Tag: Gregory Campbell

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate she has made of the cost in cash terms of the UK maintaining Official Development Assistance at 0.7 per cent of gross national income in financial year 2016-17.

Justine Greening

Based on the Office for Budgetary Responsibility’s (OBR) Autumn Statement GNI forecasts, the UK is projected to spend £13.6bnm on Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2016 in order to meet the 0.7 per cent of gross national income commitment.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what plans she has to consult more widely on potential reduction of the regional Electoral Office presence and local services throughout Northern Ireland.

Mr Ben Wallace

The Chief Electoral Officer and the Government are considering reform options to take advantage of technological change and ensure EONI remains on a sustainable financial footing. I expect a consultation on reform proposals, once developed, in the autumn.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has for a National Stroke Strategy after the end of the ten year strategy plan in 2017.

Jane Ellison

The National Stroke Strategy remains valid and implementation of it continues. There are, therefore, no current plans to renew the strategy. Action continues to be taken to ensure the progress made on stroke continues. This includes:

– ongoing work across the country to organise acute stroke care to ensure that all stroke patients, regardless of where they live or what time of the day or week they have their stroke, have access to high quality specialist care;

– publication of the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Outcomes Strategy in 2013, which includes many stroke specific strategic ambitions;

– a CVD expert forum, hosted by NHS England, to coordinate delivery of the work which was initiated in the CVD Outcomes Strategy; and

– NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Stroke working with the Strategic Clinical Networks, clinical commissioning groups, voluntary agencies and individual providers to support better commissioning and provision of stroke care.

More generally, the NHS Five Year Forward View recognises that quality of care, including stroke care, can be variable and that patients’ needs are changing and new treatment options are emerging. The Five Year Forward View sets out high level objectives to address these issues.

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 benefits derived for people with dementia from recent increased expenditure on dementia research.

Nicola Blackwood

Government funding for dementia research doubled over the last Parliament to around £60 million each year, and will be maintained at this level to total over £300 million in the period from 2015/16 to 2019/20. Much of this investment is in research aiming to achieve a better understanding of dementia to inform development of future treatments and ways to prevent the onset of the condition. Significant research is looking at how to improve symptom management, care and services for people with dementia, ways of maintaining independent living in early-stage dementia, and improving quality of life for people with dementia and their carers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Uzbekistan government on reports of (a) recent sentencing of Christians for possession of religious literature and (b) the deduction of the salaries of people who have previously been found guilty of possessing religious literature.

Sir Alan Duncan

We regularly raise our concerns, including on freedom of religion or belief, directly with the Uzbek authorities, through our Embassy in Tashkent and at Ministerial level. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood) discussed human rights concerns with Ministerial counterparts during his visit to Tashkent in April. Uzbekistan features as a Human Rights Priority Country in the FCO’s Annual Human Rights Report. We also encourage further progress towards full implementation of Uzbekistan’s international human rights commitments and obligations, both bilaterally and with our international partners.

Concerns about freedom of religion or belief were raised in the last EU-Uzbekistan human rights dialogue which took place in November 2015, at the EU-Uzbekistan Co-operation Council in May 2015, and EU-Uzbekistan Co-operation Committee in December 2015. We will continue to press Uzbekistan representatives on such issues in forthcoming EU-Uzbekistan meetings.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what changes she has instituted to the Government’s overseas aid programme to tackle the Syrian refugee crisis in 2015.

Mr Desmond Swayne

To date, the UK has pledged over £1.1 billion in response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria and the region. This includes scaling up our support for longer term stability and resilience-building work inside Syria and in neighbouring countries, alongside our humanitarian aid to meet immediate needs.

On 23 September the Prime Minister announced that the UK will provide £14.5 million aid to countries that refugees and migrants are leaving and transiting through. The UK has offered in-kind assistance to Serbia and Slovenia, through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (CPM).

Through the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme, the UK is helping some of the most vulnerable refugees who cannot be supported effectively in the region and whose needs can only be met in countries like the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-11-24.

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 2015 and 1 July 2015.

Penny Mordaunt

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my predecessor, the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mark Francois) on 27 February 2015 to Question 225158. The Report of the Independent Reviewer of the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007 which contains the requested information is published annually. The next report will be published in January 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance the Government is providing to countries in West Africa to reduce the chances of Ebola returning to areas from which it has been eradicated.

Mr Nick Hurd

We are working closely with the Government of Sierra Leone, the World Health Organisation and other partners to reduce the risk of future outbreaks and prevent them from growing into epidemics.

The UK has announced a two-year £240 million package of support to Sierra Leone’s long term recovery, which includes boosting capability to respond to future Ebola outbreaks and other emergencies. A key part of this joint strategy with the Government of Sierra Leone is the strengthening of health systems. Another component will boost capacity at district levels, empower youth and communities and support women and girls.. DFID will also support Liberia’s Health Pooled fund with £6 million to help ensure that its health system is resilient to future shocks.

Beyond Sierra Leone and Liberia, DFID’s Regional Preparedness Programme prevents the transmission and spread of Ebola in at-risk countries in West Africa, focusing on prevention of a fourth country outbreakand strengthening national capacities to contain disease outbreaks.

At the global level, the UK is supporting urgent reform of the World Health Organisation to ensure that it will respond effectively to future health emergencies and is also supporting their new Contingency Fund for Emergencies. At the Spending Review the Government announced the new Ross Fund to support the global fight against infectious diseases including Malaria and Ebola, which will be jointly administered with the Department of Health.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of Laos on the treatment of the Christian minority in that country.

Mr Hugo Swire

We raise human rights concerns on a regular basis with the Lao government both bilaterally and through multilateral fora. As part of Laos’ Universal Periodic Review process starting in January 2015, and the EU-Laos Human Rights Dialogue in November 2015, we raised concerns regarding restrictions on the right to freedom of religion or belief. We will continue to look for opportunities to work with the Lao government to implement its human rights obligations and commitments, including those regarding respect for the rights of religious minorities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has any plans to change the social fund funeral payment in the next 12 months.

Justin Tomlinson

The Government continually looks to improve its service. For example, in 2015 informal discussions have already taken place with stakeholders, including the National Association of Funeral Directors, representatives from life assurance companies, academics and advice services on possible improvements. These discussions carry on and there is a current focus on how to improve information on eligibility.