Tag: Parliamentary Question

Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what she is doing to help safeguard the welfare of (a) unaccompanied minors who have gone missing and (b) other unaccompanied minors in the refugee camps in Calais and Dunkirk.

James Brokenshire

Under the UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August 2015, the UK has committed to support a range of work to address the migrant situation in northern France. The two governments have established a permanent official contact group focused on ensuring that the provisions of the Dublin III Regulation are used efficiently and effectively, including the provisions on family unity. A Home Office official was seconded to the Interior Ministry’s Dublin Unit in Paris to assist with the identification of potential requests for the UK to take charge of an asylum seeking child in France and to bring them into the Dublin Regulation procedure without delay.

The UK has provided funding to a project run by a French non-governmental organisation to identify potential victims of trafficking and exploitation (including unaccompanied children) in Calais and to direct them to appropriate support services in France.

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Crisp on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the recent British Medical Association report In Good Hands: Tackling labour rights concerns in the manufacture of medical gloves.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Department has worked with its national contracting and logistics partner, NHS Supply Chain to develop a range of ethical procurement interventions that increase the scrutiny applied to suppliers, based on the risks presented.

All suppliers contracted by NHS Supply Chain are required to adhere to the NHS Supply Chain – Supplier Code of Conduct. A copy of the Code of Conduct is attached.

This code of conduct includes requirements for suppliers to work in line with the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labour Organisation Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and makes specific reference to forced and compulsory labour. The Supplier Code of Conduct has been a contractual requirement of all Framework Agreements since 2009.

For categories of products where the risk of labour standards abuses has been assessed as high, by the nature of the manufacturing processes, employment practices or location, NHS Supply Chain require all suppliers to implement a Labour Standards Assurance System to specified standards.

NHS Supply Chain continually review the wider contract portfolio, and where appropriate, the Labour Standards Assurance System requirements will be applied to new contract areas.

Contract terms will require suppliers to implement and improve their Labour Standards Assurance System, in line with stipulated milestones, during the life of the framework agreement.

Suppliers are contractually required to evidence compliance by providing details of independent third party audits conducted on their Assurance System.

Where suppliers do not meet the specified standard within the stipulated timescales, their contract will be suspended in the first instance, and then terminated if remediation actions are not undertaken in a suitably timely manner.

NHS Supply Chain provides support for suppliers required to implement a labour standards assurance system with webinars that provide access to expert support and capability building material.

In relation to the British Medical Association (BMA) report In Good Hands, all suppliers awarded on the current Framework Agreement for Examination and Sterile Surgical Gloves are subject to the NHS Supply Chain Code of Conduct and contractual requirements to operate a Labour Standards Assurance System.

Since the framework agreement launched in December 2015, a webinar workshop has been held with all suppliers to explain the Labour Standards Assurance System and implications of the Modern Slavery Act.

Of the manufacturers named in the BMA report, two are currently awarded under the NHS Supply Chain national framework agreement for medical gloves.

In both cases the Department in conjunction with NHS Supply Chain has investigated the allegations thoroughly by working with specialist independent third party audit bodies, who have undertaken assessments at the identified facilities.

Audit findings have not identified any specific cases of slavery or human trafficking, or any serious systemic abuses of worker or human rights, however, improvements in management procedures, communications and training were recommended to reduce the potential for abuses to arise.

Both suppliers have acknowledged these findings and have agreed actions, as part of contractual remediation plans, to address these.

01/01/2023
Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-07-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent representations she has received from music and sport event organisers on security at large events; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Ben Wallace

The Home Office regularly receives correspondence from organisations about major events taking place in the UK including music festivals, sports and other events. The policing of major music festivals, sports events and other large temporary events are dealt with through operational policing efforts. Advice on security, including counter-terrorism, is undertaken by specially trained police Security Coordinators (SecCos), who provide protective security advice and plans to police command teams prior to an event.

Where appropriate SecCOs draw on the advice of police specialist Counter Terrorism Security Advisers (CTSAs), who assess sites and provide recommendations on appropriate and proportionate mitigating security measures to address the terrorism threat.

01/01/2023
Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to raise public awareness of (a) pancreatic cancer and (b) other cancers for which symptoms can be non-specific and have similarities to other benign conditions.

David Mowat

Public Health England’s (PHE) Be Clear on Cancer campaigns are designed to raise the public’s awareness of specific cancer symptoms, encourage people with those symptoms to go to the doctor and diagnose cancer at an earlier stage. An early visit to a general practice can make a cancer more treatable, and thereby improve cancer survival rates. These campaigns are delivered by PHE in partnership with the Department and NHS England. There are a number of cancers, including those where symptoms can be non-specific, which are not covered by ‘Be Clear on Cancer’ explicitly.

