Tag: Mark Menzies

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-07-20.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to further develop the Northern Powerhouse agenda.

Mr David Gauke

We have made huge progress in building a Northern Powerhouse, from investment in transport, enterprise and culture to agreeing five landmark devolution deals across the North. We remain fully committed to doing everything we can to strengthen the Northern Powerhouse, including investing £13bn in transport over the course of this parliament, further improving skills through the Northern Powerhouse Schools Strategy and encouraging even more foreign investment into the towns and cities of the North. Next year, 55% of the North’s population will vote for a mayor to oversee economic decision making in their local area.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support innovation in assistive technology for use by people with dementia.

Jane Ellison

Dementia is a key priority for the Government. That is why in February 2015, the Prime Minister launched his Challenge on Dementia 2020. The Government will implement the Prime Minister’s Challenge in full to make sure that dementia care, support, awareness and research are transformed by 2020.

As part of the 2020 Challenge, we want to see greater provision of innovative and high quality dementia care, delivered in a way that is personalised and appropriate to the specific needs of the person with dementia, their family and carers. This includes providers incorporating new ideas including technology solutions into everyday practice. We also want to see research on assistive technologies and assisted living, including research on how information and communication technologies can best help people with dementia and carers.

The Department and NHS England recently launched seven ‘Test Bed Sites’ in England. These sites will evaluate the real world impact of technologies, testing them together with innovations in how the NHS services are delivered, to improve health and care outcomes. Three of the Test Beds will have a focus on dementia.

A number of programmes have been launched to support usage of technology for the benefit of people including those with dementia and their carers. These include:

– The Technology Enabled Care Services (TECS) Programme;

– A TECS resource for Commissioners; and

– The Small Business Research Initiative Healthcare and Regional Innovation Fund initiative.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what responsibilities his Department has for (a) formulating and (b) overseeing regulation of the shale gas industry; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman

Responsibility for formulating and overseeing regulation of the shale gas industry has been transferred to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The Department will fulfil the same role previously undertaken by the Department of Energy and Climate Energy.

The Government has been clear that shale development must be safe and environmentally sound. The Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering concluded that risks can be managed if industry follows best practice enforced by regulation [1]. We already have one of the most robust regulatory regimes in the world for shale gas and we will look to continuously improve it as the industry develops.

[1] The Royal Society and The Royal Academy of Engineers, Shale gas extraction in the UK: a review of hydraulic fracturing, 2012

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps his Department has taken to (a) improve the provision of care for patients with lung disease and (b) increase funding for research into lung diseases.

Jane Ellison

Respiratory disease is specifically covered in the NHS Outcomes Framework and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published Quality Standards for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and lung cancer setting out the markers of high-quality, cost-effective care.

Expenditure by the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) on research relating to respiratory disease has increased from £15.7 million in 2009/10 to £25.5 million in 2014/15 (the latest available figure).

The NIHR has launched a new, open competition for biomedical research centre funding from April 2017 to March 2022. In this competition, a number of clinical areas of particular strategic importance to the health of patients are highlighted including respiratory disease.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps his Department is taking to negotiate a trade deal with the Mercosur trading bloc.

Greg Hands

The EU is currently negotiating a trade deal with Mercosur. Until we have left the EU, the UK will remain a member of the EU with all of the rights and obligations that membership entails.

In due course, Britain will be leaving the EU. This offers us an opportunity to forge a new role for ourselves in the world: to negotiate, in time, our own trade agreements and to be a positive and powerful force for free trade. The Prime Minister has established the Department for International Trade to promote British trade across the world and ensure the UK takes advantage of the huge opportunities open to us. The Government is currently reviewing its trade policy. We will engage fully with a broad range of stakeholders, including both governments and business over the coming weeks and months as we prepare for the negotiation with the EU and other international partners.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to improve the provision of work in prisons; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Selous

We want prisons to be places of hard work, rigorous education and high ambition, with incentives for prisoners to learn and for prison staff to prioritise education and work. Improvements have been made to increase work but we want to go further. We are looking at the ways in which this might be achieved.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 12 May 2016 to Question 36891, whether it is his Department’s policy to retain a Jobcentre Plus in Fylde; and for what reasons officials in his Department did not inform the hon. Member for Fylde of his Department’s plans to redevelop the Jobcentre Plus at Westmoreland House in Lytham St. Annes.

Priti Patel

The department is in the process of reviewing all of its estates requirements as the current contract for most of the estate comes to an end on 31 March 2018.

As building contracts come to an end landlords may explore what options are available to them, including making planning applications. In many cases this will be a sensible commercial decision even if the landlord intends on continuing to let their property to DWP.

In this case the landlord of Westmorland House has acted independently of DWP in applying for planning permission. No decision has been made on the future of this Jobcentre Plus.

Commercial negotiations are underway on the entirety of our estate at this time and it is not appropriate to comment further on individual sites while negotiations are in progress.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to tackle illegitimate and fraudulent activity by claims handling companies.

Sir Oliver Heald

Tackling bad practices by claims management companies (CMCs) is a priority for the Government. Action already taken includes the removal of over a thousand CMC licenses since 2010 and the issuing of over £2 million in fines.

Collaborative work between the Claims Management Regulation Unit and other regulators has resulted in the successful disruption and prosecution of criminal operations by CMCs engaged in fraudulent and illegitimate claims.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, for what reasons he has decided to recover the planning appeals by Caudrilla Resources to build shale gas wells at Roseacre and Preston New Road.

James Wharton

The reasons for the Secretary of State’s decision are set out in his letter to parties. This makes clear that the drilling appeals involve proposals for exploring and developing shale gas which amount to proposals for development of major importance having more than local significance and proposals which raise important or novel issues of development control, and/ or legal difficulties.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-06-03.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason the British Virgin Islands were not invited to the UK Anti-Corruption Summit on 12 May 2016.

Matthew Hancock

The Government invited leaders from those Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories that had agreed to the recent initiative on automatic exchange of beneficial ownership information.