Tag: Parliamentary Question

Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many complaints his Department received about the standard of its recent consultation document on court closures.

Mr Shailesh Vara

There has been one complaint about the standard of the recent consultation on the provision of court and tribunal estate in England and Wales.

The complaint, received by email, was from a member of the judiciary and related to St Alban’s County Court. It noted that the consultation document was inaccurate as it stated that no enabling work was required at the receiving court, Watford County Court. On investigation, it was determined that some enabling work would be required. The written response to the complaint corrected this inaccuracy. The published consultation response document was updated to present corrected information.

During the consultation process we were notified about inaccuracies in the consultation documents. These have all been corrected in the published response documents. All decisions were based on correct information together with the careful consideration of the consultation responses.

The consultation response is available online at www.gov.uk/moj.

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01/01/2023
Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that refugees and asylum seekers are able to access mental health services.

Alistair Burt

No estimate has been made of the proportion of refugees and asylum seekers who require mental health treatment as this data is not routinely collected.

Both refugees and asylum seekers are offered health assessments which include consideration of mental health issues, however we do not hold data on the outcome of these.

NHS England and clinical commissioning groups are committed to ensuring fair and equitable mental health care services for all, which includes all Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities, including vulnerable migrants, in particular, refugees and those seeking asylum.

NHS England recently launched the Five Year Forward View Mental Health Task Force Report which clearly outlines action to be taken nationally, regionally, and locally to help improve mental health services for BME communities in England.

The full report is available via the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Mental-Health-Taskforce-FYFV-final.pdf

NHS England supported MIND to co-produce the Guidance for commissioners – ‘Commissioning mental health services for vulnerable adult migrants’ September 2015 launched February 2016. The Guidance aims to ensure National Health Service commissioners and providers provide timely and good quality mental health services for vulnerable migrants in particular refugees and those seeking asylum. The full report is available at:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/gov/equality-hub/migrants/

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01/01/2023
Jo Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Cox on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the UN responds effectively to allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse perpetrated by peacekeepers in the Central African Republic.

James Duddridge

These are terrible allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers in the Central African Republic. The UN and Member States must investigate these claims urgently and thoroughly and hold the perpetrators to account. The UK supports the efforts by the UN Secretary-General to eliminate all instances of sexual abuse and exploitation by UN peacekeepers.

The Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, The Rt Hon Baroness Anelay of St Johns DBE, has made tackling sexual abuse and exploitation in peacekeeping missions one of her top priorities. The UK supported UN Security Council resolution 2272 which endorses the UN Secretary General’s decision to repatriate troops when there is credible evidence of sexual exploitation and abuse, and for troop contributing countries to keep the UN Secretary General informed of the progress of investigations.

The UK Government will provide £1 million to support the UN’s work to improve the suitability of deployed peacekeepers, design a reporting system that communities will trust, and ensure a stronger UN response to proven allegations. The UK will be hosting an international conference on UN peacekeeping in the autumn which will push for further progress on UN peacekeeping reform.

01/01/2023
Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale on 2016-05-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the renegotiated tax treaty between the UK and Malawi will improve opportunities for the government of Malawi to raise domestic revenue.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

Discussions with Malawi over a new tax treaty began some years ago, and substantive agreement has been reached at official level. The Government of Malawi have stated that they hope to be in a position to sign the new treaty in the near future.

The current negotiations are a matter for the two governments. The UK’s starting point in negotiations is based closely on the OECD Model Double Taxation Convention, which is also the basis for most other countries’ tax treaties. Some developing countries prefer to follow the UN Model, the provisions of which differ in some areas to the OECD Model. The UK does adopt these provisions in its treaties where agreement is reached.

This is a matter for the Government of Malawi. However, they have stated that there is no evidence that the current 1955 agreement has motivated British investors to deprive the Government of Malawi of its revenues.

The terms of tax treaties are for the negotiators of both countries to agree. Only when both governments are content with the terms of the treaty will the treaty be signed. It would be inappropriate for draft treaties to be published in advance of signature to the treaty.

In the UK tax treaties are published and subject to parliamentary scrutiny before they become law and enter into force. A form of approval is usually followed in the corresponding country, thus giving a further level of assurance that the terms are acceptable to both Governments.

01/01/2023
Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-06-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the government of Bahrain on the re-arrest of Nabeel Rajab in that country.