01/01/2023
Matthew Pennycook – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on costs to consumers of the contract for difference awarded to Hinkley Point C.

Andrea Leadsom

As stated in my answer to PQ 15115, under the CfD consumers won’t pay anything for electricity until the plant is powering their homes and businesses. Payments under the CfD are expected to make up around £10 (real 2012 prices) of the average household energy bill in 2030. This should be seen in the context of Hinkley Point C meeting 7% of the UK’s energy needs, and set against our estimate that a new nuclear programme could reduce average household bills by up to around £30 in 2030 (again in real 2012 prices). This is calculated by comparing the costs for consumers in a modelled scenario for the future electricity mix with Hinkley Point C and a further role out of the new nuclear programme with the cost for consumers in a scenario where there are no new nuclear power stations by 2030. Savings could be higher or lower depending on changes in the cost of alternative generation technologies and what mix of technologies would ultimately be used.

01/01/2023
Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding (a) in total and (b) by region of Road User Satisfaction Report was paid to AECOM from the public purse for those reports published by the Highways Agency on 11 December 2015.

Andrew Jones

The total contractual amounts Highways England pays are as follows:
- £274,129 for the National Road User Satisfaction Survey from April 2015 to March 2016.
- £376,846 for the Area Road User Satisfaction Survey from April 2015 to March 2016.
Costs are not split by region.
01/01/2023
Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what his policy is on the number of spaces which should be available for disabled people in music venues across the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The huge variation in size, type and location of music venues across the UK makes it impractical to require venue operators to make a specific number of spaces available for disabled people. However, we believe that everyone should have access to arts and culture – having a disability should not be a barrier to enjoying Britain’s awe-inspiring cultural treasures. That is why we are working with venues and organisations representing disabled people to identify barriers to access, while at the same time seeing how we can share examples of best practice and what more cultural venues need to do to be accessible to people with disabilities. We support the work of Attitude is Everything, which works with audiences, artists, and the music industry to improve deaf and disabled people’s access to live events. Ialso recently held a roundtable meeting with Justin Tomlinson, Minister for Disabled People to look at access to cultural venues and events for disabled people. Additionally, provisions in the Equality Act 2010 require providers of services to the public (for example music venues), to make a ‘reasonable adjustment’ so that disabled people are not placed at a “substantial disadvantage” to non-disabled people.

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Prior of Brampton on 27 January (HL5039) and 12 February (HL5911), whether they are now able to confirm that the stated aims of the application recently approved by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to perform genome editing in human embryos by means of CRISPR-Cas9 had never included increasing knowledge about the causes of miscarriages”; and which of the purposes as set out in the previous Written Answer were instead deemed to be fulfilled by the project.”

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s role in granting a research licence is to ensure that any project fulfils one of the purposes set out in the legislation. The Person Responsible applied for the same purposes as those which were granted. These are set out in paragraph 1.18 of the minutes of the Licence Committee meeting held on 14 January 2016; a copy of the minutes is attached.

01/01/2023
Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to announce new mast sites for the Emergency Service Mobile Communications Programme’s Extended Areas Service project.

Mike Penning

The Home Office led Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) is in ongoing discussions with EE as the supplier of Network Services for the new Emergency Services Network (ESN).

The Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme’s Extended Area Service is planning a number of new mast sites across the UK. The location of new mast sites will be announced in due course, once all the relevant permissions have been granted.

01/01/2023

Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding his Department provided for Bikeability in each year from 2007-08 to 2015-16 expressed in 2015-16 prices; and how much his Department plans to provide for that scheme in each year from 2016-17 to 2020-21 expressed in 2015-16 prices.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The amount of funding provided by the Department for Transport to support the delivery of Bikeability cycle training in each financial year from 2007/08 to 2015/16 is set-out in the table below:

Financial Year	2007/08	2008/09	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16
£m	1.11	3.92	5.94	9.50	11.48	10.97	11.71	12.45	11.19
Funding expressed in 2015/16 prices £m	1.30	4.49	6.67	10.35	12.25	11.51	12.05	12.60	11.19

Footnotes: Figures provided in the table cover Bikeability training grant costs only. Funding expressed in 2015/16 prices was calculated using parameters in the Transport Analysis Guidance (TAG) data book.

Between 2010/11 and 2015/16 this government provided an average of £11.66m per year in 2015/16 prices, compared to an average of £4.15m per year in the three years previously under Labour.

The projected budget for the delivery of Bikeability in each financial year from 2016/17 to 2019/20 is set-out in the table below:

Financial Year	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20
£m	11.40	11.59	11.79	11.99
Funding expressed in 2015/16 prices £m	11.22	11.21	11.19	11.15

Government funding for Bikeability in 2020/21 will be decided at a future Spending Review.

01/01/2023