Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether changes have been made to the way evidence of illegal entry is recorded in response to the recommendations made in the report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, An Inspection of General Aviation and General Maritime, published in January 2016, and if she will make a statement.

    James Brokenshire

    Border Force fully accepted the recommendations of the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration regarding General Aviation and General Maritime and is implementing changes as quickly as practicable. Border Force is working with other government departments and partners to deliver improvement during 2016-2017 and is closely monitoring progress.

  • Graham Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Graham Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to assist Bangladeshis living in the UK to bring their families to the UK in the event of an escalation in political violence in Bangladesh.

    Alok Sharma

    The UK has consistently called upon all parties to refrain from using violence, intimidation and confrontational action. The UK will continue to engage constructively with all political parties in Bangladesh and with international partners, to strengthen democratic accountability and build the willingness and capacity to hold future participatory elections. We are under no obligation to consider asylum claims lodged outside UK territory and it is not appropriate to do so. Those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach; that is the fastest route to safety.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that arrears-only Child Support Agency cases outside the current pro-active case-closure programme will be subject to the arrears cleansing process before being transferred to the Child Maintenance Service for collection.

    Caroline Nokes

    The arrears cleansing process is a feature of the case closure programme, and cases selected for closure will be subject to arrears cleanse before the debt is moved to the Child Maintenance Service system. Cases are not subject to the arrears cleanse process unless they are selected for closure.

  • Lord Dobbs – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House of Lords

    Lord Dobbs – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House of Lords

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Dobbs on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Leader of the House what percentage of House of Lords divisions resulted in Government defeats (1) in the 2001–2005 Parliament; (2) in the 2005–2010 Parliament; (3) in the 2010–2015 Parliament; and (4) since the 2015 general election to date.

    Baroness Stowell of Beeston

    Statistics compiled by the Journal Office indicate that the percentage of House of Lords divisions resulting in Government defeats were as follows:

    Parliament

    Percentage of defeats

    2001-05

    38%

    2005-10

    32%

    2010-15

    21%

    2015-

    69%


  • Andrew Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the national consultation on the future of children’s centres will be launched; what its terms of reference will be; and what the timetable is for responses to be received and the Government to announce its proposals.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    We value the services provided by children’s centres. We intend to consult to see what role children’s centres should play to ensure they are able to have the most impact as part of integrated local services for families. An independent survey carried out by the national children’s charity, 4Children (published October 2015) estimated more than a million children and families are now using children’s centres.

    The consultation will offer parents, carers, local authorities and key stakeholders the opportunity to influence and drive what we expect from children’s centre services and where we see them having the greatest impact. We plan to launch the consultation shortly.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the Department for International Development’s bilateral expenditure directly targeting reproductive health in (1) 2013–14, and (2) 2014–15.

    Earl of Courtown

    Details of DFID expenditure can be found in Statistics on International Development GPEX tables, available online, which I have attached for ease.The latest published report contains 2013/14 data. Data for 2014/15 will be published in late January 2016.

    DFID supports reproductive health through a variety of bilateral channels including: projects and programmes at the country level; strengthening health systems in our partner countries to deliver improved reproductive health outcomes; and funding research. We also provide support through multilateral channels and global partnerships such as the Global Fund. In 2013/14, bilateral spend on reproductive health was £49.4 million. Bilateral spend on family planning also supports better reproductive health outcomes and in 2013/14, bilateral spend on family planning was £127.0 million. This is in support of our commitment, made by the Prime Minister at the 2012 London Summit, to double our spending on family planning.

  • Stella Creasy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stella Creasy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stella Creasy on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress his Department has made on the replacement of the value for money assessment quantitative assessment tool for comparing private finance and conventional procurement options; and which PF1 and PF2 projects used (a) the original value for money assessment quantitative assessment tool or (b) any replacement tool.

    Greg Hands

    The Government’s approach to appraisal is set out in the Green Book. This provides a common, standard method for comparing all public spending decisions that use central government funding; the approach to appraising potential PPP projects is consistent with this central guidance.

    The quantitative assessment tool was in place from August 2004 until its withdrawal in December 2012, all projects which commenced between these dates should have used the tool. For details of specific projects during this period, please see the spreadsheet ‘Current projects as at 31 March 2014’ at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/private-finance-initiative-projects-2014-summary-data

    A replacement quantitative assessment tool has not been issued by HM Treasury due to the limitations of standard models; since December 2012 procuring authorities have undertaken appropriate quantitative assessment in accordance with the principles set out in the Green Book.

  • Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to restart work related to his Department’s pre-consultation on moving the May Bank Holiday, published in 2011.

    David Evennett

    The Government looked at the current pattern of all bank and public holidays as part of the Tourism strategy published in 2011, which concluded there is no overall consensus for change. There are no plans to make another consultation on this subject.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to encourage the use of faecal calprotectin in primary care to facilitate prompt and appropriate referral of people with suspected inflammation of the bowel.

    Jane Ellison

    The IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) Registry provides a United Kingdom-wide repository of anonymised IBD adult and paediatric patient data for prospective audit and research purposes. Patients must consent for their data to be added to the registry. The Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) has allocated transitional funding this year to incorporate IBD audit data collection into the IBD Registry, providing an enhanced system for data capture and quality improvement that will be available to every hospital in the UK. This will allow the entry of data locally and support service improvement. Initially the focus will be for IBD patients receiving biologic treatments, but the system will address other key aspects of IBD care in the future.

    The second step of data collection will be to focus on new patients with IBD to begin to understand the incidence of IBD in the UK. This picture will build up over a number of years and be dependent on the engagement of clinicians.

    No specific assessment of the potential effects on healthcare due to the introduction of a registry of patients with IBD in England has been made. However, the data provided through the register can support National Health Service services in areas such as the assessment of local IBD populations as well as in measuring incidence and outcomes with services in other parts of the UK.

    Although there is no direct Department funding, HQIP have given £290,000 for a year’s transition funding to join the audit data with the registry.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends faecal calprotectin testing as an option to help doctors distinguish between inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and non-inflammatory bowel diseases, such as irritable bowel syndrome.

    The NICE IBD Quality Standard states that general practitioners (GP) and GP practices should ensure that testing is offered and clinical commissioning groups should ensure the diagnostic services are in place to support this.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-04-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Base Case Conditions for EU approval of state aid for Hinkley Point C, whether there have been modifications to the (a) date of 31 December 2020 and (b) cap on the amount of debt drawn until Flamanville 3 has completed the trial operation period; and if he will make a statement.

    Greg Hands

    The Chancellor’s announcement on 21 September 2015 set out that the government and the Hinkley Point C project company had agreed the terms of a £2 billion guarantee through the UK Guarantees Scheme. This initial guarantee will be repaid in December 2020. There is no further obligation to issue guarantees after that date.

    This initial guarantee is the first tranche of debt guarantees that was approved as part of the European Commission’s approval of the wider support package for Hinkley Point C. The government is satisfied that the terms of the guarantee remain within the Closing Decision of the EU Commission.