Mr Philip Hammond

We are concerned about the recent re-arrest of Nabeel Rajab. The UK encourages Bahrain to respect the rights of all its citizens. We call on the Bahraini Government to act proportionately in all such cases to protect the universal rights of freedom of expression. I raised his case with my Bahraini counterpart, Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa on 14 June 2016. We will continue to monitor his case as it develops.

01/01/2023

Kevin Foster – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Foster on 2016-09-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make a comparative assessment of the earning distribution of hospital and community health service doctors to the earning distribution of workers in professional occupations.

Mr Philip Dunne

The best available comparison, for 2015, is shown in the table below. The Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) Doctors figures relate to the earnings of doctors employed by the NHS Hospital and Community Health Service in England, and are based on NHS Earnings Estimates published by NHS Digital. General practitioners are not included. The All Professional Occupations figures represent the earnings of all employees nationally in Professional Occupations, as published by the Office for National Statistics.

Percentile	All Professional Occupations	HCHS Doctors
10	£15,331	£45,000
20	£22,168	£52,500
30	£26,557	£61,500
40	£30,465	£73,500
Median	£34,076	£87,500
60	£37,467	£99,500
70	£41,675	£110,500
80	£47,506	£124,000
90	£59,320	£144,500

Sources: All Professional Occupations earnings statistics published by the Office for National Statistics, from its 2015 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.

HCHS Doctors earnings figures based on statistics published by NHS Digital, from NHS Electronic Staff Record data, in NHS Staff Earnings Estimates to December 2015. The NHS Electronic Staff Record is the HR and Payroll system used by almost all National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts in England.

Both sets of figures are the estimated total earnings in 2015 of employees who worked for the full year, regardless of their working hours (i.e. this includes both full-time and part-time workers).

The All Professional Occupations group covers occupations whose main tasks require a high level of knowledge and experience in the natural sciences, engineering, life sciences, social sciences, humanities and related fields. The main tasks consist of the practical application of an extensive body of theoretical knowledge, increasing the stock of knowledge by means of research and communicating such knowledge by teaching methods and other means.

Most occupations in this major group will require a degree or equivalent qualification, with some occupations requiring postgraduate qualifications and/or a formal period of experience-related training.

01/01/2023

Tim Loughton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2015-11-10.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the funding offer for the Pioneer Communities Project was withdrawn; and what the basis was for the withdrawal.

Greg Hands

The Government announced at Autumn Statement 2014 funding for the Department for Education for an “Early intervention pilot for 0-2 year olds – to pilot a new approach to ensure that the most effective early intervention actions are taken during a child’s earliest years, to prevent avoidable problems later.”

This measure was to be delivered by the Department for Education, who worked with a number of stakeholders including Her Majesty’s Treasury, the Wave Trust and the Early Intervention Foundation to identify options to deliver the project.

As no contract has been signed for this measure, in June 2015 the Department for Education undertook not to proceed with the measure in this financial year.

01/01/2023
Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of brownfield land in Mid Dorset and North Poole has been redesignated as community land trust in the last five years.

Brandon Lewis

The Department does not hold information centrally on the amount or type of land held by community land trusts.

The Department’s annual Green Belt statistics monitor the amount of land designated as Green Belt in England and any changes to the designated area since the previous year. The statistics record the change by local planning authority.

Of the local planning authorities for which information was requested, the following have made changes to the Green Belt in the last five years:

East Dorset reduced the area of designated Green Belt in 2014-15 by 160 hectares to 16,720 hectares, a reduction of 1 per cent; and

Purbeck increased the area of designated Green Belt in 2012-13 by 460 hectares to 8,200 hectares, an increase of 6 per cent.

01/01/2023
Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-01-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what regulations are in place to prevent schools installing vending machines on their premises which allow children to buy sugary drinks.

Lord Nash

As a cornerstone of the government’s commitment to healthy eating in schools, new school food standards came into force from January 2015. These standards regulate the food and drink provided both at lunchtime and at other times of the school day, including food and drink provided in vending machines.

The standards ensure that children are eating nutritious food at school by setting out clear, easy to follow guidance based on food groups and by giving school cooks the flexibility to create their own meals. The standards severely restrict foods high in fat, salt, and sugar, including high sugar drinks. The regulations permit only healthy drinks with an emphasis on water, milk and fruit juice (with 5% or less added sugars).

01/01/2023
Angela Rayner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on UK pensioners living in another EU member state of a British withdrawal from the EU.

Justin Tomlinson

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Prime Minister on 14 January 2016 to Question UIN 21952.

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01/01/2023