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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many jobs in (a) her Department and (b) each of her Department’s non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority by 2020.

    James Brokenshire

    The Department records actual staffing levels, but does not centrally record the number of jobs by location. Records show that since 2010 neither (a) the Department or (b) the Department’s executive non-departmental public bodies and statutory bodies, including Advisory and Tribunal NDPBs, have had staff based within the Cheshire East local authority area.

    There are therefore no plans for posts to be reduced in this area. The Department’s executive non-departmental Public Bodies are:

    • the Independent Police Complaints Commission;

    • the Gangmasters Licensing Authority;

    • the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner;

    • the Security Industry Authority; and

    • the Disclosure and Barring Service

    Furthermore the National Crime Agency, a non-ministerial government department, and the College of Policing also do not have offices or staff based in Cheshire East.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how his Department monitors the progress of organisations providing NHS or adult social care towards conforming to the Accessible Information Standard.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England published the Accessible Information Standard in July 2015. Compliance with the Standard is a legal duty and organisations that provide National Health Service care or adult social care are required to implement the Standard in full by 31 July 2016. Compliance with the Standard is also a requirement of the NHS Standard Contract 2016/17.

    NHS England does not hold information on how many NHS trusts conform to the Standard.

    NHS England is not proactively monitoring progress of organisations that provide NHS or adult social care towards conforming to the Accessible Information Standard, as the Standard does not establish a new national audit or dataset which requires organisations to report centrally on their adherence. In addition, NHS England as an organisation does not have a monitoring or inspection remit.

    However, the Standard includes requirements for organisations to publish or display an accessible communications policy which explains how they will follow the Accessible Information Standard, and an accessible complaints policy. The inclusion of these requirements is intended to support ease of compliance assessment by interested organisations, and to ensure that people with information and communication support needs are able to provide feedback to organisations about their experiences.

    The specification for the Standard also makes clear that commissioning organisations must actively support compliance by organisations from which they commission services and must also seek assurance from providers in this regard.

    In addition, the Care Quality Commission will look at evidence of how services implement the Accessible Information Standard as part of their inspection of health services and adult social care services when they make judgements about whether health services are responsive to people’s needs, and adult social care services are responsive to people’s needs and whether they are well led.

  • Lord Young of Cookham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Young of Cookham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Young of Cookham on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what date they plan to publish the Tobacco Control Plan for England.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Tobacco Control Plan is currently being developed and Ministers will decide on an appropriate publication date in due course.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what type of reception institution suspected people traffickers and illegal migrants who are intercepted by Border Force or other UK government bodies are taken to.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    In all cases where there are reasonable grounds to suspect a person of trafficking, they would be arrested and processed in accordance with the provisions of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 ;at sea, Customs and Excise Management Act 1979; in Scotland Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.

    Border Force, along with operational partners, carries out a range of activity to prevent migrants from entering the UK through clandestine and illegal means.

    Border Force has specific policy, guidance, operating procedures and referral mechanisms to other government departments in order to carry out the appropriate action when an illegal migrant is encountered at a port or other location. Illegal migrants who are intercepted at the Border are processed in accordance with their individual circumstances and where appropriate detained in accommodation based on these circumstances.

  • Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to ensure that people in Hove have access to GP surgeries offering seven-day primary care.

    Alistair Burt

    We are committed to ensuring that everyone will be able to access a general practitioner (GP) appointment in the evenings and on weekends as part of our plan for a 7 day NHS by 2020.

    Through the Prime Minister’s GP Access Fund, 125,000 patients in Brighton and Hove have had access to seven-day primary care through four ‘primary care clusters.’ The local clinical commissioning group are now evaluating this scheme and discussing plans for what to take forward.

    There is also a walk-in centre in central Brighton which is open from 8am to 8pm daily to serve the needs of Brighton and Hove residents. There is no need to be a registered patient with the health centre to use the walk-in service; it is available to everyone in Brighton and Hove. The service offers treatment, information and advice for a range of minor illnesses and injuries.

  • Ian C. Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ian C. Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2015-11-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will undertake a comparative assessment of commercial rents for possible HM Revenue and Customs offices in (a) Wrexham and (b) Cardiff.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced the planned locations of its future Regional Centres based on a number of key principles that will enable it to deliver more for less. In addition to cost, HMRC has taken account of the quality of local transport links, the local labour market and future workforce supply, and the need to retain the staff and skills it requires to continue its transformation. These changes will reduce HMRC’s estates costs by around £100 million a year by 2025.

    HMRC estimates that Liverpool will be home to between 2,800 and 3,100 full time equivalent employees. Consolidation into the Regional Centre is expected to begin in 2019-20. HMRC plans to open the Regional Centre in Cardiff in 2019-20. It is likely that the office at Plas Gororau in Wrexham will close in 2020-21. HMRC will be holding one-to-one discussions with each of its people to discuss the next steps.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of implementing the Natural England report, Vital Uplands, published in 2009, in respect of restoration of deep upland vegetation to control hillside water run-off and valley flooding.

    Rory Stewart

    The Vital Uplands report of 2009 was withdrawn by the previous Natural England Board and Management Team. Natural England, the Environment Agency, Defra and by academic institutions continue to closely monitor the complex science and evidence around upstream mitigation, through peatland, forestry and other natural measures. Some such measures have now been funded by the Government and piloted in schemes such as that in Pickering in Yorkshire. Natural upstream mitigation will be a key element of our planning at a catchment level, currently being taken forward through the Cumbrian Floods Partnership and our 25-year Environment Plan.

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the application-to-place ratio prior to interview is for ST1/CT1 posts starting in August to December 2016 at each specialities national recruitment office.

    Ben Gummer

    Health Education England (HEE) is responsible for the management of medical specialty recruitment on behalf of the four United Kingdom countries.

    The information requested for 2016 is not yet available.

    HEE publishes application to place ratios in October on an annual basis. The August to December 2016 data will be published in October 2016.

    Competition ratios for 2015 can be found here:

    http://specialtytraining.hee.nhs.uk/specialty-recruitment/competition-ratios/2015-competition-ratios/

    To note: The data used to determine the competition ratios for is drawn from the initial recruitment round and does not include re-advertisements.

    “

  • Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Schedule 14 and Section 24 of the Pension Act 2014, how many employees have been affected by the introduction of the statutory over-ride which provides for employers who sponsor contracted-out occupational pensions schemes to pass on increases in national insurance contributions to employees.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department does not currently collect this information.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2016 to Question 30698, whether the person appointed as Pubs Code Adjudicator was the recommended choice of the panel.

    Anna Soubry

    In line with the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies, at the end of the process the Minister is given a choice of candidates assessed by the interview panel as appointable. Mr Newby was assessed as appointable by the panel,