Tag: Imran Hussain

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions her Department is having with HM Treasury on renegotiation of tax treaties between the UK and developing countries.

Mr Nick Hurd

Negotiation of UK tax treaties is a matter for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). HMRC actively engages with developing countries and has recently agreed treaties with Senegal and Zambia.

DFID works closely with both HM Treasury and HMRC to develop the Government’s tax and development policy and to improve the capacity of developing country tax administrations. DFID was at the forefront internationally of developing the Addis Tax Initiative, launched last year, which sees signatory donors commit to double their support on tax and signatory partner countries to commit to implement tax reform. It also calls for policy coherence on tax and development. There are currently over 30 signatories.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding her Department has provided to tackle dengue fever.

Mr Nick Hurd

The most effective way for DFID to have a sustainable impact on dengue fever and other vector-borne diseases is through our support to vector control, which is very important to protect populations from dengue and other vector borne diseases. Our partners include the Innovative Vector Control Consortium based at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, which is a product development partnership that brings together partners from the public and private sectors to develop new insecticides that can be used to control insects that spread this disease.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many meetings she had with the Adam Smith Institute between 1 October 2012 and 31 March 2016.

Mr Desmond Swayne

Meetings with DFID Ministers are published on a regular basis at: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/dfid-sos-gifts-travel-hospitality-meetings-may-july-2010

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she made an assessment of the potential merits of providing additional funding to schools with high teacher vacancy rates for teacher salaries.

Nick Gibb

From 2017, we have committed to introduce a national funding formula so that we can allocate funding more fairly, based on the needs of schools and the characteristics of their pupils. That will mean schools are better placed to manage their budgets and make informed decisions about their spending. Our pay reforms have given schools greater flexibility to determine teachers’ pay and to decide what salary to offer to new teachers on appointment. This increased flexibility helps schools to attract and recruit the teachers they need.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to incentivise the provision of higher quality mental health services.

Nicola Blackwood

Mental health is one of the six core clinical areas to be covered by NHS England’s new CCG Improvement and Assessment Framework. NHS England is working to ensure that this will provide as broad a view as possible of how well commissioners are supporting and driving improvement in mental health.

A dashboard for mental health will be published this autumn, containing a set of standard indicators to articulate progress in mental health services at a national level and allow benchmarking of services across the country.

NHS England will continue to ensure that mental health is represented within the full suite of levers and incentives at its disposal including Commissioning for Quality and Innovation payment framework (CQUINs), Quality Premium, the NHS Standard Contract and within the design of new models of care. The Technical Guidance for NHS planning covering 2017/18 and 2018/19 that accompanied the publication of the main NHS Planning Guidance earlier this autumn included a number of draft proposals for specific mental health CQUINs:

– Improving services for people with Mental Health needs who present to A&E;

– Improving physical health care for people with Severe Mental Illnesses; and

– Improving transitions for children and young people.

The Quality Premium is based on measures that cover a combination of national and local priorities, and on delivery of the fundamentals of commissioning. The Premium is paid to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in 2018/19 and 2019/20 reflects the quality of the health services commissioned by them in 2017/18 and 2018/19. There will be six mandated indicators including a mental health indicator.

Mental health service providers are responsible for the consistency and quality in the services that they provide. Services in England are regulated by the Care Quality Commission which introduced a new regulation and inspection regime in 2014. CCGs are expected to increase their spending on mental health in line with overall growth in their baseline allocations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to facilitate a transition in Burma from dictatorship to democracy.

Mr Hugo Swire

The United Kingdom has supported Burma’s reform process which started in 2011 and led to the parliamentary elections on 8 November. We have allocated around £25m over five years to strengthen democratic governance in Burma. This included support to the elections through the provision of technical advice to the Burmese election commission, voter education and monitoring and observation of the electoral process. While the elections were not perfect, they were largely peaceful, orderly and well–run on the day. We are monitoring closely the tabulation of the voting and the formation of the next government which will follow. We hope to continue our policy of engagement with the next Burmese government to continue to encourage Burma along its journey of democratic reform.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent representations he has received on the Action for ESOL Manifestos.

Nick Boles

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has not received any representations on the Action for ESOL Manifesto.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department’s policies on training teachers of the findings of the National Audit Office report, Training new teachers, published in February 2016.

Nick Gibb

We are considering the findings of the National Audit Office report on training new teachers. The Permanent Secretary and Sinead O’Sullivan, Director of Programme Delivery in the National College for Teaching and Leadership, will be appearing as witnesses before a Public Accounts Committee hearing on the report on Monday 7 March 2016. This will be an opportunity to discuss the content of the report.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with her foreign counterparts on efforts to tackle dengue fever.

Mr Nick Hurd

Ministers and officials meet regularly with the Word Health Organisation to discuss a range of health issues including on the management of disease outbreaks. Dengue was discussed during last year’s World Health Assembly (WHA), which brings together the member states to discuss important issues. Senior officials from DFID and the Department of Health participate at the WHA.

DFID’s health focus is to improve the provision of basic health services for the poorest by supporting health systems strengthening, health worker capacity and access to essential medicines and equipment. Increasing coverage, access and quality will strengthen health services to address all health problems including communicable diseases.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if her Department will take steps to ensure that protection and empowerment of girls is given equal priority to that of women at the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016.

Mr Desmond Swayne

It is a priority of the UK to secure Summit outcomes that promote the protection and empowerment of both women and girls, strengthening their voices, choice and control in crisis settings. Women and girls share equal status within that priority.