Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kerry McCarthy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2015-12-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he made of the effect on (a) environmental bodies, (b) biodiversity conservation, (c) pollution prevention, (d) waste reduction and (e) public parks of the proposed reduction in the Landfill Communities Fund.

    Damian Hinds

    Since its introduction in 1996, the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) has contributed over £1.4bn to community projects in areas affected by a local landfill site and the government acknowledges the positive impact of this funding for communities. However, as the LCF is a tax credit scheme, it reduces the government’s tax revenues and we therefore have a responsibility to seek value for money for the taxpayer.

    Despite difficult decisions on spending, the government has decided to retain and reform the LCF. The value of the LCF for 2016-17 will therefore be set at £39.3m. The government is committed to providing the best value for communities, and over the next five years £20m of the additional Landfill Tax revenues resulting from this change will be used by the Environment Agency to address waste crime.

    The government wants LCF money to get to communities more quickly. Our reforms will encourage money to be spent in the communities that need it. The LCF will provide £39.3m additional funding for communities in 2016/17 alone and we hope more unspent funds, which this year totalled £118m, will also reach projects as soon as possible.

  • Kevin Barron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Kevin Barron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Barron on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of removing generic medicines required to have a brand name by the MHRA from the Statutory Scheme of Control the Prices of Branded Health Service Medicines.

    George Freeman

    The Department consulted on options to amend the Statutory Scheme regulations which control the prices of branded health service medicines. Both the voluntary Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme and the statutory scheme include all health service medicines with a brand name, including those required by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to have a brand name. The Department did not propose any changes to the scope of the statutory scheme in this respect and has not made an estimate of the cost of removing those branded medicines from the statutory scheme.

    The Department received responses from a range of organisations including National Health Service, independent bodies and pharmaceutical industry. The Department is currently analysing the responses from a range of organisations including NHS, independent bodies and pharmaceutical industry.

    The consultation and impact assessment can be accessed using the following link.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/pricing-of-branded-health-service-medicines

    “

  • Corri Wilson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Corri Wilson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Corri Wilson on 2016-02-05.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the efficiency of HM Revenue and Customs in handling written correspondence from members of the public.

    Mr David Gauke

    Such a review has not been carried out recently. However, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) regularly publish general performance reports at Gov.uk. HMRC targets for post are to reply to 80% within 15 working days, 95% within 40 working days, and 90% accuracy.

  • Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has a communication’s strategy to tackle violent extremism.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Counter-Extremism Strategy, published in October last year, set out government’s response to the threat posed by extremism. As part of that response, the Department is supporting the Home Office led communications strategy. This includes work with broadcasters and technology companies to counter extremist ideologies, and to disrupt those sharing extremist content in the media and online.

  • Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-04-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what responsibility they have for examining how the costs of heavy rail might be reduced.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Government has a strong interest in reducing the net cost of the railway for the benefit of passengers, freight users and taxpayers, and this has been an important theme of the recent Hendy, Bowe and Shaw reviews.

    In respect of infrastructure costs, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has a remit to determine the efficient cost of provision by Network Rail in each five yearly rail control period, which helps to determine the cost of track access charges for Network Rail’s customers – passenger and freight train operators. ORR sets an efficiency target for Network Rail’s operations, maintenance and renewals. Any material increases in expenditure must be agreed with the Department for Transport.

    Separately, following the Bowe and Hendy reports, the Department has set in place new oversight arrangements to ensure best value is obtained from proposals to enhance the rail network, as reflected in the recently published Memorandum of Understanding between the Department and Network Rail.

    In respect of train operations, the Department seeks to achieve improved value for money through the way it lets and manages contracts for passenger train services.

  • Stephen Hammond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Stephen Hammond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Hammond on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations his Department has received from the new Mayor of London on working together to deliver his manifesto commitment to freeze transport fares.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Secretary of State and other Transport Ministers meet representatives of the Greater London Authority and Transport for London on a regular basis to discuss a wide range of subjects. The Department has not yet received any representations from the Mayor on this matter.

  • Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to encourage the recruitment of graduates into the social work sector.

    Edward Timpson

    Social workers perform some of the hardest roles in society and that is why it is already a graduate profession. Government is continuing to invest in social work education and training, including through the highly successful Step Up to Social Work and Frontline programmes, both of which aim to bring high calibre graduates into child and family social work, and Think Ahead, which offers a new route for graduates and career-changers into adult mental health social work.

    Improving the quality and status of child and family ‎social work is a high priority. Higher standards, including through the introduction of a national system of assessment and accreditation will help provide greater assurance that social workers have the necessary knowledge and skills for the demanding work they do. The Government does not, however, have any specific plans to increase public awareness of the role of social workers.

    Government does not collect data on the number of cases held by social workers on a weekly basis. The department expects to publish caseload information, for the first time, relating to the year ending 30 September 2016, in February 2017.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that health providers commissioned to give influenza vaccinations to patients at home are also commissioned to provide such vaccinations for eligible carers.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Under the national enhanced service specification, general practitioners (GPs) are contracted to offer the influenza vaccination to those who are in receipt of a carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if the carer falls ill.

    It is the responsibility of the GPs to ensure access to influenza immunisation services is as accessible, convenient and efficient as possible; in some cases GPs may include a service to immunise patients at home.

  • Peter Dowd – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Peter Dowd – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Dowd on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will publish a timetable for the review of post-16 education and training by area; and when such reviews will take place.

    Nick Boles

    The reviews are aimed at delivering a skills system that meets the economic and educational needs of areas whilst also ensuring the long term sustainability of colleges to support productivity. Their purpose is not to secure savings to Government. However, early evidence from the pilot reviews indicates that there is potential for the reviews to secure efficiency savings.

    The second wave of area reviews will start in January 2016 and we aim to announce details within the next few weeks. We are currently looking at the geographies and phasing for other areas and will aim to issue further information on this before the end of the year but in doing this we recognise that the position should remain fluid to take account of the views of local partners and also cases of college failure. We expect all reviews to be completed by March 2017.

  • Mark Tami – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Tami – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Tami on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of recent progress in increasing the (a) number of people on and (b) quality of the stem cell and bone marrow registers; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    The total number of registered donors on the Anthony Nolan and NHS Stem Cell Registry continues to expand. In 2010 the total number of registered United Kingdom donors was 770,000 but by the end of 2014 was in excess of one million. Investment by the Department has supported our delivery partners NHS Blood and Transplant and the charity Anthony Nolan to recruit a cohort of young male donors that are approximately six times more likely to be able to donate. Over 19,000 additional donors are planned to be recruited in the current financial year.

    Quality is a key issue for the clinical usefulness of cord blood samples. The collection of cord blood is arranged to maximise the proportion of samples with the highest quality. The number of banked cord samples of clinical grade continues to increase with in excess of 15,000 now banked.