Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations she has received on lowering the Tier 2 visa scheme’s minimum salary threshold for chefs.

    James Brokenshire

    Acquiring this information on visa applications from chefs would involve examining each individual case record held by UK Visas & Immigration for the Tier 2 category. To do so would incur a disproportionate cost.

    The Home Office regularly receives representations to lower the criteria (including the salary requirement) for sponsoring chefs under Tier 2, the skilled worker route. Tier 2 is, however, reserved for graduate level occupations. We continue to welcome the very top chefs who promote innovative and authentic cuisine here in the UK — and these types of skilled chefs are on the shortage occupation list. The salary threshold applied to chefs was based on expert advice from the independent Migration Advisory Committee.

    We have been clear, however, that the restaurant industry needs to move away from an unsustainable reliance on migrant workers. We want to nurture more home-grown talent and encourage young people in this country who want to pursue a skilled career. This means the restaurant sector offering training to attract and recruit resident workers to meet their staffing needs.

    The industry is starting to make progress in this area, recruiting and training more chefs in the UK, and this needs to continue.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support the Government gives to large pharmaceutical companies to partner with universities.

    Joseph Johnson

    In the last five years, Innovate UK has committed around £32M to support partnerships between pharmaceutical companies and universities in order to drive the translation of university-based research and commercial applications which tackle disease and life-threatening illnesses.

    In addition, the Government is investing in three Catapult Centres supporting the life sciences sector – the Cell Therapy, Precision Medicine and Medicines Technologies Catapults. These centres have a particular focus on supporting collaborative research and innovation among small and medium sized firms.

    Large companies are able to claim R&D Tax Relief through a 130% enhanced allowance or, alternatively, an 11% taxable credit via the R&D Expenditure Credit. In 2013/14, these schemes provided support of £950M to 3,950 businesses. Additionally, the UK’s Patent Box was introduced in 2013 and gives additional incentive to develop, retain and commercialise new, innovative patented products in the UK. The Patent Box offers an effective 10% corporation tax rate on trading profits earned in the UK from specified patents.

  • 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 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the progress of the Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme’s service transformation programme.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government’s transformation programme for children and young people’s mental health is aimed at improving children and young people’s mental health and providing additional support for those who experience mental health problems. The Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (CYP IAPT) programme includes training for professionals working in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) partnerships to put the patient at the centre of their treatment: young people agree goals and milestones with the professional, and participate in their care through regular feedback and outcome monitoring. The benefits of this approach are well-evidenced.

    Unlike the adult programme, CYP IAPT does not create new services; it transforms CAMHS partnerships by training people to deliver evidence-based interventions so that those working in CAMHS do so in collaboration with children, young people and families, in every aspect of care and service design through better participation and regular feedback and outcome monitoring.

    At present, 78% of young people aged under 19 are covered by CAMHS partnerships which are working to transform services by embedding the CYP IAPT principles, and the programme is being rolled out to cover the whole of England by 2018. The programme is currently developing a number of new curricula to address training gaps that have been identified during its implementation. These include interventions for 0-5 year olds, evidence-based counselling, combination therapy (pharmacology and psychological interventions), Learning Disabilities and Autistic Spectrum disorder, and staff working in inpatient settings.

    A recent rapid deep dive audit of 12 partnerships within the programme showed:

    ― improved access through self-referral routes, single point of access, outreach services, evening and weekend appointments;

    ― compared to a national sample of mental health services in the United States, teams in services working with CYP IAPT had more proficient organisational cultures and more functional organisations;

    ― more efficient time between referral and assessment decreased by 73%;

    ― number of days between assessment and discharge decreased by 21%; and

    ― The percentage of closed cases by mutual agreement increased by 22%.

  • Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what mechanisms his Department has put in place for responding to allegations that a competent harbour authority has not acted in conformity with the provisions of the Pilotage Act 1987.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    It is a Competent Harbour Authority which has the statutory duty to determine what pilotage services need to be provided to secure the safety of navigation of vessels operating in their waters. Where a ruling on the legality of its actions is needed, that is a matter for the court rather than the Department.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-05-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are guidelines for local consultations in the Education Funding Agency site selection process, and if so, what those guidelines are.

    Lord Nash

    The Education Funding Agency makes a value for money assessment of each site identified for a new free school. This takes into account factors such as the demand for places in the area and the suitability of the site, including any concerns from local residents.

    Local consultations should take place during the selection of the site and the views of residents are factored in at several stages of the process.

  • Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to standardise nutritional information in food and drink labelling.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The legislation on food labelling sets out the content, format and expression of nutrition information on food labels. It is implemented in England by the Food Information Regulations 2014. Nutrition labelling for most pre-packed food and drink will be mandatory from 13 December 2016.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which agreed EU directives have not yet been transposed directly into UK law; and if he will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    There are no EU directives related to the Ministry of Defence’s responsibilities awaiting transposition into UK law.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-11-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to reintroduce charges for museum entry in the next year.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    This Government is committed to maintaining free admission to the permanent collections of major museums and galleries, as set out in the 2015 Conservative Party general election manifesto.

  • Yasmin Qureshi – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Yasmin Qureshi – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what safeguards he plans to put in place to ensure that the proposed £22 billion NHS efficiency savings do not adversely affect the quality of services to people with Parkinson’s disease.

    Jane Ellison

    The Government has committed to invest an additional £10 billion in the National Health Service over this Parliament. Efficiency and high quality care go hand-in-hand; cutting waste and safer care are integral to ensuring better outcomes at a lower cost. The efficiencies the NHS needs to find are linked to the challenge of continued improvements in care across all services, including for people with Parkinson’s disease.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what arrangements his Department has in place to monitor the performance of MTCNovo’s delivery of the custodial service at Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre.

    Andrew Selous

    The contract with MTCnovo at Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre (STC) will begin on 5th May 2016. During the transition of the new contract, the Youth Justice Board (YJB) will work alongside MTCnovo and the current contract holder at Rainsbrook STC to facilitate a safe and successful transition to the new contract.

    The YJB has responsibility for commissioning and overseeing the youth secure estate through monitoring and reporting performance at each STC site against the contract and STC rules. The YJB has a full time on-site Monitor at Rainsbrook STC supported by a part time assistant and YJB managers, to ensure that MTCnovo’s service delivery is in accordance with the contract and the STC rules, which set out how STCs should be managed and run. The YJB conduct regular walk-rounds to monitor compliance, analyse data returns, review reports – including incidents of use of force – and review contractor’s declaration of performance awards.