Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with the UN, the EU and authorities in affected countries on (a) the spread of the Zika virus and (b) strategies to prevent the spread of the virus.

    Jane Ellison

    The Chief Medical Officer, Chief Scientific Adviser and Public Health England (PHE) have had a number of discussions over recent weeks with a wider range of international authorities. The Secretary of State has been briefed about all such discussions.

    PHE and the National Travel Health Network and Centre have been carefully monitoring the Zika virus outbreak in the Americas since it was first reported in Brazil during May 2015. PHE and the Department attended a European Union Health Security Committee teleconference and PHE has shared a recent European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) risk assessment on Zika virus with colleagues in England, the Devolved Administrations and Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. PHE has been in discussion with infectious disease authorities in Brazil with respect to understanding the epidemiological and clinical picture associated with Zika virus and microcephaly and other congenital malformations.

    Through the International Health Regulations National Focal Point, PHE has shared information with the European Union, ECDC and other European Member States on the number of cases of Zika virus infection in returning travellers.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much and what proportion of her Department’s overseas development assistance budget her Department spent was subject to the International Development Act 2002 in each of the last three years.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has spent the following amounts of Official Development Assistance (ODA) over the past three years

    Year

    2013

    2014

    2015

    Total ODA

    £408.4m

    £192.4m

    £336m

    Amount under the International Development Act 2002

    £402.8m

    £187.7m

    £328.2m

    % under the International Development Act 2002

    98.6%

    97.5%

    97.6%

    The spend that is under the International Development Act 2002 comes from the UK’s International Climate Fund (ICF) and the ODA-eligible proportion of the annual subscription to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The remaining DECC ODA spend is the ODA-eligible proportion of the annual subscriptions relating to the International Atomic Energy Agency. This spend is governed by the Supply and Appropriation Act; we seek to ensure this expenditure is consistent with the aims of the International Development Act.

  • Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the average time in post of Trade Ministers of Her Majesty’s Government in (1) the last five years, and (2) the five years before that.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The average tenure of Ministers for Trade & Investment from 2011 until the departure of my noble Friend Lord Maude in March 2016 is 628 days or approximately 1 year, 8 months.

    The average tenure of Ministers for Trade & Investment between 2006 and 2011 was 342 days or approximately 11 months.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many homicides were recorded by police in (a) Lancashire and (b) Burnley in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013, (v) 2014 and (vi) 2015.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average time was for processing driving licence renewal applications for people over 70 years old in the latest period for which figures are available.

    Andrew Jones

    In 2015/16, the average time taken to process straightforward applications to renew a driving licence from customers aged 70 and over was three days. Applications that require medical investigations can take longer to process if there is a need to seek further information.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has of future provision of post-16 education provision in Knowsley Metropolitan Borough; and if she will make a statement.

    Robert Halfon

    Knowsley Metropolitan Borough is included in the Liverpool City Region (LCR) area review, and is represented on the steering group by the LCR Combined Authority. The first meeting of the steering group was held on 12 May, and we expect the review to conclude in October 2016. The LCR review will include an assessment of post-16 education in each of the local authorities covered by the review, including Knowsley Metropolitan Borough.

    Area reviews are aimed at delivering a further education system that meets the economic and educational needs of areas whilst also ensuring the long term sustainability of colleges to support productivity.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will publish a review of the effectiveness of Local Economic Partnerships; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Percy

    The effectiveness of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) is assessed by this Department and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on an on-going basis. My Department does not publish information on internal conversations or assessment of LEPs. We are currently assessing LEPs’ proposals for a further round of Growth Deals, which includes an assessment of their growth strategy, the strength of their governance and partnerships and their record of delivery. We intend to announce Growth Deals later this year.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to support growing small businesses that require more facilities after they leave business hubs.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Growing small businesses can get assistance from a number of Government schemes. For example the Government set up Enterprise Zones across England to support new and expanding businesses by offering incentives such as tax relief on top of the doubling of Small Business Rates Relief which we have extended for a further year until April 2016.

    There are also Catapult centres round the country – places where the very best of the UK’s businesses, scientists and engineers work together to transform ideas into products and services. They allow small businesses access to resources and equipment they may need.

    Small businesses can find out more about these schemes and also obtain other advice that may help them by approaching their local Growth Hub. There are now 30 Growth Hubs across England that are bringing together local and national business support so that people can find the help they need quickly and easily.[i]

    [i] http://www.lepnetwork.net/about-leps/the-network-of-leps/

    “

  • Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for disparities between clinical commissioning groups in achieving the recovery target for mental health patients who have received NHS treatment.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England monitors clinical commissioning groups’ (CCGs) performance against the recovery target for people who have received psychological therapies through the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme.

    The Department is working closely with NHS England to reduce the variation in recovery rates across CCG areas. Key factors that have been identified are variation in data quality, waiting times, numbers of sessions completed by patients, leadership and supervision of services and particular challenges in areas with high deprivation.

    NHS England is working with good performers and is analysing data from the IAPT programme to better understand factors that impact on recovery performance.

    NHS England is also supporting lowest performing IAPT providers to improve their recovery rates and is offering workshops to spread good practice to all commissioners and providers.

  • Bernard Jenkin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Bernard Jenkin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bernard Jenkin on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff in his Department are working on matters related to (a) European policy, (b) the future of Europe, (c) reform of the EU, (d) the renegotiation of the UK’s relationship with the EU, (e) the EU referendum and (f) the consequences of the EU referendum; how many full-time equivalent staff are working on such matters; what the (i) staff and (ii) other cost of such work is; what proportion of that work is undertaken by such staff on (A) communications, (B) strategy and (C) policy; whether his Department has established any specific unit or units to deal with those matters; to whom such (1) staff and (2) units report; whether his Department has issued guidelines to staff on those matters; and if he will make a statement.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in Britain – so we get a better deal for our country and secure our future. Departments are appropriately resourced to support the Government’s priorities in Europe, including the renegotiation and referendum.