Tag: Parliamentary Question

Chris White – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris White on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the strength of diplomatic and economic relations between India and the UK.

Mr Hugo Swire

The UK and India have a broad and deep friendship symbolised by Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s visit last month and Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the United Kingdom in November 2015. The UK is the largest G20 investor in India and Indian companies invest more in the UK than the rest of the EU combined.

01/01/2023
Martin Docherty-Hughes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martin Docherty-Hughes on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidelines there are for the flying of unmanned drones in the proximity of airports.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Article 166 of the UK Air Navigation order 2009 (ANO) requires operators of small unmanned aircraft to maintain direct, unaided visual contact with the aircraft sufficient to monitor its flight path in relation to other aircraft, persons, vehicles, vessels and structures for the purposes of avoiding collisions. It also states that an operator may only fly the aircraft if they are reasonably satisfied that the flight can safely be made.

In addition, Article 138 of the ANO 2009, which also applies to small unmanned aircraft, states that “a person must not recklessly or negligently cause or permit an aircraft to endanger any person or property”. This includes persons within another aircraft, and of course the aircraft that those persons are within.

The Civil Aviation Authority issues CAP 722 which is guidance for operating drones in the UK.

01/01/2023
Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rob Marris on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve access to public transport for disabled people.

Andrew Jones

The Government recognises how important improving access to public transport is for disabled people and is committed to making transport more inclusive.

Since its launch in 2006, the £390m Access for All rail programme (which was further extended with £160m in 2014) has delivered accessible routes at over 150 stations. There are also 68 further projects at various stages of construction or development.

We also recognise that positive interactions with bus drivers can make a big difference to disabled people’s experience of taking the bus. We are working with the bus industry and disabled people to design best practice guidance in delivering disability awareness training which, we hope, will help to give bus drivers the skills and knowledge to assist every disabled passenger.

In addition, the Bus Services Bill will specifically allow enhanced partnership schemes to require all buses within a local area to provide audible and visual next stop information. Authorities using the new franchising powers will be able to place similar requirements on affected operators. The Government has also agreed to consider amendments on this issue which were tabled during the Bill’s committee stage in the House of Lords.

The Government intends to publish an Accessibility Action Plan for consultation by the end of the year which will present its ambition for further progress on this important agenda.

01/01/2023
Lord Pendry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pendry on 2015-11-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they support the President of the International Association of Athletics Federations in his condemnation of alleged state-sponsored doping within Russian athletics.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

This is a difficult time for the world of sport and Russian athletics, but it is essential that robust steps are taken to ensure athletics regains its integrity. Lord Coe has been clear that his priority is to rebuild trust in athletics.

01/01/2023
Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his policy is on the future of the Special Investigation and Prosecution Team in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

James Duddridge

The Special Investigation and Prosecution Team was set up following Sir Robin Auld’s Commission of Inquiry in 2008-2009 which identified a high probability of systemic corruption in the Turks and Caicos Islands. As a result of its investigation, criminal charges were brought against a number of individuals, including former Premier Michael Misick. The trial is expected to start this month and is likely to run for several months. The start of the trial is an important moment for Turks and Caicos Islands that will ensure justice is seen to be done and draw a line under past allegations of systemic corruption. Given that the trial is only just about to start and its outcome is unknown, it is difficult to make firm conclusions on Special Investigation and Prosecution Team’s future at this point. The Turks and Caicos Islands authorities would be involved in any decision as Special Investigation and Prosecution Team works for them not the UK.

01/01/2023
Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what development and humanitarian support the Government has provided (a) bilaterally and (b) multilaterally to Burkina Faso in each of the last six years.

Mr Nick Hurd

Since 2010 DFID has provided over £16m of bilateral humanitarian and development funding to Burkina Faso. This includes humanitarian assistance to prevent and treat malnutrition and provide support to refugees from Mali, work with communities to end female genital mutilation, and support to improve regional trade in West Africa.

Whilst DFID does not require multilateral organisations to give a breakdown of where they spent core funding from DFID, the imputed share of DFID’s core funding to multilaterals that went to Burkina Faso between 2010 and 2014 (the latest year for which we have data) was £159m in total, ranging from between £34m to £47m each year. This was spent by multilaterals including the EU, the UN organisations, and the World Bank on providing a range of humanitarian and development support to meet priority needs in Burkina Faso.

01/01/2023
Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps he has taken to reduce stillbirths.

