Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make an assessment of the likelihood of the yellow fever outbreak in Angola spreading beyond Africa; and what support the Government is providing to tackle that outbreak.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The Government recognises the Yellow Fever outbreak in Angola as being of serious concern, with risks of international spread through non-immunised travellers. Government departments are collaborating to monitor the situation closely, including within affected and at-risk countries where the UK has a presence. We are also working with the World Health Organisation, Gavi (the vaccine alliance) and other international partners to support their work to control the outbreak, including through large-scale vaccination campaigns. The UK has financed one quarter of the Yellow Fever vaccine doses provided to the global stockpile in 2016. More than 10.5million people in Angola and nearly 2million people in DRC have already been vaccinated in response to the outbreak.

  • Siobhain McDonagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Siobhain McDonagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Siobhain McDonagh on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department took to assess the grounds for granting a visa to Mufti Hanif Qureshi.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    All visa applications are considered on their individual merits and in line with the Immigration Rules.

    In order to safeguard an individual’s personal information and comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 the Home Office is limited in what information it can provide when the request is made by someone who is not the applicant. The Home Office is therefore unable to provide the information requested.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how much funding his Department has been allocated for each fiscal year of the current Spending Review period.

    Mr Robin Walker

    Detailed work is underway to establish the budget required to fulfil the department’s set-up and responsibilities, including staffing budget, over the period of the Spending Review. The budget will be presented to the House of Commons and approved as part of the supplementary estimates in the new year, as is standard practice.

  • Anna Turley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Anna Turley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effect of raising the minimum wage on the capacity of charities to deliver public services.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The National Living Wage will benefit low paid workers across all sectors, including charity workers delivering public services on behalf of the state.

    Government is taking steps to support employers with the transition. For example, the employer National Insurance Bill for businesses and charities will be cut by £1000 from April 2016.

  • Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for trends in the levels of extremism in Pakistan.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK and Pakistan share a commitment to defeating extremism. As the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) has said, this is one of the greatest threats that we face. Extremist narratives underpin all acts of terrorism, whether the tragic events that took place in Paris last month, or the murder of 132 innocent children in Peshawar in 2014. That is why we strongly support Pakistan’s efforts to tackle terrorism and the extremism that sustains it. As in the UK, this requires effort in a number of areas, including investment in education, tackling poverty and confronting the extremist narrative.

    The Government’s Counter-Extremism Strategy sets out our approach to tackling all forms of extremism in the UK. It recognises that the problem is a global one. We are therefore working with international partners, including Pakistan, to reinforce our efforts at home and to build a more robust international response to extremism. As part of this, we continuously assess the threat to the UK and our partners to inform our efforts to combat extremism wherever it emerges. We are also working with Pakistan to deepen our shared understanding of the issue and to develop and implement effective responses.

    Extremism is a complex and multi-faceted issue. In assessing the nature of extremism, Her Majesty’s Government captures a broad spectrum of internal and external source material, including working closely with academics, civil society groups and other governments.

  • Wes Streeting – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Wes Streeting – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wes Streeting on 2016-01-22.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings have taken place between officials of his Department and the Financial Conduct Authority since May 2015.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Treasury Ministers and officials meet regularly with the Financial Conduct Authority to discuss relevant regulatory issues.

    As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Treasury’s practice to provide details of all such discussions.

  • Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to eradicate new psychoactive substances across the prison estate; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Selous

    We take a zero tolerance approach to drugs in prison and there are already a range of robust measures in place to detect drugs, including the use of search dogs and intelligence-led searches. More than 300 dogs have received specialist training to detect NPS. We recently introduced tough new laws which will see those who smuggle packages over prison walls, including new psychoactive substances, face up to two years in prison. Those who involve themselves in the distribution of drugs in our prisons should know that they will face prosecution and extra time behind bars.

    We have begun a pilot to test for the use of psychoactive substances, and in April 2016, we plan to introduce widespread mandatory drug testing of prisoners for psychoactive substances. Those who are found to have used psychoactive substances will face sanctions under prison rules, including by having days added to their time in custody.

