Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-04-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the operation of passenger compensation schemes run by train operating companies.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Department for Transport expects Train Operating Companies (TOCs) to make sure that their customers are aware of their rights to claim compensation.

    The Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR) response to the Which? super-complaint into passenger compensation, published in March this year, included consideration of the operation of the TOC schemes. The Department is already working closely with the ORR and the Association of Train Operating Companies to bring about improvements to passenger compensation arrangements. The Department will respond to the ORR’s report into the Which? super-complaint in the summer of 2016.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he plans to take to involve small and medium-sized enterprises in the proposed digital apprenticeship system.

    Nick Boles

    We are developing the digital apprenticeship service to support apprenticeships in England. It will help all employers to select an apprenticeship framework or standard, choose a training provider, choose an assessment organisation and post apprenticeship vacancies. By 2020, all employers will be able to use the service to pay for training and assessment for apprenticeships and we will help smaller employers to prepare for this.

    We continue to work with a wide range of employers to develop, test and improve the digital apprenticeship service.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the annual budget is of the NHS England EU Transition Team; and what the remit of that team is.

    David Mowat

    The annual budget for the NHS England European Union Transition Team has not yet been determined. The purpose of the team will be to understand possible implications for the National Health Service from the negotiations with Europe. The details of how this team will work with the Department will be set out in due course.

  • Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2016-10-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the reported growth in reliance on the employment of locum doctors in GP practices and the extent, if any, to which the employment of full-time doctors in GP practices has declined.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The latest statistics, published on 27 September, as at 31 March 2016, show that the total full time equivalent general practitioners (GPs), including locums was 34,914, an increase of 323, compared to September 2015.

    The same statistics showed that on 31 March 2016, there were 601 locums recorded as working in GP practices on that one day. On the day of 30 September 2015, 537 locums were recorded working in GP practices.

    Locum doctors cover a variety of roles, including vacancies and absences such as maternity, training and annual leave. Not all practices completed returns or provided detailed information on the type of GP that was working in the practice, on either 30 September and/or 31 March, which means that it is not possible to compare the data of September 2015 and March 2016.

    The data that NHS Digital publish on the general practice workforce is labelled provisional, experimental statistics, as they use a new methodology/data set and collection vehicles. These statistics replace the traditional GP census. The new data set, introduced in September 2015, collected information on locum doctors for the first time.

  • Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to his oral Answer of 22 October 2015, Official Report, column 444WH, what steps he has taken to assess whether British-manufactured arms have been used in a responsible manner in Yemen.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    The Government takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. All export licence applications are carefully assessed on a case by case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. A licence will not be issued, for any country, if to do so would be inconsistent with any provision of the Criteria, including where we assess there is a clear risk that it might be used in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law. We are aware of reports of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law in Yemen by all sides to the conflict and keep these under regular review. We have raised our concerns with the Saudi Government and have received repeated assurances of IHL compliance. We continue to engage with them on those assurances and urge all sides to investigate such incidents fully.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many civil servants in his Department are in the redeployment pool.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    There are currently 14 people in the Departmental redeployment pool.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will commission a review into the working hours of junior doctors; and if he will make a statement.

    Ben Gummer

    The Working Time Regulations provide the same protection to junior doctors as to other workers, limiting working hours to an average of 48 per week. Junior doctors, as is the case for all workers, may choose to opt-out of the Working Time Regulations and work beyond the limits; however, where they do so, their contract imposes a limit of 56 hours per week.

    The vast majority – 99% – of junior doctors are working within these current limits. Under the proposed new contract the limits on average weekly hours will continue to apply and there will also be limits that go further than the legislation including a cap on the maximum number of hours that junior doctors can work in any one week – the legislation permits 91 hours but the contract will limit this to 72. Under the new contract junior doctors will have work schedules setting out their duties, expected training opportunities and contracted hours. These will be regularly reviewed and junior doctors will be able to request a review at any time. There will be a system of exception reporting where work varies regularly and/or significantly from the work schedule. Junior doctors will also be able to report exceptions and concerns to a guardian of safe working for each organisation – whose appointment will be agreed with the British Medical Association – and request a review if they are not treated as promised.

    1% (around 500) of junior doctors has working patterns that are in breach of the current contractual limits on hours or rest. The new contract will bring an end to that.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons the proposed Politics draft AS and A level subject content published by her Department contains no substantive references to feminist ideology or the political achievements of women.

    Nick Gibb

    The final politics A level content will give all students the opportunity to study the core ideas of feminism, and will set out the female theorists whose work students should study. The consultation on the draft politics A level content closed on 15 December 2015; awarding bodies are currently making changes to the content to respond to the views expressed. The Government will publish its response to the consultation shortly.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential effect on the number of people employed in England, excluding London, who are from non-EU countries of the salary threshold increase for Tier 2 visa applications to £35,000.

    James Brokenshire

    The Government announced in 2012 that from 6 April 2016 Tier 2 visa holders who apply for settlement in the UK will be required to meet a minimum annual salary requirement of £35,000. PhD level roles and those in recognised shortage will be exempt from the £35,000 threshold.

    Data of the number of people employed in specific regions of the United Kingdom is not available. The Home Office holds individual records showing the working location of Tier 2 (General) migrants, but centralised records show the registered address of the Tier 2 Sponsor, which is normally that organisation’s Head Office.

    The Home Office published a full impact assessment on the changes to Tier 2 settlement rules when they were laid before Parliament on 15 March 2012. This includes the impact on the top ten occupations and is available on the gov.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/117957/impact-assessment-tier2.pdf

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she has had discussions with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew on the potential role of that organisation in advising the UN and other institutions on desertification.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The UK Government maintains a close dialogue with the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew on tackling international environmental and conservation issues, with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) leading HMG’s relationship with Kew. As a world leading organisation and a holder of the Red List for Plant species, Kew Gardens is already providing valuable information which supports action on desertification, including work by the UN in relation to the Global Goal indicators. Kew Gardens has received funding from the UK government’s Darwin Initiative to improve understanding of the link between conservation and poverty alleviation.