Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that it provides its staff with sufficient guidance to ensure that sanctions are not placed on universal credit claimants who do not have an applicable box to tick on NHS charges claim forms when claiming help with NHS health costs.

    Alistair Burt

    Various sources of information for the public and relevant staff, such as NHS Choices, are provided on the arrangements for Help with Health Costs, including how Universal Credit claimants should claim. However, the Department for Work and Pensions has also issued general guidance to staff signposting key information.

    Any claims for exemption from National Health Service charges or remission or repayment of relevant health costs made by a person because they meet the qualifying criteria may be the subject of a validation check. This is to protect NHS resources from fraud and error.

    Where a patient meets the criteria in place for Universal Credit and is therefore entitled to claim entitlement to Help with Health Costs, but there is no Universal Credit box available to tick on relevant forms, they can claim by ticking the “gets income based Jobseekers Allowance” box. Those whose claim is selected for a validation check will be able to explain their position to the relevant authority, and use their Universal Credit award notice to support their claim.

  • Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2015-12-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the debate on the North Sea on 30 November (HL Deb, cols 1002–1024), whether they will provide definitions of the different types of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) in the UK’s coastal waters, the locations of those MPAs, of each type; and where new MPAs are to be introduced, to which type those belong.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Marine Protected Area (MPA) network is made up of different types of designations, made under national law, EU directives and international agreements. As designation of MPAs is a devolved matter, Defra is responsible for designations in Secretary of State waters only, which are, English inshore and offshore waters, Northern Irish offshore waters, and Welsh Offshore waters, with responsibility for conservation in the latter proposed to be devolved to the Welsh Government in the Wales Bill. In these waters, the MPA network is made up the following types of sites.

    • Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs), which are designated under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. They protect marine habitats and species that are either typical of the life in our seas, or are rare or vulnerable.
    • Two types of MPA can be designated under European legislation: Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), which protect habitats listed in Annex I and species listed in Annex II of the Habitats directive (92/43/EEC); and Special Protection Areas (SPAs), which protect birds listed in Annex I of the Wild Birds directive (2009/147/EC) and migratory species.
    • Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), which are designated under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. These sites can be designated for either biological or geological interest.
    • Ramsar sites, which are wetlands of international importance, designated under the Ramsar Convention. This includes marine areas with a water depth at low tide of less than six metres. Ramsar sites are generally also underpinned by designation as SSSIs.

    Together, these sites contribute to the Blue Belt, a network of sites around the coasts of the UK, which forms our contribution to an ecologically coherent network of MPAs in the North East Atlantic.

    We have already made good progress in designating a network of sites in the Blue Belt. Over 16% of UK waters and almost a quarter of English inshore waters are now within MPAs.

    Based on current evidence the SAC network contribution for habitats can be considered complete. UK governments are considering advice on SACs for harbour porpoise, although no decision with regard to consultation has yet been taken.

    Defra and the devolved administrations in the UK plan to complete the identification of SPAs for birds in the UK marine area during 2016.

    Defra is seeking to fill the remaining gaps in the Blue Belt through two more tranches of MCZs. Details of this will be announced shortly. A map showing the existing network of MPAs in the waters for which the Secretary of State is responsible is attached.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support the Asian Restaurant Skills Board.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Asian Restaurant Skills Board is an independent industry-led initiative set up to promote the opportunities that the Asian cuisine industry offers for exciting and rewarding careers, increasing social mobility and celebrating the importance of Asian cuisine in modern Britain. DCLG has worked closely with the Board, helping it to promote the industry through a publicity campaign and raise funding for four degree-level scholarships in Asian Cuisine at the University of West London.

  • Angela Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Angela Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of employee involvement in the workplace on productivity levels.

    Nick Boles

    The research report ‘Does Worker Wellbeing Affect Workplace Performance?’ was published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in October 2014 and can be found on GOV.UK. This examines the wide range of factors, including employee involvement, that can positively impact on worker wellbeing. The analysis carried out using the 2011 Workplace Employment Relations Study suggests that well-being is also positively associated with workplace financial performance, labour productivity and the quality of output or service.

  • Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Jenkyns on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to encourage discussions between business leaders and the education sector on improving young people’s readiness for work and their future employment prospects.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Government is taking a number of steps to encourage discussions between business leaders and the education sector.

    We have provided funding for The Careers & Enterprise Company which is increasing the number and quality of links between the education and business sector. The Company’s national network of enterprise advisers is already brokering relationships in 30 LEP areas, working with schools, colleges, employers and careers and enterprise organisations. The Government’s forthcoming careers strategy will set out the additional steps we will take to encourage interaction between business leaders and the education sector to support young people to prepare for working life.

    My Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister, in his speech on life chances on 11 January, announced £70 million funding over the parliament to transform the quality of the careers education, advice and guidance offered to young people. It will include funding for The Careers & Enterprise Company to continue the excellent work it has begun. It will also include delivery of a campaign to recruit a new generation of mentors to support young people at risk of under-achieving or dropping out, many of who will be business people.

    We are also planning reforms to technical education which will ensure that the skills system is simple and genuinely owned, understood and valued by employers.

  • Roberta Blackman-Woods – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Roberta Blackman-Woods – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has for future provision of the collective passport service.

    James Brokenshire

    As indicated in my replies of 23 February 2016 [27190] and 15 March 2016 [30705], a review on the future use of the Collective passport is underway. The outcome of that review will be announced on completion of stakeholder engagement.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-04-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department’s news story of 21 September 2015, on £2 billion support for Hinkley Point, what documentation has since been agreed and signed with EDF or other parties relating to that project.

    Greg Hands

    No documents have been signed with EDF or any other parties, since 21st September 2015 announcing the approval of the £2 billion guarantee for Hinkley Point.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make an assessment of the likelihood of the yellow fever outbreak in Angola spreading beyond Africa; and what support the Government is providing to tackle that outbreak.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The Government recognises the Yellow Fever outbreak in Angola as being of serious concern, with risks of international spread through non-immunised travellers. Government departments are collaborating to monitor the situation closely, including within affected and at-risk countries where the UK has a presence. We are also working with the World Health Organisation, Gavi (the vaccine alliance) and other international partners to support their work to control the outbreak, including through large-scale vaccination campaigns. The UK has financed one quarter of the Yellow Fever vaccine doses provided to the global stockpile in 2016. More than 10.5million people in Angola and nearly 2million people in DRC have already been vaccinated in response to the outbreak.

  • Siobhain McDonagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Siobhain McDonagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Siobhain McDonagh on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department took to assess the grounds for granting a visa to Mufti Hanif Qureshi.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    All visa applications are considered on their individual merits and in line with the Immigration Rules.

    In order to safeguard an individual’s personal information and comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 the Home Office is limited in what information it can provide when the request is made by someone who is not the applicant. The Home Office is therefore unable to provide the information requested.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how much funding his Department has been allocated for each fiscal year of the current Spending Review period.

    Mr Robin Walker

    Detailed work is underway to establish the budget required to fulfil the department’s set-up and responsibilities, including staffing budget, over the period of the Spending Review. The budget will be presented to the House of Commons and approved as part of the supplementary estimates in the new year, as is standard practice.