Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Kate Osamor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Kate Osamor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the safety of care provided by North Middlesex Hospital’s A&E department since its receipt of a notification of a risk summit.

    Jane Ellison

    Patient safety in hospitals remains a key priority for the United Kingdom and whilst progress has been made there is clearly much more to be done.

    We understand that on 17 February 2016, NHS England and the NHS Trust Development Authority jointly convened a Risk Summit to discuss issues identified with the quality and safety of care in the emergency department at North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust.

    All organisations present at the Risk Summit have committed to working together to reduce pressure on the emergency department and ensure patient safety.

    An improvement plan is now being implemented to address the quality and safety issues raised.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2016 to Question 31440, on primary education, how many (a) head teachers, (b) teachers and (c) union representatives her Department worked closely with during the introduction of those reforms.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department works with teachers, head teachers and unions in developing education policy; our assessment reforms are no exception.

    The assessment reforms which take effect this summer follow two public consultations in 2013 and 2014. Our primary school assessment and accountability consultation, running from July to October 2013, received 1,187 written responses, including 320 teachers, 324 head teachers and 21 union or professional organisations. We also held discussions at a series of events and conferences alongside this. In 2014, our consultation on performance descriptors for statutory teacher assessment, running from October to December 2014, received 880 responses.

    All assessment materials produced by the Standards and Testing Agency are developed in close collaboration with teachers. Teachers were involved in the initial creation of the new test model and are involved at three key points during the development of every new test. Teachers will also be involved in setting the expected standards.

    We have listened to the concerns of teachers, head teachers and unions as the reforms have been introduced. In response we have given teachers more time to submit teacher assessments and published a ‘clarification’ document to guide schools through the new arrangements.

    We also set up two expert groups involving serving and former teachers to advise the Department on aspects of assessment, including the Commission on Assessment Without Levels and the Rochford Review of Assessment for pupils working below the standard of national curriculum tests.

    We will continue to listen to the concerns of teachers and their union representatives as the details of the new assessment arrangements are finalised.

  • Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-05-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Statement by Lord Keen of Elie on 11 May (HLWS694) regarding the increasing threat from dissident Irish republicans, what plans they have to establish a means for liaising more regularly and effectively with members of both Houses of Parliament from Northern Ireland on such matters.

    Lord Dunlop

    A number of established mechanisms already exist for the purpose of communicating the threat from Northern Ireland-related terrorism to both Houses. These include the biannual written security statements to Parliament setting out details on threat levels, oral and written Parliamentary questions, meetings of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee and briefing meetings with Peers and MPs. It is also open to MPs and Noble Lords to use procedures of both Houses to raise these matters and hold ministers to account.

  • Scott Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Scott Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Scott Mann on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department plans to take to (a) help expedite implementation of neighbourhood plans and (b) prevent delays resulting from judicial review of such plans.

    Gavin Barwell

    We are committed to supporting communities throughout the process and encouraging more communities to join them. Reforms in the Housing and Planning Act 2016 will help to speed up and simplify the neighbourhood planning process. We are looking to introduce a new package of measures that would further strengthen the neighbourhood planning process when Parliamentary time allows over the course of the second session.

    The neighbourhood planning legislation means that most challenges to neighbourhood planning decisions need to be brought within six weeks of the decision that is being challenged, rather than three months for most other judicial review proceedings, with no discretion to extend the time limit. This helps ensure that any associated delays are minimal. The establishment of the Planning Court in 2014 also means that it is more likely that these cases will be heard quickly by a specialist planning judge.

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many arrest warrants have been issued for people sentenced for a serious sexual offence who failed to appear in court for sentencing in each year since 2010.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Data on Failure to Appear (FTA) warrants collected by the Ministry of Justice includes information on the category of warrant but does not include information on the specific offence for which the defendant is being sought. This information has been provided in response to Parliamentary Question 47082.

    It would not be possible to separately identify those defendants for whom a warrant was issued in connection with failing to appear in court for a sexual offence without incurring disproportionate cost.

  • David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-11-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how his Department plans to monitor the Government’s progress on halving the disability employment gap; and if he will make a statement.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Progress against the disability employment gap is a key factor in progress towards full employment. This is consistent with the Government’s manifesto commitment which said ‘as part of our objective to achieve full employment, we will aim to halve the disability employment gap’. The annual report on progress towards full employment will include an update on the Government’s progress towards halving the disability employment gap.

    Bringing disabled people out of inactivity and into employment increases the productive capacity of the economy. While it is not possible to quantify exactly the economic impact of halving the disability employment gap, it would directly benefit both the individuals affected, through higher employment allowing more people to support themselves and their families, and also the wider economy, by supporting economic growth and the public finances.

  • Biography information for Lord Grocott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Biography information for Lord Grocott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Lord Grocott on 2015-12-22.

    To ask the Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by the Leader of the House on 17 December that the convention on statutory instruments has now broken” (HL Deb

    Baroness Stowell of Beeston

    Prior to October 2015, the House of Lords had rejected statutory instruments on four occasions since World War II. None of those occasions concerned a statutory instrument implementing a budget measure intended to deliver £4.4bn of savings that had already been approved by the House of Commons – thereby overruling the elected House on a matter of public spending – nor is it precedented for the House of Lords to decline to consider a statutory instrument until the Government has made specific changes to the policy underpinning it. The House’s decision to withhold agreement to the Tax Credits (Income Thresholds and Determination of Rates) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 therefore broke new ground, and may be regarded as a breach of the convention underpinning the House’s powers in regard to secondary legislation as well as the longer-standing convention regarding the financial primacy of the House of Commons.

  • 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 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the capital spend on transport was per head of population in (a) Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency, (b) the North West and (c) England in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

    Andrew Jones

    Figures on transport capital spend per head of population can be derived for the North West and England from the HM Treasury Country and Regional Analysis (CRA).

    Data on spend per head on transport is not available at the level of Ellesmere Port and Neston Constituency.

  • John Glen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    John Glen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if NHS England will publish the (a) agendas and (b) minutes of all future meetings of the (i) Clinical Advisory Group and (ii) Specialised Commissioning Committee within a reasonable period after each such meeting takes place.

    George Freeman

    The specialised services commissioning committee provides regular updates of its business to NHS England’s public board, of which a summary is published online.

    NHS England is considering how to further improve transparency, while not inhibiting the free and frank exchange of views.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many men were diagnosed with breast cancer in each of the last five years.

    Mr Rob Wilson

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