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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what mental health support is provided in schools to assist pupils with (a) self-harm and (b) body image related issues.

    Edward Timpson

    Good mental health and wellbeing is a priority for this Department. We have high aspirations for all children and want them to be able to fulfil their potential both academically and in terms of their mental wellbeing.

    Schools should take prompt action to deal with cases of self- harm. The Department has taken a range of actions to help schools build a school-wide approach to good mental wellbeing. We have funded guidance and age-appropriate lesson plans on teaching mental health in personal, social, health and economic education, which covers teaching about self-harm and body image. In addition, training for teachers on self-harm is available through MindEd, a free online portal that has been developed to enable all adults working with children and young people to learn more about specific mental health problems and how to support them. We have also revised and updated our blueprint for effective school-based counselling.

    However, teachers are not mental health specialists. We have contributed to a £3 million joint pilot between schools and children and young people’s mental health services to help schools access specialist support for their pupils, where needed.

  • James Cleverly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    James Cleverly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cleverly on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has received since 2015 on the suitability of Baroness Scotland of Asthal for the role of Commonwealth Secretary-General.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Commonwealth leaders elected Baroness Scotland to be the Commonwealth Secretary-General from a field of candidates at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta in November 2015. She has made a strong start as Secretary-General, bringing vision, dynamism and new energy for reform. We are pleased that on taking office she immediately instigated a review of the Secretariat. We strongly support her efforts to make the Secretariat lean, effective and aligned to deliver where the Commonwealth adds real value. My noble Friend, the Rt Hon. the Baroness Anelay of St Johns, Minister for the Commonwealth, has met a number of London-based Commonwealth High Commissioners, many of whom are supportive of the Secretary-General and her reform agenda. Leading institutional reform is challenging, but it is vital to ensure the Commonwealth delivers value for money, operates effectively and remains fit for purpose.

  • Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate her Department has made of the likely annual cost to electricity customers of the proposed Hinkley Point C power station (a) in total and (b) per customer.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Under the CfD consumers will not 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. 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.

  • Liz McInnes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Liz McInnes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the average response time to dwelling fires was for Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service in 2013-14.

    Mike Penning

    I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Office.

    Information on average response times to dwelling fires for each fire and rescue service and for each year is available in Table 3b of the Department’s Fire incidents response times: England publication at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-incidents-response-times-england-2014-to-2015

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  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Prime Minister’s announcement of 11 January 2016, whether the £400 million of investment announced for crisis home resolution teams in communities is in addition to the (a) £1.25 billion investment for perinatal and children and young people’s mental health announced by the then Deputy Prime Minister in March 2015 and (b) £600 million investment for mental health announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

    Alistair Burt

    The investment for liaison mental health services and crisis home response teams detailed by the Prime Minister on 11 January 2016 is funded from within the Department’s overall Spending Review settlement.

  • Lord Tebbit – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Tebbit – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tebbit on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which minister or ministers have direct responsibility for the affairs of the British overseas territory of Anguilla.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The British Government has a broad responsibility for the security and good governance of all British Overseas Territories, including Anguilla. The 2012 White Paper set out the principle that all UK Government departments have responsibility for supporting the Territories in their areas of expertise and competence. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office takes a coordinating role, led by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge) and the Minister of State at the Department for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for New Forest West (Desmond Swayne).

    Anguilla has its own Constitution (1982) under which it has a democratically elected government which is responsible for most domestic matters. The Governor retains special responsibility for external affairs, defence, internal security and the appointment, discipline and removal of public servants.

  • Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Smith Commission’s recommendation that there should be no detriment as a result of UK Government or Scottish Government policy decisions after devolution would be breached if the Scottish Government repeatedly spent monies passed to them for NHS services in accordance with the Barnett formula on other unrelated services.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The mechanical application of the Barnett Formula ensures that the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly receive a population share of changes in UK government funding on the services for which they have devolved responsibility. In accordance with the principles of devolution and the devolution Acts themselves, it is for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their funding (from the block grant or taxes/borrowing) to public services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; and it is for the devolved legislatures to hold them to account. The Scottish Government’s new fiscal framework does not alter this.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will offer tax relief on home insurance payments for occupants of council housing.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government’s preferred policy is to take people out of tax through higher personal allowances, and to lower tax rates when it is affordable to do so.

    The Government has already pledged to raise the personal allowance to £12,500 by the end of this parliament.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department’s policy is on restrictions on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides.

    George Eustice

    The Government’s policy on pesticides, including neonicotinoids, is that decisions should be made on the basis of all the scientific evidence. Restrictions should be put in place if these are necessary to protect people or the environment.

    EU restrictions on the use of neonicotinoids imposed in 2013 remain in force and have been fully implemented in the UK. The European Commission has asked the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to review the risks to pollinators from neonicotinoids. This review is due to conclude in January 2017 and the UK will contribute fully as it progresses. Following the completion of EFSA’s work, the European Commission will consider whether to propose changes to the current restrictions.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what comparative assessment she has made of trends in teachers’ salaries and the average salary in the UK in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

    Nick Gibb

    On 4 December 2015, the Department published its most recent assessment of median teachers’ pay compared to that of graduates employed in the private sector in England. The pay of graduates in the private sector has been used because teaching is a graduate job and therefore provides a better comparator than an average of pay across all jobs in the UK economy. The comparative assessment was included in the evidence that government submitted to the School Teachers Review Body (STRB). The comparative assessment can be found in figure 11 on page 45 of the publication, available here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/482257/STRB_government_evidence_2016_pay_award.pdf.

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