Tag: Helen Jones

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding his Department allocated to the Stroke/Act FAST campaign in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.

Jane Ellison

Public Health England took over all the public health campaigns formerly run by the Department on 1 April 2013, including Act FAST.

In 2014-15, the media spend on the Act FAST campaign was £850,000. Spend in 2015/16 is provisional and will be available in full shortly.

Spend on public health campaigns, over £25,000, are published routinely and available on gov.uk:

www.gov.uk/government/collections/phe-spend-over-25000

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his European partners about asylum for Yazidi women who were enslaved by Daesh to allow them to access medical and psychological support.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We regularly discuss the plight of Yazidi women and girls in Iraq and Syria with our European partners. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) discussed the humanitarian implications of the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Syria with members of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in December 2015.

The UK is committed to supporting the victims of Daesh’s brutality. In Syria and the wider region, the Department for International Development (DFID) is funding specialised services for survivors and those at risk of gender-based violence. This includes safe spaces, psychosocial support, cash assistance and reproductive healthcare. In Iraq, DFID has deployed two experts to work with the UN to improve the humanitarian response to sexual and gender-based violence.

Over the course of this Parliament we are resettling 20,000 of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees to the UK. Resettlement is only one strand of our efforts in the region. It is complemented by the UK’s significant humanitarian aid programme and diplomatic efforts to end the conflicts. We believe that this approach is the most effective way to ensure that the UK’s help has the greatest impact for those who remain in the region. To date, we have pledged over £2.3 billion of humanitarian assistance in response to the Syria crisis, and provided an additional £79.5 million to Iraq to help support the most vulnerable.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-05-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33790, if he will raise with the UK’s European partners allowing Yazidi women in Iraq temporary residence in European countries to access medical and psychological support after rape and torture by Daesh.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We remain extremely concerned by the barbarity and inhumanity which Daesh has shown towards all Iraq’s communities, and welcome European partners’ support to the humanitarian response

We understand the depth of feeling at the suffering which Yezidi women have experienced, and calls for them to be granted temporary residence. Our priority is providing assistance to Yezidi women, and other vulnerable Iraqis, within Iraq. We can help more people through providing aid in Iraq compared to bringing people to the UK.

Through the Department for International Development we have committed £79.5 million to the humanitarian effort to help those who have fled Daesh’s brutality in Iraq. This support is reaching hundreds of thousands of people across the country, including the most vulnerable groups, which includes Yezidis. UK aid has provided medicine, emergency kits, psychological support, clean water and improved sanitation, shelter and cash assistance. The UK is the largest donor to the Iraq Humanitarian Pooled Fund. This is providing life-saving maternal and child health-care, child protection services, and specialised support for escapees of Daesh terror.

All UK-funded aid is distributed on the basis of need, regardless of race, religion and ethnicity.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) hon. Members, (b) members of the local authority and (c) the public are consulted about the sustainability and transformation plans being developed for Warrington and its surrounding area.

Mr Jeremy Hunt

We acknowledge that local government are vital in helping to set the strategic direction of health and care service development locally.

The March guidance to Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) leads clarified that submissions should state how:

– partnership arrangements should include local government and explain fit with existing plans, including Health and Wellbeing Strategies and Joint Strategic Needs Assessments;

– systems will work with local government to deliver prevention and public health improvements; and

– the footprint will engage other employers, working with local government, to improve health and wellbeing of local people.

At a regional level, National Health Service arm’s length bodies (ALBs) have:

– worked initially with local authority colleagues to agree footprints and STP leadership;

– offered membership of the four new regional STP boards to Local Government Association representatives (including the potential for involvement in the assessment of initial returns); and

– asked their regional colleagues to continue to work with the STP footprints in their area to encourage them to reflect the knowledge, expertise and experience of local government colleagues where appropriate, e.g. Health and Wellbeing Board leads’ insight into the plans for, and effects on, the local system.

