Tag: Jim Cunningham

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2016 to Question 20200, what estimate his Department has made of its total spend on mental health specialists in each of the last five years.

Mark Lancaster

The average costs for military, reserves and civilian personnel for each of the last three years, the period for which figures are available, are provided in the table below.

Where gaps exist in military or civilian mental health services delivery staff, locums may be used, the costs of which are also provided.

Year	Military	Reserves	Civilian	Locums
	million	million	million	million
2013	£15.06	£0.37	£2.01	£3.24
2014	£15.12	£0.19	£2.06	£2.69
2015	£14.18	£0.20	£3.17	£2.77
AVERAGE	£14.79	£0.29	£2.41	£2.9

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the amount it will spend on (a) television, (b) print, (c) online and (d) billing advertising in the next 12 months.

Jane Ellison

The Department does not hold an advertising budget.

As such there is no expected spend on advertising over the next 12 months other than that for the advertisement of public appointments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations he has received from thalidomide survivors’ groups; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt

The Thalidomide Health Grants are currently for 10 years from 2012 to 2022.They total £80 million in England, £14.2 million in Scotland, £7.5 million in Wales and £4.6 million in Northern Ireland. The Thalidomide Trust administer the Health Grants and the number of beneficiaries receiving the Grants since their inception is set out in the following table.My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (George Freeman) MP, had an introductory meeting with representatives from the Thalidomide Trust and its National Advisory Councilon 22 October last year.

Country	2012	2013	2014	2015
England	325	325	325	325
Scotland	58	55	54	55
Wales	30	31	31	31
Northern Ireland	19	19	19	19
Total	432	430	429	430

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate her Department has made of the value of funding her Department has allocated to Libya which has been spent in the city of Sirte; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Desmond Swayne

Due to security and access issues, we estimate that no DFID funding allocated to Libya was spent in the city of Sirte last year. DFID provided £2 million in aid to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for humanitarian relief, protection and immediate lifesaving assistance to vulnerable populations in Libya in 2015. This humanitarian programme is providing assistance to internally displaced persons across Libya, including those from the wider region of Sirte.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2016 to Question 24446, what reports her Department has received from the International Committee of the Red Cross on the spending by that body of humanitarian relief funds from her Department for humanitarian relief in Libya.

Mr Desmond Swayne

DFID’s £2 million funding to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Libya was given in response to their 2015 Budget Extension Appeal. The ICRC will submit to DFID, in accordance with agreed ICRC standard reporting timelines, an Annual Report, Financial Report and Annual Audited Accounts by June 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if his Department will conduct an assessment of the appropriateness of the definition of houses in multiple occupation; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis

The Department considers the definition of a house in multiple occupation, as set out in the Housing Act 2004, is appropriate and has no plans to change it. We have recently issued a technical discussion paper on whether to extend mandatory licensing to those houses in multiple occupation with fewer than three storeys and plan to publish our response and proposed next steps in the coming months.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much UK embassies spent on official hospitality in 2014-15; and what estimate he has made of the level of such spending in 2015-16.

Mr David Lidington

Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff in London and in more than 260 embassies and consulates around the world organise events and other forms of official hospitality to support the UK’s foreign policy interests, promote British business; attract foreign investment and to celebrate the Queen’s Birthday.

In 2014-15 the FCO spent £806,000 on official hospitality. In 2013-14 the FCO spent £1,164,000 on official hospitality. Figures for 2015-16 will be reported in the next FCO Annual Report and Accounts, which will be published in June 2016.

All hospitality spend is kept under close scrutiny to ensure it is effective and gives value for money.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the likely timetable for conclusion of negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry

There have now been twelve rounds of negotiations for the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The twelfth round took place in Brussels last week. We are making progress and our ambition remains to reach a political agreement on the bulk of the deal during the Obama presidency.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2016 to Question 26579, what financial assistance her Department provided to charities who support women and children who have suffered an instance of domestic abuse in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley

The previous Government provided £40 million of stable funding for domestic abuse and sexual violence services between 2011 and 2015, equating to £10 million per year and including funding for independent domestic violence advisers, MARAC coordinators and national helplines.

This funding was extended until April 2016, supplemented by an additional £10 million for refugees, and a £3.5 million fund to boost the provision of domestic violence services including refugees. This funding supports all victims of domestic abuse including those with children.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 2 March to Question 28299, on Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, if he will estimate the cost to his Department of each of the 12 rounds of negotiations; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry

The European Commission conducts trade negotiations – including the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) – on behalf of the EU and, where appropriate, Member States. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not therefore incur the direct costs of the TTIP negotiating rounds.

It is rare that travel undertaken by Ministers and officials relates solely to TTIP, but will usually encompass other issues. Officials within the Transatlantic and International Unit in my Department have the lead policy responsibility for TTIP as well as certain other international matters. The total travel expenditure by these officials in 2014/15 was £25,081, in 2015/16 £14,269.

The cost to the Department of any travel undertaken in relation to TTIP is greatly offset by the economic prize that an ambitious agreement offers. Independent analysis shows that a comprehensive TTIP agreement could give an annual boost to the UK economy of as much as £10 billion each year.