Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to end civil service performance quotas.

    Mr Oliver Letwin

    This Government is fully committed to delivering its manifesto. This is why we have introduced the Single Departmental Plans as a new framework for performance tracking. Single departmental plans will replace departmental Business Plans and are currently being finalised by departments. Single Departmental Plans will set out each department’s priority objectives, and the key programmes and policies that will deliver these. They will be published on gov.uk, allowing the public to track progress against a number of performance indicators. Single Departmental Plans are owned by departments and have been designed by Cabinet Office and HM Treasury working in partnership. Officials have been actively engaging with departments to ensure that the plans provide a complete picture of the measures this Government is taking to deliver its commitments.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will review sentencing guidelines for serious animal cruelty offences to ensure that the gravity of offences is adequately reflected.

    George Eustice

    Guidelines are issued by the independent Sentencing Council. The Council monitor the operation of their guidelines, which ensure that sentences are consistent and proportionate. We understand the Council has no immediate plans to revise the guidelines.

  • Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-01-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will list all the occasions they discussed parity of esteem, as outlined in the Belfast Agreement 1998, with the government of Ireland; who attended; on what date; what was discussed; and what action, if any, was taken.

    Lord Dunlop

    As has been explained previously to the Noble Lord, the UK and Irish Governments meet regularly at ministerial and official level to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern. These include matters relating to the implementation of the Belfast Agreement.

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2016 to Question 25396, if she will place in the Library a copy of the formal monthly performance reports provided by the Disclosure and Barring Service in each of the last six months.

    Karen Bradley

    The operational performance plans of police disclosure units are matters for Chief Constables in association with Police and Crime Commissioners.

    The DBS regularly publishes detailed datasets showing statistics against internal performance standards which form the basis of its monthly reports to the Home Office. This includes performance against their target to issue 95% of all disclosures within 56 days and the number of disclosure applications in progress each month. This can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dbs-dataset-1-disclosure-progress-information-disclosed-and-update-service-subscriptions.

    DBS also publishes datasets showing statistics against service level agreements with police forces. These apply to the performance of police disclosure units and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dbs-dataset-5-police-disclosure-unit-performance.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much central Government funding has been allocated to how many community pharmacies in (a) London and (b) Hampstead and Kilburn constituency in (i) 2014-15 and (ii) 2015-16; and what proportion of the total revenue of community pharmacies that funding represents.

    Alistair Burt

    No central Government funding has been allocated to community pharmacies either in London or the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency. NHS pharmaceutical services are commissioned by NHS England, which funds service fees and allowances. Public health services, including from community pharmacies, are commissioned and funded by local authorities.

    Community pharmacies can derive revenue from a range of sources, including from the National Health Service, non-NHS and local authorities. The total revenue of community pharmacies is not held centrally.

  • The Lord Bishop of Coventry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Lord Bishop of Coventry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Coventry on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assistance, if any, they have provided to the government of Iraq to document and investigate reports of missing persons.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We have funded a project to support the victims of Daesh’s persecution and help them pursue justice. We will continue to look at all options to ensure accountability for human rights abuses and violations committed in Iraq. We have not provided any direct support to the Government of Iraq in relation to investigating reports of missing persons.

  • Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Government has made on its target to plant 11 million trees by 2020.

    Rory Stewart

    The Forestry Commission publishes progress against the 11 million trees target quarterly. The latest report shows that over 640,000 trees have been planted towards meeting the 11 million target in 2015. This reflects the fact that we are at the opening stage of a new grant scheme. We are confident that more trees will be planted in the next phases of the scheme.

  • Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to adapt the cancer recovery package and investigate new models of care for blood cancer patients who are (a) given treatment and (b) put on a watch and wait regime after diagnosis.

    Jane Ellison

    It is important that people with cancer have the best possible experience throughout their cancer pathway and are treated with dignity and respect.

    The independent Cancer Taskforce published its report Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes – A Strategy for England 2015-2020 in July 2015, and identified a key priority of establishing patient experience as being on a par with clinical effectiveness and safety. In May 2016 the National Cancer Transformation Board published Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: Taking the Strategy Forward outlining the detailed steps being taken to make this a reality.

    In September 2015, the Government announced that by 2020, the 280,000 people diagnosed with cancer every year will benefit from a tailored recovery package. The packages will be individually designed to help each person, including those with blood cancer, live well beyond cancer. In April 2016 NHS England published guidance for commissioners on commissioning and implementing the recovery package effectively.

    In order to continue to support general practitioners (GPs) to identify patients whose symptoms may indicate cancer and urgently refer them as appropriate, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published an updated suspected cancer referral guideline in June 2015. The guideline includes new recommendations for haematological cancers. NICE noted that more lives could be saved each year in England if GPs followed the new guideline, which encourages GPs to think of cancer sooner and lower the referral threshold. Following publication of the updated guideline, the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) has worked in collaboration with Cancer Research UK (CRUK) on a programme of regional update events for GPs to promote the new guideline. RCGP and CRUK have also worked to develop three summary referral guidelines for GPs to enable them to adopt the guideline. These are available at:

    www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/learning-and-development-tools/nice-cancer-referral-guidelines

    “

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

    Lord Aberdare – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Aberdare on 2016-09-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the finding of the recent British Red Cross research report Are prehospital deaths from trauma and accidental injury preventable? that up to 59 per cent of pre-hospital deaths from injury could have been prevented with basic first aid, what they are doing to ensure that first aid education features within public health strategies.

    Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

    The Government recognises that the timely application of first aid can help minimise the impact of injuries, as well as health conditions such as heart attacks and strokes, and contribute to avoiding preventable deaths.

    The NHS Choices website contains information for the public on first aid responses to various injuries and health incidents including burns, bleeding, choking, drowning, fractures, heart attacks, strokes and poisoning; the possible symptoms to note; how to respond to them; and how to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A copy of the relevant NHS Choices web page is attached.

    In addition, the Government is making available another £1 million to make public access defibrillators and coronary pulmonary resuscitation training more widely available in communities across England. This builds on last year’s funding of £1 million, which provided almost 700 more publicly accessible defibrillators in communities across England and increased the numbers of people trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

    The national Act Fast campaign also aims to raise awareness of the symptoms of stroke, teach people what to look out for in themselves and others, and encourage those who notice the symptoms to call 999. Since Act Fast launched in 2009, it is estimated that an additional 47,000 people reached hospital within the vital three-hour window and over 5,000 fewer people became disabled as a result of a stroke.

    Local authorities in England have the lead responsibility for identifying and meeting needs for local interventions to improve the health of their populations, including steps to reduce preventable deaths.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of how much UK households spent on taxi and private hire vehicle journeys in 2013-14.

    Andrew Jones

    The average weekly expenditure per household on ‘taxis and hired cars with drivers’ was an estimated £1.10 in 2013, the latest year for which figures are available. By way of context, the equivalent figure in 2008 was also £1.10.