Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many businesses do not have access to high speed broadband in each region of England.

    Matt Hancock

    Superfast broadband with speeds of at least 24Mbps is now available to 90 per cent of UK premises and we are on track for this to reach 95 per cent by December 2017.

    We do not hold data at regional level or specifically for businesses. We hold information for all premises at constituency level and this was deposited with the Parliamentary Library in January 2016. You can access the deposited papers database here:

    http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/business-papers/commons/deposited-papers/?fd=2016-01-01&td=2016-01-31&search_term=Department+for+Culture%2c+Media+and+Sport&itemId=122028#toggle-56

    The Deposit reference is: DEP2016-0056

  • Angela Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Angela Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Smith on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of domestic abuse victims in child contact cases in the family court have been in receipt of legal aid in each year since 2010.

    Dr Phillip Lee

    This data is not centrally recorded and could only be obtained by incurring disproportionate costs.

  • Lord Boateng – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Boateng – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Boateng on 2015-11-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures were adopted at the Valetta Conference to strengthen law enforcement action against people smugglers in Sub-Saharan Africa, and to increase awareness amongst local populations in Sub-Saharan Africa of the dangers of informal migration routes across the Sahara and the Mediterranean.

    Lord Bates

    The UK played a leading role in agreeing an Action Plan at the Valletta Conference that will drive constructive and coherent joint action to tackle the causes as well as the consequences of current migratory pressures from Africa. In particular, the Action Plan sets out a series of initiatives to strengthen law enforcement action against people smugglers, and to increase awareness amongst populations in Sub-Saharan Africa of the dangers of illegal migration, as follows:

    • Establish or upgrade national and regional anti-smuggling and anti-trafficking legislation, policies and action plans in countries and regions of origin and transit of migration. Identify single national contact points for anti-smuggling and trafficking activities to enhance cooperation, including with counterparts in EU Member States and associated countries and in Europol

    • Implement projects focused on strengthening institutional capacities to fight against the smuggling of migrants and trafficking in human beings networks, both in origin and transit countries located along the West Sahel routes, and raise awareness on this problem among the populations concerned

    • Set up a joint investigation team in Niger against migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings networks, as a pilot project to be potentially replicated in other countries or regions at their request

    • Organise information campaigns in countries of origin, transit and destination, to raise awareness of the general public and potential migrants and victims on the dangers of trafficking in human beings and smuggling of migrants, their recruitment processes, including through public broadcasting services programmes aimed at informing the general public and potential migrants about the migratory situation in Europe

    We are now focused on working with EU and African partners to implement the Action Plan quickly and fully.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the clinical and ethical justifications for setting the benchmark in the NHS Supply Chain generic project plans for a national formulary for wound care that 80 per cent of patients will be treated using clinically appropriate dressings.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The wide variety of choice in the current system is leading to duplication of wound care products. This can create more complexity for nurses and clinicians, making their clinical decisions more difficult and potentially leading to over specification and variation in standards of care. Of the 4,796 wound care products available through the NHS Supply Chain, 34% of lines have had no sales in the last 12 months.

    Providing an agreed set of National Health Service requirements for wound care products will start to reduce this duplication, complexity and therefore potential risk, helping to improve patient outcomes through less variation in care.

    This issue was also highlighted by 74% of respondents to a Royal College of Nursing survey run by Nursing Times (Dec 2014) seeing opportunities to reduce duplication on wound care products, (more than any other type of product).

    The project is part of a wider piece of work the Department is working with the NHS Supply Chain on to deliver £300 million of savings by October 2018. Central to this is reducing the number of specifications and variations by category so the NHS can leverage its scale and deliver clinically appropriate solutions that represent ‘value for money’. Such approaches are common in other countries and help drive savings, improve clinical standards and protect front line nursing.

  • Christina Rees – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Christina Rees – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to publish statistics on national food bank usage.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Government has no plans to collect or publish statistics on food bank usage.

  • Carolyn Harris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Carolyn Harris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the costs to the NHS of the treatment of people with addiction to fixed odds betting terminals.

    Alistair Burt

    No such estimate has been made.

    We have no current plans to make such an assessment. We know that gambling addiction can potentially have a harmful impact on both a person’s physical and mental wellbeing and problem gamblers can access services in primary care and secondary care including specialised mental health and addiction services.

    The Prime Minister recently announced £1 billion to start a revolution in mental health, including £247 million to make sure that every emergency department has mental health support (following £30 million invested in 2015/16).

    Also, over £400 million for crisis resolution home treatment teams will help to improve the management of admissions to acute psychiatric inpatient care, as well as ensure the routine availability of 24/7 intensive home treatment support as a safe and effective alternative to hospitals.

    Commissioners must continue to increase investment in mental health services each year at a level which at least matches their overall allocation increase.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of schools employ a mental health specialist as a permanent member of staff.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    This is a matter for schools to decide. We have recently commissioned an extensive survey which will provide nationally representative estimates of what provision schools and colleges offer for mental health and character education. The fieldwork will begin in the summer term.

    We are also contributing to a £3 million joint pilot with NHS England for training single points of contact in schools and specialist mental health services, to ensure that children and young people have timely access to specialist support where needed.

  • 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 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether equipment provided by the UK has been used to facilitate the delivery of cluster munitions by the Saudi Arabian forces in the Yemen conflict.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are aware of reports of the alleged use of Cluster Munitions by the Coalition in Yemen. We have raised this issue with the Saudi Arabian authorities and, in line with our obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, continue to encourage Saudi Arabia, as a non-party to the Convention, to accede to it.

  • Baroness Hodgson of Abinger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Hodgson of Abinger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2016-05-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they are providing to aid agencies working in Yemen.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK is the 4th largest donor to the crisis in Yemen and has more than doubled its support over the last year to £85 million for 2015/16 in response to the humanitarian crisis. UK aid is focused on the most urgent life-saving needs, and has so far helped more than 1.3 million Yemenis who have been affected by the conflict with food assistance, medical supplies, water, and emergency shelter.

    We work with partners such as UN agencies and NGOs who have good access and a strong track record of delivering and monitoring assistance in difficult and dangerous places. The security situation in Yemen is, however, impacting the ability of humanitarian organisations to access populations to deliver assistance, and to make assessments of their needs. The UK continues to urge all parties to the conflict to take all reasonable steps to facilitate rapid and safe access for humanitarian agencies to all people in need in Yemen.

    UK aid is also supporting the UN to co-ordinate the international humanitarian response and to facilitate the delivery of aid in Yemen including; the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, UN Humanitarian Air Service and the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism to improve supply of essential goods into Yemen.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in Key Stage 1 were taught in classes of more than (a) 30 and (b) 35 pupils in the academic year beginning September 2015 in each region of England.

    Nick Gibb

    The number of pupils in Key Stage 1 classes of more than 30 and 35 pupils in each region of England relating to the academic year beginning September 2015 can be found in table 11 of the ‘schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2016’ statistics[1].

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2016

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