Tag: John Spellar

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the likelihood of the Government’s net migration target being met.

James Brokenshire

Uncontrolled mass immigration increases pressure on public services and can drive down wages. That is why our ambition remains to cut net migration to sustainable levels. We continue to work across government to reduce net migration outside of the EU and seek reform in Europe to reduce the pull factor behind EU migration.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on the use of private companies to arrange foster care placements.

Edward Timpson

The arrangement of foster care placements is the duty of local authorities. All placements must be made with consideration to the child’s assessed needs through a robust care planning process.

The Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 set the statutory framework for all fostering services, including Independent Fostering Providers. The regulatory framework for the provision of foster care placements is clear that local authorities must have access to sufficient placements to meet the needs of the children they look after. As long as placements meet the needs of the child, it is for local authorities to determine whether placements are provided in-house or by independent providers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that his Department’s purchasing policies support British (a) industry and (b) agriculture.

George Freeman

The Department’s purchasing policies support the Government’s commitment to do all it can to ensure United Kingdom suppliers can compete effectively for public sector contracts, in line with our current international obligations and guidance issued by the Crown Commercial Service.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to encourage the take up of organ donor cards among South Asian and other minority ethnic communities.

Jane Ellison

UK Government provides NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) with around £60 million a year to support organ donation. In 2013, NHSBT launched a UK – wide organ donation and transplantation strategy Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020, setting the agenda for increasing organ donation and transplantation rates. The Department has also established the National Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Transplant Alliance with the aim of raising awareness about the need for stem cell and organ donation, and increasing the number of people from BAME communities who can benefit from either a stem cell or organ transplant.

South Asian people are more likely to need a kidney transplant than a Caucasian person but families are less likely to consent to organ donation. The result is that patients from South Asian background wait much longer for organ transplants, particularly for a kidney transplant. Therefore, to support the wider 2020 strategy, the Department funded Kidney Research UK to undertake a Peer Educator Programme within the Pakistani Muslim community in Birmingham with the aim of raising awareness of the lack of donors and increasing the numbers on the bone marrow and organ donation registers. Lessons learnt will support the roll-out of the programme in other similar areas of work.

NHSBT also has a wide range of leaflets promoting organ donation that are translated into a number of different South Asian languages including Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many complaints have been made to the DVLA about the issuing of private parking tickets in the last year; how many such complaints have been upheld; and how many companies have been barred from access to the DVLA data base in that period.

Andrew Jones

In 2015, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) received 59 complaints about 23 different private parking companies about concerns arising from the issue of a private parking ticket.

Six private parking companies were suspended from requesting DVLA data in 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether (a) Health Education England and (b) the Department of Health consulted his Department over the workforce need of the armed services and defence contractors before deciding to reduce training commissions for physiotherapists in 2016-17.

Mark Lancaster

The Ministry of Defence has not been consulted.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to ensure that her Department’s purchasing policies support British (a) industry and (b) agriculture.

Karen Bradley

The Department’s purchasing policies support the Government’s commitment to do all it can to ensure UK suppliers can compete effectively for public sector contracts, in line with our current international obligations and guidance issued by the Crown Commercial Service.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she had made of the implications for her policies of the findings on domestic violence in the report of the chief inspector of Borders and Immigration entitled, An Inspection of Settlement Casework, published in November 2015.

James Brokenshire

The Home Office published its formal response to the Chief inspector of Borders and Immigration entitled, An Inspection of Settlement Casework, published on 19 November 2015 and this can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/responses-to-reports-by-the-independent-chief-inspector-of-borders-and-immigration

The Home Office is revising its guidance for those who apply for Settlement because of Domestic Violence and intend to publish this as a priority. The guidance will make it clearer what weighting should be given to the evidence presented by applicants in support of their application and will be published on the Gov.UK website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy to sponsor physiotherapy education places for future service physiotherapists.

Mark Lancaster

Physiotherapists are now recruited into the Armed Forces as commissioned officers. As a result Defence has enjoyed healthy recruiting of physiotherapists and, consequently, sponsorship of individuals through training is not currently considered necessary. Defence has benefited from applicants gaining clinical experience in the NHS prior to joining the military.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-06-27.

To ask the Rt. hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, if he will take steps to ensure that the House of Commons Commission’s purchasing policies support British (a) industry and (b) agriculture.

Tom Brake

The House of Commons procurement policies operate within the parameters set out by the UK Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

The House has a Sustainable Purchasing Policy which, amongst other things, requires contracts that are particularly suitable for SMEs to be highlighted as so being, contracts to be divided into lots and processes to be as simple and proportionate as possible to encourage SMEs to participate in our competitions. Further, the policy requires contracts that are suitable for Social Enterprises to be identified at an early stage and that market engaged to ensure their participation.

More generally, the House supports British industry and agriculture by:

• Purchasing our goods and services in a way that maximises the ability of SMEs, Social Enterprises and organisations with less bargaining power to win our contracts;
• Conducting open and competitive tender processes that are accessible to all British suppliers whether small, medium or large;
• Advertising our contracts on the UK Government procurement website Contracts Finder and the House’s own electronic procurement portal to ensure that there is maximum visibility of our contractual opportunities;
• Writing specifications of requirements that take into account domestic social, economic and environmental requirements.