Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding her Department has allocated for projects to prevent flooding in Burnley and Padiham.

    Rory Stewart

    Following the December 2015 flooding, the Environment Agency is developing a revised assessment of flood risk in Padiham, which may identify further measures to reduce flood risk in the area.

    The Environment Agency has also allocated £10,000 to the Burnley Ordinary Watercourse Study in 2018/19. The study aims at better understanding the flood risk from ordinary watercourses and will inform any potential future investment needs.

    The Fulledge Flood Risk Management Scheme was funded through £345,000 Flood Defence Grant in Aid and was completed in March 2013. The scheme reduces the flood risk to 781 properties in Burnley and helped to significantly reduce flooding in Burnley during storm Eva.

  • Baroness Gould of Potternewton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Gould of Potternewton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government to whom instances of female genital mutilation should be reported, and whether there is a mechanism for doing so anonymously.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    We are clear that Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse. On 1 April we published updated multi-agency statutory guidance on FGM including information to help professionals understand the risk factors that they should be looking out for and what action they should take. In addition, free e-learning is available to all professionals, providing training on how to recognise and respond to FGM. To date the course has been completed by over 30,000 people. In addition, the Department of Health’s £3M FGM Prevention Programme is focused on improving the NHS response and includes free e-learning for healthcare professionals. A new mandatory reporting duty requiring regulated health and social care professionals and teachers to report known cases of FGM in under 18s to the police came into force on 31 October 2015. Professionals encountering instances of FGM in women over 18, or who believe that a girl or woman is at risk, should follow established safeguarding procedures. Anyone who is concerned that a girl or woman has undergone FGM or is at risk can contact the NSPCC FGM helpline. Reports to this helpline can be made anonymously. The Home Office’s Border Force plays a vital role in helping to identify and protect potential victims of FGM travelling to and from the UK. Border Force work with the police in protecting girls and young women at risk of FGM, including carrying out joint operations. FGM Protection Orders (FGMPOs) were fast-tracked for implementation last July and are being used to protect girls at risk of FGM, including those who may be taken abroad. Ministry of Justice data released on 31 March shows 32 FGMPOs were issued between July and December 2015.

  • Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-06-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 9 June (HL351), what consideration they are giving to (1) the issuing of guidance on the establishment of children’s social care trusts so that lessons can be learned from earlier experiences of doing so; and (2) the regulatory implications for such bodies if more local authorities establish them given the regulatory arrangements in place for the outsourcing of adult social care.

    Lord Nash

    The evaluations of Doncaster and Slough Children’s Services Trusts are underway and will provide learning from the experiences of establishing those organisations. There are no new regulatory implications for trusts. Where a trust is created to carry out children’s social care services on behalf of an authority, the statutory responsibility for those services remains with that authority. Ofsted will continue to inspect children’s social care services whether they are delivered by a local authority or by a trust.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-09-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to engage in increased consultation with civil society and UK-based and international human rights NGOs around the UK–China Human Rights Dialogue, including increasing transparency and accountability.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Ministers and officials meet civil society representatives on a regular basis to hear their views and benefit from their expertise on the human rights situation in China. The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Reading West (Mr Sharma) met Chinese NGOs during his recent visit to China. He plans to host a round table with UK-based NGOs at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the near future.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of trends in the exchange rate on future energy imports; and if he will make a statement.

    Jesse Norman

    Departmental officials advise that exchange rates are one of the factors which influence future energy imports and their cost. For example, the cost of importing gas is also affected by the availability and cost of a range of gas supplies, infrastructure constraints and global and regional demand. The cost of importing electricity to the UK through its interconnectors with other European countries is also influenced by the electricity generation mix in Europe, by gas, coal and carbon prices and by the level of electricity demand in the UK and other European countries.

  • Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Poulter on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the proportion of junior doctors not rostered on at evenings and weekends as a result of the terms of the current junior doctor contract.

    Ben Gummer

    NHS Employers’ evidence to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration – “Reform of national contracts for consultant doctors and doctors and dentists in training”1 – published in December 2014 during the hon. Member’s tenure as a Minister, included a profile of how the hours worked by doctors in training were spread across the week.

