Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to paragraph 3 on page 5 of the Five Year Forward View Mental Health Task Force report, published on 15 February 2016, if he will make it his policy to provide equal funding for mental health services.

    Alistair Burt

    We are committed to achieving parity of esteem between mental health and physical health. The Mental Health Taskforce estimates that the priority recommendations for the National Health Service set out in their report will cost an additional £1 billion annually by the year 2020/21. By the end of this Parliament we will make the Taskforce’s recommendations a reality.

    This builds on the £1.4 billion over this Parliament that has been previously announced for transforming children and young people’s mental health and improving support for eating disorders.

    All of the Taskforce report recommendations are funded from within the overall envelope agreed in the Spending Review. All of the £1 billion announced with the Taskforce report represents additional investment over and above what was allocated to the NHS in 2015/16.

    We are already spending more money on mental health than ever before – an estimated £11.7 billion last year. This shows our commitment to achieving an equal status between mental and physical health services. We have been clear that commissioners must continue to increase investment in mental health services each year at a level which at least matches their overall expenditure increase.

    We will monitor this closely to ensure this happens and know that clinical commissioning group spend is on track to increase as expected.

  • David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has made an assessment of the resilience of the (a) mobile telephone network, (b) landline telephone network and (c) fibre optic broadband network after a power cut; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Government continually assesses the resilience of the communications network and works closely with the communications industry to do this. Power is the main dependency of the communications sector, and the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), published in November 2015, highlighted Government’s commitment to enhancing the UK’s resilience to power disruption. Government will continue to work with industry to ensure the ongoing resilience and availability of services across the sector in the event of power loss.

  • Jo Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jo Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Cox on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support carers assisting people with mental health conditions.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government recognises the invaluable contribution made by unpaid carers including those who care for people with mental health conditions and the importance of supporting them in their caring roles.

    That is why we continue to support implementation of the improved rights for carers enshrined in the Care Act 2014. The Department has provided £104 million of funding to local authorities for these rights in 2015/16, which include an extended right to assessment and, for the first time, a duty on local authorities to meet carers’ eligible needs for support.

    We have also made an additional £400 million available to the National Health Service between 2011 and 2015 to provide carers with breaks from their caring responsibilities to sustain them in their caring role. The equivalent annual allocation of £130 million for carers breaks is now included in the Better Care Fund.

    In May 2014, NHS England published its action plan NHS England – Commitment to carers, it includes a series of commitments around eight priorities, which include raising the profile of carers, including young carers.

    The Department is leading on the development of a new cross-Government National Carers Strategy that will look at what more can be done to support existing and new carers including those who care for people with mental health conditions. To support the development of the strategy we are currently conducting a national call for evidence. We want to engage with a wide range of individuals and organisations with experience of caring, to ensure our evidence reflects the diversity of experience of carers, and those for whom they care. The call for evidence was launched in March and will run until mid-summer 2016.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department invested in research using adult stem cells in 2015.

    George Freeman

    The information requested is not available. Spending on research is not categorised by specific technology type.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Sheikh on 2016-07-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to promote stronger educational and cultural links between the UK and Sudan.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The British Council already has a number of projects in Sudan which aim to strengthen cultural and educational relations. They have over 200 partner schools, engage with over 250,000 people in a national English teacher training programme and have provided English language training to 500 leading journalists. Sudan has also been added as a priority country for the British Council’s new £30m Cultural Protection Fund, and the British Council office in Khartoum is in discussion with a range of partners to develop proposals. Our Embassy in Khartoum also oversees the Chevening scholarship programme for highly talented Sudanese with leadership potential to pursue masters degrees in the UK.

  • Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the performance of Access to Work; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) deafblind people and (b) people with complex needs receive the appropriate levels of support to help them into work.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The Government wants all disabled and people with a long term health condition to fulfil their potential and achieve their aspirations. Every individual should to have the opportunity to work and share in the economic and health benefits that work brings, regardless of their health condition or disability.

    Deafblind customers and customers with complex needs are not recorded separately in Access to Work data, so it is not possible to assess the scheme’s performance with them. However, Access to Work has specialist teams to provide a dedicated service to particular groups of customers including both deaf customers and customers with a visual impairment. People who are deafblind are normally assisted by the Visual Impairment team

    Last year, Access to Work helped over 36,000 people to take up or remain in employment. Access to Work figures may be subject to change. Official Statistics have recently been subject to a detailed methodology review which identified some technical issues. We will release a revised publication once these issues have been resolved.

    We will soon publish a Green Paper on work and health and conduct a consultation aimed at disabled people, their representative organisations and a wide range of other stakeholders, who all have an important part to play in making the transformative changes needed.

  • Karl Turner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Karl Turner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the efficacy of the procurement process for legal aid duty solicitor contracts; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    13 temporary staff were employed through the Brook Street Agency and a Crown Commercial Services Recruitment framework and were selected by the Legal Aid Agency and interviewed by permanent members of staff to ensure their suitability. These individuals made up 19% of the overall assessment team. In addition contracts were entered into with legal practices to provide additional resource.

    The key criteria for employment were analytical skills and the ability to conduct a qualitative assessment. A legal or procurement background was considered an advantage but not essential, given that they would be supervised by permanent staff from the Legal Aid Agency.

    The procurement was undertaken in line with the Public Contract Regulations and applicant organisations were required to pass a number of stages of assessment in order to be considered suitable to hold a duty provider contract. The criteria against which organisations were assessed is set out in the Information For Applicants which govern this procurement process.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will assess the extent to which grants made by his Department to third parties are used for activities designed to influence his Department, other departments or Parliament.

    Joseph Johnson

    Grants made by my Department and its partner organisations can only be used for lawful activities and for purposes which have been approved by Parliament – for example to promote business, research and innovation. Any unauthorised activities should not attract grant support.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to reform the (a) work allowances and (b) taper rate within universal credit during the current Parliament.

    Priti Patel

    There are no plans to amend the work allowances and taper rates beyond those set out by the Government at the 2015 Autumn Statement.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will list by title the documents requested and not released under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 relating to (a) nuclear power and (b) Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant since May 2010.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The information requested is not held centrally and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.