The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-02.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government plans to take to celebrate HM the Queen’s 90th birthday.
John Penrose
Representatives of the Government will be attending a number of events to celebrate Her Majesty the Queen’s 90th birthday including a National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral and The Queen’s Birthday Parade on Horseguards Parade.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what provisions his Department has put in place to improve rolling stock as part of the rail franchise package for the North West.
Andrew Jones
The new Northern and TransPennine Express franchises commenced on the 1st April. By the end of 2019, they will have introduced significant improvements in Rolling Stock.
The Northern franchise will deliver:-
This means that 30% of this expanded fleet will be new and will operate 2000 more services per week –a 12% increase. The additional trains will provide a 37% increase in morning peak capacity into the North’s 5 major cities by December 2019.
The TransPennine franchise will deliver:-
This means that 70% of fleet is new, the fleet size increases by two-thirds, provides 13million more seats, an 80% increase in morning peak seats by the end of 2019.
These delivery plans as bid by the two operators during the Invitation to Tender process have been contracted within the franchise agreements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Brady on 2016-05-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what information her Department holds on the viability of molten salt reactors to generate electricity.
Andrea Leadsom
In 2012, DECC published an ‘Assessment of advanced reactor systems against UK performance metrics’, which it had commissioned from the National Nuclear Laboratory. This analysis covered molten salt reactors.
These can be found online at:
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kramer on 2016-06-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the value of (1) imports, and (2) exports, from other EU member states to each local authority area in the UK.
Lord Price
Regional trade statistics at the local authority level are not available.
Trade statistics showing the value of trade in goods between UK regions/countries (NUTS 1 level) and EU member states are available from the HM Revenue and Customs’ Regional Trade Statistics database.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-09-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for patients who have certain medical conditions, such as diabetes, mental health problems or other illnesses, to go into schools to talk to children about those conditions, to give them a better understanding of the nature of those illnesses.
Lord Nash
The national curriculum sets the expectation that pupils study personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education in maintained schools and academies are encouraged to teach it as part of a broad and balanced curriculum.
Schools and teachers should decide what to teach based on their pupils’ needs, and taking account of pupil and parent views, when planning health education as part of PSHE.
We believe that schools are best placed to decide whether they draw on the support of patients or resources using patients’ perspectives when delivering PSHE.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harris of Haringey on 2016-10-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 12 October (HL Deb, col 1889–90), whether any of the information supplied in response to the 20 information requests made by the Home Office of the National Pupil Database since April 2012 related to the information now being sought from schools as part of the school census on pupils’ nationality; and whether such information will be supplied in response to future requests for information.
Lord Nash
Data on nationality and country of birth have not and will not be shared with the Home Office or anyone else. It is solely for DfE research.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2015-11-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they believe that some parts of the UK require different human rights legislation to others; and if so, why and what are the different rights.
Lord Faulks
The government is committed to protecting human rights across the United Kingdom, continuing the UK’s proud tradition of respect for human rights. There is, of course, already some variation in the legal framework for human rights across the UK, as the devolved administrations have competence to legislate in respect of human rights in the policy areas which are devolved to them.
The government was elected with a mandate to reform the UK’s human rights framework. We will consider the implications of a Bill of Rights on devolution as we develop our proposals. We will, of course, fully engage with the devolved administrations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-12-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 November 2015 to Question 14443, what sources of funding which are not from the Government are available for the resettlement of Chagossians in the Chagos Archipelago.
James Duddridge
Following the conclusion of a 12 week public consultation on the resettlement of the British Indian Ocean Territory on 27 October, the Government is now considering the responses. As part of that work we are aware of the existence of options including EU and private sector funding to reduce any potential upfront cost to the UK taxpayer of any resettlement. No decision has yet been made about whether to allow a resettlement, and because of that, no discussions have yet been had with any external funding organisations. In any decision, it is important we take into account the high cost associated with resettlement but also the open-ended liabilities it could incur and the need for the military facility on Diego Garcia to continue to operate unhindered.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-01-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions the his Department, NHS England and NICE have had on the effect of proposed Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) changes on patients prescribed current CDF treatments who will not receive interim funding under that proposed new scheme.
George Freeman
NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence are currently consulting jointly on draft proposals on the future direction of the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF). The consultation document states that all patients receiving treatment funded through the CDF on 31 March 2016 will continue to receive treatment until the point that they and their consultant agree that it is appropriate to stop.
NHS England has advised that the aim of the future CDF is to help patients receive new treatments with genuine promise, while real world evidence is collected for up to two years on how well they work in practice. This will then help determine whether the treatment should be accepted for routine use in the National Health Service in the future. It is not possible to make comparisons between the current and future CDF until such time as the consultation has concluded and the responses reviewed.
The consultation was published on 19 November 2015 and is open until 11 February 2016. Further information is available at:
www.engage.england.nhs.uk/consultation/cdf-consultation
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2016-02-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 23515, what estimate he has made of the total cost to people who pay council tax in (a) Stevenage, (b) Hertfordshire and (c) England of the potential increase in council tax; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Marcus Jones
Council tax rates are completely up to local councils. All local authorities have the power to freeze council tax if they wish. Any council that wants to raise council tax above the referendum principle needs to go to their local area for consent.
Given the pressures councils face providing adult social care we are giving them the freedom to levy a 2 percent precept to help cover costs. Again, it is up to the responsible authority if they wish to exercise this.
Even if all authorities increase by the maximum under the referendum principles, council tax will still be lower in 2019-20 in real terms compared to 2010.