    We have evidence that hospital leaders consider the junior doctors’ contract to be a significant barrier to delivering more seven-day services. NHS Providers’ written evidence to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration on contract reform for consultants and doctors and dentists in training2 stated that the junior doctor contract is still a significant source of barriers to seven day working and reform of the junior doctor contract is also required to support trusts to deliver more seven-day services. In particular, the pay banding system for junior doctors needs to be reviewed. There were concerns from employers that the banding system is too complicated, can create “perverse incentives” for junior doctors and hospital management, and means that providing more seven-day services is unfeasible, since more junior doctors would be working outside core hours and receive premiums under the current banding system. NHS Providers also believe that more hours in a day and more days of the week need to be defined as core hours, as the current arrangement does not support the delivery of more seven-day services or reflect the needs and expectations of today’s patients.

    Future working patterns are for individual employers to determine. The evidence on doctors’ working patterns has not altered since the hon. Member was a Minister for Health.

    1 http://www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/pay-and-reward/pay/medical-pay/ddrb-evidence—in-detail/consultants-and-junior-doctors-contract-reform-submission-of-evidence-to-the-ddrb

    2 http://www.nhsproviders.org/resource-library/written-evidence-ddrb-special-remit/

    “

  • Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to increase the number of disabled people in work in (a) Dorset and (b) the South West.

    Justin Tomlinson

    In the last two years, the number of disabled people in work has increased by 339,000. But we recognise that the gap between the employment rates of disabled people and non disabled people remains too large. That is why we are committed to halving it.

    The Spending Review announced a real terms funding increase to help people with health conditions and disabilities return to, and remain in, work.

    In the South West, disabled people who want to work can get support from Jobcentre Plus and a range of employment programmes such as Work Programme, Work Choice and Specialist Employment Support. Access to Work provides additional support for individuals whose health or disability affects the way they do their job.

    To support and increase the number of disabled people into employment we are offering a more tailored personalised package of employment support in Greater Wessex which includes Dorset. The Personalisation Pathfinder provides disabled people in Greater Wessex with a more personalised and flexible employment support package that puts the individual at the heart of the employment offer.

  • Baroness Uddin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness Uddin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Uddin on 2016-01-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of language classes for Muslim women in respect of radicalisation.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Our new English language offer, worth £20 million over this Parliament, will help women in our most isolated communities get the training they need. This new programme will be informed by six projects we have funded as part of our current community-based English language programme. By the end of March this year the projects will have provided training to 33,500 adults – the majority women, with over half from Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Somalian ethnic groups.

    Community-based English language programmes can help build women’s confidence in using English in daily activities such as engaging with their children’s teachers, interacting with public services and playing a full part in the local community.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to implement the conclusions of his Department’s report, entitled Future in Mind, published in March 2015, on vulnerable young people’s transitioning from the child and adolescent mental health service to the adult mental health service.

    Alistair Burt

    Future in mind, the report of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Taskforce, recognised that transition at 18 years of age is not always appropriate and that there should be flexibility around age boundaries, in which transition is based on individual circumstances, rather than absolute age, with joint working and shared practice between services to promote continuity of care.

    The Government has acknowledged that the transition for young people into adult mental health services can undoubtedly be challenging, particularly if a young person has been receiving support from children’s mental health services for some time. In January 2015, NHS England published new service specifications for commissioners, giving guidance and best practice on transition from children and adolescent mental health services to adult services (or elsewhere). These specifications intentionally do not stipulate an age threshold for transition (for example, 18) but state that transition should be built around the needs of the individual.

  • Lord Wasserman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Wasserman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wasserman on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many staff, including part-time workers and workers under a contract for services, are presently employed in each of the 41 offices of the Police and Crime Commissioner in England and Wales, and how many full-time equivalent posts each office has.

    Lord Bates

    The Home Office does not hold this information.

    The Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) are statutorily required to recruit a Chief of Staff (Chief Executive) and a Chief Financial Officer. However, it is then for the PCC to determine what further staff they require to support them in their duties.

    Under paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 of the Elected Local Policing Bodies (Specified Information) Order 2011, PCCs are obliged to publish certain staffing information, including an organisational chart showing the structure of their office.

    This level of transparency enables the public to effectively hold them to account in a way that was not possible under the police authority governance model.

    The Home Office does not hold further information centrally.