Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how his Department decides on allocation of funding to research councils; and what assessment he has made of the grounds for significant changes being made to the relative size of allocations to each research council compared to allocations in previous years.

    Joseph Johnson

    The allocations will be published shortly. As in previous years, the allocations will be made by ministers following discussions with BIS delivery partners.

  • Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Will Quince on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to ensure that NHS maternity units improve their safety records.

    Ben Gummer

    In November 2015 the Government announced a national ambition to halve by 2030 the rates of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries occurring during or soon after birth.

    To support the National Health Service in achieving this ambition more than 90 trusts have received additional funding as part of a £2.24 million fund to spend on equipment to improve safety, over £1 million to roll out training programmes to make sure staff have the skills and confidence they need to deliver world-leading safe care, and £500,000 to develop, a new online system that can be used consistently across the NHS to enable staff to review and learn from every stillbirth and neonatal death.

    The announcement also committed to publishing an annual report to update the public, health professionals, providers and commissioners on the progress we are making towards achieving the ambition. We also welcome the publication of the NHS England Independent Review of Maternity Services. The recommendations will have an important role in shaping the system to drive ambitious improvements in quality and safety.

    On 7 March we launched Sign up to Safety – ‘Spotlight on Maternity,’ a guidance document that asks all trusts with maternity services to commit publically to placing a spotlight on maternity and to contributing towards achieving the Government’s national ambition.

  • Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many organisations have failed to register as data controllers with the Information Commissioner’s Office under the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998 in each of the last three years.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Data Protection Act 1998 requires every data controller who is processing personal information to register with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) unless they are exempt. The ICO’s website sets out the criteria for notification and provides guidance on the level of fee organisations should be paying. The ICO have also made it easier for organisations to notify and pay the fee by introducing online payments.

    At the end of 2015/2016 there were 441,000 data controllers registered with the ICO, which generated a total income of £18.3 million. Due to the very broad range of exemptions from the need to notify, and because these exemptions do not need to be actively claimed, there is no recognised figure for the number of notifiable data controllers in the UK. It is for data controllers to seek registration; the ICO periodically reminds organisations of the requirement to notify.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which companies were contracted to facilitate enforced returns to Yemen for failed asylum seekers from that country in 2015.

    James Brokenshire

    There were no escorted enforced returns to Yemen in 2015.

  • Paul Beresford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paul Beresford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Beresford on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the funding provided by Health Education England for dental foundation training to facilitate access to the dental performers list; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    All graduates of United Kingdom dental schools secured a place on the dental foundation training scheme in 2014 and 2015. Information for 2016 will be made available by Health Education England once confirmed. Foundation Training requires selection on merit but this year, as in the last two years, the scheme rules prioritise applicants who have graduated from UK dental schools.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-10-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking with (a) HM Treasury and (b) the Bank of England to prepare for any fluctuations in the value of the pound during the process of negotiations on the UK leaving the EU.

    Simon Kirby

    The independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has operational responsibility for monetary policy. In determining monetary policy, the MPC takes account of the impact of the exchange rate on prices, but the UK does not have an exchange rate target. Instead, the exchange rate is allowed to adjust flexibly in response to economic conditions and movements in sterling are determined by market forces.

  • Tom Pursglove – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Tom Pursglove – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many civil servants in her Department are members of trades unions; how much working hours facility time is claimed by each such civil servant; and what the cost of that facility time is to her Department.

    George Eustice

    The number of civil servants in the Core-Department, who are members of a trade union, is matter for the unions.

    The Cabinet Office publishes data relating to the Civil Service facility on a quarterly basis. The latest data is Quarter 4, 2014 and is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/trade-union-facility-time

    “

  • Baroness Kennedy of Cradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Kennedy of Cradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley on 2015-11-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 23 November (HL3659), why no national assessment has been made of the effect of hospital trusts charging disabled people to park their cars, and whether they have made any regional or local assessments about that issue.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS trusts have the power to charge for car parking under paragraph 20 of Schedule 4 of the National Health Service Act 2006. Foundation Trusts (FTs) have similar general powers under section 43(3) of the NHS Act 2006. Individual NHS organisations decide locally whether or not to institute charges and they also carry out any assessment of the impact of such charges.

    As part of an assessment, trusts consider a range of factors, including the availability of parking spaces, the existence of alternative transport options and the cost of providing car parking. Such matters vary from place to place and therefore cannot be centrally assessed.

    In addition, as public bodies, NHS organisations must ensure they are compliant with the public sector equality duty at Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. The conduct of equality assessments is a local matter and the outcomes are not collected centrally.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to introduce compulsory microchipping of owned cats.

    George Eustice

    The Government encourages owners to microchip their cats. However, we do not consider that it is necessary to introduce compulsory microchipping of cats because the risks associated with stray cats are not as high as those associated with stray or displaced dogs.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Transport for London’s press release of 20 January 2016, TfL sets out plans to modernise and enhance London’s private hire industry, what representations he has received from the Mayor of London on the introduction of legislation that would enable TfL to restrict overall numbers of private hire drivers and vehicles.

    Andrew Jones

    We receive representations on a range of issues from the Mayor of London.

    The Government supports choice for consumers, and wants to see both taxis and private hire vehicles prosper in London and elsewhere. The Government is prepared to continue discussing various options with the Mayor but does not believe legislation allowing him to cap the number of private hire vehicles is warranted.