Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Hoyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Hoyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hoyle on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the United Kingdom’s three largest (1) exports to, and (2) imports from, the European Union.

    Lord Maude of Horsham

    The three largest UK exports to, and imports from, the European Union in 2014 are set out in the table below. These data are on a balance of payments basis.

    Three largest UK exports to the European Union in 2014 Value (£ billion)
    Finished manufactures (SITC 7+8) 63
    Semi-manufactures (SITC 5+6) 43
    Fuels (SITC 3) 27

    Three largest UK imports from the European Union in 2014 Value (£ billion)
    Finished manufactures (SITC 7+8) 114
    Semi-manufactures (SITC 5+6) 66
    Food, beverages and tobacco (SITC 0+1) 27
    Source: ONS UK Trade August 2015 release
    Note: the assessment of the top three was made across goods and services,
    but services categories do not rank in the top three

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what formal mechanism exists for sharing information between the Accelerated Access Review and Lord Carter’s review of NHS efficiency.

    George Freeman

    The Accelerated Access Review (AAR), chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor, will make recommendations to government on reforms to accelerate access for National Health Service patients to innovative medicines and medical technologies making our country the best place in the world to design, develop and deploy these products. The terms of the reference for the review focus on faster access to innovations, which may include certain off-patent repurposed drugs, as opposed to the routine availability of medicines or medical technologies.

    Prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR, the Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS including the Innovation, Health and Wealth report. As a result, building upon the lessons of previous reviews is explicit with the terms of reference of the AAR.

    The AAR has regular meetings with senior officials from NHS England via a steering group as recommendations are being developed. In addition, some staff from NHS England have been assigned to support the review team.

    Sir Hugh is still in the process of developing final recommendations which will be published in spring 2016. In his Interim Report published in October, Sir Hugh sets out a proposition on “galvanising the NHS”. This involves supporting the NHS to adopt innovation, more rapidly through better practical support, stronger incentives and the potential streamlining of local structures.

    The Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR. It was clear that whilst progress has been made on the uptake of innovation in the NHS there is still much to do. Sir Hugh and the head of the External Advisory Group, Professor Sir John Bell, set out the case for uptake of innovation in the recently published AAR Interim Report.

    The AAR has senior level contact with officials working on Lord Carter’s review of NHS efficiency to ensure that information is shared between the two teams.

  • John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-01-05.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will place in the Library the report recently concluded by the Financial Conduct Authority on retail investment advice.

    Harriett Baldwin

    HM Treasury has no knowledge of a recent report concluded by the FCA on retail investment advice. If the Honourable Member is referring to the recent Financial Advice Market Review, which was a joint initiative by HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched in August 2015, this review has not yet concluded.

    The Treasury will lay before Parliament any FCA reports or other documents which the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 requires to be laid before Parliament.

  • Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress he has made on an exemption from the European Commission on the Directive 2006/125/EC on driving licences to enable electric vehicles over 3.5 tonnes to be driven on a B licence.

    Andrew Jones

    The UK has not sought an exemption from Directive 2006/126/EC to enable electric vehicles over 3.5 tonnes to be driven on a Category B licence. Any driver that holds a full category B licence issued before 1 January 1997 has a “grandfather right” to drive vehicles in category C1 – not for hire and reward. We will continue to monitor the situation.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK nationals work at administrator grade staff level in the European Parliament; and what proportion of the total number of that parliament’s employees they represent.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    The European Parliament does not publish statistics on numbers of permanent staff by nationality. As of April 2015, our records show there were 144 British citizens working in the European Parliament at administrator grade level, including UK secondees. This represents 2.4% of approximately 6000 total staff employed by the European Parliament in 2015.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he plans to take in response to the findings of the Clementi Review into Governance and Regulation of the BBC; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government will set out its plans for the future of the BBC in a White Paper in Spring.

  • Chris White – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Chris White – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris White on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures her Department has implemented to support children who are permanently excluded from school.

    Edward Timpson

    Exclusion from school is not the end of a pupil’s education. Where a pupil has been permanently excluded, the Local Authority must arrange suitable full-time education for them to begin no later than the sixth school day following the exclusion.

    In the White Paper ‘Educational Excellence Everywhere’ we announced reforms to the system of alternative provision which will strengthen the accountability of schools when permanently excluding pupils. Under these changes schools will remain accountable for the education of pupils in alternative provision and will be responsible for commissioning high quality provision. In addition to this, the reforms include a number of measures to raise the standards of alternative provision providers so that every child is given the best possible opportunity to fulfil their potential. The full text of the Educational Excellence Everywhere White Paper can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/educational-excellence-everywhere.

    “

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many visits (a) by Ministers and (b) officials from his Department were made to Coventry in each of the last five years.

    Joseph Johnson

    This information can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department plans to publish its strategy for halving inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions by 2020.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Optimising prescribing is a key priority in the UK Five Year Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Strategy 2013-2018.

    Public Health England and NHS Improvement are in the process of establishing a Joint Advisory Group to establish a central authority of national and local experts in the field to take forward the Government’s ambition to halve inappropriate antibiotic prescribing. This Group will produce a detailed implementation plan for delivery of this ambition. The Department will publish progress on halving inappropriate prescribing through its annual progress reports on the AMR Strategy.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if the Government will publish online near real time information collected from radars showing the flight paths of Russian and Syrian fighter jets in Syrian airspace.

    Mike Penning

    I am withholding the information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

    However, Russia appears to be partnering with the Syrian regime in the attacks on Aleppo which are causing large numbers of civilian casualties. Indiscriminate attacks which fail to distinguish between civilians and legitimate military targets would be a violation of International Humanitarian Law and we welcome the UN’s recent decision to establish an Internal Board of Inquiry into the attack on a UN aid convoy on 19 September.