Tag: Mike Freer

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Freer on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which (a) Ministers and (b) officials of her Department plan to attend the UN General Assembly high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS at the UN headquarters in New York in June 2016.

Mr Nick Hurd

The UK government will be represented at the UN General Assembly high-level meeting on ending AIDS at the UN headquarters in New York in June 2016. Precise attendance has still to be finalised.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Freer on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect on the price of airline tickets of the falling price of oil.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The recent drop in crude oil price would not have the same effect in aviation as it does in, for example, petrol stations. It is common practice in aviation industry to purchase aviation fuel in advance by entering into long-term hedging contracts, which are designed to provide stability to the industry from short-term price fluctuations.

Should the current trend in the cost of oil prove long-term, it is likely to have an effect on ticket prices in the future in a highly competitive industry.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Freer on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress his Department is making on rolling out HPV vaccinations to men who have sex with men.

Jane Ellison

In November 2015, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the expert body that advises the Government on all immunisation matters, advised that a targeted human papillomavirus vaccination programme should be undertaken for men who have sex with men up to 45 years of age who attend genitourinary medicine and HIV clinics. They noted that this should be subject to procurement of the vaccine and delivery of the programme at a cost-effective price.

JCVI acknowledged that finding a way to implement its advice would be challenging and made clear that work was needed by DH and others to consider commissioning and delivery routes for this programme. This work is already underway and we will announce our plans as soon as we can.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Freer on 2016-03-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which professional bodies provide accreditation for (a) counselling and (b) psychotherapy services for the NHS.

Alistair Burt

The Department has no statutory powers to compel professional bodies to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). We are working closely with the group who drafted the MoU, currently led by the UK Council for Psychotherapy, which has successfully increased the number of signatories since the document was first published in February 2015. The group will continue to encourage others to sign up to their revised MoU, which will be extended to include transgender people, over coming months.

The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) provides independent accreditation of voluntary registers for counselling and psychotherapy services.

Accreditation by the PSA allows commissioners, employers, and service users to assure themselves that the practitioners on these registers meet high standards of training, conduct and competence, and at all times apply high ethical standards to their work.

The PSA accredits the following voluntary registers relevant to counselling and psychotherapy:

Association of Child Psychotherapists;

Association of Christian Counsellors;

British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy;

British Association of Play Therapists;

British Psychoanalytic Council;

Counselling & Psychotherapy in Scotland;

National Counselling Society;

Play Therapy UK; and

UK Council for Psychotherapy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Freer on 2016-03-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that all professional bodies that provide accreditation for counselling and psychotherapy services for the NHS add their signatures to the Memorandum of Understanding on Conversion Therapy in the UK, published in November 2015.

Alistair Burt

The Department has no statutory powers to compel professional bodies to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). We are working closely with the group who drafted the MoU, currently led by the UK Council for Psychotherapy, which has successfully increased the number of signatories since the document was first published in February 2015. The group will continue to encourage others to sign up to their revised MoU, which will be extended to include transgender people, over coming months.

The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) provides independent accreditation of voluntary registers for counselling and psychotherapy services.

Accreditation by the PSA allows commissioners, employers, and service users to assure themselves that the practitioners on these registers meet high standards of training, conduct and competence, and at all times apply high ethical standards to their work.

The PSA accredits the following voluntary registers relevant to counselling and psychotherapy:

Association of Child Psychotherapists;

Association of Christian Counsellors;

British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy;

British Association of Play Therapists;

British Psychoanalytic Council;

Counselling & Psychotherapy in Scotland;

National Counselling Society;

Play Therapy UK; and

UK Council for Psychotherapy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Freer on 2016-03-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what mechanisms are in place to monitor the use of HIV innovation funding; and when he plans to (a) conduct and (b) publish his review of the projects that have received such funding.

Jane Ellison

In November 2015, the HIV Prevention Innovation fund announced one year’s funding for seven projects led by voluntary sector organisations. Project funding included an allocation for monitoring and evaluation of their activities and projects have been asked to submit regular monitoring reports to Public Health England. Projects will be asked to report the outcome of their work at the end of their contract. These results will be combined into a single report, which will draw out and highlight important learning from all projects, to be presented and published before the end of the 2016/17 financial year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Freer on 2016-03-21.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many properties valued at or over £1 million were sold in October to December (a) 2014 and (b) 2015; and how much was raised in stamp duty land tax in each of those periods.

Mr David Gauke

The table below summarises estimates for the number of and yield from property transactions between October and December 2014 and 2015. The estimates for 2014 include transactions in Scotland whereas estimates for 2015 do not because SDLT ceased to be applicable to Scottish transactions from 1 April 2015. The figures for the 2015-16 financial year are provisional.

	October to December 2014	October to December 2015
Residential Transactions at or over £1m (Number)	4,800	5,300
Residential Transactions at or over £1m (Stamp Duty Land Tax)	£577 million	£674 million
Non-Residential Transactions at or over £1m (Number)	3,800	3,600
Non-Residential Transactions at or over £1m (Stamp Duty Land Tax)	£708 million	£731 million
Total Stamp Duty Land Tax	£2.87 billion	£2.91 billion

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Freer on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which (a) ministers and (b) officials of his Department will be present at the International Aids Conference in Durban in July 2016.

Jane Ellison

Officials from Public Health England will be attending the conference and feeding back to Ministers on the issues discussed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Freer on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which (a) ministers and (b) officials of her Department will be present at the International Aids Conference in Durban in July 2016.

Mr Nick Hurd

The UK government will be represented at the International AIDS Conference in Durban in July 2016. Precise attendance has still to be finalised.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Freer on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which (a) ministers and (b) officials of his Department will be present at the International Aids Conference in Durban in July 2016.

Jane Ellison

Officials from Public Health England will be attending the conference and feeding back to Ministers on the issues discussed.