Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Whitty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lord Whitty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Whitty on 2016-01-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the recent reported comments from Sir Keith Burnett of the Council of Science and Technology, and Jennifer Baxter of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, whether they expect 60 per cent of the £24 billion estimated expenditure, and 60 per cent of jobs, on the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station project to go to British firms or workers.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    Work to enable the British supply chain to compete for contracts means that we expect more than 60% of the project’s construction value will go to UK companies.

    The construction and operation of Hinkley Point C will create 25,000 employment opportunities with a peak workforce of 5,600 people and thousands more in the supply chain. At least 5,000 people from Somerset are expected to work directly on the project.

    The project aims to create 1,000 apprenticeships alongside £14 million of EDF Energy investment in education and training. When operating, 900 jobs and £40 million a year is expected to be delivered to the local economy for 60 years, through wages and supply contracts.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, who sits on the Child Protection Task Force; and if she will publish dates and minutes of meetings of that body to date.

    Edward Timpson

    Membership of the Child Protection Implementation Taskforce can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-announces-new-taskforce-to-transform-child-protection

    Information relating to the proceedings of recent meetings of Implementation Taskforces is not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.

    “

  • 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 2016-03-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 4 January (HL4800), what evidence they have that suggests that the complexity of choice in wound dressings for nurses and clinicians makes their clinical decisions more difficult and can lead to over-specification and variation in standards of care.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The NHS Catalogue contained over 600,000 products, many of which had been not used in excess of the last 12 months or were seemingly duplicate items. Given the sheer volume of products, this creates the complexity faced by clinicians and nurses when determining the appropriate products to use, which directly makes their decisions more difficult.

    By undertaking the planned clinical rationalisation of the products available via NHS Supply Chain, the Department aims to reduce this complexity, removing unnecessary products, ensuring that those available to the National Health Service are of an appropriate specification in order to maintain high standards of patient care.

    The clinical rationalisation work is being undertaken by practising clinicians taking into account feedback from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and other relevant programmes, such as ‘ Getting it Right First Time’.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how the UK economy has benefited from defence technology research and development.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    As stated in National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 (Cmd 9161), the UK conducts world-class innovation across all the major commercial technology sectors with national security applications, including aerospace, biotechnology and medical sciences, big data, cyber security, satellites, robotics and advanced materials.

    The defence and security industries make a major contribution to our prosperity. In the UK they employ over 215,000 people, predominantly highly skilled, and support a further 150,000, as well as 6,500 apprentices. In 2014, both industries had a collective turnover of over £30 billion, including defence and security export orders worth £11.9 billion.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills tracks the performance of FTSE 100 companies and is able to identify where any company has introduced a cost-cutting measure and correspondingly reduced executive pay, and if so, what percentage of those companies have done so.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the noble Lord.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-06-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what legal resources they are providing to refugees in the camps in Calais and Dunkirk to make asylum applications to the UK.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Asylum seekers cannot claim asylum in the UK if they are in France. If a person requires international protection they should claim asylum in France, which is bound by the same EU and international obligations as the UK.

    If after claiming asylum in France it is established that the UK is the state responsible for examining their claim on the basis of Dublin Regulation, including under its family unity provisions, a take charge request may be submitted to the Home Office.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-09-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government at what stage of the process of leaving the EU they will invoke the Vienna Accord on the denunciation of treaties.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Treaty on the European Union contains provision for withdrawal in Article 50. It is this process which accordingly applies and has to be followed for the United Kingdom to leave the EU in accordance with international law.

  • Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 19 January 2016 to Question 21876, what progress her Department has made on its review of the effect of the introduction of tribunal fees; and if she will issue a fixed date for the publication of that review.

    Sir Oliver Heald

    The review is making good progress and I expect to announce its conclusions in due course.

  • Ian Lavery – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Ian Lavery – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2016-03-14.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on what dates the National Flood Resilience Review met; what the dates are for future meetings of that review; and if he will publish the (a) agendas for and (b) minutes of meetings of that review.

    Mr Oliver Letwin

    The National Flood Resilience Review Group meets regularly to review progress of the review. We do not comment on specific date, nor do we publish agendas or minutes

    The National Floods Resilience Review Group is chaired by Oliver Letwin and consists of Ministers and senior officials from relevant departments, including Defra, DECC, DfT, DCLG, HMT, DCMS, the Environment Agency and the Met Office.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase the number of educational programmes on cancer screening.

    Jane Ellison

    The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy. The UK NSC reviews its recommendations on a three year basis or earlier if any new peer reviewed evidence emerges.

    The UK NSC is currently reviewing the evidence on whether human papillomavirus testing as primary screening for cervical disease should replace the currently used cytology test and whether faecal immunochemical testing could be used as the primary screening marker in the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme. Public consultations on both reviews have just closed and the UK NSC is expected to make a recommendation to ministers later this month.

    The NHS Breast Screening Programme is currently carrying out a long-term trial to investigate extending current screening eligibility to women aged 47-49 and 71-73. Over two million women have taken part in a randomised control trial, with the impact on breast cancer mortality rates due to be reported in the early 2020s. The UK NSC will consider the research evidence when it is published.

    We are not aware of steps being taken by employers to enable staff to take time off work to attend cancer screening appointments. However, Macmillan has produced, “Your rights at work” an information leaflet on reasonable adjustments in the workplace for people who have or have had cancer.

    In 2011, the UK NSC recommended that bowel scope screening could be offered in addition to the homes testing kit as part of the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme. Currently 76% of bowel scope screening centres in England are operational, and the Secretary of State’s commitment is to have this programme rolled out to all screening centres in England by the end of 2016. Health Education England has commissioned a training pilot for non-medical endoscopists (NMEs) to provide accelerated training in certain diagnostics procedures, with the aim of providing additional screening capacity. The pilot will commence in January 2016. A framework has also been developed to help NMEs demonstrate that they have achieved the competency levels required for their role.

    The NHS Screening Programmes have a dedicated team who oversee education, training and stakeholder information. This involves working closely with Royal Colleges, Professional bodies, stakeholder groups, NHS England, Health Education England and the Public Health England campaigns team. A vast range of educational resources exist which are free to NHS staff and cover all screening programme plus the theory and practice of screening. The team is currently expanding the range of taught courses and e-learning resources to make learning more accessible. Accessible patient information is available to educate users of the service and enable informed choices regarding screening. This is complemented by a comprehensive set of material on NHS Choices regarding all 11 NHS Screening Programmes. Patient information is constantly updated and users are involved in the reviews and evaluation of all materials.

    To increase rates of cervical screening in young women, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme has commissioned a £1 million study to determine which interventions are effective at increasing screening uptake amongst women who are receiving their first invitation from the NHS Cervical Screening Programme. The study began in November 2011 and reports can be expected in spring 2016.

    In addition, the Department of Health Behavioural Insight team is developing a trial to investigate the use of behavioural insights to optimise the content of the invitation letter for cervical screening.