Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-07-06.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his oral contribution on 4 July 2016, Official Report, column 626, on what date he (a) decided not to introduce an emergency budget and (b) asked the OBR to assess the effect of the EU referendum result on the economy.

    Harriett Baldwin

    As the Chancellor has said, the referendum result will have an impact on the economy and public finances – and there will need to be action to address that. Given the delay in triggering Article 50 and the Prime Minister’s decision to hand over to a successor, it is sensible that decisions on what that action should consist of should wait until the Office of Budget Responsibility has made an economic forecast in the Autumn.

    The Chancellor will commission the OBR to provide an Autumn forecast in the usual way.

  • Lord Empey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Empey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-09-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what financial or other assistance they are making available to the Palestinian territories currently governed by the State of Israel.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    DFID provided £72 million in financial year 2015/16 in support of Palestinian development to help build Palestinian institutions, deliver basic services and promote economic development.

    As the Secretary of State has recently taken up her new role, she is conducting a full examination of our work in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) to ensure UK taxpayers’ money is spent in the right places and in the right way.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce the incidence of depression among new mothers.

    Alistair Burt

    Reducing the incidence of depression among new mothers is a high priority for the Government.

    The Mandate from the Government for the National Health Service includes an objective for NHS England to work with partner organisations to reduce the incidence and impact of postnatal depression through earlier diagnosis, and better intervention and support.

    The NHS Mandate also includes an objective that every woman has a named midwife who is responsible for ensuring she has personalised care throughout pregnancy, childbirth and during the postnatal period. This will help clinicians to identify perinatal mental health problems as early as possible and to give women the support they need.

    To help achieve this we have increased the number of midwives by over 1,800 and the number of health visitors by over 3,500 since May 2010. In addition, 6,400 midwifery students and an extra 1,000 health visitors are in training respectively.

    We are also working to improve the provision of perinatal mental health services which is why it was announced in the March budget that the Government would invest an additional £75 million over the next five years, £15 million per year, to support women with mental ill health in the perinatal period. NHS England is leading a work programme to ensure that this extra money is spent in the right way, at the right time and in the right places. This work is being carried out collaboratively with partner organisations, including the Department and Public Health England, clinical experts and service users.

    Health Education England (HEE) has committed to ensure that the right knowledge and training is available so that the NHS is skilled in how it looks after women’s mental as well as physical health. The HEE Mandate includes an objective that there will be specialist perinatal mental health staff available for every birthing unit by 2017. HEE is also committed to working with the medical royal colleges to support specific perinatal mental health training being incorporated into the syllabus for doctors in postgraduate training by 2017.

    The Department has funded the Institute of Health Visitors which has trained over 600 perinatal mental health visitor champions to enable health visitors to identify and manage perinatal depression and other maternal mental health conditions.

    The Department has also funded the Maternal Health Care Policy Research Unit to undertake a project to develop and pilot test a perinatal mental health indicator which would reflect the mental health care a woman receives at certain critical perinatal time-points; the antenatal booking, the early postnatal period, and approximately one year postnatally.

    In line with the approach on other access and waiting time standards, NHS England appointed the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health to run expert engagement and produce implementation outputs, for example commissioning guidance and model pathways. An Expert Reference Group has been formed to oversee this work. NHS England plan to be able to make the recommendations of the group public as soon as possible.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of car parking charges and their effect on the high street.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    We are committed to supporting our high streets and effective parking management is essential for businesses to survive and grow.

    Local authorities should be making it easier to park by looking to reduce the cost of parking in local authority owned car parks, and working with private sector providers to ensure they are providing a competitive offer that makes people want to visit high streets and town centres. This provides the best support to local shops, local jobs and tourism by increasing footfall.

    The Government has brought forward a range of measures to help motorists, including banning CCTV ‘spy cars’, introducing 10 minutes grace periods and a new guidance to challenge parking policies.

  • Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if police forces will be required to provide information to the Disclosure and Barring Service where a person has been arrested and bailed pending an investigation into their alleged offences.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Secretary issues guidance to chief officers of police under section 113B(4A) of the Police Act 1997, which they must have regard to in making decisions about providing information from police records for inclusion in enhanced criminal record certificates.

    This guidance extends, for example, to information held by the police relating to someone being arrested and bailed.

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2015 to Question 19830, when he plans to report on his review of the UK National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights.

    Mr David Lidington

    We are currently finalising the review of the UK National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (BHR) and intend to publish it shortly. We are honouring the commitment made by the previous Coalition Government, showing our ongoing commitment to BHR. The plan covers the work of a wide range of Government departments and we have consulted widely as part of the process of updating the plan. The UK is the first country to go through such a revision process.

  • John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied children arrived in the UK from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2015.

    James Brokenshire

    The question has been interpreted as referring to unaccompanied asylum seeking children arriving in the UK.

    During 2015, there were 11 asylum applications from Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children, excluding dependants, received from nationals of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    Figures on asylum applications for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) are published quarterly by the Home Office in the Immigration Statistics release.

    A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics October to December 2015, is available from:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2015

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she consulted the Science Advisory Council on her Department’s decision to remove the limit on the duration of the badger-culling period.

    George Eustice

    The Science Advisory Council (SAC) has a high-level strategic role and does not normally advise on detailed scientific aspects of policies. Therefore advice has not been sought recently from the SAC on the causes of, or methods of controlling, bovine TB, including badger control. The Guidance to Natural England on licences to control the risk of bovine TB from badgers was published in December 2015 after a public consultation. The Guidance reflects the advice of the UK’s Chief Veterinary Officer and Defra’s Chief Scientific Advisor.

  • 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 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the implications are for the UK’s autonomous vehicle technology industry of the Declaration of Amsterdam signed by Transport Ministers on 14 April 2016.

    Andrew Jones

    The Declaration of Amsterdam aims to encourage the deployment of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) through setting the strategic agenda for the discussion on CAVs and ensuring interoperability is discussed at an early stage in the development process. The declaration, which is supported by the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders made specific calls to industry, asking them to work with government to highlight the barriers for deployment, and develop the technologies with interoperability in mind.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2016 to Question 41418, whether she plans to start making projections of the cost of energy imports by the UK; and if she will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Department of Energy and Climate Change does not currently have plans to produce projections of the cost of energy imports by the UK.

    The government is committed to making sure consumers have secure, affordable and clean energy. Keeping the cost of energy imports low will be important in helping achieve this goal.