Tag: Parliamentary Question

Chris Elmore – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Elmore on 2016-07-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits to local communities of rail electrification in South Wales.

Claire Perry

The Government recognises the value to the Welsh economy and local communities that improved services from rail electrification, both to and in Wales, will bring in the form of regeneration and jobs. That is why we are prioritising the Great Western Mainline electrification and providing a £125m contribution to the electrification of the Valley Lines. The Valley Lines now forms part of the wider South East Wales Metro project which will transform travel in the Cardiff capital region. This project is the responsibility of the Welsh Government, and is further supported by a wider Cardiff Capital Region Investment Fund announced as part of the March 2016 City Deal.

01/01/2023

Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-10-07.

Mr Philip Dunne

In April 2013, Public Health England took over the mandatory surveillance of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs), formerly undertaken by the Health Protection Agency.

The total number of trust apportioned cases of HCAIs can be found in Table 1. For the purposes of answering this question trust apportioned cases can be considered “hospital-borne” infections.

Data for the years 2000 and 2005 are not available.

Table: Counts of trust apportioned HCAIs by financial year in 2010 and 2015:

	April 2010 to March 2011	April 2015 to March 2016
Meticillin sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA)	ND	2,910
E.coli	ND	7,692
Clostridium difficile infection (patients aged 2 years and over)	10,417	5,164
Meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)	688	297

Notes:

ND – Not Determined
Cases are deemed to be trust apportioned if the following criteria are met:-

– The location where the specimen was taken is given as ‘acute trust’ or is not known;

– The patient was either an ‘In-patient’, ‘Day-patient’, in ‘Emergency assessment’ or is not known.

– Patient’s specimen date is on, or after, the third day of the admission (or admission date is null), where the day of admission is day 1 (for MSSA or E. coli bacteraemia)

– Patient’s specimen date is on, or after, the fourth day of the admission (or admission date is null), where the day of admission is day 1 (for Clostridium difficile infection).

01/01/2023

Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department is giving to Côte d’Ivoire to strengthen its border security with Liberia.

James Duddridge

Through our commitment to the UN Peacekeeping Budget, the UK contributed £23 million to the UN Operation in Côte D’Ivoire (UNOCI) and £19.5m to the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) in financial year 2014/2015, both of which help secure the Côte D’Ivoire-Liberia border. The UK has supported UN Security Council Resolutions 2226 and 2239 extending the mandates of both Missions into 2016.

Despite incidents early in 2015, neither UN commander has reported any recent security concerns along the border region. We welcome the improved security situation and greater stability in Liberia and Cote D’Ivoire. We expect both governments to assume increased responsibility for the security of their shared border as the two UN missions begin to draw down.

01/01/2023
Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much funding has been allocated to the Fit for Work service for the current financial year; and whether the Government plans to increase that amount.

Justin Tomlinson

Fit for Work is now fully rolled out across Great Britain. All employers and GPs are able to refer employees who are on sick leave for four weeks or more, to get a work-related health assessment and help them return to work sooner.

The Department does not routinely publish funding allocations. However, Fit for Work has been provided with sufficient funding to meet its demands for 2015/16, this financial year. Outturn spending will be detailed in DWP’s published Annual Report and Accounts. Departmental funding for future years has been settled by HMT.

01/01/2023
Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much of her Department’s budget has been spent on the Troops to Teachers scheme to date; and on what that budget was spent.

Nick Gibb

To date, £4.3m has been spent on the programme, the majority of which has been initial, one-off start-up costs. The funding has been allocated to trainee salaries in addition to programme costs to deliver the degree qualification and teacher training requirements.

01/01/2023
Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-02-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Prior of Brampton on 4 February (HL5344) and on 11 February (HL5970), how many of the 8,000 expected clinical reports are in the cancer part of that project, as compared to the rare disease; and in the cancer part of that project, how many are planned for delivery by the end of (1) March, (2) June, and (3) September.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The 100,000 Genomes project cancer pipeline is still being evaluated and the precise proportion of the reports that will relate to cancer is not currently known.

01/01/2023
Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if the Cross Government Working Group on Drones will conduct a detailed examination of the security threats posed by drones as part of its work.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Cross Government Working Group is undertaking analysis of the potential use of drones for criminal and terrorist purposes, and the impacts of their negligent use near sensitive locations, such as airports.

Guidance on tackling the risks of criminal drone use has been provided to constabularies across the UK.

01/01/2023
Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have received demands to pay underpaid tax as a result of his Department not notifying HM Revenue and Customs when an employment and support allowance claimant is moved from the work-related activity group into the support group in each of the last three years.

Priti Patel

The information requested is not held.

01/01/2023
Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received on Turkish facilitated talks between Somalia and Somaliland.

James Duddridge

The next round of Turkish facilitated talks between the Federal Government of Somalia and Somaliland were due to take place in Ankara on 31 May but we understand that they have been delayed. We hope that the talks, which are an effort to promote genuine dialogue and cooperation, will be able to continue shortly.

01/01/2023
Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-07-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to improve the quality of initial interviews and decisions in asylum cases in order to reduce the need for appeals.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Home Office carefully considers all asylum claims on their individual merits and grants protection for those who genuinely need it, in accordance with our international obligations under the Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights. In every asylum case the particular circumstances of the individual is considered in light of published country information.

All asylum decision-makers receive extensive training on how to consider asylum claims and are expected to follow published Home Office policy guidance. The 5-week Foundation Training Programme (FTP) for new decision makers trains staff on all aspects of the asylum decision making process. All decision makers are currently receiving credibility training. This course trains decision makers on how to assess the evidential value of their interview questions, the various reasons why someone may not come across as credible in an asylum interview and discusses issues such as speculation and implausibility. Asylum decision-makers carefully assess the protection needs of each asylum claimant following an interview by assessing all available evidence provided by the claimant in light of published country information and policy guidance. The Home Office systematically assesses the quality of asylum decisions against a detailed quality audit framework drawn up and agreed with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

We expect asylum claimants to disclose all relevant evidence to support their claim at the earliest opportunity so that we can properly consider their claim. We aim to reduce the appeal rate by analysing the reasons why appeals are allowed and using this to further improve guidance and training. We are committed to continuous improvement.

01/01/2023