Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the evidential basis is for the Prime Minister’s statement to the press of 21 October 2015 that Hinkley Point nuclear power station will produce reliable and affordable electricity.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Nuclear power is a proven technology which can provide large quantities of electricity continuously, reliably and predictably. Our analysis suggests Hinkley Point C will be cost-competitive with the other technologies that can be deployed at scale in the 2020s and that it will help provide affordable base load power to complement other low-carbon sources that we need to decarbonise the power sector by 2050.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department takes to ensure that UK funding to Nigeria reaches the people most in need.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    To ensure UK aid reaches the most vulnerable recipients, leaving no one behind, we work with implementing partners who have a strong track record of prioritising assistance to those most in need. DFID independently monitors all its programmes and aid impact is also reviewed by The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI).

  • Michael Fabricant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Michael Fabricant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Fabricant on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will discuss with the Secretary of State for Defence ways by which vexatious claims against soldiers who have served on operations overseas can be minimised; and if he will make a statement.

    Dominic Raab

    As the Prime Minister announced last Friday we cannot have our armed forces being hounded by ambulance chasing lawyers pursuing spurious claims. I will be chairing a working group with the Minister for Armed forces that will look at every aspect of this issue, including conditional fee arrangements, legal aid rules and disciplinary sanctions against lawyers who abuse the system, to prevent malicious litigation being brought against our service personnel.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to review plans to introduce a click and collect service as a result of P2U service failings over the 2015 Christmas period.

    Alistair Burt

    All pharmacies should have a business continuity plan in place which covers not being able to provide a full or any service.

    NHS England, in conjunction with the General Pharmaceutical Council, worked urgently with Pharmacy 2 U once it became apparent that this pharmacy was failing to deliver its normal service over the Christmas period. They ensured that Pharmacy 2 U instigated several actions in addition to the business continuity plan that the pharmacy already had in place. The ability to ensure that, where necessary or as requested by the patient, prescriptions were diverted to another pharmacy of the patient’s choice was made significantly easier by the fact that the majority of the prescriptions dispensed by Pharmacy 2 U are sent to them via the Electronic Prescription Service.

    Patient safety was the number one priority at the immediate time. Pharmacy 2 U resumed its normal service, as publicised, on 11 January 2016, and there now continues to be a review of the events that led to this situation to ensure that the review of community pharmacy in England is fully informed and national lessons can be learnt from this unexpected and unfortunate event.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which local authorities will host Think Ahead graduate trainees on placement; and whether he has plans to expand that programme.

    Alistair Burt

    Arrangements are being finalised for the local authorities and National Health Service mental health trusts that will host Think Ahead participants and these partnerships will be announced in due course. Participants in Think Ahead’s first cohort are due to be based in the following regions: Yorkshire, the North East, the Midlands, London, and the South East.

    The Department will make a decision on the future of the programme once an evaluation of the first cohort has been undertaken.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are making representations to the government of Turkey about the treatment of Syrian refugees in that country.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Turkey is generously hosting over 2.7 million Syrian refugees and has provided Syrians in Turkey with access to healthcare, education and legal employment. We raise any concerns concerning the treatment of Syrian refugees with the Government of Turkey.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK has released all the information it has in its possession relating to the death of Dag Hammarskjold to the Independent Panel of Experts.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    The vast majority of UK material relevant to the death of Dag Hammarskjold has already been released to The National Archives at Kew, where it is accessible to the public. In response to a request from the UN Independent Panel established in 2015 to examine the value of new information related to the death of former UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) coordinated a search across all relevant UK Government departments. None of these departments identified any pertinent material. In addition, the FCO also reviewed again a small number of file extracts that had previously been withheld. The review concluded that, although these file extracts did not contain any substantive information likely to be of interest to the Panel, they should continue to be withheld under Section 3(4) of the UK Public Records Act, for security-related reasons. The FCO wrote to the Panel, assuring it that the redactions consist of short individual pieces of text and that the FCO had not retained whole documents or files. Our assessment continues to be that all the information of value to the Panel has already been released to The National Archives and that release of the redacted material would not provide anything of additional value for the Panel’s work.

  • Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign nationals that had been held in UK prisons were removed on chartered deportation flights in each of the last five years.

    James Brokenshire

    Home Office records indicate that there were at least 1999 foreign nationals who, having been detained in a UK prison, were removed on charter flights in the past 5 years; 367 in 2012, 424 in 2013, 498 in 2014, 486 in 2015 and 224 in 2016 to date.

    This is provisional management information that is subject to change. It has not been assured to the standard of Official Statistics.

    Immigration Enforcement charter flights are regularly monitored by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) and the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB).

  • Lord Empey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Empey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-09-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have received proposals from the Northern Ireland Executive for the establishment of an Enterprise Zone in Northern Ireland, and if so, where such a zone would be located.

    Lord Young of Cookham

    The establishment of an enterprise zone in Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive.

    In the 2013 economic pact between the UK government and the Northern Ireland Executive, ‘Building a Prosperous and United Community’, we agreed to consider designating a range of sites within any Northern Ireland Enterprise Zone as designated areas for Enhanced Capital Allowances, should the Executive propose them.

    This year, we delivered the necessary legislation to provide for Enhanced Capital Allowances in the Executive’s pilot Coleraine Enterprise Zone.

  • David Crausby – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    David Crausby – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to deal with overcrowding on Bolton’s commuter trains.

    Andrew Jones

    Northern Rail is required to use all of its train fleet (allowing for maintenance) at peak times and best match capacity to passenger demand across the franchise. It is for Northern to allocate rolling stock to best fit expected passenger numbers on a day-to-day basis. As you may be aware, we have increased Northern’s train fleet this year, including the introduction of 20 refreshed four coach electric trains in the year to December 2015.

    In the longer term, unlike the last Northern franchise let under the previous Labour administration in 2004 which included limited plans to invest in services or meet demand, the next Northern Franchise will see the removal of the existing Pacer trains, the ordering at least 120 new-build carriages, the modernising of every train operating on the Northern franchise, more frequent services on many routes on the Northern franchise, and will be providing more services for commuters, during off-peak times and on Sundays. The electrification of Manchester to Preston via Bolton route, for which preparatory work began this year, will also provide the opportunity for greater capacity electric powered trains to provide services for Bolton commuters. By the end of 2019, services into central Manchester will have seen a 49% increase in passenger-carrying capacity during the morning peak compared to five years earlier, and this will help ease the crowding affecting your constituents.