Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department’s plans are for the future of RAF Aldergrove.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The estate optimisation strategy aims to provide a more efficient and better quality Defence estate to support our Armed Forces, which will be fit for purpose for future generations.

    This long-term, detailed work seeks to identify a rationalised Defence estate which more appropriately meets the needs of our Armed Forces by being of better quality, more cost effective and more efficient, as well as 30% smaller overall, by 2040.

    No decision about the future of individual sites has been made at this point, other than those that have been previously announced

  • Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce poor nutrition among elderly people (a) in general and (b) in nursing and care homes.

    Alistair Burt

    Public Health England (PHE) advocates a healthy food provision for all regardless of age, including those who are undernourished. This is a selection of food and drink which meets daily nutrient needs in a healthier more sustainable way.

    PHE has published a range of catering guidance and supporting tools offering practical advice to support healthier and more sustainable food provision across a range of settings. This includes a toolkit for serving food to older people (including those in residential settings or community settings where older people may receive support, such as “meals on wheels” and take part in social activity such as lunch clubs).

    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, all providers of regulated activities have to register with the CQC and follow a set of fundamental standards of safety and quality, below which care should never fall. Regulation 14 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, requires registered providers to meet nutritional and hydration needs.

    This fundamental standard requires that a service user receives suitable and nutritious food and hydration which is adequate to sustain life and good health. Care providers need to take into account the service users preferences or their religious or cultural background. Service users should also receive support to eat and drink if necessary.

    The CQC inspects providers to see if they are meeting these fundamental standards and provides clear direction on areas that require improvement. The CQC has a wide range of enforcement powers if a provider fails to meet the fundamental standards.

  • Harriet Harman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Harriet Harman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Harriet Harman on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions representatives of the Government have had with Shaker Aamer (a) prior to and (b) following his release from Guantánamo Bay on the terms and conditions of his release.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Government has been in contact with Mr Aamer’s legal representatives throughout the process of securing his release and thereafter. It has been a long-standing policy of successive British Governments that we would seek the release and return of those UK nationals and former legal residents who have been held at Guantanamo Bay.

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he made of the number of lung cancer patients in England who have accessed the immuno-oncology drug nivolumab via private healthcare providers or other private sources of funding in the last year; and when NICE will make its final decision about NHS patients gaining access to that drug.

    George Freeman

    The Department does not hold the requested information concerning private healthcare or other private sources of funding.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence currently has two technology appraisals of nivolumab for lung cancer in development:

    (i) Nivolumab for previously treated locally advanced or metastatic squamous non-small-cell lung cancer, with an anticipated publication date of May 2016.

    (ii) Nivolumab for previously treated locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer, with an anticipated publication date of September 2016.

  • Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of pupils (a) in Warrington and (b) at schools in Warrington North constituency achieved GCSE grades A to C in (i) mathematics, (ii) a modern foreign language and (iii) physics in each year since 2010.

    Nick Gibb

    For 2010/11[1] to 2014/15[2] [3] [4] [5], the proportion of pupils achieving GCSE[6] grades A* to C entered for mathematics, a modern foreign language and physics at local authority level can be deduced from school level subject data published in the Department’s school performance tables. Information for 2009/10 is not available in the format required. Parliamentary constituency level information is not available.

    [1] http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/2011/download_data.html

    [2] http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/2012/download_data.html

    [3] http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/2013/download_data.html

    [4] http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/2014/download_data.html

    [5] http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/download_data.html

    [6] Full course GCSEs only

    “

  • Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2016 to Question 26014, what the baseline year is for the commitment to train 10,000 more nurses, midwives and other allied health professionals over the course of the current Parliament.

    Ben Gummer

    As announced by the Chancellor in the Spending Review in November 2015, the Government has committed to remove the cap on the number of students studying nursing, midwifery and the allied health professions from 1 August 2017. This will enable universities to offer up to 10,000 new training places for students to start these courses in this Parliament.

    This reflects estimates on the level of unmet demand for places in the current system where, as an example, for nursing, around two out of three nursing applicants who currently apply for a place are turned down.

