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Tag: Jim Fitzpatrick

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Greyhound Forum has been consulted over the forthcoming review of the 2010 Greyhound Regulations.

    George Eustice

    Defra plans to consult on the initial findings of the Review of the Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010 this autumn. The Greyhound Forum and members of the Forum have contributed to the initial findings exercise and, as part of the initial stages of the Review.

    Defra officials have also had discussions with UKAS.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with UKAS on extending the current regulations on greyhounds to cover trainers’ kennels.

    George Eustice

    Defra plans to consult on the initial findings of the Review of the Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010 this autumn. The Greyhound Forum and members of the Forum have contributed to the initial findings exercise and, as part of the initial stages of the Review.

    Defra officials have also had discussions with UKAS.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will implement the recommendations of the All-Party Group on a Fit and Healthy Childhood on encouraging play in childhood development and learning in school.

    Edward Timpson

    We want all children to lead healthy active lifestyles. Physical activity and play are important throughout childhood and can contribute enormously to the healthy development of children. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Statutory Framework emphasises this and makes clear that in their early years children learn through play. When inspecting childcare providers, including schools, Ofsted look at how staff are enabling children to play in ways that help them develop and learn. Ofsted’s recent report on Teaching and Play is available to view at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teaching-and-play-in-the-early-years-a-balancing-act

    The EYFS framework can be found here at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework–2

    “

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the political situation in Bangladesh.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The Government is deeply concerned about the escalating violence and disruption in Bangladesh, which affects the daily lives of its citizens. All political parties must urge restraint, an end to violence and respect for the rule of law. We have called on Bangladesh’s political parties to work together through dialogue to find a long-term solution that breaks the cycle of violence and disruption.

    The British High Commissioner to Bangladesh, along with other EU Ambassadors, met Bangladesh Foreign Minister Mahmood Ali on 14 January to express collective concerns at the ongoing violence in Bangladesh, in particular the shooting of former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Reaz Rahman and an attack on a bus in Rangpur which killed four people, including a child. They asked that the Bangladesh government investigate these crimes promptly and in accordance with the law. Our High Commissioner echoed these concerns in his statement on 14 January. I also raised these issues with the Bangladesh Minster for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs in our meeting on Tuesday 20 January.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, for what reasons spending data for his Department for most months of 2014 has been published later than such data for the previous three years.

    Kris Hopkins

    My Department is more transparent than other parts of Whitehall, as we publish all spending over £250 and every item spent on Government Procurement Cards. This can result in slightly longer lead times to check and publish the data compared to other departments, but we believe that this enhanced transparency is in the public interest.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, for what reasons ministerial returns for his Department for quarters two and three of 2014 have not yet been published.

    Kris Hopkins

    Updated detail of Ministerial hospitality, overseas travel and meetings with external organisations will be published in due course on the same day as other government departments.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the reasons were for the change in his Department’s performance in meeting deadlines for responding to Freedom of Information requests between 2010 and quarter three of 2014.

    Kris Hopkins

    The Department for Communities and Local Government, recognise the value of the Freedom of Information Act and as part of our commitment to transparency we aim to respond to these requests as quickly as possible.

    Freedom of Information Act requests by their nature can prove complex to answer and, notwithstanding the statutory guidance on the amount of time that must be spent in responding, we sometimes take longer to reply in order to gather the information requested.

    The change has been driven at least in part by an increased complexity of requests and we have responded to this in recent months by increasing the resources we devote to this area. Early indications show a significant improvement in performance, which we expect will be reflected when figures for cases received after 1 January 2015 are released.

    Ministry of Justice statistics are published on a quarterly basis, approximately three months in arrears, so the next figures to be published will refer to cases received in October to December 2014. The figures showing the improvements we have made will be visible in the following quarter when data for cases received in January to March 2015 are made available.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will request that the Law Commission undertake a law reform project on the question of fraud victims of personal injury as part of its 12 programme of law reform.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Government is committed to turning the tide on fraudulent personal injury claims. To this end, it is considering what specific reforms might be appropriate, including whether the Law Commission should be asked to consider this issue. We will make our conclusions known in due course.

    No figures are available on the number of exaggerated or fabricated personal injury claims struck out by the courts. Figures for 2011 published by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) indicate that whiplash claims cost customers more than £2 billion a year and add £90 to the average motor insurance premium.

    The ABI describe 7% of all motor claims in 2011 – worth £441m – as fraudulent. In addition, they estimate that a further £1 billion of motor insurance fraud went undetected in 2011.

    As announced last year, we are working with stakeholders in the industry to tighten the medical evidence process so that only evidence from accredited experts can be considered, and the costs for those reports can be fixed. This will mean people can no longer profit from exaggerated or fraudulent compensation claims but victims with genuine cases can still get the help they deserve. We are introducing these reforms later in the year. We are also working to secure better data on motor accident cases, including the number of fraudulent cases.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of current tools available to enforcement officers to take swift action in tackling food fraud.

    Jane Ellison

    The Food Standards Agency (FSA) works with local authority enforcement officers to ensure that food law is applied across the entire food chain. Direction and guidance on the approach that local authority food law regulatory services should take is given in the statutory Food Law Code of Practice (the Code). The FSA regularly assesses the effectiveness of tools available to these enforcement officers through undertaking audit of local authorities’ enforcement services, reviewing the Code and ensuring lessons are learnt from major incidents.

    The Code sets out instructions and criteria to which the authorities must have regard and is periodically reviewed to ensure that it reflects current enforcement practices and supports local authorities’ delivery of their official control obligations and that enforcement is consistent, effective and proportionate.

    The FSA provides specific tools to support local authorities with investigations relating to potential food fraud. The FSA operates the Food Fraud Database, which utilises specialist intelligence management software to record intelligence reports and identify links, and uses this to assist local investigations. The FSA also provides local authorities with financial support through its Fighting Fund, expert advice through its Food Fraud Advisory Unit and holds dedicated training courses for enforcement officers.

    In addition, the FSA is building an enhanced intelligence gathering network to increase the opportunity to capture and act on intelligence which may be indicative of future risks relating to food fraud, as well as producing strategic and tactical assessments to share with relevant enforcement agencies.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect on the (a) numbers of GP practices and (b) services offered by GP practices of removing performance indicators from the Quality Outcomes Framework.

    Jane Ellison

    We have reduced the number of indicators in the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) by more than a third. This is intended to free up time for general practitioners (GPs) to provide more personalised care which includes the new responsibility of providing a named GP for all of their patients aged 75 and over. The money released from the QOF will be reinvested in general practice.

    We understand that NHS England is currently developing the specifications and reporting protocols that will be required to capture the information provided by the retired QOF indicators.

    This will enable NHS England’s commissioning teams, clinical commissioning groups and the Care Quality Commission to take this information into account in reaching rounded judgements about the quality of care provided by general practice. It will also be used to evaluate the impact of the indicators that were retired on 1 April 2014, and will inform future decisions about the development of QOF.

    NHS England has recently undertaken an analysis to identify ‘outlier’ practices – those that will lose the largest amount of funding per patient as a result of the phasing out of the Minimum Practice Income Guarantee. Details of these practices have been sent to NHS England area teams.

    In a small number of cases where there are exceptional underlying factors that necessitate additional funding – for example because a practice is serving an atypical population – it is anticipated that area teams will meet with the practices to discuss and agree arrangements to ensure that appropriate services for patients continue to be available.