Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2016 to Questions 47748 and 47749, on terrorism: British nationals abroad, how many people have been charged with terrorism offences.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    Pursuant to my answer of the 18 October, the number of individuals suspected of involvement in acts of terrorism or criminal matters who are arrested and then formally charged is recorded and collated in the Home Office Quarterly Statistical Bulletin which was last published on 22 September 2016.

    These statistics do not disaggregate arrests, charges and convictions relating exclusively to those charged whilst abroad, just as they do not for overseas returnees.

  • Norman Lamb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Norman Lamb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to set additional access and waiting time standards for NHS mental health services following the introduction of standards for adult IAPT and Early Intervention in Psychosis services.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England (NHSE) and the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health published on 3 August 2015, a commissioning guide for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) that will set out how to implement the access and waiting time standard for children and young people with an eating disorder. The standard will be refined for implementation from 2017–18. From 2017, NHSE will set a minimum proportion of young people referred for assessment or treatment that are expected to receive treatment within the standard’s timeframe.

    We expect that the Mental Health Taskforce report and Mental Health Five Year Forward View will set a plan for developing appropriate pathways and we will work with NHSE to agree next steps.

    Departmental Ministers meet with the Chief Executive of NHS England regularly and discuss a wide range of issues, including access and waiting time standards for mental health services.

    CCGs do not receive a specific allocation for mental health services, but are required to allocate funds as appropriate to all the services that they are responsible for commissioning. For 2015/16, CCGs received increases in allocations in total of 3.7%, though the increase varied for each CCG.

    In the planning guidance for 2015/16, NHS England asked that all CCGs increase their spend on mental health by at least as much as their overall increase in allocation.

    In total, CCGs have set plans for 2015/16 which reflect an increase in mental health care expenditure which exceeds the increase in their allocation.

  • Crispin Blunt – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Crispin Blunt – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Crispin Blunt on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with health experts on the human health implications of the veterinary use of colistin for colistin resistance in slaughtered animals, food and humans; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department of Health is working closely with Public Health England (PHE), the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, the Animal and Plant Health Agency, Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Veterinary Medicines Directorate to ensure that the risk assessment to public health from colistin-resistant bacteria from slaughtered animals, food and humans considers all available evidence. While PHE and the FSA judge that the public health risk of colistin-resistant bacteria from slaughtered animals and the food chain is very low, the use of colistin for animals will be reviewed following recent reports of transferable colistin resistance in China and Europe.

    I regularly discuss the issue of antimicrobial resistance with the Chief Medical Officer.

  • Fiona Mactaggart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Fiona Mactaggart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support unaccompanied trafficked and asylum seeking children; and if she will make a statement.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office takes its responsibility for the welfare of children very seriously and recognises the additional vulnerability of unaccompanied children. The best interests of the child are a primary consideration in every decision taken in respect of children and we work closely with local authorities, children’s services and other agencies to ensure unaccompanied trafficked and asylum seeking children receive appropriate support and care.

    Immigration staff are trained to identify potential victims of trafficking and to refer them to the National Referral Mechanism – a multi-agency victim identification and support process for responsible agencies to co-operate, share information and facilitate access to support. The Home Office also has dedicated asylum decision makers for children’s cases who receive additional training on specific child related issues.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will launch an independent inquiry into the reported power failures on Type 45 destroyers, and the case for increasing their power capacity by 50 per cent.

    Earl Howe

    There is currently no plan to launch an independent inquiry into the reported power failures on Type 45 destroyers or the case for increasing their power capacity.

    As announced in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, we have committed to investing in the necessary improvements in the Type 45 power and propulsion systems to address issues and ensure future capability requirements can be met. Decisions will, of course, be fully scrutinised at each of the formal procurement investment decision points as the programme progresses.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of senior civil servants in his Department are women.

    Brandon Lewis

    46.3% of senior civil servants in the Department are women. This is higher than the overall proportion of women in the senior civil service.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent guidance she has issued to schools about sexting; and if she will make a statement.

    Edward Timpson

    Keeping children safe is a top priority for the government. In July 2015, the Department published updated statutory guidance[1] on keeping children safe in education. Schools and colleges must have regard to this guidance when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

    All school and college staff have a responsibility to provide a safe environment in which children can learn, and they should be aware of the various forms of abuse so they are able to identify cases of children in need of help and support.

    The ‘Keeping children safe in education’ guidance provides a link to further advice on sexting on the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre website. The Centre are working on new guidance for schools and colleges on handling sexting.

    As part of our commitment to working with schools and other experts to ensure that young people are receiving age appropriate information that allows them to make informed choices and stay safe, the PSHE Association have produced guidance[2] for teachers on teaching about consent, which was published in March 2015.

    The Department has also produced advice for schools on searching, screening and confiscation which makes clear that school staff can examine the contents of a pupil’s mobile phone and, where necessary, delete inappropriate content where there is good reason to do so.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/447595/KCSIE_July_2015.pdf

    [2] https://www.pshe-association.org.uk/curriculum-and-resources/resources/guidance-teaching-about-consent-pshe-education-key

    “

  • 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 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations he has made to Volkswagen on establishing a compensation scheme for vehicle owners in the UK affected by that company’s use of defeat devices.

    Andrew Jones

    The Government expects Volkswagen to treat its UK customers fairly and adequately address their concerns. We continue to press Volkswagen on the issue of compensation for UK consumers and the Secretary of State has summoned the Managing Director of VW UK to a further meeting this week to discuss the issue.

  • Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to make (a) Nivolumab and (b) other immuno-oncology treatments for lung cancer available on the NHS.

    George Freeman

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently carrying out technology appraisals of nivolumab for two lung cancer indications:

    (i) previously treated locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer. The expected publication date for this final guidance is September 2016.

    (ii) Previously treated locally advanced or metastatic squamous non-small-cell lung cancer after prior chemotherapy in adults. The publication date for this final guidance is to be confirmed.

    The NICE is also appraising pembrolizumab for treating advanced or recurrent PD-L1 positive non-small cell lung cancer after progression with platinum-based chemotherapy [ID840]. The expected publication date for the final guidance on this appraisal is January 2017.

    Commissioners are legally required to fund drugs and treatments recommended in the NICE technology appraisal guidance within three months of its final guidance being issued. In the absence of guidance from the NICE, it is for commissioners to make decisions on whether to fund new medicines based on an assessment of the available evidence.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish his Department’s response to the Parking Reform: Tackling Unfair Practices consultation.

    Andrew Percy

    The government made available the summary of responses to the discussion paper "Parking Reform: Tackling Unfair Practices" on 11 May.

    The summary can be found here: http://www.britishparking.co.uk/write/Documents/DCLG_Summary_of_responses_BPA.pdf

    We will set out our proposals on parking reform in due course.