    The Government is working with health and higher education delivery organisations to determine an appropriate baseline as part of implementing the reforms.

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

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-04-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they plan to take to redress the gender balance in engineering, construction and transport apprenticeships.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Inspiration starts at school. Schools are legally required to secure the independent advice and guidance that all young people need when making career choices. Through the Careers and Enterprise Company, Enterprise Advisers work directly with schools to develop effective links with other local businesses to equip young people with the skills they need.

    We are encouraging more young women to enter science and engineering careers, including apprenticeships. The annual Tomorrow’s Engineers Week (TEWeek) encourages them, to consider a career in engineering. The Your Life campaign inspires young people to study maths and physics as a gateway to STEM careers. The STEM Ambassadors programme is a network of over 28,000 volunteers working with schools across the UK, 40% of whom are women.

    The construction sector is working with the Construction Leadership Council to highlight the opportunities the sector offers. Women into Construction, an independent not-for-profit organization, provides bespoke support to women wishing to work in the construction industry and assists contractors in recruiting motivated and trained women.

    We are launching a new communications campaign in May aimed at promoting the benefits of apprenticeships. Our promotional campaigns include role models of successful female apprentices in sectors where they are under-represented.

  • Greg Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Greg Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans the Government has to provide (a) refuges and (b) other support to family members in rural areas experiencing domestic abuse and other relationship problems; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Domestic Abuse is a devastating crime and we are determined to ensure that no one is turned away from the support they need irrespective of where they live. Government has committed £80 million of extra funding up to 2020 to tackle violence against women and girls. In the strategy to end violence against women and girls published on 8 March, we set out our ambition to improve services for women suffering from domestic abuse committing to a new Statement of Expectations to set out for the first time what we expect from local areas. To support this, we are launching a new two year fund, which will be open to local authorities across the country including those from rural areas, to bid for funding for refuges and other forms of accommodation based support and to help local areas take the steps they need to meet the National Statement.

    This builds on the £3.5 million funding in 2015/16 and is on top of the £10 million funding to strengthen the provision of safe accommodation in the last spending review period. The Government does recognise the distinct challenges faced by victims of domestic abuse in rural areas and has supported bids for funding from rural areas for example Suffolk, Shropshire and Somerset.

    Our Troubled Families Programme is about transforming the way local services support families with multiple problems. It incentivises services to come together, working with and understanding the needs of the whole family instead of constantly reacting to their individual problems. 29% of families in entry to the programme between 2012 and 2015 were experiencing domestic violence or abuse.

  • 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 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recourse there is for individuals who have been prevented from earning a wage due to the time taken for the processing of Disclosure and Barring Service certificate applications.

    Sarah Newton

    The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) has a target to issue 95% of certificates within 8 weeks, which it is close to achieving. The DBS is reliant on police forces completing their checks in a timely manner.

    DBS will liaise with the police on behalf of a customer who is experiencing delays when their enhanced level DBS application is with the police to undertake statutory checks. In these cases DBS will aim to resolve the customer’s issues as quickly as possible, and keep the customer informed until resolution. However, the DBS cannot provide financial remedy for any complaint about police actions including the timescales taken by the police to complete a check. It would be up to individual police forces to comment on any local redress policies.

    If the delay is due to maladministration on behalf of DBS, the DBS redress policy is designed to ensure that the person who is the subject of that maladministration is not disadvantaged. Further information can be found on the DBS website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/disclosure-and-barring-service/about/complaints-procedure

  • Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Will Quince on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the trends in the level of uptake of (a) creative, (b) artistic and (c) technical subjects at GCSE since June 2015.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department for Education does not define GCSE subjects as ‘technical’ or ‘creative’.

    Provisional information on the proportion of pupils entered for at least one arts GCSE between 2009/10 and 2015/16 is published as part of the ‘Provisional GCSE and equivalent results in England’ statistical first release (SFR)[1].

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gcse-and-equivalent-results-2015-to-2016-provisional (Table 1c)

    “