Tag: Parliamentary Question

Lord Ahmed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ahmed on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the total number of visitor visa applications received from (1) India, and (2) Pakistan, in the last six months; and what was the success rate in each case.

Lord Keen of Elie

For July to December 2015, there were 155,928 and 40,985 Entry clearance visitor visa applications from Indian and Pakistani nationals. Of the cases resolved (granted, refused, withdrawn or lapsed) in the same period, the proportion granted was 86% and 47% respectively. The information is provided in the table.

The latest quarterly Home Office immigration statistics on entry clearance visas are published in ‘Immigration Statistics, October-December 2015’, available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-statistics

01/01/2023
Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the planned timetable is for the scoping exercise for special provisions, including fast tracking for treatment, for people with obstructive sleep apnoea who drive for a living.

George Freeman

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has been asked to develop a clinical guideline and quality standard on sleep disordered breathing (including obstructive sleep apnoea). NICE will develop the scope of the clinical guideline, including the key questions that will be addressed by the guidance, in consultation with stakeholders.

NICE has advised that there is currently no timetable for developing this guidance.

01/01/2023
David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 April 2016 to Question 34579, what plans his Department has to publish information on the performance of the Defence Diversity and Inclusion Programme in increasing the diversity of the armed forces since that programme was established.

Penny Mordaunt

The Defence Diversity and Inclusion Programme (DDIP) is driving change in the core areas of leadership and culture; recruitment; retention and progression; and outreach by ensuring diversity and inclusion considerations as part of normal business across the whole Department. This involves staff and funding across all areas of the Department, to define how this should be done and ensure delivery as part of people’s existing roles wherever they work.

The Ministry of Defence is dedicated to achieving a more diverse workforce and is undertaking various activities to increase the number of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) recruits into the Armed Forces to 10% by 2020 and has allocated resources for this purpose.

The cost of funding the DDIP is disaggregated amongst budgets across the Department; therefore a response could only be provided at disproportionate cost. As part of the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review we dedicated additional resources to recruitment activity in order to help generate a more diverse workforce and reach all parts of the UK’s Armed Forces community.

01/01/2023
Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-06-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether data about all deaths of NHS cancer patients in England are collected by the National Cancer Registry; and if so, within how many months of death those data are collected.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

01/01/2023
Lord Mawson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mawson on 2016-09-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the health and safety implications of discarded pieces of rail and equipment alongside tracks across the rail network.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The independent regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), is responsible for monitoring and enforcing health and safety matters in respect of Britain’s railway. It has confirmed that Network Rail has standards in place regarding the removal of material and equipment following the completion of works and that Network Rail provides adequate guidance to its staff on this issue in order to minimise health and safety risks. However, the ORR has noted some inconsistent application of these standards; its inspectors are therefore actively engaging with Network Rail to address this issue.

01/01/2023
Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-10-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what safeguards are in place to prevent armed opposition fighters funded by Western countries from using their arms and training against unintended targets, or acting in a way that contradicts the Government’s overall strategy in the Middle East, in particular in Syria.

Earl Howe

The US-led programme to Train and Equip members of the moderate Syrian opposition, to which the UK has contributed, incorporated a screening process to determine the suitability of candidates. The training programme itself was designed to reinforce positive behaviours and on completion, successful candidates were required to make a formal declaration committing themselves to the fight against ISIL. Efforts continue to be made to monitor the activities of such individuals and the groups to which they are affiliated, to mitigate the risk that they engage thereafter in activities inconsistent with the aims of the programme.

01/01/2023
Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department made of the effect of previous reviews on the uptake of innovation in the NHS in establishing the terms of reference for the Accelerated Access Review.

George Freeman

The Accelerated Access Review (AAR), chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor, will make recommendations to government on reforms to accelerate access for National Health Service patients to innovative medicines and medical technologies making our country the best place in the world to design, develop and deploy these products. The terms of the reference for the review focus on faster access to innovations, which may include certain off-patent repurposed drugs, as opposed to the routine availability of medicines or medical technologies.

Prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR, the Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS including the Innovation, Health and Wealth report. As a result, building upon the lessons of previous reviews is explicit with the terms of reference of the AAR.

The AAR has regular meetings with senior officials from NHS England via a steering group as recommendations are being developed. In addition, some staff from NHS England have been assigned to support the review team.

Sir Hugh is still in the process of developing final recommendations which will be published in spring 2016. In his Interim Report published in October, Sir Hugh sets out a proposition on “galvanising the NHS”. This involves supporting the NHS to adopt innovation, more rapidly through better practical support, stronger incentives and the potential streamlining of local structures.

The Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR. It was clear that whilst progress has been made on the uptake of innovation in the NHS there is still much to do. Sir Hugh and the head of the External Advisory Group, Professor Sir John Bell, set out the case for uptake of innovation in the recently published AAR Interim Report.

The AAR has senior level contact with officials working on Lord Carter’s review of NHS efficiency to ensure that information is shared between the two teams.

01/01/2023
Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-01-05.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the annual running cost is of the Council of Economic Advisers; and what office space that council is allocated within the government estate.

Harriett Baldwin

Members of the Government’s Council of Economic Advisers meet every day to discuss the design and formation of government policy. Details of the Council’s membership and remuneration are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-adviser-data-releases-numbers-and-costs-december-2015. The Council operates from HM Treasury. Running costs cannot be disaggregated from the department’s budget.

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01/01/2023

Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding for cycling (a) London and (b) each of the cities which received Cycle City Ambition Grants received in 2014-15; and what the average level of such funding other areas received in that period.

Mr Robert Goodwill

CYCLE FUNDING FOR LONDON

The Department for Transport provides the Greater London Authority with a substantial transport grant for Transport for London (TfL). It is for TfL and ultimately the Mayor of London to decide how best to prioritise spending the grant.

CYCLING CITY FUNDING

CYCLING CITIES GRANT RECIPIENTS	Region	2013/14 capital (£m)	2014/15 capital (£m)	Total Funding Allocation for 2014-15 (£m)
Newcastle City Council	North East	5.7	–	5.7
Cambridgeshire County Council	East of England	2.2	1.9	4.1
Bristol City Council	South West	1.6	6.2	7.8
Manchester (Transport for Greater Manchester)	North West	20.0	–	20.0
Birmingham City Council	West Midlands	17.0	–	17.0
West Yorkshire ITA (covering Leeds and Bradford)	Yorkshire and the Humber	18.1	–	18.1
Norwich City Council	East of England	1.1	2.6	3.7
Oxfordshire County Council	South East	–	0.8	0.8
Total Cities Grants		65.6m	11.5m	77.2m

In 2014-15 the Department for Transport awarded the Cycling Cities Ambition grants to improve and develop cycling facilities and infrastructure. Some of the cities received their funding upfront in 2013-14 under the Cities Deal arrangement. Only four cities received funding in 2014-15.

REGIONAL FUNDING

REGIONS RECEIVING CYCLE FUNDING	2014/15 – DfT £m	2014/15 – Total (DfT + Local Contribution) £m
East Midlands	3.6	13.4
East of England	4.7	19.3
North East	4.3	17.5
North West	8.7	34.1
South East	10.0	37.8
South West	8.1	37.1
West Midlands	7.3	25.7
Yorkshire & Humber	5.3	28.2
Total Regions Average Funding	52.0m	213.1m

The 2014-15 figures include some funding streams, such as the Local Sustainable Transport Fund, which benefit a range of locations across England and cannot be easily disaggregated. The figures above therefore contain elements of funding which also benefit the eight cycle cities.

01/01/2023

Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much and what proportion of his Department’s overseas development assistance budget his Department spent was subject to the International Development Act 2002 in each of the last three years.

Mr David Lidington

All of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocation has been subject to the International Development Act since its enactment. This has amounted to: £321 million in financial year 2013/14; £344 million in financial year 2014/15 and is estimated to be over £400 million for the financial year 2015/16.

01/01/2023