  • 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 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to limiting the proportion of places that schools can allocate using religious admissions criteria, in line with the cap that currently exists for free schools.

    Lord Nash

    The Government greatly values the contribution that existing church and faith schools play in our education system, including those of free schools, and we have no plans to change their admission arrangements since they are providing places for the communities they serve.

    Not all faith schools choose to allocate places by faith. It is for the admission authority of the school to decide whether or not to include faith-based priorities within their oversubscription criteria.

    When constructing faith-based oversubscription criteria, including deciding how membership or practice of the faith will be determined, admission authorities must have regard to the guidance of their relevant religious authority and their arrangements must comply with the statutory School Admissions Code.

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what provisions his Department has put in place to improve rolling stock as part of the rail franchise package for the North West.

    Andrew Jones

    The new Northern and TransPennine Express franchises commenced on the 1st April. By the end of 2019, they will have introduced significant improvements in Rolling Stock.

    The Northern franchise will deliver:-

    • 281 new carriages including 55 new Diesel and 43 new Electric trains – the first ever new trains specified for the Northern franchise
    • Additional diesel units cascaded from other franchises – refurbished to ‘as new’ standard
    • Removal of all Pacer trains by October 2019
    • All retained trains will be refurbished as new including Wi-Fi, media servers, passenger information systems, CCTV and accessible toilets with baby-change facilities

    This means that 30% of this expanded fleet will be new and will operate 2000 more services per week –a 12% increase. The additional trains will provide a 37% increase in morning peak capacity into the North’s 5 major cities by December 2019.

    The TransPennine franchise will deliver:-

    • 220 new carriages
    • All existing trains will be refurbished as new including Wi-Fi, additional power sockets, and real-time passenger information systems

    This means that 70% of fleet is new, the fleet size increases by two-thirds, provides 13million more seats, an 80% increase in morning peak seats by the end of 2019.

    These delivery plans as bid by the two operators during the Invitation to Tender process have been contracted within the franchise agreements.

  • Nusrat Ghani – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nusrat Ghani – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nusrat Ghani on 2016-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the average length of time between a person developing endometriosis and diagnosis of that condition.

    Jane Ellison

    Endometriosis can be asymptomatic; however, some studies have shown that the length of time from the onset of symptoms to the diagnosis of endometriosis can be up to eight years in the United Kingdom.

    Due to the fact that endometriosis can be asymptomatic it is not possible to estimate the precise prevalence of the condition. The number of people who are affected by endometriosis but have not been diagnosed with the condition is therefore unknown.

    However, estimates of the prevalence of the condition range from 2% to 10% of women of reproductive age, to 50% of infertile women. Endometriosis UK estimates that around 1.5 million to 2 million women in the UK have the condition.

    The number of people who have been diagnosed with endometriosis is not collected centrally. However the table below shows a count of finished admission episodes (FAEs) with a primary or secondary diagnosis of endometriosis, for the years 2010-11 to 2014-15. However, the data only includes the diagnosis of endometriosis where there was a hospital admission. There may be further cases of the condition that were diagnosed and treated in another healthcare setting. These data should not be described as counts of people as the same person may have been admitted to hospital on more than one occasion within any given time period.

    Count of finished admission episodes (FAEs) with a primary or secondary diagnosis of endometriosis, 2010-11 to 2014-15

    Year

    FAEs

    2010-11

    34,963

    2011-12

    37,370

    2012-13

    37,742

    2013-14

    40,218

    2014-15

    42,977

    Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

    The Department’s Innovation, Excellence and Strategic Development Grant for Endometriosis UK was awarded in the 2014/15 funding round. The project title to which the grant was allocated to was ‘Endometriosis Patient Support Groups aligned to Specialised Endometriosis Centres’. The funding granted per the award letter (2015-16 and 2016-17 funding was indicative at the time of the grant) was:

    2014-15 £63,686

    2015-16 £59,718

    2016-17 £65,403