Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what steps his Department is taking to protect UK industries from non-tariff barriers after the UK leaves the EU.

    Mr Robin Walker

    My Department is considering the full range of possible non-tariff barriers to trade across all areas of importance to the UK economy, and assessing ways in which these might be addressed.

    The Government is committed to securing an agreement which will give British businesses the best possible arrangements to trade with, and operate within, the European market.

    As the Prime Minister has said, the UK will remain the most passionate, consistent and convincing global advocate of free trade. We will seize the opportunities of our departure from the EU to forge a new role for the UK in the world.

  • Lord Kilclooney – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Kilclooney – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kilclooney on 2015-11-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they participated in the election observer presence at the recent elections in Azerbaijan; and whether OSCE or Council of Europe observer delegations were also present at those elections.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly decided not to send observers. However the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe sent a 28 member observation team.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-12-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the current backlog of applications for land registration at the Land Registry, and how long is the average delay in registration.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    There are approximately 234k applications awaiting completion at Land Registry, 93k of which cannot be processed as they are awaiting replies to queries sent to the originating conveyancer or solicitor, or notices sent to the registered proprietor(s) of the land or property. This leaves 141k applications available for Land Registry to process. Registration takes place after the transaction has been completed and the priority of all of these pending applications is protected upon receipt. Last year, Land Registry received 5.9m applications for registration.

    The average number of days taken to complete all applications for registration is 11 days, with applications to update an existing register taking an average of just under 7 days, and applications that result in the creation of new registered titles taking an average of 42 days to complete.

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-01-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to revisit their plans for improving air quality in London in the light of evidence that several sites in London have already breached annual pollution limits for 2016.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The air quality plan published on 17 December last year sets out how, through a range of measures, London will achieve compliance with legal pollution limits for nitrogen dioxide by 2025. The plan states that the Government will keep the delivery of London measures under review and will take further action if progress is insufficient.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional funding her Department plans to make available to small childcare facilities to help them meet the costs of the proposed free 30 hours of childcare per week.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    As part of the Spending Review in November 2015, we announced that we will be investing over £1billion more per year by 2019-20 to fund the government’s commitments on the early education entitlements. The funding includes £300 million per year for a significant increase to the rate paid for the two, three and four year old entitlements. From April 2017, the national average funding rates will increase to £4.88 for three and four year olds and £5.39 for two year olds. Local authorities are responsible for deciding how to distribute this funding across their area and for setting the rate paid to early years providers.

    We will introduce a national funding formula for early years so that funding is transparently and fairly matched to need and fairly distributed between different types of providers and different parts of the country. We will be consulting on detailed proposals later this year.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to improve the quality of end of life (a) care and (b) provision in the NHS in England.

    Ben Gummer

    The Government is committed to making improvements in the quality of care people experience at the end of life.

    In 2014, we set out five priorities for care of the dying person which should underpin the care being delivered to all dying people. The priorities for care state that an individual plan of care, which includes food and drink, symptom control and psychological, social and spiritual support, is agreed, co-ordinated and delivered with compassion.

    The priorities also set out the critical importance of compassion, respect and dignity in delivering care to dying people and the implications, for staff, commissioners and providers, when making decisions about how end of life care services will meet the needs of local people. The new approach to care, based on these fundamental principles, is being used by clinicians across the country.

    The Government’s forthcoming response to the independent Review of Choice in End of Life Care will set out further actions we are taking to achieve high quality, personalised end of life care.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that medical assessors and people considering appeals have sufficient knowledge of muscular dystrophy, neuromuscular conditions and other rare and progressive conditions.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The assessment for Personal Independence Payment is carried out by registered health professionals who have specialist training in assessing the impact of disability and health conditions on an individual’s functional ability, including conditions such as muscular dystrophy, neuromuscular conditions and other rare and progressive conditions.

    All health professionals receive comprehensive training in disability analysis which includes a functional evaluation as to how medical conditions such as muscular dystrophy, neuromuscular conditions and other rare and progressive conditions, and the long-term medical treatment of those conditions, affect their ability to perform day-to-day activities. Prior to carrying out an assessment they routinely refresh their knowledge of any condition with which they are not fully familiar.

    The Department’s Decision Makers and Appeal Writers receive training in health conditions to assess each case individually using the evidence provided by the claimant and the Health Professional, and can call on additional support from a Health Professional as necessary.

    In all Personal Independence Payment assessments consideration is given to whether claimants can complete activities safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time period.

    We have also worked closely with medical experts and charities to make significant improvements to the Work Capability Assessment, including strengthening the training programme to put more emphasis on making sure that assessors do not just focus on how someone manages on a ‘good day’ but also consider their ‘bad days’ if they have a health issue that fluctuates.

  • Colleen Fletcher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Colleen Fletcher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Colleen Fletcher on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has undertaken an assessment of the potential effect of changes to employer national insurance and pension contributions on (a) primary and (b) secondary school budgets.

    Nick Gibb

    The most recent change to the employer contribution rate for the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) took place in September 2015. At that time the rate was increased from 14.1% to 16.4% of the total pay bill from September 2015. The current employer contribution rate will not change until after the next scheme valuation is complete, which is expected to be in April 2018.

    On 1 April this year, the single tier state pension was introduced. Members of previously contracted out schemes will no longer receive a National Insurance rebate. The National Insurance rate for employers has increased therefore by 3.4% for all salary payments between £8,112.01 and £40,040. Based on data from the last scheme valuation this change is expected to add on average 2% to schools’ pay bill, in relation to the TPS, from 1 April 2016.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to improve teacher retention.

    Nick Gibb

    It is vital for schools to be able to retain good teachers – that is why we have made policy interventions in the areas that teachers tell us matter most, such as improving pupil behaviour and reducing unnecessary workload.

    We have appointed behaviour expert Tom Bennett to lead a review to ensure new teachers are fully trained in managing behaviour in 21st century schools.

    In response to our Workload Challenge, we set up three independent review groups to address unnecessary workload in the key areas of marking, planning and data management. The groups reported early this year, and set out clear principles about what should happen in schools to reduce unnecessary workload in these areas. The Government has accepted all the relevant recommendations made by the groups, and we will continue to work with the teaching profession to make sure they have the ongoing support they need to continue reducing unnecessary teacher workload.

    We have recently conducted the first biennial Teacher Workload Survey, which will allow us to track teacher workload over the coming years. The results of the first survey will be published later this year.

    Approximately 90 per cent of all teachers are in service in state-funded schools the year after they qualify, and 72 per cent of those who qualified in 2009 were still in teaching five years later. Over the longer term, over 60 per cent of teachers remain in service 10 years after qualifying.

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the psychological support available for people with dystonia and other neurological conditions; and if he will take steps to improve the process of such support.

    David Mowat

    NHS England is responsible for commissioning specialised neurological services and has published a service specification for neurological care that sets out what providers must have in place to offer evidence-based, safe and effective services. Included in this is an expected availability of psychological support for people with movement disorders including dystonia. The specification can be found at the following link:

    www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/d04-neurosci-spec-neuro.pdf

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