Tag: Kate Hollern

The parliamentary question asked by Kate Hollern, the Labour MP for Blackburn, in the House of Commons on 6 March 2023.

Kate Hollern (Blackburn) (Lab)

14. What estimate he has made of levels of unemployment in towns and cities. (903881)

The Minister for Employment (Guy Opperman)

The January Office for National Statistics labour market statistics publication shows that payroll employment reached a new record high of 30 million in January 2023. That is, of course, higher than at any stage under the last, or any, Labour Government.

Kate Hollern

We hear of a record number of vacancies, yet so many who are looking to get into work are out of work. In Blackburn, the claimant count among 18 to 24-year-olds is at 7.9%, against a national rate of 4.6%. What is the Minister doing to bring down barriers to work such as unaffordable childcare, transport, a failed apprenticeship scheme and a levelling-up agenda that is just not meeting the skills agenda?

Guy Opperman

The hon. Lady should be aware that last Tuesday there was a jobs fair in her constituency. There were 59 exhibitors, and 900 customers attended the event. They provided fantastic feedback on the support and interventions given. If she did not attend that particular jobs fair, she might want to go to “March into manufacturing” on 21 March, an upcoming jobs fair in her patch.

Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)

We started the sitting with a non-party political point, so may I continue in that mode? I absolutely agree that those on the Opposition Benches want to reduce the level of unemployment. Unfortunately, their policies do not follow. Does the Minister agree that every single Labour Government have left unemployment higher than when they came to office?

Guy Opperman

Yes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the contingency fund for the new generation of successor Trident submarines was based on a full quantitative risk assessment of the project.

Mr Philip Dunne

As set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, we have set a contingency of £10 billion, which represents around 35% of the cost to completion. This is a prudent estimate based on past experience of large, complex projects, such as the 2012 Olympics.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what percentage optimism bias his Department applied to the Successor Trident programme.

Mr Philip Dunne

Successor submarine is categorised as "Production of a Platform" for optimism bias purposes. In line with normal Ministry of Defence processes, the optimism bias will be addressed as part of the process of securing approval for the next investment point.

I am withholding information for the current calculations for optimism bias, as the formal internal scrutiny process has not been completed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance NHS England provides on training district nurses in inserting nasogastric feeding tubes.

Ben Gummer

NHS England has not provided any specific guidance on training district nurses on the insertion of nasogastric tubes.

The “Framework for commissioning community nursing”, published by NHS England, states that providers of community nursing should “ensure staff achieve the competencies to deliver the service”. This is to provide a quality service for the population. The Framework is available at:

www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Framework-for-commissioning-community-nursing.pdf

NHS England would expect providers to take account of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines Nutrition support in adults: Oral nutrition support, enteral tube feeding and parenteral nutrition, published in February 2006 and available at:

www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg32

These provide guidance for patients that require nutrition support, including patients receiving home enteral (tube) feeding. The guidelines recommends that all healthcare professionals who are directly involved in patient care should receive education and training, relevant to their post, on the importance of providing adequate nutrition.

NICE has published a Medtech innovation briefings advice in January 2016, on the CORTRAK 2 Enteral Access System for placing enteral feeding tubes, available at:

https://www.nice.org.uk/advice/mib48

The advice aims to improve the accuracy of enteral feeding tube placement to help lower the risk of complications associated with the procedure.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will take steps to address demolitions by Israel of Palestinian homes and other structures in the West Bank.

Sir Desmond Swayne

The UK remains extremely concerned at the large increase in demolitions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since the start of 2016, compared to the monthly average in 2015, and continues to raise this with the Israeli authorities. Demolitions and the evictions of Palestinians from their homes cause unnecessary suffering, are harmful to the peace process, and in all but the most exceptional of cases are contrary to international humanitarian law. The UK supports the Norwegian Refugee Council to provide legal aid to Palestinian communities that are at risk of displacement.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.75 of the Strategic Defence and Security Review, whether he has established the new team in his Department to act as the single sponsor for all aspects of the nuclear enterprise including procurement.

Mr Philip Dunne

Options for the new team continue to be developed and assessed. We expect to announce further details later this year once decisions have been made.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department’s estimates of the cost of the Successor Trident programme elemental contingency were included in addition to the programme contingency as was the case with the 2012 Olympics programme.

Mr Philip Dunne

All Ministry of Defence programme cost estimates include essential risk provision.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of provision of double rooms for married couples in care homes (a) in the North West and (b) UK; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) collects data on numbers of registered care and nursing homes in England, together with numbers of registered places within those homes, as part of its registration and regulation activity.

We are informed by the CQC that it does not collect data on whether places in homes are provided in single or shared rooms.

Neither the CQC nor the Department collects data on care and nursing homes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This is a matter for the devolved administrations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.75 of the Strategic Defence and Security Review, whether his Department has recruited an experienced, commercial specialist to lead the new nuclear enterprise sponsor team.

Mr Philip Dunne

Options for the new team continue to be developed and assessed. We expect to announce further details later this year once decisions have been made.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department’s policy is and what guidance it issues to civil servants on the acceptance and declaration of corporate gifts.

Mark Lancaster

The Department’s rules on the acceptance of gifts and hospitality state that every head of Division or Commanding Officer must maintain a hospitality log in which to record contact with persons, firms or organisations holding, or seeking to obtain, Government contracts. All offers of gifts, complimentary vouchers, other incentives, and hospitality made to Crown Servants whether accepted or declined must be recorded in the log. Senior management are responsible for undertaking regular reviews of the hospitality log. The guidance is set out in the "Defence Business Services Gifts, Reward, and Hospitality Policy" documents which are available on the Department’s intranet site.

The Department’s policy is based on the rules of standards and conduct found within the Civil Service Code and is consistent with approaches taken by other Government Departments.