Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Bruce of Bennachie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Bruce of Bennachie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bruce of Bennachie on 2016-09-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what specific support they provide to deaf children in developing countries.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    People with disabilities are the largest minority group globally. An estimated one billion people have a disability globally, 80% of whom live in developing countries. People with disabilities are often the poorest in their community and many face considerable levels of stigma, discrimination and persecution.

    DFID follows a ‘twin-track’ approach to disability inclusion. This means we aim to attach priority to disability in all our policies and programmes as well as supporting disability-targeted programmes.

    Over the last two years, DFID has strengthened our capacity to work on disability inclusion, including by appointing a director-level champion, employing three full-time staff to work solely on disability, and developing a group of Internal Disability Expert Advisers from across our organisation.

    DFID’s efforts to date have included:

    • Furnishing schools with equipment and training teachers so children with disabilities can get a quality education.
    • Providing grants to local Disabled People Organisations, allowing people with disabilities to come together and lobby governments on the issues which affect them.
    • Collecting data on disability so we can fully understand the scale of impact and how best to support those people it affects.

    For example, two projects in the UK’s flagship Girls Education Challenge are exclusively focused on addressing the issue that girls with disabilities are less likely to access education. Specific interventions include provision of assistive devices and scholastic materials for girls with hearing impairments and improvement of teacher skills to enable them to communicate in sign language, which has encouraged parents to enrol their children in schools.

  • Antoinette Sandbach – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Antoinette Sandbach – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment he has made of the differences in provision of healthcare in areas adjoining the border between England and Wales.

    Stephen Crabb

    Everyone should have access to the very best healthcare possible wherever they live. The presence of a border between England and Wales should not create disadvantages for patients.

    While the NHS in England exists to benefit the people of England, and the NHS in Wales exists to benefit the people of Wales, NHS commissioners in either country are able to commission services from providers on both sides of the border.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to collect information centrally on the proportion of the mental health budget that is spent on forensic psychiatry.

    Alistair Burt

    Forensic Services is one of the collections in NHS England’s new programme budget collection for mental health. NHS England is planning to publish 2014/15 data in early 2016.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the planned replacement of student bursaries by loans, what estimate they have made of the number of additional students who will be accepted into universities for nursing degree courses in 2017–18.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    We expect this reform to enable universities to provide up to 10,000 additional nursing, midwifery and allied health training places over this parliament.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety on working conditions and safety standards in Bangladesh.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The Accord has played an important role in pushing up working conditions and safety standards in the Garments sector in Bangladesh. Since 2013 the Accord has independently inspected 1, 390 factories in the supply chains of their signatory brands. It has then supported those factories that continue to sell to Accord brands to implement Corrective Action Plans, resulting in safer factories for 2.4 million workers.

    A review of the Bangladesh Sustainability Compact, completed by the EU, US and ILO in January 2016, recognised the contribution of private sector initiatives such as the Accord in improving labour, health and safety conditions for Bangladeshi workers.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2016 to Question 28912, on developing countries: female genital mutilation, what funding was provided to each such country in each year since 2009-10.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    We do not hold information prior to 2013, because we did not have significant programmes focussed on FGM until our ground-breaking regional programme, which started then. Since 2013, this programme has been working in a flexible manner across borders. We account for spending across the programme by component [as a whole] rather than breaking it down by country. We spent a total of £2.3m in 2013/14 and £4.2m in 2014/15.

  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether, in the event of the takeover of the London Stock Exchange by Deutsche Börse, LCH and Eurex will have a regulator in common, and if so, whether that regulator will be the Financial Conduct Authority.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    I refer the noble Lord to the investor relations section of the London Stock Exchange Group website, which contains information about the proposed merger, including some information on the combined group’s proposed structure. I also refer the noble Lord to my previous written answer HL7153.

    Once formally notified of the proposed merger, the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority (as supervisors of the London Stock Exchange Group’s UK-authorised subsidiaries) must assess the proposal from a regulatory standpoint.

    In addition the proposed merger must be approved by competition authorities and is subject to a range of other assessments including those of overseas regulators and shareholders.

    European Regulation No 648/2012 (EMIR) sets out detailed standards on the quality of collateral that a central counterparty (CCP) can accept, and includes a general requirement that the CCP can demonstrate to its supervisor that the form of collateral in question does not present unmanageable risk to the CCP. Furthermore, CCPs are permitted under EMIR to invest their collateral “only in cash or in highly liquid financial instruments with minimal market and credit risk.”

    Any proposals for inter-CCP links would need to be assessed against relevant parts of EMIR by the Bank of England, as supervisor of LCH. EMIR requires that models used to set CCP margin requirements (and any changes to them) are validated by the CCP’s supervisor. EMIR also requires that a CCP wishing to extend its business to additional products or services must obtain the authorisation of its supervisor.

  • Edward Argar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Edward Argar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Argar on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what criteria her Department uses to determine the award of contracts for projects overseas.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    To determine the award of contracts, tenders are assessed against pre-defined and published evaluation criteria by an evaluation panel with relevant expertise. This assessment follows the EU Public Procurement principle of selecting the ‘most economically advantageous tender’. The evaluation has two main sections – technical evaluation and commercial evaluation.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy that (a) plug sockets, (b) tables and (c) WiFi equipment should be installed in all standard class Thameslink Class 700 carriages.

    Claire Perry

    Contract variations have been proposed by my Department to introduce seat back tables and WiFi infrastructure throughout the new Class 700 Thameslink trains and officials are negotiating the details with the other contractual parties. My officials are also exploring with Siemens, the manufacturer of the new Class 700 Thameslink trains, the scope for increasing the number of plug sockets.

  • James Cartlidge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    James Cartlidge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cartlidge on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on how many residential planning permissions which were granted in England in the last five years have yet to commence building work.

    Gavin Barwell

    As of 1 July 2016 planning permission had been granted since 1 January 2011 for 311,000 homes on sites where work had not yet started. However, latest figures show that on these sites yet to be started, 90 per cent of the dwellings are now progressing towards a start, up from 85 per cent in July 2015.

    There are a range of factors which can delay the start of work on site. We are taking forward a range of proposals to help drive up delivery post permission, including changes in legislation to tackle unnecessary planning conditions and providing additional investment in infrastructure to help unlock housing sites and we expect developers and local authorities to work together to tackle problems at a local level.