As set out in the NHS Shared Planning Guidance, published in December 2015, the success of STPs will depend on having an open, engaging, and iterative process that involves patients, carers, citizens, clinicians, local community partners, parliamentarians, the independent and voluntary sectors, and local government through health and wellbeing boards. The arm’s length bodies responsible for the NHS Five Year Forward View – NHS England, NHS Improvement, the Care Quality Commission, Public Health England, Health Education England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence – have asked for local engagement plans as part of the STP process, building where appropriate on existing engagement through health and wellbeing boards and other local arrangements. Where plans propose service changes, formal consultation will follow in due course in line with good practice and legislative requirements. The arm’s length bodies will be holding conversations with each area to assess their plans for local engagement.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the likely change in the number of students in further education colleges after 2020; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Boles

The current spending review extends up to the academic year 2019/20. As such, the Department has made no forecast of student numbers beyond the end of this period.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-01-19.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the likely change in the number of projects being funded through the Landfill Communities Fund if the Contributory Third Party element is removed.

Damian Hinds

The Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) is a tax credit scheme into which landfill operators contribute voluntarily. Since its introduction in 1996, the LCF has contributed over £1.4bn to community projects in areas affected by a local landfill site. However, as the LCF is a tax credit scheme, it reduces the Government’s tax revenues. We therefore have an ongoing responsibility to seek value for money for the taxpayer.

Our reforms aim to encourage LCF money to get to communities more quickly and use the savings to address other significant issues like waste crime. The LCF will provide £39.3 million of additional funding in 2016-17 alone. We also hope more unspent funds, which this year totalled £118 million, will reach projects as soon as possible.

The impact of the changes to the LCF announced at Autumn Statement 2015 is set out in Reform and value of the Landfill Communities Fund. This document can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reform-and-value-of-the-landfill-communities-fund/reform-and-value-of-the-landfill-communities-fund

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Leader of the House, when he plans to announce the parliamentary timetable for the rest of 2016.

Chris Grayling

The Parliamentary timetable is subject to the progress of business and will be announced in the usual way.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of Yazidi women who have escaped from captivity by Daesh and are now (a) being given refuge by organisations in Iraq and (b) in refugee camps in Turkey.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

It is difficult to accurately estimate the number of Yazidi women who have escaped from Daesh captivity. Some reports suggest the figure could be approximately 2500 but there is no definitive estimate.

There are now over 3.4 million Internally Displaced Persons in Iraq. Our humanitarian partners do not take into consideration the ethno-religious origins of people requiring assistance. Assistance is provided on a needs basis, regardless of race, religion or ethnicity. It is therefore very difficult to breakdown figures for those being cared for by organisations in Iraq or in refugee camps in Turkey on the basis of religion.

To date, the UK has pledged over £2.3 billion of humanitarian assistance in response to the Syria crisis, and provided an additional £79.5 million to Iraq to help support those displaced by Daesh.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with NATO allies on the number of troops deployed to the Baltic states; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Julian Brazier

The 2014 Wales Summit, under UK leadership, delivered an effective and united response to Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and its actions in Eastern Ukraine.

NATO has agreed to strengthen its defence and deterrence posture to provide further reassurance to Allies and deter Russian aggression.

In February 2016 Defence Ministers agreed to address specific concerns raised by the Baltic States and Poland. Ahead of the Warsaw Summit in July, work continues within the Alliance to determine the size and scale of an enhanced forward presence in the East. The proposed measures are proportionate, defensive in nature, and not a threat to Russia, but demonstrate unequivocally the unity within the Alliance and the continued commitment of all Allies to the NATO principles of collective defence and security.

A UK contribution will ultimately be shaped by what is agreed by all Allies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on what dates Ministers of his Department have met representatives of the food industry to discuss the Government’s proposed national obesity strategy; and what was discussed at each such meeting.

Nicola Blackwood

Details of all Ministerial meetings with external stakeholders are published quarterly in arrears on the GOV.UK website. The latest publication which covers meetings between January and March 2016 can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-external-meetings-2016

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