Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Pakistani counterpart on the reported abduction of girls for arranged marriages in that country.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are seriously concerned about reports of abduction of girls for forced marriage in Pakistan. It is the responsibility of the Government of Pakistan to ensure it guarantees the rights of all its citizens, regardless of their gender, faith or ethnicity. We raise the issues of women’s rights and religious freedom on a regular basis at a senior level with the authorities in Pakistan and press for greater protection of all citizens’ rights. The Girl Summit, hosted by the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), in July 2014, included a commitment to end child, early and forced marriage.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in what ways the proposed life chances measures in the amendments to the Child Poverty Act 2010 will measure child poverty in households with at least one employed adult.

    Priti Patel

    We are clear that the existing low-income measures do not drive the right action to tackle the root causes of child poverty.

    Our proposals in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill introduce new statutory measures of worklessness and educational attainment which the evidence indicates are the biggest factors affecting child poverty now and in the future.

    The Department will also continue to publish low-income statistics as part of the ‘Households Below Average Income’ publication.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to incentivise the use of hedges, field margins and ditches in farmed uplands in order to facilitate flood water retention.

    George Eustice

    The management of hedges, field margins and ditches is already incentivised in England (including the farmed uplands) by payments under agri-environment schemes, such as Environmental Stewardship. The new Countryside Stewardship scheme, launched last year, is targeted to include those areas that can provide joint benefits for biodiversity, water quality and natural flood management.

    The retention of hedgerows and field margins is also incentivised through Pillar 1 of the Common Agricultural Policy where they will be eligible as Environmental Focus Areas within the Greening requirements.

  • Baroness Hodgson of Abinger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Hodgson of Abinger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to reduce waiting times for autism diagnosis.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The number of children, young people and adults diagnosed with autism by the National Health Service is not collected centrally. Latest figures from the School Census (2015) state that there were 90,775 pupils with an autistic spectrum disorder at state funded schools and non-maintained special schools in England. This has increased from a total of 56,250 in 2010 who were recorded as having a primary need of autism, but it is not directly comparable to the 2015 figures because of a change in collection methodology. Local authority areas provide information for Public Health England’s annual self-assessment exercise on implementing the Autism Strategy. This includes the number of adults receiving an autism diagnosis but because information is submitted on a voluntary basis a complete total for England is not available.

    The Department has discussed with NHS England the difficulties that people on the autistic spectrum can have in getting an appropriate diagnosis and support in a timely manner. NHS England has commenced a programme to visit clinical commissioning groups to identify and share good practice in accessing autism diagnosis, and look at possible barriers. The Department is funding the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services to support this work. NHS England will complete a report on this by the end of April 2016.

    The Department is also encouraging the autism third sector to work together and the four charity representatives on the Cross Government Autism Programme Board, which oversees the implementation of the Autism Strategy, gave presentations at the meeting on 18 February on work they are doing to increase public awareness. The charities are the National Autistic Society, the Autism Alliance UK, Autism Plus and Ambitious about Autism. The Autism Alliance UK is also being funded by the Department to undertake work with national and local organisations, to make reasonable adjustments to services and to train staff to be aware of what autism can mean to individuals who have the condition and their families.

    The Health and Social Care Information Centre’s publication Estimating the Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Conditions in Adults – Extending the 2007 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS) gave the overall prevalence of autism in England as 1.1% (95% confidence interval 0.3% to 1.9%). Among adults with learning disabilities living in private households whose learning disability was sufficiently severe that they could not have taken part in the 2007 APMS, the prevalence of autism was 35.4% (95% confidence interval 24.7% to 46.2%). Among adults with mild or severe learning disabilities living in communal care establishments, the prevalence of autism was 31% (95% confidence interval 23.9% to 38%). Detailed supporting information regarding the underlying data and how figures have been derived is found within the detail of the report, a copy of which is attached.

    The APMS was repeated in 2014 and findings are scheduled to be published in September 2016.

  • Luke Hall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Luke Hall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luke Hall on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many patients in (a) Ashworth, (b) Broadmoor and (c) Rampton high security psychiatric hospitals received employment and support allowance between 2012 and 2015; and what the average weekly payment of that benefit was to such recipients.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information requested is not readily available, and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage corporate sponsorship of the arts at a local level.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government believes that a thriving arts sector is vital for the cultural landscape of this country. We highlighted in the recent Culture White Paper that we would like to see a rejuvenated approach to corporate sponsorship of the arts. We are working with Arts Council England and other partners on this agenda, including looking at local level partnerships.

    Arts Council have already commissioned a new Private Investment Survey and is currently inviting all arts and cultural organisations in England to take part by April 29th. The new survey will be published in the autumn and will provide an updated overview of private investment in England’s cultural sectors, including at the local level. It will also bridge the gap in terms of data on how the sector has developed since the last survey was published covering data for 2011/12, which recorded business investment in the arts as £113 million.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his (a) Japanese and (b) South Korean counterparts on North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We have regular contact with key partners on this issue, including Japan and South Korea. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) discussed this issue with his Japanese counterpart and others at the G7 Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Hiroshima on 11 April.

    The G7 issued a joint communiqué [http://www.mofa.go.jp/files/000147440.pdf] strongly condemning the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)’s nuclear tests and calling upon the international community to enforce the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions to respond to the clear and continuing threat to international peace and security that is posed by the DPRK’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

  • Baroness Whitaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Whitaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Whitaker on 2016-07-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have instructed Government Car Service drivers to turn off their engines while waiting in New Palace Yard to reduce air pollution, and if not, whether they intend to do so.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Government Car Service drivers are regularly reminded of the need to turn off the engine when parked to reduce air pollution and save fuel. A new reminder will be sent out immediately with particular reference to New Palace Yard and the Parliamentary Estate.

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Thomas-Symonds on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of NHS England’s decision not to fund second stem cell transplants on the long-term outcomes of patients.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Decisions related to the commissioning of National Health Service treatments in England are made by NHS England using a published process that involves an impact assessment. The Department has not made any further assessment of the decision related to the commissioning of second stem cell transplants.

  • Carolyn Harris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Carolyn Harris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken in the last 12 months to improve access to off-patent, repurposed drugs; and what assessment it has made of the effectiveness of those steps.

    George Freeman

    Our policy on generic prescribing has been in place for a number of years. The policy helps ensure that patients can access the medicine that best meets their needs and it has been a key driver in the National Health Service making maximum use of off-patent drugs which are also known as generics. We have the best prescribing rate for these drugs in Europe.

    To support clinicians who may want to prescribe a product off-label for a patient to and improve the flow of research evidence into clinical practice, the Department hosted a Roundtable Event in February 2015. Attendees included the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, Breast Cancer Now and other charities and discussions helped determine those non-legislative measures that could be undertaken. The Government is committed to this work and is holding a further roundtable event with charities.