Ben Gummer

We are committed making sure every baby receives consistently high quality care, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

In November 2015, the Government announced a national ambition to halve by 2030 the rates of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries occurring during or soon after birth.

To support the National Health Service in achieving this ambition we also announced:

― a £2.24 million capital fund for equipment to improve safety;

― over £1 million to roll out training programmes to make sure staff have the skills and confidence they need to deliver world-leading safe care; and

― £500,000 to develop a new system that can be used consistently across the NHS to enable staff to review and learn from every stillbirth and neonatal death.

The announcement also committed to publishing an annual report to update the public, health professionals, providers and commissioners on the progress we are making towards achieving the ambition.

The National Maternity Review, chaired by Baroness Cumberlege, will include proposals for the future shape of modern, high quality and sustainable maternity services across England. We anticipate that its report will have an important role in shaping the system to achieve our ambition.

For those babies who are born sick or premature, NHS England commissions Neonatal Care from 165 neonatal units. These units are organised and supported by 13 Operational Delivery Networks. The organisation of networks has brought tangible benefits in the delivery of babies in the right place to receive specialist care when it is needed.

NHS England’s Neonatal Critical Care Service Specification states that providers should ensure that expert and experienced staff treat sufficient numbers of cases to maintain a safe high quality service and move towards national standards.

It is for local hospital trusts and specialised commissioners to decide how best to use the guidance and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence quality standard for specialist neonatal care to improve babies’ chances of survival and minimise mortality associated with being born either premature or unwell. We know that that there is still more to do to ensure these services are consistent across the country and that is why the Neonatal Clinical Reference Group at NHS England has committed to review the findings of the Bliss report, (published in October 2015 which can be found here http://www.bliss.org.uk/babyreport), and will work with all of its key partners to make recommendations for further improvement.

Unless we invest in research we cannot understand how to best improve services for mothers and their babies. Significant sums have been invested over recent years in support of research looking at important questions regarding premature birth. The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funds a range of research relating to causes, risk factors and prevention of stillbirth and neonatal death. The NIHR Health Technology Assessment is funding a £6.0 million trial of an intelligent system to support decision making in the management of labour using the cardiotocogram – due to report in 2017. The NIHR is also funding a £1.2 million study on preventing adverse pregnancy outcome in women at increased risk of stillbirth by detecting placental dysfunction– due to report in 2019.

To help achieve the best outcomes, women are also offered a comprehensive programme of scans, screening tests and development examinations during pregnancy and following birth babies will receive the checks in the NHS newborn and infant physical examination screening programme and the NHS newborn blood spot screening programme .

01/01/2023

Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-03-01.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many officials of his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in each of the last five years; and what proportion of (a) his Department’s staff and (b) total sick leave the sick leave of such officials represented in each such year.

Harriett Baldwin

The Treasury’s sickness absence data for ‘Mental and Behavioural Disorders’ includes stress related conditions.

Details relating to Mental and Behavioural Disorders for the four financial years to March 2015 and the most current information to September 2015 is as follows:

Year/period	Number of officials	Proportion of staff	Proportion of total sick leave of the department
October 2014 to September 2015	38	3.1%	26%
April 2014 to March 2015	36	3.2%	25%
April 2013 to March 2014	33	3.0%	25%
April 2012 to March 2013	32	2.8%	19%
April 2011 to March 2012	28	2.4%	18%

01/01/2023

Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department is taking steps to increase the proportion of defence spending that goes to small firms.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are a crucial engine for growth and innovation in this country. In 2014-15, the MOD spent almost £4 billion both directly and indirectly with SMEs, equating to around 19.4 per cent of our procurement spend.

We are taking steps to increase the proportion of defence spending with smaller companies and have committed to ensuring that 25 per cent of our procurement spend, both direct and indirect, is with SMEs by 2020. To help achieve this challenging goal, the MOD last month refreshed its SME policy, reflecting three core objectives:
- Engaging throughout the supply chain, not just with direct contractors;
- Reducing bureaucracy associated with procurement; and
- Making engagement more simple and straightforward.
The refreshed SME policy can be found on gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mod-policy-for-small-and-medium-enterprises.
01/01/2023
Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-05-10.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which British Overseas Territories and Crown dependencies have been invited to the UK Anti-Corruption Summit on 12 May 2016.

Matthew Hancock

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

01/01/2023