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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Andrew Murrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Murrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he next plans to visit the Kingdom of Morocco.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    I led a trade delegation of 40 companies to Morocco in November, reconfirming our close bilateral relationship and demonstrating the potential to expand our trade links.

    I have no firm plans to return at present, but am pleased that the Moroccan Ministers of Energy and Justice are visiting the UK later this month.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will engage with the #itaffectsme campaign on raising awareness of mental health issues.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government is working to reduce stigma around mental health, and supports all campaigns, including #itaffectsme, in this area.Any campaign, such as #itaffectsme, which raises awareness in mental health issues, is welcomed. In a speech announcing almost a billion pounds in investment into mental health services on 11 January, the Prime Minister recognised the need to take away the stigma behind mental illness. He said that, ‘as a country, we need to be far more mature about this. Less hushed tones, less whispering; more frank and open discussion. We need to take away that shame, that embarrassment, let people know that they’re not in this alone’.

    We continue to provide financial support to the Time to Change programme which works to reduce the stigma associated with mental health and to encourage people to talk about mental health issues and seek help when needed. We are working with the programme and funders to develop the next stage of the programme.

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she plans to open her Department’s consultation on changes to the Warm Home Discount scheme.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government announced in the Spending Review on 25 November 2015 that the Warm Home Discount scheme would be extended to 2020/21 at current levels of £320m per year, rising with inflation, to help households who are at risk of fuel poverty with their energy bills. Government will publically consult on changes to the scheme later this year.

  • Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what their policy is for the provision of textbooks and exercise books in primary and secondary schools in England; and what assessment they have made of differences in provision between the UK and other European countries.

    Lord Nash

    Good teaching and high academic standards are strongly associated with adequate provision and widespread use of high-quality textbooks.

    Cambridge Assessment’s report, ‘Why textbooks count’, analysed the use of high-quality textbooks around the world. The report found that use of textbooks is common in high performing education jurisdictions. In Finland, 95% of maths teachers use a textbook as a basis for instruction. In Singapore, 70% of maths teachers use a textbook. In England, only 10% of maths teachers use a textbook for their core teaching.

    A well-designed textbook provides a coherent, structured programme which supports a teacher’s own expertise and knowledge as well as a pupil’s.

    On 26 March 2016, the Department for Education published a report from a review group looking at teacher workload in relation to planning and resources. The group concluded there is a case for schools to place greater emphasis on quality- assured resources, including textbooks, to reduce the time teachers spend on searching for resources.

    Good textbooks also have workbooks which support homework in a positive way by providing well-structured practice exercises linked to clear explanations, which parents can understand and use to help their children.

    We have been working with textbook publishers with the aim of improving the quality of textbooks available to schools, to better support excellent teaching and teacher professional development. Last year, the publishers produced a set of common guidelines for the production of textbooks.

  • Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether UK government agencies were providing remote sensing data to detect, forecast and provide warning of the recent earthquakes in Afghanistan to the affected communities and government agencies.

    Baroness Verma

    The science is clear on this matter – earthquakes cannot be forecast with any degree of reliability. Remote sensing does exist, but can only operate in extremely technically sophisticated environments, and even then can only provide limited warning of a few seconds or minutes in which to respond. As such the UK Government does not provide remote sensing data to detect, forecast, and provide warning of earthquakes in Afghanistan.

    When it comes to other forms of natural disaster, DFID funds a resilience and disaster risk reduction programme in Afghanistan which provides £9.6m over four years (2015-18) to an NGO consortium called Afghanistan Resilience Consortium (ARC). Implementation is focused in the eight northern provinces of Afghanistan which are the most disaster prone.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) out-of-court restorative justice resolutions and (b) cautions were given to (i) people on suspended prison sentences and (ii) prisoners released on licence in the latest year for which information is held.

    Mike Penning

    The information requested, could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department provided in bus subsidies to Lancashire in 2015.

    Andrew Jones

    Lancashire receives almost £1.9 million of the £40m of Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) my Department provides directly to English local authorities each year to help deliver bus services.

    This is in addition to the £6.8 million Lancashire received in 2014-15 for local bus services via the block grant from the Department for Communities and Local Government, which is provided to all local authorities in England.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what treatment options are available to adults with uveitis to access anti-TNF treatment therapy who do not meet the exceptionality criteria of the individual funding request process.

    David Mowat

    Due to a lack of clinical evidence anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) to treat uveitis in adults is not currently routinely commissioned by the National Health Service. Therefore patients can only access the treatment through the individual funding request process.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any discussions are taking place about supporting ING Groep NV’s plans to expand their small-business lending programme.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The government wishes to see a diverse and competitive market for lending to small and medium businesses and welcomes new entrants to that market. We are aware of ING’s recent equity investment in an online lending platform. That is a commercial matter for ING which the government has not discussed with the company.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the budget is for implementation of the UK Five Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    The UK Five Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy (AMR) Strategy detailed implementation plan, published in December 2014, set out those activities that needed to be undertaken to deliver the strategy in each of seven key areas for action. No separate budget was identified. Activity in the plan is led by the Department of Health, Public Health England, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and NHS England and is incorporated within existing business plans for those organisations.

    In March 2015 the Government announced the new £195 million Fleming Fund to strengthen surveillance of drug resistance and laboratory capacity in developing countries. As stated in the Overseas Development Aid Strategy, published on 22 November. The Government will invest a further £70 million in the Fleming Fund and deliver the new Global AMR Innovation Fund launched with China. The Government will continue to push for further international financing for research and innovation to tackle AMR.