Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what programmes are in place to increase the numbers of children cycling to school.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government would like to see an increase in the number of children cycling to school. We believe that cycle safety training can give children the skills and confidence they need to cycle on local roads.

    Bikeability is the Government’s long-standing programme of cycle training for school children, with over 1.7 million children trained since 2010. It is available to every local body in England (London has separate funding arrangements for Bikeability). Funding of £12 million a year has been confirmed for the next four years. This will provide a range of cycling activities to schools including on-road cycle training and Bikeability Plus, a new suite of training modules focussed on increasing levels of cycling school and cycle safety.

  • Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with (a) local education and training boards, (b) Public Health England and (c) Health Education England on the training of healthcare professionals to fit intra-uterine methods of contraception.

    Jane Ellison

    No specific discussions have been held about the training of healthcare professionals to fit intra-uterine methods of contraception. The continuing professional development of doctors and nurses is the responsibility of individual employers. Health Education England has a role in ensuring employers remain committed to continuing professional development and in developing the overall strategy for workforce skills and development in their areas.

    Funding and commissioning of contraceptive services outside of the GP Contract is the responsibility of local authorities though the ring-fenced public health grant. Local authorities are mandated to ensure the provision of open access contraception services that enable reasonable access to a broad range of contraceptive substances and appliances (including intra-uterine methods) and advice on preventing unintended pregnancy. While not directly comparable because of changes in data collection, intra-uterine contraception fitted in sexual and reproductive health services increased from 65,300 in 2004/05 to 121,900 in 2014/15.

  • Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that best practice in planning is shared between local authorities.

    Gavin Barwell

    My department continues to fund the work of the Planning Advisory Service, which exists to help local planning authorities share best practice, improve procedures and understand changes in national legislation and policy. Its current work concentrates in particular on places that need to prepare up-to-date plans and improve their development management services.

  • David Crausby – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Crausby – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for a spouse visa have been (a) received and (b) refused in each of the last five years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The information requested for the last 5 calendar years is published in table vi_01_q (visa data tables volume 1) in ‘Immigration Statistics, April – June 2016’, available from the Home Office website at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2016/list-of-tables#visas

  • David Lammy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Lammy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will process as a matter of urgency the asylum applications of the 114 Syrian refugees currently being held at RAF Dhekelia in Cyprus.

    James Brokenshire

    Under an existing agreement with the Republic of Cyprus, those who claim asylum will be processed by the Cypriot authorities on behalf of the Sovereign Base.

  • Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Government’s response of February 2015 to the consultation entitled Arrangements for the Transfer of Commissioning Responsibilities for Renal Dialysis and Morbid Obesity Surgery Services from NHS England to Clinical Commissioning Groups, what information has been provided to clinical commissioning groups in anticipation of the transfer of responsibilities for obesity surgery in April 2016.

    George Freeman

    Due to feedback during the consultation for the proposal, the responsibility for commissioning renal dialysis services is not transferring to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in April 2016.

    NHS England is supporting the transfer of commissioning responsibilities for obesity surgery services to CCGs by providing technical and operational guidance to commissioners, including undertaking a stocktake of Tier 3 and Tier 4 interfaces within regions to assist CCGs. This guidance is in development. Communications are also supported through national and local meetings between NHS England and CCG representatives on shared issues within the commissioning agenda.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Ministers in his Department have visited G4S Medway in the last five years.

    Andrew Selous

    In the last five years, available records show that three Ministers have visited Medway Secure Training Centre.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-02-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the report by NHS England Improving Value for Patients from Specialised Care: Commissioning Intentions 2016/2017 for Prescribed Specialist Services, what progress has been made to establish collaborative commissioning arrangements for hepatitis C services and how many Clinical Commissioning Groups have come forward with proposals for the collaborative commissioning of hepatitis C services.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The report by NHS England Improving Value for Patients from Specialised Care: Commissioning Intentions 2016/17 set out the probable areas for specialised services work planned for 2016/17. Hepatitis C is one pathway which was identified as providing an opportunity for collaborative commissioning.

    Operational Delivery Networks now provide a local focus for discussions between providers and commissioners on the hepatitis C pathways. Local specialised commissioning teams will work with other local stakeholders where opportunities for a collaborative approach are agreed as a local priority.

    No formal requests for proposals have been requested, nor have any proposals yet been received.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what value and proportion of spending by his Department that was counted as Official Development Assistance was subject to the provisions of the International Development Act 2002 in each of the last three years.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    In the last three calendar years, my Department has spent £1,429,000 on Official Development Assistance (ODA). On an annual basis this can be broken down as £700,000 in 2013, zero in 2014 and £729,000 in 2015. For the years with expenditure this represents 0.01% and 0.05% of resource expenditure respectively.

    It should be noted that ODA is calculated on a calendar year basis, and my Department’s expenditure figures are on a Financial Year basis (Apr-Mar). As such, these percentages are indicative.

  • Margaret Beckett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Margaret Beckett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Beckett on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the letter from the National Security Adviser to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy of 10 March 2016, how many GCHQ staff were (a) recruited to and (b) completed the GCHQ cyber apprenticeship scheme in each year since 2012.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Since 2012 the scheme has already provided over 70 highly skilled new entrants to the GCHQ workforce. Of the 18 students who joined the GCHQ apprenticeship scheme in September 2012, over 60% successfully graduated from the course in 2014 and joined the GCHQ workforce. In September 2013, the nature and scale of the apprenticeship scheme changed as it expanded to become a scheme covering the whole of the SIA: all three of the UK’s intelligence Agencies (MI5, SIS and GCHQ) now directly recruit successful graduates from the scheme, which means that the exact number of apprentices each year cannot be openly released for security reasons. I can confirm however that over 160 new apprentices have joined the scheme since 2013, and of these a substantial majority are expected to join GCHQ when they graduate.