Tag: Parliamentary Question

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

    Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they propose to take to prevent mental health services from turning away children who seek help.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Children and young people’s mental health (CYPMH) is a priority area for this Government. It is committed to delivering the vision set out in Future in mind, the previous Government’s report on the work of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Taskforce. This report established a clear and powerful consensus about change across the whole system, including health, social care and education. To support this transformation programme the Government is committed to making an additional £1.4 billion available over the course of this Parliament.

    As a first step in this transformation programme all clinical commissioning groups working with their partners, have developed Local Transformation Plans to transform their offer for children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. These plans cover the full spectrum of mental health issues: from prevention and improving access, to support and care for existing and emerging mental health problems, as well as transitions between services.

    Whilst the intention is to prevent mental health problems from arising in the first place, improving access for those who have developed problems as early as possible is essential. By 2020, at least 70,000 more children and young people each year will have access to high quality mental health care when they need it. This will require systems for rapid identification of children in need of specialised services, and improved links between different agencies so that children and young people are referred to the most appropriate service. £28 million is being spent on extending and expanding the Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme so that by 2018 all children and young people across England will have access to evidence-based and appropriate interventions. The Government has also invested nearly £3 million into the Mental Health Services and Schools Links Pilots to jointly train designated leads in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and schools to improve access to mental health services for children and young people. This should reduce the number of children being turned away from services and lead to the ‘no wrong door’ approach that is integral to the transformation programme.

  • Edward Argar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Edward Argar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Argar on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of her Department’s contracts for projects overseas were competitively tendered in each of the last three years.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    90% of contracts awarded during 2013-14, 86% of contracts awarded during 2014-15 and 94% of contracts awarded during 2015-16 were competitively tendered. During this time-frame there were a number of contracts which are not deemed as competitively tendered.

    Any programmes not competitively tendered are subject to Procurement management review.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2016 to Question 39847, on travel, when he plans to update the National Transport Model estimates given in that Answer to take account of the potential effects of the cycling and walking investment strategy.

    Andrew Jones

    We plan to update the National Transport Model with the impacts of the cycling and walking investment strategy once we have more complete information on the national impact of local cycling and walking strategies later in the year.

  • Nigel Dodds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nigel Dodds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the prospects of talks on North Korea under the Six Party talks format.

    Alok Sharma

    The UK is not a member of the Six Party talks, but we maintain a close dialogue with all participants, including the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Through our bilateral engagement with DPRK we have made clear to the regime that their nuclear and ballistic missile programmes are in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions and that the DPRK should return to credible and authentic multilateral talks on denuclearisation. We assess that the resumption of Six Party talks is unlikely given the current situation and only if the DPRK agrees to discuss denuclearisation.

  • Craig Mackinlay – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Craig Mackinlay – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Mackinlay on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will assess the costs and benefits of classifying parentally-agreed child support as income for means-tested benefits.

    Priti Patel

    In order to help encourage parents to take financial responsibility for their children and maximise the amount of maintenance that flows from the non-resident parent to the child, child maintenance payments made under the statutory scheme or through a family based arrangement are not treated as income for means tested benefits.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to raise awareness of female genital mutilation among mental health professionals.

    Jane Ellison

    As part of its £3 million national Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Prevention Programme, the Department is developing staff training and awareness materials on FGM focusing on the mental health and wellbeing of FGM survivors.

    To increase health professionals’ awareness of this complex area, the Department has commissioned Health Education England to develop specialist FGM mental health e-learning, which will be provided free to all NHS professionals. Existing mental health training materials are also being updated by Health Education England to support awareness and recognition by health professionals of the impact of FGM on mental health.

    A ministerial roundtable with senior stakeholders was held on 29 October 2015 to discuss this issue. The Department is working with specialist mental health professionals and professional bodies to consider how best to support commissioners to ensure that mental health services are able to meet the needs of FGM survivors.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any proposals for diverting a proportion of the EU’s external aid to assist member states in receiving and caring for the current increased numbers of refugees, and to job-creating investment in the Middle East and North Africa.

    Baroness Verma

    With pressure from the United Kingdom and other Member States, the European Union (EU) has mobilised considerable funding to support the international response to the refugee crisis – including within Europe, and to tackle the root causes of migration and displacement in the Middle East and North Africa.

    Within Europe, the UK is working to ensure that all tools are being used to support the humanitarian response to the refugee crisis, and that the donor effort is well coordinated through the Civil Protection Mechanism. Alongside this, the UK’s support for refugees and migrants during the Mediterranean migration crisis has reached nearly £55million. This money is focused on providing life-saving assistance and protection to vulnerable people rescued at sea or in transit.

    In the Middle East and the North Africa, the EU is a leading donor in the response to the Syria crisis with over €5 billion of total budget mobilised by the European Commission and Member States collectively in humanitarian, development, economic and stabilisation assistance. The UK has been at the forefront of this, pledging over £1.1 billion, our largest ever humanitarian response to a single crisis. In addition, the EU Trust Fund for Africa – a €1.8billion fund – will allocate money to projects in the Sahel, Horn and North Africa to tackle the root causes of migration.

  • David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with C2C on the effect of changes to its timetable on consumer satisfaction.

    Claire Perry

    I met with c2c on the 10th February. I have asked them to make proposals to adjust their plans to deliver a more attractive balance between service levels and overcrowding, and the Department will work with c2c to deliver these at the earliest opportunity.

  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with Govia Thameslink Railways Ltd on extending driver-only operation on its services.

    Claire Perry

    Govia Thameslink Railway have made officials aware of the intention to engage with staff and their representatives regarding future plans for Driver Only Operation on some services.

  • Kate Osamor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Kate Osamor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps the Government is taking to strengthen the Northern Ireland economy.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    The Government’s long-term economic plan is strengthening the Northern Ireland economy.

    Last year legislation was passed to allow the devolution of corporation tax rate-setting powers.

    This could bring benefits for an estimated 34,000 companies of all sizes in Northern Ireland.