Tag: Greg Mulholland

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights in response to his Memorandum on surveillance and oversight mechanisms in the United Kingdom, published in May 2016.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Following his visit to the United Kingdom from 17 – 22 January, Commissioner Muižnieks published his “Memorandum on surveillance and oversight mechanisms in the United Kingdom” on 17 May. The same day Her Majesty’s Government formally responded, detailing the necessity of surveillance powers and the ways in which the Government has bought world-leading oversight and transparency to these powers. The Government’s full response, which runs to 27 pages, can be found on the Commissioner’s website here: http://www.coe.int/en/web/commissioner/country-report/united-kingdom

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with NICE about the effectiveness of guidelines to tackle urinary tract infections that are (a) acute and (b) chronic.

Nicola Blackwood

No such discussions have taken place.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a clinical guideline on Urinary tract infection in under 16s: diagnosis and management (CG54) in August 2007. NICE has also published Quality Standards on Urinary tract infection in children and young people (QS36) in July 2013 and Urinary tract infections in adults (QS90) in June 2015.

NICE periodically reviews its technology appraisal methods and processes to ensure that they remain appropriate in the light of wider developments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of falling milk prices on the UK dairy sector.

George Eustice

Although government cannot control market volatility, our aim is to give farmers improved tools to manage it. We have extended the period over which they can average their tax from two to five years. We are exploring opportunities for a dairy futures market as well as for better branding and labelling in supermarkets in order to improve profitability. We are also exploring opportunities to help farming businesses become more resilient and ready to take advantage of the growing demand for British dairy products both at home and abroad.

According to the latest forecast of Farm Business Incomes for 2015-16, average incomes on dairy farms are expected to fall to £46,500. This reflects the impact of lower milk prices which started to fall in March 2014, and the reduced prices for cull cows and heifers. While the number of dairy farms in England and Wales has also fallen from around 13,500 in 2006 to 9,500 today, the number of dairy cows has remained almost unchanged, which suggests consolidation within the industry.

We have seen an increase in the UK farmgate milk price for the second month in a row to 21.34p per litre in August 2016. The long-term picture for our dairy industry remains positive.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of elderly people experiencing loneliness.

Alistair Burt

The Government has not made an estimate of the number of elderly people experiencing loneliness, but recognises that in an increasingly mobile and more fractured society, isolation and loneliness is a significant social issue.

Through the Care Act 2014 the Government has placed a duty on local authorities to have measures in place to identify people in their area who would benefit from universal services to help reduce, delay or prevent needs for care and support. This includes needs that may arise from loneliness and social isolation.

Given the complexity of loneliness and the different ways that people are affected there is no single solution that can tackle loneliness and having a range of interventions and solutions is helpful. The Department has funded the Social Care Institute for Excellence to develop and run the Prevention Library which includes examples of emerging practice to prevent, reduce or delay peoples care and support needs from deteriorating.

The Department has supported a ‘digital toolkit’ for local commissioners, which was developed by the Campaign to End Loneliness, and is now incorporated in their guidance Loneliness and Isolation: Guidance for Local Authorities and Commissioners. This supports commissioners in understanding, mapping and commissioning for loneliness and social isolation in their communities, and includes promising approaches to tackling loneliness.

We are building a better understanding of how prevention can maintain people’s wellbeing and the evidence base on the effectiveness of interventions is expanding. Through the Prevention Library local authorities can learn from emerging practice, and exchange ideas and experience of the impact of information, advice and befriending services.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November to Question 13665, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the proposal from High Speed UK on high speed rail.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The proposals suggested by High Speed UK are similar to the Reverse ‘E’ considered by HS2 Ltd in their 2010 report submitted to the Government on the demand and business case analysis of the alternative proposals. It was considered that this proposal could not offer better journey times from London/Birmingham to Manchester/Liverpool than HS2 trains continuing to the north-west from Lichfield via the West Coast Main Line. The Environmental Statement for the Proposed Scheme, which was prepared to accompany the deposit of the Bill, addressed the history of route alternatives and our ongoing consultation and engagement. Ministers considered the advice presented and views from a wide range of sources, and based on the evidence the decision was taken to proceed with the ‘Y’ shaped network.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions Solutions for Public Health has had with the European Medicines Agency and US Food and Drug Administration on developing a draft commissioning policy for everolimus.

George Freeman

Solutions for Public Health has confirmed that they have not had any discussions with either the European Medicines Agency or US Food and Drug Administration in relation to Everolimus.

This is outside of the scope of the evidence review methodology commissioned by NHS England and would not be relevant to their role as a provider of stand-alone clinical evidence reviews.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department has spent on flood defences in the Leeds city region in each year since 2010; and how much she plans to spend on such defences in each year until 2020.

Rory Stewart

Between 2010-2011 and 2014-2015,£57.2m was allocated for flood defences in Leeds City Region. From 2015-2016 to 2019-2020, a further £50.2m has been allocated for further flood protection measures.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-12.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been paid to the Landfill Communities Fund by third party groups in each of the last five years.

Damian Hinds

The regulator of the Landfill Communities Fund, ENTRUST, does not hold data on the amount of money contributed by third parties.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for Tier 2 visas were made by people holding job offers to become chefs in each year since such visas were introduced; and how many such applications were successful.

James Brokenshire

Acquiring this information on visa applications from chefs would involve examining each individual case record held by UK Visas & Immigration for the Tier 2 category. To do so would incur a disproportionate cost.

The Home Office regularly receives representations to lower the criteria (including the salary requirement) for sponsoring chefs under Tier 2, the skilled worker route. Tier 2 is, however, reserved for graduate level occupations. We continue to welcome the very top chefs who promote innovative and authentic cuisine here in the UK — and these types of skilled chefs are on the shortage occupation list. The salary threshold applied to chefs was based on expert advice from the independent Migration Advisory Committee.

We have been clear, however, that the restaurant industry needs to move away from an unsustainable reliance on migrant workers. We want to nurture more home-grown talent and encourage young people in this country who want to pursue a skilled career. This means the restaurant sector offering training to attract and recruit resident workers to meet their staffing needs.

The industry is starting to make progress in this area, recruiting and training more chefs in the UK, and this needs to continue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what funding streams his Department has for the promotion of tourism to UK regions; and what proportion of those funds was spent on each region in each of the last three years.

David Evennett

DCMS funds the promotion of tourism to regions of the UK through the activities of its Arms Length Body, the British Tourist Authority, which trades as both VisitEngland and VisitBritain. In the recent Spending Review, it was announced that grant-in-aid to both VisitEngland and VisitBritain would remain stable to 2020. The Chancellor also announced a new £40m Discover England fund, which will be open to all regions of England. In addition, the GREAT campaign funds the promotion of Britain: its nations and regions, in overseas markets.

Over the past three years, there have been a number of funding streams for specific regions, including the Northern and South West Tourism Growth Funds in 2015/16 and the Regional Growth Fund ‘Growing Tourism Locally’ programme, which ran for three years from 2012-15. As many projects and campaigns span the whole of England or the UK, investment figures cannot be divided by region.