Tag: Lord Oates

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2016-05-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report of the Academy of Royal Medical Colleges in February 2015, Exercise: The miracle cure and the role of the doctor in promoting it, and how that assessment has informed their policy making.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The evidence and messages in the report of the Academy of Royal Medical Colleges align with the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ (CMOs) guidelines for physical activity and Public Health England’s physical activity framework ‘Everybody Active Every Day’ both of which highlight the key role of health professionals in promoting physical activity.

The Government is committed to raising awareness of the UK CMOs guidelines and the benefits of physical activity amongst the public and health professionals. The CMO recently launched a new infographic specifically designed to help health professionals to discuss the benefits of physical activity with their patients. The Government also has in place a range of other programmes to support doctors in the promotion of physical activity. These include e-learning modules on physical activity and health, undergraduate training resources for medical, nursing and allied health professionals and Public Health England’s Clinical Champions Programme. Physical activity is also embedded in NHS’s risk reduction services such as NHS Health Checks and the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2015-11-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to reduce HMRC’s delays in answering telephone enquiries.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) recognise that their customer service has not been good enough, and have taken major steps to improve, including recruiting 3,000 new staff into customer service roles, available outside normal office hours when many of their customers choose to call. This year has seen their biggest-ever training programme as HMRC build customer support teams that can move across a wide range of work according to customer demand. By the end of December 1,600 existing staff will be trained to cover a wider range of work. Hundreds of these people are already taking calls. These improvements have started to make a difference. Last month, HMRC answered more than 80 per cent of calls, and average queue times are now around 10 minutes or less.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assistance they are providing to the government of Ethiopia in dealing with the displacement of people as a result of the recent flash flooding in southern Ethiopia.

Baroness Verma

Extensive spring rains have come at a time when Ethiopia is experiencing its worst drought in 30 years, which has already left 18 million people in urgent need of relief. Britain is scaling up its response to help the Government of Ethiopia provide lifesaving support to thousands of families in urgent need after severe flooding.

Emergency humanitarian supplies – including 34,000 shelter kits, 60,000 blankets, 30,000 kitchen sets, clean water devices and other equipment – have begun arriving in Ethiopia to help 150,000 people in immediate need cope with the aftermath of intense flooding.

The UK is already the second largest bilateral humanitarian donor in Ethiopia, and this new support, at around £3.5 million, brings our total funding to the current humanitarian response in Ethiopia to £145 million.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2015-11-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the cost to (1) small businesses, and (2) personal taxpayers, of HMRC’s delays in answering telephone enquiries in terms of lost productivity.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

HM Revenue and Customs has not made such an assessment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the current gap in donor funding to tackle the food shortages in Ethiopia, and what steps they are taking to encourage other donor countries to meet their obligations.

Baroness Verma

Britain is working closely with the Government of Ethiopia and the international community to ensure adequate funding for drought response activities. Britain’s overall funding for the drought to date is £145 million, making the UK the second largest donor.

In December, the Government of Ethiopia and the United Nations launched an appeal for 2016 to fundraise $1.4 billion (~£923 million) to respond to the drought in Ethiopia. By the beginning of May, 66% of the required funds had been raised.

DFID is working closely with other donor governments to monitor the response and to lobby for support for the Government of Ethiopia and the UN appeal. Most recently, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Hurd discussed the current crisis with EU Commissioner Stylianides and in particular how to encourage others to step-up. DFID has also been working closely with the Ethiopian Government to support their leadership of the humanitarian response. To date, the Government of Ethiopia has allocated $381 million (~£269 million) to address the crisis. This is commendable.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2015-12-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 1 December (HL3716), what legal redress is available to patients denied access to mental health care by public health authorities that fail to comply with the provisions of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 on equal priority for mental and physical health.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Government is committed to achieving parity of esteem between physical and mental health and we expect people to have access to appropriate care and treatment based on their needs. We have implemented the first waiting times for mental health to improve access to mental health services. If individuals are dissatisfied with the services they are receiving, they may raise their concerns using local complaints procedures and if necessary with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether their representatives at the IMF and other international financial institutions will make clear that international financial assistance should not be made available to the government of Zimbabwe unless and until it enacts and implements the provisions of the constitution of Zimbabwe in full.

Baroness Verma

The UK continues to emphasise that any future financial assistance to Zimbabwe from the international financial institutions will need to be based on evidence of comprehensive reforms.

We welcome the inclusion of the commitment to align legislation with the Constitution in the package of reforms being discussed with the IMF and the Government of Zimbabwe’s letter of intent to the International Monetary Fund Board.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2015-12-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Zimbabwe regarding the disappearance of Itai Dzamara.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The British Government has been following this case closely since Itai Dzamara’s abduction in March 2015. Together with EU Member States, we have repeatedly called on the Government of Zimbabwe to undertake a full investigation. The EU issued a local statement on 11 September expressing deep concern about Itai Dzamara’s welfare. We continue to urge the Zimbabwean authorities to do everything they can to enable him to recover his freedom, and to respect their legal obligation to report on the progress of the investigation. The EU Delegation is in contact with Mr Dzamara’s family.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the likely efficacy of international financial assistance to the government of Zimbabwe in the light of the decision by the Reserve Bank to start issuing bond notes.

Baroness Verma

If Zimbabwe clears its arrears to the International Financial Institutions, any future financing would need to be based on comprehensive reforms and a firm commitment to sound macroeconomic management. The UK shares concerns that the introduction of bond notes could be damaging to confidence in the Zimbabwean economy, if not managed appropriately by the Government of Zimbabwe.