Tag: Parliamentary Question

David Simpson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government plans to take to encourage Chinese investors to invest in the UK dairy industry.

George Eustice

China is one of the UK’s priority markets for investment. The Government is providing increased funding to UKTI across its China network and in the UK. The state visit last month demonstrated China’s recognition that the UK is one of the most open markets in the world for foreign investment and there is significant appetite from Chinese companies to invest here.

UKTI has a dedicated Food and Drink sector team and proactively works with potential Chinese investors. The UK offers Chinese investors strong proposals for milk powder, cheese (Cheddar) and butter production due to the vibrant dairy research sector, temperate climate and increasing milk production volumes.

Last week the Secretary of State was in China supporting the Food is GREAT campaign there; dairy is a key focus area allowing participating British companies to meet potential Chinese investors and buyers looking to invest in the UK and source UK dairy products.

01/01/2023

Mary Glindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Glindon on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers have been granted retirement on the grounds of ill health in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Prison Officers who have been granted retirement on the grounds of ill health by financial year from 2005/06 to 2015/16

Year	Band 5 Officers	Band 4 Officers	Band 3 Officers and Officer Specialists	Total
2005/06	~	10	70	90
2006/07	~	10	70	80
2007/08	~	~	30	40
2008/09	~	10	50	70
2009/10	~	~	80	80
2010/11	10	10	60	80
2011/12	~	20	90	110
2012/13	~	20	110	130
2013/14	~	10	110	120
2014/15	10	30	120	150
Apr-Sep 2015	~	10	60	70

All figures are rounded to the nearest 10, with numbers ending in5 rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. As with all HR databases, extracts are taken at a fixed point in time, to ensure consistency of reporting.

01/01/2023

Ian Blackford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2016-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to increase tree-planting as a method of flood prevention.

Rory Stewart

In some places trees can slow the flow of water down stream and reduce the local impacts of floods. That is why flood risk management is one of the targeting criteria for woodland creation funded through the new Countryside Stewardship scheme. The Forestry Commission also continues to undertake research into understanding what role woodlands can play in managing flood risk.

01/01/2023
Lord Turnberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Turnberg on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Palestine about the re-opening the Red Cross offices closed by recent violence in Gaza.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We understand that the International Committee of the Red Cross office in Gaza closed on 7 February for security reasons following protests in solidarity with a Palestinian hunger striker in Israeli detention. We have not raised this specific issue with the Palestinian Authority (PA) but we have urged the PA to make progress on resuming control in Gaza.

01/01/2023
Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-03-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what checks his Department carries out to ascertain the (a) immigration status and (b) nationality of benefits claimants.

Priti Patel

Access to means-tested benefits is conditional upon satisfying the Habitual Residence Test (HRT) where claimants must provide proof of their nationality and immigration status; their employment (where appropriate) and habitual residence in the UK.

Generally, access to disability benefits is conditional upon satisfying the Past Presence Test (PPT) where claimants must provide proof of their nationality and immigration status; their habitual residence in the UK; and presence in the UK for 2 years out of the last 3 years.

Access to contributions-based benefits is not dependent on a residency test, but the claimant must be present in the UK and they must have made the required number of national insurance contributions.

01/01/2023
Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) trusts that have breached the national price caps for NHS agency staff and (b) times those price caps have been breached since their introduction.

Alistair Burt

Information on temporary staff fill rates is not collected centrally.

NHS Improvement has calculated that since the introduction of the price caps, agency spending by National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts has fallen from £303 million in October 2015 to £287 million in February 2016.

Monitor has previously released information on the number of trusts reporting using shifts in excess of the price caps from 23 November to 28 December 2015. This can be accessed here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/497353/FOI_agency_staff_payments.pdf

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01/01/2023
Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce variation across the UK in access to surgical and transcatheter interventions for heart valve disease.

Jane Ellison

NHS England is working with professionals across the healthcare system to look at ways in which services and outcomes for patients with heart valve disease can be improved further, for example, by encouraging practitioners to follow clinical guidelines.

Service specifications and policy for the surgical and interventional treatment of heart valve disease are published by NHS England’s Cardiothoracic Clinical Reference Group. These define what NHS England expects to be in place in order for providers to offer evidence-based, safe and effective services. NHS England is working on the next iteration of the specifications, which will include important standards relating to mitral valve surgery.

In addition, NHS England is holding a clinical summit on 15 June 2016, which will bring together cardiologists and cardiac surgeons to examine the issues relating to heart valve disease, including variation. Outputs from discussions will be used to inform the future commissioning approach within specialised commissioning.

Information on the number of people with an undiagnosed heart valve condition is not collected centrally.

01/01/2023
John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-06-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of housing association tenants who will take up the option of right-to-buy in each year until 2019-20.

Brandon Lewis

Working with the National Housing Federation, the Government has secured an agreement with housing associations to give their tenants the opportunity to buy their home with an equivalent discount to the Right to Buy. This will deliver the manifesto commitment to extend the benefits of Right to Buy to 1.3 million tenants.

More details will be announced in due course.

01/01/2023
Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-09-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether statutory safeguards are in place to ensure that new unitary authorities created as a result of councils seeking to abolish themselves in favour of new unitary structures must set the same band D council tax for all households from their inception; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones

Where an area has plans for its governance arrangements to be changed and proposes this to the Secretary of State, it must provide evidence as to how its proposals are likely to result in the provision of better local public services, significant cost savings, greater value for money, stronger and more accountable local leadership, and sustainability in the medium to long term. It is of course open to any body or person to make representations to the Secretary of State either in support of or in opposition to such proposals.

As we have made clear during discussions with areas, whilst size is an important consideration for areas considering governance changes, there are no maximum or minimum permitted sizes.

The level of council tax of any new authority is a matter for the local councils concerned. The government will however maintain council tax referendum thresholds at a modest level in order to help keep bills down for hardworking people. This is always the case including in cases of governance change.

01/01/2023
Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to respond to the final report of the Lead Ammunition Group.

Rory Stewart

The Government is considering the independent Lead Ammunition Group’s report on the effect of lead shot on human and wildlife health and will respond as soon as possible.

The Food Standards Agency has produced advice on the consumption of lead shot game which can be accessed at https://www.food.gov.uk/science/advice-to-frequent-eaters-of-game-shot-with-lead.

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01/01/2023