Tag: Greg Mulholland

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Manufacturing Advisory Service.

Anna Soubry

An interim impact evaluation of the Growth Accelerator programme was published in November 2014. This was followed by a formative evaluation in January 2015, which looked at the delivery of the programme and informed the design of the Business Growth Service. A policy response to the formative evaluation was published in March 2015, in line with a commitment to the National Audit Office

A review of the Manufacturing Advisory Service was completed in December 2010 and published the following year. An Impact Analysis Methodology study of the Manufacturing Advisory Service is being published in early 2016.

A full economic evaluation of the Business Growth Service will continue beyond the closure of the service in March. All documents will continue to be available on www.gov.uk.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the applicability to Donald Trump of her Department’s guidelines on excluding hate speakers from entering the UK.

James Brokenshire

The Government has a policy of not routinely commenting on individual immigration or exclusion cases.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to support the curry industry.

Anna Soubry

We have a range of measures to help support all businesses, including the curry industry. The British Business Bank programmes are supporting £2.4 billion of finance to over 40,000 smaller businesses. Included within this is the Start-Up Loans programme, which has provided over 34,000 loans worth over £187 million. We have saved businesses £10 billion of red tape and we have extended small business rate relief.

Employer-led Trailblazers are currently leading the way in the design and delivery of new more rigorous apprenticeship standards to support a range of sectors. Standards relating to several chef roles have already been developed and these are intended to cover specialisms such as Indian cuisine.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what languages his Department’s overseas health team is trained to speak.

Justin Tomlinson

There is no requirement for DWP staff to have foreign language skills when dealing with EEA Member States in relation to the reimbursement process under the EHIC regulations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when NHS England next plans to review the process and practice of applications for individual funding requests.

George Freeman

NHS England will be consulting on a revised Individual Funding Request policy later this year and will subsequently review and update the Standard Operating Procedure as required.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on the number of women who become war widows before 6 April 2005 and remarried between 6 April 2005 and 1 April 2015.

Mark Lancaster

Between 6 April 2005 and 1 April 2015, 195 war widow(er)s remarried regardless of when they became a war widow(er).

After becoming a war widow prior to 6 April 2005, 135 women remarried between 6 April 2005 and 1 April 2015.

In line with Defence Statistics’ Rounding Policy for War Pension Scheme data, figures have been rounded to the nearest five.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent representations she has received from local authorities on tackling stone theft.

Karen Bradley

Stone theft has a detrimental effect on towns and communities across England and Wales. The impact of these crimes includes both the economic cost to the victim, but there are also wider costs to the community, for example where schools, churches or heritage items are targeted by criminals.

We have received no recent representations from local authorities on this issue, nor have we had recent discussions with the police on stone theft specifically. However, the police are working with Historic England, the Crown Prosecution Service and others to share intelligence and shape good practice in tackling and preventing heritage crime, such as stone theft.

We would encourage all victims of stone theft, whether individuals or organisations, to report instances of these crimes to their local police, so that the crimes can be properly recorded and investigated. The local response is a matter for individual chief officers of police and Police and Crime Commissioners, taking into account the specific local issues and demands that they face.

We are satisfied that the existing legislation provides the police and courts with sufficient powers to respond to stone theft.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the nature of the contribution of Mr Paul Newby was to the drafting of and consultation process for the Pubs Code; and when those contributions were delivered.

Anna Soubry

Mr Newby has not been involved in the drafting of and consultation process for the Pubs Code.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure accurate and early diagnosis of Kawasaki disease.

George Freeman

The Government published the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases in November 2013. The strategy contains over 50 commitments to ensure people living with a rare disease, such as Kawasaki disease, have access to the best evidence-based care and treatment that health and social services, working with charities, researchers and industry can provide.

It is the responsibility of the professional regulators to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricular to ensure newly qualified healthcare professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. This includes training in both scarlet fever and Kawasaki disease.

Health Education England works with bodies that set curricula such as the General Medical Council and the Royal Colleges to seek to ensure training meets the needs of patients.

The Department and its arm’s length bodies have not published any specific guidance on the similarities between Kawasaki disease and scarlet fever.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guideline on the assessment and initial management of fever in under 5s sets out the circumstances in which a diagnosis of Kawasaki disease should be considered, and Public Health England (PHE) has endeavoured to keep healthcare professionals, schools and the general public informed of the increased incidence of scarlet fever through timely information, news stories and updates on the PHE website and by using social and other media. These awareness raising measures assist general practitioners and other frontline healthcare professionals in reaching a correct diagnosis more quickly and encourage patients to seek medical advice early so that suspected cases receive prompt antibiotic treatment to reduce the risk of complications and limit further transmission.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Madaya in Syria.

Mr Desmond Swayne

Across Syria, Assad and other parties to the conflict are wilfully impeding humanitarian access on a day-by-day basis. We have given support to the UN and international NGOs since the start of the conflict to deliver aid to those in need and continue to push for humanitarian access to be granted to all besieged and hard to reach places. This includes through our participation in the International Syria Support Group’s Humanitarian Taskforce and our position in the UN Security Council.

On Madaya, several inter-agency convoys have now reached the town delivering much-needed humanitarian assistance. On 23 March, the UN received written approval from the regime for further inter-agency convoys in April to six of eleven besieged locations including Madaya. Under this plan, deliveries are expected to reach 40,000 people in Madaya. We also are pleased that on 4 April, the Syria Arab Red Crescent was able to supervise medical evacuations from Madaya.

However, progress is too slow and we are deeply concerned by reports of civilian deaths in Madaya due to blocked medical evacuations. We are calling for this to end, alongside the removal of medical equipment from convoys by the regime, and regular access to healthcare for besieged populations.