The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2016-07-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many cases of avian influenza there were in the UK in 2016.
George Eustice
There has been one confirmed case of notifiable avian influenza in poultry during 2016 to date; Low Pathogenic H5N1 at a poultry farm near Dunfermline, Scotland.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many trade negotiators he has hired since 23 June 2016; and what the aggregate cost is of their contracts.
Greg Hands
The Department for International Trade already has a strong and capable trade policy team which has more than doubled in size since 23 June. Over the coming months we will be developing that team to build the world class negotiating strengths needed to deliver the best outcomes for the UK. They will have the depth and breadth of expertise to handle the full range of sectoral and cross-cutting issues that arise in trade agreements, supported by analysts and lawyers. We will continue to hire the brightest and best talent from within the UK civil service and in time, will look to enhance our team by drawing on expertise from elsewhere.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure consistent and comprehensive communications by travel insurance companies with UK nationals in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office encourages British nationals to take out comprehensive travel insurance before all foreign travel and to consider carefully the type of insurance they need for their trip. In doing so we work closely with key industry partners such as the Association of British Insurers, who supported ‘Know Before You Go’ campaign activity on travel insurance in May, July and August this year. We also provide information and advice about travel insurance on the GOV.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/foreign-travel-insurance. During our response to recent events in Sharm el Sheikh we worked closely with the airlines and tour operators to ensure consistency of approach to the package offered for those delayed in-country and to minimise the impact on travellers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Prime Minister, what NHS performance statistics were made available to him through the Number 10 Dashboard in December (a) 2015 and (b) 2014.
Mr David Cameron
NHS performance statistics are published monthly and are available on the NHS England website.
In addition, as is normal practice during winter, a situation report based on returns from acute trusts is published weekly and is available on the NHS England website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-01-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the costs, rather than the tariff, of a cancer molecular profile using (1) a whole tumour-normal pair using Illumina technology at 70× tumour coverage, and (2) a deep sequenced next-generation sequencing panel test, as deployed in most major NHS teaching hospitals; and if those figures are not available, why not.
Lord Prior of Brampton
This information is not held centrally by NHS England. Where the cost of these tests falls outside of tariff, costs will vary according to commissioning arrangements, the systems in place and the technology used.
Further information on the costs to the National Health Service of whole genome sequencing in cancer and rare diseases will be derived through the 100,000 Genomes Project. The intended NHS re-procurement of Regional Genetic Laboratories will aid in defining the costs of genomic tests.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-02-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 1 February (HL5287), whether they intend to ask the National Infrastructure Commission to undertake work on railway links between London and South West England; and if not, why not.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) currently operates in shadow form, and the Government is consulting on its governance, structure and operation. The NIC has a mandate to examine the country’s most pressing infrastructure challenges across all sectors of economic infrastructure – including energy, transport (roads, rail, ports and airports), water and sewage, waste, flood defences, and digital communications. There has not yet been decision on future studies to be undertaken by the NIC.
The Government remains committed to investment in railway links between London and the South West, regardless of whether a study is undertaken by the NIC. This is an unprecedented investment in rail infrastructure in the South West, totalling over £400m. This includes; resignalling the mainline from Totnes to Penzance, developing a strategic freight network, electrifying the Great Western Main Line, refurbishing the Cornwall sleeper, £35m to repair the tracks at Dawlish, a brand new station at Newcourt and another planned at Marsh Barton and 29 new AT300 trains.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-03-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how many new school places will be required over the next ten years.
Lord Nash
Pupil forecasts based on Office for National Statistics population projections have been published to 2024 and they suggest that pupil numbers are due to rise significantly over that period. Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that there are sufficient school places to meet that need, and for determining precisely how many new places are needed in their area.
We allocate funding for new school places to local authorities three years in advance in order to balance the need for robust forecasts with the need to ensure certainty for local authorities over their future funding allocations. Supporting local authorities to create additional school places is one of the Government’s top priorities. This is signalled by this Government’s commitment to investing £23 billion by 2021 to create 600,000 new school places, open 500 new free schools and address essential maintenance needs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why no mention of human rights is made in the new UK aid strategy; whether they intend to address that omission; and if so, how.
Baroness Verma
The UK Aid Strategy was published alongside the Government’s Strategic Defence and Security Review which sets out the Government’s approach to human rights. The UK will continue to promote universal human rights as an integral part of building prosperity and stability around the world. We will work with our partners to strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights and hold to account those responsible for violations and abuses. This is part of our work to promote the golden thread of democracy, rule of law, free media and open, accountable institutions.
The UK Aid Strategy has at its heart the Global Goals for Sustainable Development, which represent a commitment to achieve substantive, measurable improvements on economic, social and political human rights. It commits to leading the world in implementing the Leave No One Behind Promise agreed by the Prime Minister and other world leaders in September 2015. The ‘leave no one behind’ principle is an expression of the human rights agenda, which the UK played a key role in securing in negotiations. It also commits us to working towards ending violence against girls and women, including ending FGM and child, early and forced marriage, and tackling sexual violence in conflict. It commits to prioritising work that targets the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, the most excluded, those caught in crises, and those most at risk of violence and discrimination.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the rate of smoking is in England among people over the age of 18.
Jane Ellison
In 2015, figures showed smoking prevalence rates in adults and 15 year olds in England to be at 18% and 8% respectively. The most recent quarterly information on prevalence of smoking among pregnant women, published in March, show this to be 10.6%.
Smoking prevalence is at its lowest ever level with official figures showing that the Government met each of the targets set out in its Tobacco Control Plan – Healthy Lives, Healthy People. A new Tobacco Control Plan is currently being developed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-07-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether legislative changes will be required to remove the NHS bursary for healthcare students by September 2017; and if he will make a statement.
Ben Gummer
The proposed reforms to healthcare education funding for introduction on 1 August 2017 will not require amendments to the legislation under which the National Health Service bursary is provided.