Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take in response to the findings on bullying and harassment in the Care Quality Commission’s report on the South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, published on 29 September 2016.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Following the publication of the Care Quality Commission report on 29 September, NHS Improvement placed South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust in Special Measures. The Trust will receive a package of tailored support to address specific issues and drive improvements.

    These measures include: buddying arrangements with South Central Ambulance Service, the appointment of an Improvement Director and publication of the Trust’s recovery plan in November, which will include a detailed programme to specifically address the bullying and harassment culture within the Trust. An oversight group has already been established to be chaired by NHS Improvement and including representatives from NHS England, clinical commissioning groups and the Trust to oversee the delivery of quality improvements.

    There has been a change in leadership following the resignation of the Chair and Chief Executive. NHS Improvement has appointed an interim Chair and continues to support organisational development and cultural change work, including strengthening complaints processes.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 9 January 2015 to Question 219449, what progress has been made in improving wheelchair services following the NHS England review.

    Alistair Burt

    Following the conclusion of its review NHS England has set up an improvement support programme working with 11 clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to improve services for wheelchair users. The 11 CCGs are:

    – North Yorkshire (NHS Harrogate and Rural District;

    – NHS Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby;

    – NHS Scarborough and Ryedale;

    – NHS Vale of York CCG;

    – North West London (NHS West London);

    – NHS Hounslow;

    – NHS Ealing;

    – NHS Central London;

    – NHS Hammersmith and Fulham;

    – NHS Barnet; and

    – NHS Brent.

    NHS Improving Quality is supporting the programme which will run from September 2015 to March 2016 and include creating guidance, evidence and material to share with other organisations and communities.

    NHS England has also introduced a new national wheelchair dataset with the aim of providing information centrally on the volume, expenditure, access to, and patient experience about wheelchair services to enable transparency and benchmarking. From July 2015, data are being collected quarterly from CCGs.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the level of take-up by (a) micro, (b) small and (c) medium-sized enterprises has been of the cyber essentials programme.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    At the end of March 2016, 2,181 Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus certificates had been issued, of which ​it is estimated ​28% were awarded to micro, 28% to small, and 22% to medium-sized businesses​.

  • Natalie McGarry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Natalie McGarry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Natalie McGarry on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representation he has made to his Turkish counterpart on the use of curfews in predominantly Kurdish areas of Turkey.

    Mr David Lidington

    The ongoing violence in the predominantly Kurdish areas of south east Turkey is extremely concerning. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) continues to kill members of the Turkish police service and security forces in violent terrorist attacks. The Turkish Government has responded by striking PKK targets in Turkey and Northern Iraq. They have also launched large-scale security operations involving curfews in some towns and cities in order to clear them of suspected terrorists.

    We are aware of reports of civilian casualties in the region, and a worsening humanitarian situation in certain areas in south east Turkey. The Turkish Government have said that 48 civilians lost their lives in clashes between 23 July and 23 December 2015. They also said that 93,000 people have fled their homes. We also understand that there have been investigations launched against elected officials and politicians. Any such investigations should be undertaken transparently and fully respect the rule of law.

    We believe Turkey has a legitimate right to defend itself against the PKK, whose attacks we condemn as we condemn all terrorism. Our thoughts are with the victims of these attacks, and the civilians who have been caught up in the violence. As in any conflict, civilian casualties should be avoided and human rights need to be fully protected. We have been clear, in public and private, that PKK violence must end and we support a return to the peace process, in the interests of Turkey and the region. We stand ready to help in any way we can.

    We continue to monitor the situation closely. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge and our Ambassador to Turkey have emphasised to the Turkish government the need to respect human rights, avoid civilian casualties and return to the peace process. I raised these issues with my Turkish counterpart the last time we met in August 2015.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civilian personnel were deployed in each operational theatre overseas in the most recent year for which figures are available.

    Penny Mordaunt

    In the last 12 months (13 February 2015 to 12 February 2016), 71 UK civil servants have deployed on behalf of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to provide direct support to military operations. A breakdown of locations is provided below.

    Country

    Number of UK civil servants deployed on behalf of the MOD

    Afghanistan

    42

    Sierra Leone

    1

    United Arab Emirates

    14

    Bahrain

    2

    Qatar

    8

    Italy

    2

    United States of America

    2

    Since June 2015, an average of 88 UK contractors has been deployed on military operations by the MOD at any one time. A total 12-month figure could not be provided as details of changes to individual post-holders are not held centrally, and information is not held for the period before June 2015.

    Country

    Average number of UK civilian contractors deployed by the MOD

    Afghanistan

    36

    Gulf

    44

    Iraq

    6

    Nigeria

    2
  • Andrew Bingham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andrew Bingham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bingham on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reasons public bodies are permitted to import meat and meat products which due to poor welfare standards would be illegal to produce in the UK.

    George Eustice

    Government Buying Standards for food and catering services are mandatory for central government and encouraged in the wider public sector. The standards require that all food served must have been produced in compliance with UK legal standards for animal welfare.

    To protect the supply of food to central government and other public bodies, including prisons and the military, the only exception is for the procurement of pig and poultry meat. This means that in the event that UK market conditions impose a significant increase in costs that cannot be compensated for by savings elsewhere, pig and poultry meat must as a minimum meet EU standards and the reasons for not applying UK welfare standards must be recorded and signed off by a senior official in the organisation concerned.

  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-04-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish an estimate of the likely impact of the additional levy that will be imposed on well managed and solvent pension schemes in relation to the BHS pension schemes.

    Baroness Altmann

    Parliament gave the Pensions Protection Fund independence in how it operates. The PPF sets the pension protection levy at the level it considers necessary to meet its long term funding strategy rather than in direct response to recent claims. Factors relevant to the level of the levy include: the PPF’s existing funding position (£3.6bn in reserves at March 2015); the potential level of future claims; the potential level of assets that may be received from transferred schemes; and expected future investment returns.

  • Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of naval vessels and aircraft routinely conduct monitoring and reporting of maritime activity (a) in the presence of vessels engaged in fishing and (b) otherwise when they are operating in or transiting through the Exclusive Economic Zone of British Overseas Territories.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The Ministry of Defence supports the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in combatting illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing through a support agreement between the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and the Royal Navy (RN), whereby naval assets conduct fishery protection activities. The RN and MMO work closely to maximise the effectiveness of these fishery protection activities within the Exclusive Economic Zone of the UK.

    RN and Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) vessels also conduct maritime security operations at all times while at sea, this includes monitoring and reporting maritime activity to relevant UK authorities. Reporting of fishing and other maritime activity to local UK authorities in Overseas Territories and the relevant authorities of other nations is routinely undertaken whenever a RN or RFA vessel is operating in the vicinity of UK Overseas Territories.

  • Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations the Government is making to the governments of India and Pakistan on finding a peaceful solution to the situation in Kashmir which fully involves the people of Kashmir in the process.

    Alok Sharma

    The longstanding position of the United Kingdom is that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting resolution to the situation in Kashmir, taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people. It is not for the United Kingdom to prescribe a solution or to act as a mediator. We encourage both sides to maintain positive dialogue, but the pace and scope of this is for them to determine.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has any plans routinely to collect and publish data on (a) the response times and (b) the number of referrals through the National Referral Mechanism by First Responders.

    Sarah Newton

    The National Crime Agency (NCA) publishes quarterly data on the number of referrals made by different First Responder organisations, which can be accessed through the following link: http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/national-referral-mechanism-statistics The NCA does not collect data about response times by First Responders. The Government is piloting a new approach to the NRM, at the end of which we will consider, among other things, which data should be routinely collected.