Tag: Greg Mulholland

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to support carers.

Alistair Burt

This Government recognises that our health and care system would not be possible without the invaluable contribution made by the millions of unpaid carers.

That is why we continue to support implementation of the improved rights for carers enshrined in the Care Act 2014. The Department has provided £104 million of funding to local authorities for these rights in 2015/16, which include an extended right to assessment and, for the first time, a duty on local authorities to meet carers’ eligible needs for support.

We have also made an additional £400 million available to the National Health Service between 2011 and 2015 to provide carers with breaks from their caring responsibilities to sustain them in their caring role.

In May 2014, NHS England published its action plan NHS England – Commitment to carers, it includes a series of commitments around eight priorities, which include raising the profile of carers, including young carers.

The Department is also leading on a new National Carers Strategy that will consider evidence around the economic impact of caring as well as also review international and national best practice on what support works best for carers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle stone theft.

Mike Penning

We would encourage all victims of stone theft to report these crimes to the police so that they can be investigated and, where appropriate, taken through the courts and met with tough sentences.

In addition, the police are working with Historic England and others to ensure that they have an up-to-date understanding of the nature of stone theft, in order to ensure a proportionate policing response.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what commitments on human rights in China he secured during the recent state visit to the UK by President Xi Jinping.

Mr Hugo Swire

In talks with President Xi, the Prime Minister, my rt hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) reaffirmed the importance we attach to the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue. President Xi acknowledged the importance of improving human rights protection, and that China was ready for increased exchanges and co-operation on this issue with the United Kingdom. In the UK-China Joint Statement, Britain and China agreed to continue exchanges on human rights and rule of law. We will continue to pursue our human rights concerns both privately and in public fora.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the merits of third-party funding as an alternative to the current funding regime for insolvency litigation.

Dominic Raab

An Impact Assessment was published when the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 received Royal Assent.

The Ministry of Justice is in the process of considering the way forward in relation to the application to insolvency litigation of the no win no fee reforms in Part 2 of the Act.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Wilson Doctrine has been consistently applied to the communications of the hon. Member for Leeds North West; and whether that hon. Member or his staff have been subject to surveillance.

Mr John Hayes

The Government’s position on the Wilson Doctrine was set out by the Prime Minister in a written ministerial statement made on 4 November 2015.

As the Prime Minister made clear, the Wilson Doctrine has never been an absolute bar to the targeted interception of the communications of Members of Parliament or an exemption from the legal regime governing interception. The Doctrine recognised that there could be instances where interception might be necessary.

The Prime Minister announced that as matter of policy the PM will be consulted should there ever be a proposal to target any UK Parliamentarian’s communications under a warrant issued by a Secretary of State. This applies to Members of Parliament, members of the House of Lords, the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Welsh Assembly and UK members of the European Parliament. It applies to all activity authorised by a warrant issued by a Secretary of State: any instance of targeted interception and, electronic surveillance and equipment interference, when undertaken by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. This is in addition to the rigorous safeguards already in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) and the Code of Practice issued under it which set out a series of robust safeguards for any instance of interception.

It is long standing policy of successive Governments neither to confirm nor deny any specific activity by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 it is an offence for anyone to identify an individual interception warrant or an individual interception that takes place.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of nurses in Yorkshire in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16; and what funding was allocated for nursing in Yorkshire in each of those years.

Ben Gummer

The information requested is not available. The Health and Social Care Information Centre monthly workforce statistics provides data on the number of nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff working in the National Health Service in England. The latest data is for June 2015 and the data for the Health Education England Region Yorkshire and Humber is provided in the attached table, along with June 2014 for comparison purposes.

There is no individual funding stream allocated for nursing. Individual NHS organisations are best placed to decide how many nurses they employ.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been (a) arrested, (b) charged and (c) convicted for targeting aircraft with laser pens in each of the last 10 years.

Andrew Selous

It is not possible to identify from data held centrally by the Ministry of Justice, Home Office, or Crown Prosecution Service, how many people have been arrested, charged or convicted for targeting aircraft with laser pens. This information can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that the location of the new HS2 station in Leeds is decided with a view to accommodating HS3/Transnorth in future.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government and Transport for the North are working to deliver the Northern Transport Strategy, which recognises that the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) Programme must complement HS2’s transformative north-south connectivity with radically improved east-west connections, multiplying and sharing the benefits across the North. The Government and TfN are working closely together to ensure that HS2 and proposals for NPR are complementary and integrated and this includes plans for Leeds station.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with police authorities on the use of CCTV cameras with facial recognition and biometric tracking capabilities.

Mike Penning

I have received no representations about the use of CCTV cameras with facial recognition and biometric tracking capabilities.

The use of any CCTV system operating in a public place in England and Wales (whether or not any facial recognition or biometric tracking technology is being used) is subject to the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice, issued as guidance under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. The police, as a relevant authority, are duty bound to have regard to the Code when performing their functions. Any use of such technology for covert investigative purposes by a public authority would be subject to the requirements of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and its related Code of Practice. Further, the use and disclosure of personal data, such as CCTV images, is generally governed by the Data Protection Act 1998.

Information on the fields of data which any CCTV system operator may use to identify individuals of interest is not held centrally. Further, any person (including those not suspected of an offence) may make a subject access request to a police force in respect of personal information which is held about them (including CCTV images). In broad terms, pursuant to the Code of Practice on the Management of Police Information (MOPI) and accompanying guidance published by the College of Policing, this should trigger a review of whether or not to delete such material based on an assessment of danger to the public and its value for policing purposes.

It is the longstanding policy of successive Governments not to comment on intelligence matters.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of people on the NHS Organ Donor Register in each of the last five years; and what the number of such people was in each region of the UK.

Jane Ellison

The number of people on the NHS Organ Donor Register in each of the last five years, broken down by region, can be found in the table below:

Number on the NHS Organ Donor Register by region: 31 March 2011-31 March 2015, together with the most up-to-date figure as of 18 October 2015

Area	31 March 2011	31 March 2012	31 March 2013	31 March 2014	31 March 2015	18 October 2015
North East	692,025	724,367	755,971	786,099	817,354	846,355
North West	1,819,300	1,898,176	1,984,094	2,061,533	2,154,676	2,238,884
Yorkshire and the Humber	1,402,162	1,470,360	1,531,114	1,595,261	1,652,951	1,703,749
East Midlands	1,203,101	1,254,266	1,312,788	1,368,396	1,432,189	1,486,106
West Midlands	1,289,144	1,352,095	1,410,060	1,470,151	1,527,821	1,582,604
East of England	1,698,671	1,785,398	1,866,624	1,955,199	2,040,484	2,111,254
London	1,842,526	1,952,484	2,038,271	2,132,217	2,228,770	2,297,952
South East Coast	1,402,501	1,465,911	1,528,297	1,568,285	1,660,143	1,737,706
South Central	1,274,839	1,344,484	1,406,769	1,476,392	1,533,499	1,584,697
South West	1,790,479	1,871,061	1,943,719	2,035,651	2,119,347	2,198,641
Wales	900,250	938,406	969,276	1,005,213	1,047,039	1,076,199
Scotland	1,856,932	2,024,867	2,146,305	2,110,394	2,166,994	2,248,191
Northern Island	485,050	520,975	548,291	582,554	618,543	649,678
Isle of Man	9,779	10,596	11,115	11,629	11,984	12,119
Channel Islands	12,772	13,257	14,347	15,923	16,326	16,865
UK Unknown	72,264	66,846	65,765	64,818	69,233	67,454

Source: NHS Blood and Transplant