Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Viscount Ridley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Viscount Ridley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Viscount Ridley on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will continue to honour the commitment of the Coalition Government to publish an Annual Energy Statement, including estimated impacts of energy and climate policies on energy prices and bills, last published in November 2014.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    In November, my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State set out her priorities for energy and climate change policy for the coming Parliament. On the same day DECC Ministers published an update which set out recent progress made across the main responsibilities of the Department. The update is available on the DECC website.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Prime Minister’s speech of 11 January 2016, on life chances, what period the £30 million social investment outcomes fund will cover; when that funding will become available; and to which bodies that funding will be made available.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The Life Chances Fund is an £80m outcomes fund that will focus upon supporting the creation of locally developed social impact bonds tackling a range of social problems. In his speech, the Prime Minister announced that up to £30m of the Life Chances Fund would be made available to support drug and alcohol rehabilitation. The detailed criteria for the fund, including timescales, is being developed but it will provide a portion of outcome payments for locally commissioned social impact bonds where some of the benefits and savings generated fall to central government.

  • Lord Mawson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Mawson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mawson on 2016-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they decided to cancel the transfer of police custody healthcare services to the NHS after several years of preparation; whether that change in policy was announced to Parliament; and what assessment they have made of how that decision will ensure equivalent standards and quality of healthcare and safety of patients in all police services across England and Wales.

    Lord Bates

    The decision not to pursue the transfer of custody healthcare commissioning from Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to NHS England was taken in the context of wider decisions about the Provisional Police Funding Settlement for 2016/17, details of which were announced to Parliament in a written statement by the Minister of State for Policing, Crime and Criminal Justice and Victims on 17 December.

    The Government is clear that Police and Crime Commissioners should retain full flexibility to be able to prioritise resources towards police custody healthcare functions based on their local needs.

    A number of sources of information and guidance are available to PCCs to inform their commissioning of custody healthcare services.

    The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1983 (PACE) sets out the statutory framework for custodial care and the rights and entitlements of a detainee in police custody. The College of Policing, as the professional body for policing, has published Approved Professional Practice (APP) on custody and detention. Police officers and staff are expected to have regard to the APP in discharging their responsibilities.The APP references wider guidance published by professional medical bodies including the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. In addition there is a NHS England national service specification setting out clinical standards for the commissioning and provision of police custody healthcare functions. This is currently being reviewed and updated.

    In many police force areas the close ties which PCCs have established to local NHS England commissioners over recent years have already helped to drive up the standards and quality of provision. On 11 February my Rt Hon Friend the Home Secretary and my Right Honourable Friend the Secretary of State for Health wrote to Police and Crime Commissioners and NHS England Commissioners encouraging them to continue to build upon this work to further improve healthcare service delivery.

    Any recommendations made by the forthcoming independent review of deaths and serious incidents in police custody will be carefully considered in due course.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on the UK tourism sector of the French ban on parity clauses for online travel agents.

    Nick Boles

    My Department has no plans to make such an assessment.

    Any assessment of the impact of parity clauses on competition and consumers falls within the remit of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which is the UK’s primary competition and consumer authority.

    One of the CMA’s predecessors, the Office of Fair Trading, launched an investigation into alleged resale price maintenance in arrangements between a hotel group and two online travel agents, though this ultimately led to no action being taken. The CMA keeps these issues under review and is working closely with other national competition authorities and the European Commission to do this.

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many of the 22 new free schools announced by her Department on 5 February 2016 will be located in but not adjacent to planning areas where there will be a need for additional school places by September 2017.

    Edward Timpson

    Of the 22 new free schools announced on 5 February 2016, 17 are mainstream schools for which basic need in the areas was assessed. Five of the 22 schools are not mainstream schools, so have been excluded; basic need does not apply in their application. Of these 17 schools, 13 are in planning areas where there is projected to be a need for places in September 2017.

    When assessing both the basic need for places in the local area and the standards of local schools, we define local schools as those that fall within the ‘straight-line’ distance of the proposed free school location within which at least 80% of the pupils in the area travel to school (at the relevant phase). This is intended to act as a proxy catchment area for the new free school. The local area is then defined as the planning areas in which these local schools are situated. Of the 17 schools, 15 have need for 2017 and one has need beyond 2017.

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many academy schools that are currently rated as inadequate have been waiting longer than six months to be re-brokered to another academy sponsor.

    Edward Timpson

    As at 31 March 2016, there are currently 123 inadequate academies and free schools. The Department does not hold information on the number of academies which are awaiting re-brokerage. Regional Schools Commissioners will work with schools in a number of ways before considering moving them to a new sponsor.

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

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on co-operation on developing and making available new drugs to treat breast cancer.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Many new medicines in Europe, including medicines to treat breast cancer, are licensed by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The EMA brings together scientific experts from across Europe by working closely with the national regulatory authorities, in a partnership known as the European medicines regulatory network. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is an active participant in this network and its discussions.

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  • Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that funding is in place to implement its policy of 30 hours free childcare.

    Caroline Dinenage

    We are committed to providing the high-quality, affordable childcare that working families need.

    To enable the successful implementation of 30 hours of free childcare, we are investing £1billion of additional funding per year, including £300million per year to increase our national average funding rates.

  • Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many women detained in Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre went on hunger strike in 2015.

    James Brokenshire

    For the period 1 January 2015 to 30 June 2015 provisional management information shows that 84 women were recorded as refusing food or fluid at Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre (IRC).

  • Lord Hay of Ballyore – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Hay of Ballyore – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hay of Ballyore on 2015-12-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans, if any, they have for reducing the rate of VAT on the hospitality sector in Northern Ireland.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    Normal EU VAT rules do not permit the variation of rates within a Member State. The Government currently has no plans to introduce a reduced rate of VAT for the UK hospitality sector.