Tag: Parliamentary Question

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

    Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-03-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Prior of Brampton on 4 February (HL5344), 11 February (HL5970), and 3 March (HL6245), what are the minimum number of cancer reports that are expected for delivery back to patients by the end of (1) March, (2) June, and (3) September.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We are advised by Genomics England that no cancer reports will be returned by the end of March 2016. The priorities for the cancer component of the 100,000 Genomes project are the improvement of the sample processing, sequencing and bioinformatics capabilities across National Health Service Genomic Medicine Centres and Genomics England partnerships. It is unlikely that there will be any clinically actionable reports for cancer in the period to the end of September 2016.

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Compass asylum accommodation contract with Serco for the region of Scotland and Northern Ireland, how many faults were reported or identified from Compass inspections for each contractual pay period in the years 2014-15 and 2015-16; and how many such were not resolved within the agreed contractual timescales.

    James Brokenshire

    Providers are contractually required to provide safe, habitable, fit for purpose and correctly equipped accommodation to comply with the Housing Act 2004 and the Decent Homes Standard. Providers are monitored closely to ensure accommodation meets these standards and the contracts include measures to ensure any issues are quickly addressed. These performance standards are defined in the contract and are managed using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) including those which measure whether an individual property is compliant with contractual obligations following an inspection and also the number of service users effected if a fault is not repaired within the contract timescales.

    The Home Office does not centrally record the number of individual faults reported or identified during accommodation inspections, or the number of individual faults not resolved within the agreed timescales. The requested information could therefore only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that block contracts are being phased out for mental health services.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England and NHS Improvement are introducing changes to the National Tariff that will rule out unaccountable block contracts for adult mental health services that provide poor value for money and do not support the adoption of new models of care. NHS England and NHS Improvement have developed two possible payment models that could be adopted locally – one based on care clusters on an episodic or year of care basis, and the other a capitation-based model.

    Whichever payment model is adopted for use locally, there should be a strong element that links payment to outcomes, particularly the recommendations arising from the report of the independent Mental Health Taskforce.

  • Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-06-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has received representations from Amnesty International on photographs alleged to show UK-produced cluster munitions dropped in Yemen.

    Michael Fallon

    Amnesty International wrote to the Prime Minister on the 23 May, and to the Department on 3 June, on the alleged use of UK-produced BL-755 cluster munitions by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-09-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK armed forces personnel are stationed in (a) Saudi Arabia, (b) Yemen, (c) Oman, (d) Qatar and (e) UAE.

    Mike Penning

    There are around 100 military personnel based in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including at the Defence section within the British Embassy in Riyadh. These personnel provide mentoring and advice to the Saudi Arabian National Guard as part of the British Military Mission to the Saudi Arabian National Guard. Personnel also work on the Saudi Arabia National Guard Communications Project to acquire and support, modern communications capabilities for the Saudi Arabian National Guard and work on the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Saudi Armed Forces Projects, supporting the United Kingdom’s commitment to the defence of Saudi Arabia through the supply of modern military aircraft, naval vessels, weapons and associated support services to the Saudi Armed Forces. We have a small number of liaison personnel who work at the Saudi MOD and Operational Centres. We do not discuss specific numbers for reasons of safeguarding operational security.

    There are no UK Armed Forces personnel based in Yemen.

    There are around 195 military personnel based in Oman, including at the Defence section within the British Embassy in Muscat; personnel on Loan Service to the Omani Armed Forces and others on temporary assignments in the region. These numbers change on a daily basis according to the tasks assigned.

    There are seven military personnel permanently assigned to Qatar (three within the Defence Section in the Embassy and four Loan Service officers working in training establishments). There are also a number of temporary personnel who work at Al Udeid airbase but we do not discuss specific numbers for reasons of safeguarding operational security.

    There are six military personnel permanently assigned to the UAE (three within the Defence Section in the Embassy at Abu Dhabi; one within the Defence Section in the Dubai Consulate; and two Loan Service officers working with the UAE Electronic Warfare and Signals departments). There are also a number of temporary personnel at Al Minhad airbase but we do not discuss specific numbers for reasons of safeguarding operational security .

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding his Department has allocated to reducing light pollution in the next five financial years.

    Andrew Jones

    When environmental impacts of new transport infrastructure projects are identified as part of the assessment and design process, appropriate mitigation is funded from within the budget for that project.

    As part of the Road Investment Strategy, Highways England also has a £300m environment fund to deliver environmental improvements on their network, both through retrofitting measures on the existing road network and maximizing opportunities offered by new road schemes. Where there is a strong case, some of this fund could support projects which reduce light pollution.

  • Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Callum McCaig on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of the international aid budget she plans to allocate to support communities managing the consequences of climate change in each of the next five years.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The Prime Minister has announced that the government will provide £5.8 billion from the official development assistance budget over the next five years. This will support the Paris Climate Summit outcome and help the most vulnerable countries protect themselves from the effects of climate change and drive clean economic growth.

  • Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has issued to police forces on their emergency response to incidents reporting breaking and entering, burglary and vandalism to vehicles, and other criminal activity when the criminal act is reported as being in progress.

    Mike Penning

    We are clear that all crimes reported to the police should be taken seriously, but it is an operational decision for the police to decide how best to respond to an individual report of crime including where a criminal act may be in progress.

    While we do expect the nature of the police response to take account of the relevant circumstances, including any vulnerabilities or aggravating factors such as where members of the public may be at risk of harm, the Home Office does not issue guidance to the police on such operational matters.

    These are the responsibility of Chief Constables, in association with Police and Crime Commissioners, and guidance may be published by the independent College of Policing.

  • Viscount Ridley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Viscount Ridley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Viscount Ridley on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to the finding of the report An Unholy Mess, published by the Fair Admissions Campaign and the British Humanist Association last year, that a number of religiously selective schools have sought to require all parents to commit to supporting the particular religious ethos of the school as part of the admission process; and what assessment they have made of the impact of any such practice on the encouragement of applications from a diverse range of religious and non-religious backgrounds.

    Lord Nash

    I refer the Noble Lord to my response to questions HL5900 and HL5901, submitted to Parliament on 18 February 2016.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-03-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to help more businesses in Cambridge in the light of reports that it has the best rates for startup survival.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Government’s Start-Up Loans scheme supports people wanting to start a business and has provided over 35,000 loans worth over £200 million. We’re committed to supporting start-ups by cutting taxes on small businesses, extending rate relief and increasing the Employment Allowance.

    In Cambridge, Government has invested £4.8m in the establishment of the Sir John Bradfield Technology Centre to support business incubation on Cambridge Science Park. This is in addition to a range of other growth-enabling investments made through the £500m Greater Cambridge City Deal, the £109.1m Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Growth Deal and a three year funding package to support development of a local business Growth Hub