Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government’s policy is on Turkey’s accession to the EU.

    Mr David Lidington

    The UK supports Turkey’s EU accession process, which remains the most effective mechanism for continuing reform in Turkey. Turkey’s accession itself is not on the cards for many years to come. Turkey first applied for associate membership of the EEC in 1959, and there remains a very significant amount of detailed work to do before Turkey is ready to join the EU including economic reforms. Every Member State has a veto at every stage. For the UK, the EU Act 2011 requires any Accession Treaty admitting a candidate country to membership to be ratified by Act of Parliament.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of metro-mayors since May 2015.

    James Wharton

    The Government considers that, where areas choose to introduce a directly-elected, region-wide Mayor as part of a devolution deal, this will provide a mechanism to strengthen local accountability and strategic leadership and drive local economic growth. No region-wide elected Mayors are yet in place under the provisions of the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act; the first elections for the new Mayors are being planned for May 2017, subject to Parliamentary approval.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions (a) he and (b) officials of his Department have had with the European Maritime Safety Agency on implementing sulphur reduction regulations.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Requirements under Directive 2012/33/EU – the sulphur content of marine fuels – came into force in the UK on 16 December 2014. Official level discussions between the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and the Department on technical and operational aspects of the sulphur limits take place in the European Sustainable Shipping Forum (ESSF). In addition, DfT and EMSA officials attend a comitology committee which considers legal matters arising from these requirements.

    There have been no direct discussions between DfT Ministers and EMSA on the sulphur requirements.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many staff with learning difficulties are currently employed by each Transforming Care team.

    David Mowat

    The Government is committed to increasing the number of people with learning disabilities employed across the full range of National Health Service organisations. NHS Employers and NHS England have a range of tools and guidance to support organisations to increase their recruitment of people with learning disabilities, including providing real examples of jobs currently being done. People with learning disabilities bring their own expertise, personal experience and knowledge to roles. As such, roles that can specifically draw on this experience should be considered.

    Further information on the NHS Learning Disability Employment Programme is available on NHS England’s website at:

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/gov/equality-hub/ld-emp-prog/

    “

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2015 to Question 227900, how much of the £250 million additional funding that was committed has been spent; and how many children and young people with mental health problems this funding has supported.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government will be making available £1.4 billion over the course of this Parliament to transform children and young people’s mental health. £173 million of this has been allocated in 2015-16.

    It is too early to quantify how many Children and Young People have benefited from this additional investment.

    A significant proportion of the additional funding is being allocated to clinical commissioning groups upon completion of the assurance of Local Transformation Plans which every area has produced on children and young people’s mental health. These plans cover the full spectrum of mental health issues, from prevention and resilience building, to support and care for existing and emerging mental health problems, as well as transitions between services and addressing the needs of the most vulnerable. Plans are currently being assured by NHS England’s regional assurance teams. Funding is being released as individual plans receive a satisfactory assessment and expenditure will be monitored over the remainder of this financial year.

    In addition, the additional funding available this year will support continued improvement of existing services through the expansion of the Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme. It will also strengthen the capacity and capability of workforce including providing training and improve data and information in order to deliver the vision set out in Future in Mind by 2020.

  • Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of people in England entering treatment for drug misuse have left treatment drug-free in each year since 2010.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    A table which shows trend data from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System for individuals completing treatment free of dependence for the years 2009-10 to 2014-15 is attached.

    For the first time in 2014-15, the annual report brought together information on people receiving specialist interventions for drugs and alcohol. Many people experience problems with both substances and receive interventions for both, and drugs and alcohol services are often commissioned together. The figures therefore include the substance group ‘non-opiate and alcohol’, as well as those seeking services for drug-only related dependency, to ensure all individuals leaving treatment drug-free are captured. This new methodology has been applied to the years prior to 2014-15 to ensure comparable figures.

    We have provided both the total numbers leaving treatment successfully free of dependence as well as the numbers that left successfully not using drugs or alcohol at the time of exit (which is a subset of the larger number), as some individuals may, for example, be occasionally drinking when they are discharged but it will have been judged by a clinician to be non-problematic and not dependent use and that therefore they no longer require treatment.

    Public Health England will continue to support local authorities to provide effective and efficient drug treatment services, by providing bespoke data to assist the joint strategic needs assessment and to show the effectiveness of the local treatment system, as well as value for money tools, topical briefings, advice on good practice and on the benefits of investing in alcohol and drug treatment. Across the country, councils have already begun to develop new ways to deliver public health, showing that it is possible to deliver better health for local people and also better value for the taxpayer.

    The evidence-base for the effectiveness of drug treatment is robust, with United Kingdom and international evidence showing that treatment provides value for money, improves public health and reduces crime.

    The Building Recovery strand of the Government’s Drug Strategy recognises the importance of non-medical interventions, such as recovery networks, employment, housing, family support and reduced re-offending, in helping people recover and to participate more fully in society. Every person in structured drug treatment has a personal care plan based on an assessment of their needs, which maps out the steps they will take towards recovery. It covers their drug use, health, social functioning, criminal involvement, housing, employment and any other barrier to recovery.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether Law Enforcement Adviser, Larry Covington, declared any interests relevant to his employment by his Department.

    James Duddridge

    We do not comment on individual staff matters. There are strict rules about staff declaring outside interests, such as accepting employment or engaging business activities to ensure that there are no conflicts of interest.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2015 to Question 17735, what change programmes are underway which are expected to reduce the size of his Department’s civilian workforce.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Royal Fleet Auxiliary, Defence Equipment and Support and the Trading Funds were included in the baseline workforce calculation.

    The Ministry of Defence is managing a range of change programmes designed to deliver Defence outputs more efficiently and effectively, including Army 2020 and outsourcing logistics to Leidos. A Business Improvement Review has been set up to identify opportunities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of support activities across Defence. This Review will look at the total shape, size and structure of our civilian workforce, the functions and processes that they are engaged in, and how those can be made more efficient.

    The Department expects the civilian workforce to reduce to around 41,000 by 2020. However, the timing and reductions associated with individual programmes are still to be determined and final decisions will be subject to consultation with employee representatives, value for money considerations and, where appropriate, commercial negotiation.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the next allocation round for Contracts for Difference will be technology neutral.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The CFD scheme allows a wide range of renewable technologies to compete for contracts.

    On 18 November 2015, my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced the intention to run three more auctions this Parliament, with the first, for the less established group of technologies planned for late 2016.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the reliance of health services on the recruitment of overseas nurses.

    Ben Gummer

    We remain committed to moving forwards towards a self-sustaining workforce and to reduce the demand for migrant labour, including nurses. In addition to increasing the number of nurses training places, Health Education England are investing almost £5 million in the Return to Practice programme, aimed at encouraging and supporting nurses who are no longer working to gain relevant training to return to work.

    We are also providing £40 million in leadership training to create a new generation of senior nurses and ensuring preceptorship is available to support newly qualified nurses in their first year of working.