Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will introduce regulations to monitor the sale of drones for private and commercial use.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Civil Aviation Authority keeps a record of all the permissions they have issued to fly commercial drones in UK airspace. However this does not extend to leisure users of drones. To address this the Department for Transportis currently looking at a range of options including regulation, registration and licensing options and a database to increase transparency on the use of drones for the general public. We will be looking to address these issue without placing unnecessary bureaucratic burden on this emerging industry. We intend to consult on all of these issues and other possible solutions in 2016.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will ask Ofcom to compare the predicted and actual proportion of BT’s ducts that are able to have fibre blown through them without further civil works.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    All ducts and poles in BT’s network beyond the telephone exchange are open to other providers, under the Passive Infrastructure Access obligation imposed by Ofcom, to provide primarily residential broadband services. In its Digital Communications Review. Ofcom is looking at the future role of passive infrastructure access in facilitating competition and innovation.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to announce a decision on access to Translarna after the NICE Highly Specialised Technology Committee meeting on 17 February 2016.

    George Freeman

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently evaluating Translarna (ataluren) for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy through its highly specialised technology programme. The publication date for NICE’s final guidance is to be confirmed.

    NHS England has advised that it is in constructive discussions with the pharmaceutical company about the development of a managed access agreement for Translarna and a progress update will be given at the next NICE Evaluation Committee meeting on 17 February 2016.

    In the absence of guidance from NICE, it is for commissioners to make decisions on whether to fund medicines based on an assessment of the available evidence.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has discussed with the Football Association the introduction of a fit-and-proper-person test for owners of non-league football clubs.

    David Evennett

    The Owners and Directors Test, formerly the fit and Proper Persons Test, is already applied to National League clubs at Steps 1 to 4. The FA are also in the process of introducing a licensing system for those clubs from 2016–17, which will ensure clubs can only compete if they meet a set of legal, ownership, integrity, stadia, insolvency and sustainability criteria.

    Any plans for a licensing system or the Owners and Directors Test to be introduced to non-league sides further down the football pyramid are a matter for the FA.

  • Lord Northbourne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Northbourne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Northbourne on 2016-04-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether their proposal to change the status of all secondary schools in England to academies would mean that maintained schools no longer have an obligation to deliver sex and relationship education.

    Lord Nash

    Maintained secondary schools must continue to meet their existing statutory duties. All maintained secondary schools are required to teach sex and relationship education and we expect academies to teach it as part of a broad and balanced curriculum.

    As announced in February, we will continue to keep the status of PSHE under review and work with a group of leading headteachers and practitioners to identify further action we can take to ensure that all pupils receive high quality, age appropriate PSHE and sex and relationship education.

    When any school, including academies, teaches sex and relationship education, they must have regard to the Secretary of State’s statutory Sex and Relationship Education Guidance (2000). The guidance makes clear that all such lessons should be age-appropriate and that schools should ensure young people develop positive values and a moral framework that will guide their decisions, judgments and behaviour.

  • 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 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department has issued to parents on recommended amounts of sleep for children.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS Choices provides guidance for parents on the amounts of sleep for children at different ages as well as advice and support for parents and children about sleep hygiene. There is no national guidance on evidence-based recommended sleep duration for children because of the significant variation between children and the focus of advice to parents is on good bedtime routines and how to prevent and respond to common sleep problems.

    The Start4Life Information Service for Parents includes advice on how to ease babies into good sleeping habits and dealing with common sleep problems. Content for the service is regularly updated and Public Health England (PHE) will continue to address the issue of sleep in children under five via the Start4Life Information Service for Parents.

    PHE has also developed specific advice resources on sleep issues for children and young people with the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the MindEd programme.

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what budget his Department has set for paying staff (a) on secondment from external companies and (b) engaged as external contractors or consultants for each year from 2016 to 2020.

    Mr David Jones

    The new Department for Exiting the European Union is properly resourced. Detailed work is underway to establish the final budget required to fulfill the Department’s functions, set-up and responsibilities. This budget will be voted on by Parliament at the Supplementary Estimate.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the retail sector on alternatives to non-recyclable coffee cups; and if she will make a statement.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    This Government remains committed to recycling and will be consulting widely on our plans for resources, waste and recycling in developing our 25 Year Environment Plan. I have had a number of discussions with a range of stakeholders in drawing up our plan; as part of these discussions, companies will raise ideas about new products or treatments.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was spent from the public purse on the payment of social security benefits to non-UK citizens in each European Economic Area country for each year from 1997-98 to 2014-15.

    Priti Patel

    The full information requested is not held centrally.

    The Department for Work and Pensions checks the nationality and immigration status of benefit claimants to ensure the benefit is paid properly and to prevent fraud. While this information is used, it is not recorded as part of the benefit payment administrative systems.

    Benefit Expenditure and Caseload tables are published on Gov.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/474453/expenditure-by-country-and-region-2014-15.xlsx

    Please note that these figures include a breakdown for UK regions and a combined figure for expenditure abroad or where the region is unknown. Expenditure is not broken down by nationality.

  • Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to section 11.9 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what steps he plans to take to achieve £360 million in efficiencies and savings in adult skills.

    Nick Boles

    The Chancellor published the results of the Spending Review on 25th November 2015. This is a good settlement for further education. Between 2010-11 and 2019-20 the Government will have doubled spending on apprenticeships in cash terms to £2.5 billion, and protected funding for the core adult skills participation budgets in cash terms, at £1.5 billion

    The Government will make £362 million of savings and efficiencies from adult skills funding by 2019-20. We are prioritising funding for participation, with savings being made from supporting budgets. We are also restructuring the sector through locally-led Area Reviews to provide sustainable and high quality provision in the future.