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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to ensure that implementation of European Professional Cards for doctors does not inhibit his Department’s ability to perform background checks on doctors from other European countries.

    Ben Gummer

    The European Professional Card (EPC) will not be introduced for doctors until 2018 at the earliest.

    The European Commission will review the effectiveness of the EPC process for the first wave of professions, which includes nurses, pharmacists and physiotherapists, before any decision is taken to extend the EPC to other professions.

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what targets his Department has for the transfer of documents between GP surgeries when a patient moves to a different area.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department does not collect information on the time taken to transfer documents between general practitioner (GP) surgeries.

    The GP contract requires GP practices to use the electronic facility known as “GP2GP” for the safe and effective transfer of any computerised patient records where they have access to this system. As at end September 2015, 97.2% of GP practices were using GP2GP. 5,859,890 patient electronic health records have been transferred by GP2GP to the patient’s new GP since 2007.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many organisations in receipt of grant funding awarded by her Department were found to have engaged in activity that influenced or attempted to influence Parliament, government, or the European Commission, or were found to have attempted to influence legislative or regulatory action in each of the last three years.

    Andrea Leadsom

    In line with government policy, DECC is introducing the new anti-lobbying clause mandated by the Cabinet Office. DECC has previously included a prohibition on use of the grant for activities of a political or exclusively religious nature, and DECC is not aware of any breaches of this condition, although no investigation has been carried out. Most DECC grants are awarded to cover specified costs incurred by the grant recipient in undertaking a particular project and are paid to reimburse those costs on receipt of satisfactory evidence that the relevant costs have been incurred.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many replies her Department sent to hon. Members which explain that, due to an administrative error or due to an unfortunate error they have not yet implemented a HM Courts and Tribunals Services decision in the last two years.

    James Brokenshire

    It is not possible to provide the Hon. Member with the information requested as it is not readily available or held centrally and can only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

  • Mary Creagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mary Creagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to support the formation of the transitional government of national unity in South Sudan.

    James Duddridge

    In January I visited Juba and held meetings with President Salva Kiir, members of the opposition and civil society. In the margins of the African Union Summit I met with the Leader of the Opposition Riek Machar. In all those meetings I emphasised the importance of forming the transitional government without delay. The UK has also worked closely with key countries in the region and in the UN Security Council to build pressure on the parties to form a government of national unity.

  • Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2016-04-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of how the carbon emissions of waste-fed anaerobic digestion plants compare to those of plants fed by energy crops.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    The carbon emissions from anaerobic digestion (AD) plants have been assessed by adding together; the greenhouse gas emissions from the AD plant including an estimate of their methane leakage rate, the reduction in UK greenhouse gas emissions from the use of biomethane to substitute for natural gas in the gas grid, and where this is relevant, the emissions avoided by no longer needing to dispose of the feedstock. The estimates below are for typical plants and will depend on particular circumstances.

    For food waste this net change in greenhouse gas emissions was assessed as a saving of 850 g of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt hour of energy in the biomethane produced (g CO2eq /kWh). This arises principally from the reduction in emissions from the landfilling of food waste. Animal waste based AD plant save emissions of 704 g CO2eq /kWh as a result of the reduction in storage emissions of slurries and manures. The use of annual energy crops for AD was assessed as saving 102 g CO2eq /kWh.

    The assumptions behind this assessment are detailed in the Impact Assessment that accompanied the recent consultation ‘The Renewable Heat Incentive: A reformed and refocused scheme’ and did not taken account of any additional carbon emissions impacts relating to indirect land use change, which may arise from changes in agricultural land caused by the expansion of croplands for feedstock production.

    This evidence was drawn from the modelling that supported the Impact Assessment for the recent Renewable Heat Incentive consultation that closed on 27th April.

    Food waste is estimated to be considerably more cost-effective than agricultural feedstocks because of the ‘upstream’ emissions abatement that is assumed to occur as a result of diverting food waste from landfill to an anaerobic digester. This is despite the controls that are in place at landfill sites to collect and combust landfill gas.

    Agricultural wastes are also assumed to produce upstream emission abatement owing largely to avoided emissions from the storage of slurries and manures, although these are less significant than the upstream abatement from food waste. In contrast energy crops do not offer these GHG emission reduction advantages.

  • Baroness Burt of Solihull – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Baroness Burt of Solihull – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Burt of Solihull on 2016-06-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the average duration of employment for civil servants within the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in each of the last five years.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The length of service for employees of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills HQ, in each of the last five years, is shown in the table below.

    Period ending

    Average length of service (Years)

    31 March 2016

    16.3

    31 March 2015

    15.8

    31 March 2014

    15.6

    31 March 2013

    15.6

    31 March 2012

    15.6

    The data above relates to the total length of their employment within the Civil Service.

  • Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to restrict the amount spent by local authorities on legal support and advice in special educational needs and disability tribunals.

    Edward Timpson

    It is up to local authorities to decide how best to spend their Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) budgets, based on an analysis of local need. The reforms in the Children and Families Act 2014 were designed to make the SEND system less adversarial for parents and young people, as well as for local authorities. The process of Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment and plan development is designed to be collaborative, meaning that most disagreements should be resolved early on. Where disagreements persist, we have introduced a requirement to consider mediation, which has often proved effective in reducing the need to make an appeal to the SEND Tribunal. For example, in 2015, 75% of disagreements over EHC plans for which mediation sessions were held did not result in a Tribunal appeal in that year.

    The SEND Tribunal aims to be facilitative and accessible, so that it should not be necessary for either parents or local authorities to employ legal support when making or defending an appeal. No additional weight is given to evidence because it is presented by a lawyer and many parents and local authorities successfully pursue their case without legal representation.

    The Department is currently conducting a Review of Disagreement Resolution Arrangements, as required by the 2014 Act, which will report to Parliament by 31st March 2017. The Review is looking at how the system of disagreement resolution is working for children, young people and their families, which includes enquiring about the costs incurred by both families and local authorities.

  • David Crausby – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    David Crausby – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with the Royal British Legion on the Count Them In campaign.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) continues to support the aspiration of the Royal British Legion’s (RBL) ‘Count Them In’ campaign to include a veteran’s marker in the 2021 census to provide information to better support the commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant. In June this year I wrote to John Pullinger, the National Statistician, to request that the position set out in the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) response to the census consultation was revisited. Following discussions this has been agreed and further work is being taken forward. The ONS and the MOD have established a working group to review the decision not to record veterans in the 2021 census. To date it has met six times. The working group is developing a number of themes which have allowed us to develop a good understanding of each other’s needs, including those of other Government Departments, Local Authorities and the charitable sector. The latest ONS statement on this issue can be found at the following address: https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/censustransformationprogramme/consultations/the2021censusinitialviewoncontentforenglandandwales/updateonmeetinginformationneedsonthearmedforcescommunityveterans The ONS will be inviting key stakeholders from across Government, Local Authorities and the charitable sector to a meeting this autumn to seek their further input on this issue. In addition, the MOD and the ONS met with the RBL in July this year to explain the work that both Departments are taking forward.

  • Karin Smyth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Karin Smyth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many new homes for social rent were completed in Bristol South constituency in each year from 2010 to 2014.

    Brandon Lewis

    Statistics on additional housing for affordable rent provided in each local authority area in England are published in the Department’s live table 1006a which is available at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply

    These figures include both newly built housing and acquisitions.

    Figures are not collected on the basis of Parliamentary constituencies.