The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made on the effect of the visa refund fee scheme on the number of Chinese people visiting the UK.
James Brokenshire
The Home Office has made no assessment of the effect of the visa refund fee scheme because it is operated by Visit Britain on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-02-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of steps taken by energy suppliers to ensure customers with severe medical conditions are aware of the assistance available through the Priority Services Register.
Andrea Leadsom
Energy suppliers are required by their licence conditions to take reasonable steps at least once a year to inform their domestic customers about the Priority Service Register. They are required to explain how customers who are of pensionable age, disabled or chronically sick may become listed on it to receive free services to help them with their access, communication and safety needs.
Ofgem is carrying out a review of the Priority Service Register to ensure the existing services meets the needs of consumers in vulnerable situations. As part of the review, Ofgem is currently consulting on proposals, including changes to eligibility requirements to ensure support is better targeted to customers in vulnerable situations. The consultation closes on 18 February 2016 and is available on Ofgem’s website at:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/psr_final_proposals_final_0.pdf
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-02-22.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether public sector net debt is forecast to fall in the next financial year.
Harriett Baldwin
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) produce the forecast for public sector net debt. Based on the OBR’s November 2015 ‘Economic and fiscal outlook’, public sector net debt is expected to fall as a share of GDP in every year of the forecast period.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government plans to take during the present Parliament to reduce the number of people dying as a result of smoking.
Jane Ellison
Smoking continues to be the leading cause of premature deaths in England. This Government has committed to publishing a new tobacco control plan this year to further reduce the prevalence of smoking. The new plan is currently being developed but key priority within the plan will be reducing the impact of smoking on some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in our society.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-04-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of UK development assistance on the availability of clean water in the last 10 years in (a) sub-Saharan African countries and (b) other countries.
Mr Nick Hurd
Between 2011 and 2015, DFID reached 20.9 million people with access to clean drinking water. 60% of these results were delivered in sub-Saharan African countries. In addition we reached a further 42 million people with improved sanitation and hygiene. We met the Coalition target to reach 60 million people with water, sanitation and hygiene by December 2015 nine months early in April 2015.
DFID supports international monitoring of access to water. This showed that in 2015, 91% of the global population used an improved drinking water source and 2.6 billion people had gained access since 1990. Globally, the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target on access to water was met. However, the target was not met for sub-Saharan Africa where in 2015, 68% of people had access to improved drinking water.
We are currently formulating our new portfolio to deliver on the UK government’s commitment to help a further 60 million people get access to clean water and sanitation by 2020. We expect to maintain a significant proportion of this investment in sub-Saharan African countries, but will also support people in Asia to gain access to water and sanitation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many adults on GP registers had been diagnosed with diabetes in (a) 2000 and (b) 2015.
Jane Ellison
The number of adults diagnosed with diabetes is taken from the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), this represents all patients age 17 and older who have been diagnosed with diabetes and recorded on general practitioner (GP) registers.
The latest data available are for 2014/15, when there were 2,913,538 adults included on GP registers. QOF goes back to 2004/05 and at that time there were 1,766,391 adults included on GP registers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-09-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the outcome of the ProtecT randomised trials into prostate cancer among men.
David Mowat
The National Institute for Health Research funded ProtecT trial (Prostate testing for cancer and Treatment) published two papers in the New England Journal of Medicine on 14 September 2016: Mortality and Clinical Outcomes at 10 years’ Follow-up in the ProtecT Trial and Patient Reported Outcomes Over Six Years in the ProtecT Prostate Cancer Trial. The papers showed that active surveillance is as effective as surgery and radiotherapy in terms of survival at 10 years for men whose prostate cancer was diagnosed by a prostate specific antigen test. The results of this study will provide men and their doctors with key information needed to manage localised prostate cancer, and will now be examined by appropriate bodies in England. For example, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) periodically reviews the need to update its guidance to reflect new clinical evidence and developments in technologies.
The NICE quality standard on prostate cancer already contains the statement ‘Men with low risk localised prostate cancer for whom radical prostatectomy or radical radiotherapy is suitable are also offered the option of active surveillance’. The quality standard can be found at this link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs91
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times explosive ordinance officers were deployed to deal with incidents in Northern Ireland between 1 January 2016 and 1 July 2016.
Mike Penning
Incidents requiring explosive ordnance disposal experts in Northern Ireland are dealt with solely by military personnel. The information requested on the number of occasions Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel have responded to incidents in Northern Ireland is published annually in the Report of the Independent Reviewer of the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007. The statistics will be included in the forthcoming report which covers the period of August 2015 to July 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations she has made to the European Commission on difficulties faced by milk farmers because of the low price of milk.
George Eustice
UK Ministers and officials have regularly drawn the Commission’s attention to the difficulties facing UK dairy farmers. The Commission has listened to the concerns raised by the UK and other Member States and has introduced a €500m package of targeted support for EU farmers. The UK has been allocated the equivalent of £26.2m as part of this aid package and this will be shared between dairy farmers on the basis of their milk production. Northern Irish farmers will receive a boosted payment in recognition of the very low prices in Northern Ireland. Payments are expected to be made in December 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-11-24.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much Big Lottery funding was provided to Northern Ireland in 2014; and how much such funding will be provided in (a) 2015 and (b) 2016.
Mr Rob Wilson
Information on grant expenditure broken down by country is available through the Funds’s annual report and accounts:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/big-lottery-fund-annual-report-2014-to-2015
The annual report and accounts for 2015/16 and 2016/17 will be published in due course.
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