human rights remains a top priority for his Department.

    Mr David Lidington

    Human rights remain an integral part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s work. They are mainstreamed across our work and they are intrinsically linked with many aspects of our national interest, including the stability and prosperity of our international partners.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, Official Report, columns 11-12, whether her Department’s planned proposals on tackling hate speech and extremism will affect Christian ministers’ ability to preach biblical values in non-religious locations.

    Karen Bradley

    Nothing that the Government is doing or planning to do to tackle hate speech and extremism will affect Christian ministers’ ability to preach biblical values in non-religious locations. Our work will protect the freedom to exchange religious ideas – a fundamental part of our thriving democracy – against the extremists and hate preachers who shut down debate and condemn anyone who disagrees with them.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Fiona Bruce – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2013-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what powers and freedoms relating to (a) skills and employment, (b) housing and (c) economic development have been devolved since May 2010 to (i) local government and (ii) local enterprise partnerships.

    Kris Hopkins

    [Holding Reply: Monday 1 July 2013]

    The Government is taking considerable steps to devolve power and freedom to local government and Local Enterprise Partnerships.

    Through the Localism Act, councils now have the general power of competence that enables them to do anything that an individual might do, apart from that which is specifically prohibited. In addition we have radically reformed the local government finance system putting levers and incentives in the hands of local authorities, for instance:

    · The removal of ring-fencing from local government grants has given councils the freedom and flexibility over the money they receive and allows them to work with their residents to decide how best to make their spending decisions to fit their local priority needs.

    · rewarded places that deliver growth, through the New Homes Bonus and Business Rate Retention.

    · Local authorities now directly retain 50% of business rates locally which amounts to nearly £11 billion, instead of returning it to Whitehall.

    · We established five pilot Rural Growth Networks aimed at tackling the barriers to economic growth in rural areas, such as a shortage of work premises, slow internet connectivity and fragmented business networks. These pilots expect to create up to 3,000 new jobs and support up to 700 new businesses, offering a local approach to local problems. We will share the lessons they learn with other Local Enterprise Partnerships and Local Authorities to help them promote growth in other rural areas.

    We have also given councils the ability to borrow against their Housing Revenue Account.

    Through the city deals programme we have devolved powers and responsibilities to 26 cities. For example we have:

    •provided levers to deliver the skills and jobs that local businesses and people need;

    •created joint investment programmes; and

    • devolved greater financial powers and incentives to invest in growth to all cities.

    As we made clear in our response to Lord Heseltine’s review of Growth, we intend to go further. We have committed to negotiating Growth Deals with every Local Enterprise Partnership through which we will allocate the Local Growth Fund and negotiate broader powers, freedoms and flexibilities where a strong case for decentralisation can be made. The Local Growth Fund brings together funding from skills, housing and transport and we have committed £2 billion in 2015/16 and it will continue to be at least £2 billion a year up to 2021. The Local Growth Fund includes:

    • over £6 billion of transport funding;
    • £300 million of additional Housing Revenue Account borrowing;
    • £50 million of Local Infrastructure Funding for housing developers; and
    • £300 million skills capital funding.

    We are also for the first time putting £5 billion of European Structural Investment Funds for the 2014-20 period under the strategic direction of Local Enterprise Partnerships, bringing the total resource (including the Local Growth Fund) under the control of Local Enterprise Partnerships to over £17 billion up until 2020.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how her Department plans to work in partnership with (a) communities and (b) other Government departments on tackling hate crimes and challenging extremism which leads to violence.

    Karen Bradley

    The Government’s Counter-Extremism Strategy was published on 19 October. This sets out how all parts of government will work together to tackle all forms of extremism.

    To defeat extremism, we must work in partnership with communities. The strategy sets out how we will develop a network of civil society groups and individuals who share our commitment to defeat extremism and protect communities.

    The Prime Minister also recently announced that as the Government had promised in 2016 UK Police Forces across England and Wales will record Anti Muslim Hatred alongside other religious hate crime as a specific categorised offence.

    The New Cross-Government Hate Crime Action Plan is currently being developed by the Home Office in partnership with other Government departments, policing colleagues and external stakeholders.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will express concern about the effect the one-child policy has had on the prevalence of forced abortions, infanticide and involuntary sterilisation in China to President Xi Jinping during his visit to the UK.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We pay close attention to the human rights situation in China. The Government is committed to engaging with China on the issue and Ministers will continue to raise concerns with their counterparts. Discussions during the State Visit will be broad and cover issues where we agree and where we disagree.

    The Government’s policy on population and sexual and reproductive health and rights is about providing women and girls with a voice, choice and control. We do not condone coercion or support sex-selective abortion. We provide core funding to the United Nations Population Fund who do work in China; they work to promote and uphold the principles of free and informed choice and to challenge the gender norms that de-value girls.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department next plans to publish an assessment of the incidence of sex-selective abortion in the UK.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department is committed to publishing an analysis of birth ratios annually; the latest report was published in August 2015.

    Assessments were carried out to inform this analysis and Annex C of the latest publication ‘Assessment of termination of pregnancy on grounds of the sex of the foetus’ summarises the findings with further technical detail in Annex B of the publication; a copy is attached.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of how widespread sex-selective abortion would have to be before it was detectable in nationally-compiled birth ratios.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department is committed to publishing an analysis of birth ratios annually; the latest report was published in August 2015.

    Assessments were carried out to inform this analysis and Annex C of the latest publication ‘Assessment of termination of pregnancy on grounds of the sex of the foetus’ summarises the findings with further technical detail in Annex B of the publication; a copy is attached.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has for future levels of provision of NHS-funded hospice care.

    Ben Gummer

    Levels of provision of NHS funded hospice care are determined locally by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). CCGs are responsible for ensuring that the services they commission meet the needs of their local population.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what strategy his Department has for ensuring that as many people as possible who wish to die at home are able to do so.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department commissioned a Review of Choice in End of life Care in 2014 which considered the choices most important to people approaching the end of life, including on where to receive care and die. The Review published its report earlier this year setting out a vision for enabling greater choice. The Department is working with NHS England on how best to achieve this vision and will be setting out its response to the Review later this year.