Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Eilidh Whiteford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Eilidh Whiteford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eilidh Whiteford on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on women with a mental function problem of the different assessment recommended for them in its Work Capability Assessment handbook on risk of self-harm, suicide or other risk.

    Priti Patel

    The Department took its obligations under the Equality Act 2010 into account when making changes to the WCA handbook and recognises it has an on-going equality duty under the Act and is committed to complying with this duty.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority can confirm that a stated aim of the proposed research to perform genome editing in human embryos by researchers at the Francis Crick Institute has been to better understand why miscarriages occur in some pregnancies; if so, whether they can disclose which specific assay the researchers concerned have proposed using to determine whether embryos subjected to gene editing might be either able or unable to implant in a womb; and if not, why not.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, as amended, permits the editing of genes in human embryos for research purposes only. It is illegal under the Act to place such embryos in a woman. There are no plans to change this.

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that its licence committee considered an application to use CRISPR-Cas9 (a genome editing technique) in one of their licensed research projects on 14 January 2016. The outcome of the committee’s consideration and a description of the research will be made public as soon as the minutes have been agreed and the applicant has been informed.

  • 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 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners complained about an attack by rats in the last five years.

    Andrew Selous

    This information is not held centrally.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the (a) cost to GPs of and (b) average time taken per week by GPs for administration of the new Capita patient note transfer system.

    Alistair Burt

    Capita are improving the process for moving medical records between general practitioner (GP) practices. The changes will ensure that records can be fully tracked and traced through the movement process, to both increase the security of the record in transit and reduce the frustration for GP practices of waiting for records to arrive and not knowing where they are.

    The service will continue to be provided to GPs for free.

    In designing the new solution, Capita have engaged with GP practices via a stakeholder forum, user panels, observational studies and a National Engagement Team.

    The user panels and observational studies have included consideration of any additional time taken to place medical records in secure pouches for transit. This needs to be considered against the time savings that GPs will make by no longer needing to chase records for which they are waiting, since they will be able to track these on the Capita system. Although we do not have a precise estimate, the studies indicate the new process takes a few seconds per record.

    A national simulation was successfully completed during February 2016, and a live pilot is being undertaken in the West Yorkshire area during March 2016 to further test the solution ahead of national rollout.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2016 to Question 31489, what the date was of the most recent meeting at which the use of cluster munitions was raised with the Saudi Arabian government since the Convention on Cluster Munitions came into force on 30 May 2008.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The issue of Cluster Munitions was raised with the Saudis by Sir Alan Duncan, the Government’s Envoy on Yemen during his visit to Riyadh on 6 April 2016. In line with our obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, we continue to encourage Saudi Arabia, as a non-party to the Convention, to accede to it.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the NHS is excluded from the current Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership draft documents, and whether they will publish the legal advice they previously commissioned, in full or in summary, regarding the risk to the NHS of litigation by US private health companies.

    Lord Price

    It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the noble Lord.

  • Jo Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jo Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Cox on 2016-06-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the temporary removal of the Saudi-led coalition from the UN’s list of states and armed groups that violate children’s rights during conflict on the integrity and effectiveness of UN Security Council measures on children and armed conflict.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    [This question was tabled before the sad death of the Honourable Lady but the subject remains important and the Government’s response ought to be placed on the public record.]

    The UN Secretary General’s annual report on Children in Armed Conflict was published on 2 June. The report includes a section outlining the impact of the conflict in Yemen on children.

    The conflict in Yemen has had a significant impact on children, in terms of the numbers of child casualties, the recruitment of children as soldiers, and attacks on hospitals and schools.

    We note the announcement by the UN Secretary General on 6 June that removed the listing of the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition from the report’s annex, pending the conclusion of a joint review by the UN and Saudi Arabia on the cases and numbers cited in the text. We welcome co-operation between the UN and Saudi Arabia to look in to this matter. A political solution remains the best way to bring this conflict and the suffering of the Yemeni people to an end. The UK Government continues to support the work of the United Nations on Children and Armed Conflict.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much was spent on hire cars by each constabulary in the North West in 2015; and what steps are being taken to reduce expenditure on such cars.

    Brandon Lewis

    Based upon the third party Spend data provided by North West Forces for April 2015 to March 2016; the following was detailed as being spent on Hire Cars (all costs are ex VAT);

    Cumbria Constabulary – £164,302

    Cheshire Constabulary – £209,474

    Greater Manchester Police – £87,411

    Lancashire Constabulary – £529,285

    Merseyside Police – £206,084

    The Government continues to support forces to drive down procurement expenditure and to encourage greater collaboration between police forces and with other public sector bodies and emergency services. We believe that significant savings can be achieved through shared or collaborative procurement.

    The police-led Collaborative Law Enforcement Procurement (CLEP) programme is supported by the Home Office and focused on improving procurement in the categories of goods and services on which the police spend most money to help save up to £350 million in real terms by the end of this Parliament.

    As part of the recent price comparison exercise published on police.uk on 24th August, the Home Office published the prices paid by all Forces for 1 day and 30 day hire cars.It showed a wide variation of pricing which we are working with Forces to address as part of CLEP via the Strategic Police Procurement Board and the National Police Procurement Executive (NPPE). The NPPE is developing a strategy over the autumn which will look to aggregate their requirements nationally and regionally utilising crown Commercial Frameworks.

  • Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on recipients of the expiry of the Business Rates Reoccupation Relief scheme at the end of March 2016.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Government is continuing to consider representations, which included business rates reliefs, to inform decisions on reform of the business rates system. The Government has confirmed the review will conclude by the end of the year.

  • Mary Glindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Mary Glindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Glindon on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the level of Government spending will be on the Disabled Facilities Grant for each year until 2020.

    Brandon Lewis

    In the 2015 Spending Round, my rt. hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (George Osborne), announced £500 million for the Disabled Facilities Grant by 2020. Since April 2015, the Grant has been part of the Government’s £5.3 billion Better Care Fund, promoting integration with health and social care.

    Annual allocations for the Disabled Facilities Grant for each year until 2020 will be announced in due course, when they are finalised.