Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress he has been made with his EU counterparts on resolving the issue of the confiscation of property held by EU nationals in Goa.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    Joint lobbying with EU counterparts has not been pursued because those affected are predominately UK nationals. Our High Commission has consistently lobbied the Goan government and local authorities on the main issues relating to property disputes involving British nationals. This has lead to contact between the UK nationals in the Goa Property Working Group and officials working for the Goa Property Committee, the relevant Indian government body.

  • Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has plans to adjust the eligibility criteria for claiming free childcare so that it can be claimed from the child’s third birthday rather than from the next term date after the child turns three.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Three year old children become eligible for a government funded early education place from 1 September, 1 January or 1 April following their third birthday or the beginning of the autumn, spring or summer school term if this is later. These dates mirror those for compulsory school age, which is the beginning of the term following a child’s fifth birthday. This is intended to ensure that all three year old children can access two years of funded early education and/or maintained school reception provision before they reach compulsory school age.

    The most disadvantaged two year olds are eligible for a government funded early education place from 1 September, 1 January or 1 April following their third birthday or the beginning of the autumn, spring or summer school term if this is later.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what training modules are provided to armed forces personnel in international humanitarian law.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The UK Government acts in accordance with domestic and international law at all times and Ministry of Defence policy is assessed to ensure compliance with it.

    All Service personnel are provided with training on the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC), including during initial basic training phases, staff and promotion courses. Personnel are required to undertake periodic LOAC training to agreed standards.

    Single Service LOAC training is as follows:

    Naval Service

    Royal Navy Core Maritime Skill (CMS) 7 (annually). Personnel must also be familiar with Operational Detention and Use of Force in accordance with the latest published guidance.

    Army

    Army Military Annual Training Test (MATT) 7. This test provides training and assessment in LOAC, investigations and accountability, captured persons (CPERS), and the use of force. All Army personnel conduct MATT 7 training Module 1 (LOAC), Module 2 (Investigations and Accountability), and Module 3 (CPERS) on an annual basis and are required to pass tests. Those who are completing initial training, and personnel that are deployable, also conduct MATT 7 training Module 4 (Use of Force) and pass a test. Deployable Service personnel must complete Module 4 on an annual basis.

    Royal Air Force (RAF)

    RAF Individual Reinforcement Training (IRT). All RAF personnel are provided with periodic LOAC training on a modular basis as determined by readiness posture. This training is complemented by other Phase 3 and Individual Pre-Deployment LOAC training provision.

  • Lord Wills – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Wills – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that Electronic Palliative Care Co-ordination Systems, or equivalent systems, can be viewed and updated by all those involved in the provision of end of life care services, in particular social care organisations, by April 2018, as outlined in the review What’s important to me: A review of choice in end of life care.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We are committed to ensuring that everyone at, or nearing, the end of life receives high quality, compassionate care, tailored to their individual needs and preferences.

    The Government’s forthcoming response to the independent Review of Choice in End of Life Care, which will be published shortly, will set out our vision for high quality, personalised care and the steps we will take to achieve this. The response will also address each of the Review recommendations, including on care coordination; improving the quality, availability and responsiveness of care; improving the quality and use of data; care planning and the use of digital care records; and the involvement of family members and carers in discussions about care.

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information he holds on the number of people in the UK with undiagnosed heart valve disease; and if he will estimate the potential cost to the NHS of treating such people.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England is working with professionals across the healthcare system to look at ways in which services and outcomes for patients with heart valve disease can be improved further, for example, by encouraging practitioners to follow clinical guidelines.

    Service specifications and policy for the surgical and interventional treatment of heart valve disease are published by NHS England’s Cardiothoracic Clinical Reference Group. These define what NHS England expects to be in place in order for providers to offer evidence-based, safe and effective services. NHS England is working on the next iteration of the specifications, which will include important standards relating to mitral valve surgery.

    In addition, NHS England is holding a clinical summit on 15 June 2016, which will bring together cardiologists and cardiac surgeons to examine the issues relating to heart valve disease, including variation. Outputs from discussions will be used to inform the future commissioning approach within specialised commissioning.

    Information on the number of people with an undiagnosed heart valve condition is not collected centrally. Patients with undiagnosed heart valve disease, once diagnosed, may require a range of treatments, including surgery. Therefore it is not possible to estimate what the aggregate costs might be.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-07-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the time taken to process counter-terrorism checks for job applications in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) other constituent parts of the UK.

    Karen Bradley

    Counter-terrorism checks conducted by the Home Office form part of the national security vetting process required for employment in the Home Office.

    We continue to reduce the processing time for all national security vetting checks. Processing times will vary from case to case and are not broken down by constituent parts of the UK.

  • Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale on 2016-09-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of visa applications involving the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Bath, and Imperial College London, were successful in each of the last three years.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Visa refusal rate data is produced for internal use only and is not intended for publication.

    The data requested provides sensitive information about sponsors’ compliance with their immigration requirements and by extension how likely they are to retain their sponsor licence. As this information could potentially impact their reputation and ability to attract international students, and therefore their commercial viability, we are unable to provide the information requested on the basis of commercial confidentiality.

  • Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-11-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department is undertaking of the effect on children’s (a) attainment, (b) health and (c) attendance of the universal infant free school meals policy.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The decision to introduce universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) was based on pilots of universal free school meals carried out between 2009 and 2011 in Newham and Durham. The pilots demonstrated benefits in terms of children’s health, attainment and behaviour, as well as helping families with the cost of living.

    The UIFSM policy has been in place for just over a year. We will look carefully at a range of indicators in relation to UIFSM once we are satisfied that we have sufficient time series data to undertake a robust analysis.

  • 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 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what budget his Department has allocated to the National Tactical Response Group for each of the last five years.

    Andrew Selous

    The budget allocation for National Tactical Response Group (NTRG) is set out in the table below.

    These figures include pay and non-pay items (including training materials, operational incident consumables and vehicle costs). It is not possible to retrieve the 2010 data information within the time available. The resource allocation for 2016-17 is yet to be confirmed.

    NTRG Budget

    2011-12

    1.6m

    2012-13

    1.6m

    2013-14

    1.7m

    2014-15

    1.8m

    2015-16

    1.8m

    “

  • Alison McGovern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Alison McGovern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to provide a standardised pathway service across gender reassignment services.

    Jane Ellison

    Specialised gender identity services are directly commissioned by NHS England.

    NHS England has considered the outcomes of the listening exercise conducted by Professor Field and has put in place a significant programme of work to improve healthcare services for transgender and non-binary people. A dedicated task group has been established to provide leadership and coordination of NHS England’s work to improve transgender and non-binary people’s experience of the National Health Service, and NHS England holds a Transgender Network event twice a year. Regular updates on NHS England’s work to improve gender identity services are given on NHS England’s website by the Regional Director of Specialised Commissioning (London) who chairs the task group.

    A Clinical Reference Group for Gender Identity Services has been established, comprising professional and lay experts. This group makes recommendations to NHS England on clinical matters. Issues around the standardisation of pathways across gender identity services and clinical protocols are being considered as part of the current work to develop a service specification that, it is proposed, will describe how NHS England will commission these services in the future. The process for developing a proposed service specification has included a period of public consultation.