Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has any plans routinely to collect and publish data on (a) the response times and (b) the number of referrals through the National Referral Mechanism by First Responders.

    Sarah Newton

    The National Crime Agency (NCA) publishes quarterly data on the number of referrals made by different First Responder organisations, which can be accessed through the following link: http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/national-referral-mechanism-statistics The NCA does not collect data about response times by First Responders. The Government is piloting a new approach to the NRM, at the end of which we will consider, among other things, which data should be routinely collected.

  • George Howarth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    George Howarth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Howarth on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to ensure that the advertising of sports betting alongside televised sporting events is only broadcast after the 9pm watershed.

    Tracey Crouch

    Televisedgamblingadvertising in the UK is governed by the Advertising Codes which are maintained by the Broadcast Committee for Advertising Practice. This is supplemented by a self-regulatory industry code, the Industry Code for Socially ResponsibleGambling.

  • Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase the level of co-ordination with other governmental agencies and departments to prevent the trade of puppies through UK ports.

    James Brokenshire

    Border Force works with and supports the lead department – the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – which is responsible for imports of live animals, including puppies. Border Force meets regularly with Defra to exchange ideas and explore opportunities for increased cooperation.

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the availability of access to fertility treatments in the NHS.

    Jane Ellison

    The level of provision of infertility treatment, as for all health services they commission, is decided by local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and will take into account the needs of the population overall. The CCG’s decisions are underpinned by clinical insight and knowledge of local healthcare needs. As such, provision of services will vary in response to local needs.

    NHS England expects that all those involved in commissioning infertility treatment services to be fully aware of the importance of having regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence fertility guidelines.

    On 14 December 2015 I met with stakeholders, together with colleagues from NHS England and Monitor,to discuss the provision of in vitro fertilisation. The Department, along with NHS England and Monitor, will be giving further consideration to the scope for improving the commissioning of these services.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department will pay out of the public purse for the cost of repairs to the electrical and propulsion systems on the Daring Class Type 45 Destroyers.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    A number of early modifications were implemented under the Type 45 Destroyer Contract for Availability arrangement with BAE Systems, at no additional cost to the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The initial work to prove the concept of upgrading the diesel generators was co-funded by BAE Systems and the MOD. Subject to main gate approval, the upgrade will be funded by the MOD.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many North Korean refugees have approached the British Embassy or Consulate in China for safe passage or asylum in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We do not have any record of refugees from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea approaching Our Embassy in Beijing or our Consulates in China to claim safe passage or asylum in the last 10 years.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department spent on upgrading IT systems at 2 St Paul’s Place, Sheffield in 2014-15.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Department spent £38m on upgrading IT systems in 2014-15, including both software and equipment development. This includes around £31m for internally developed software, predominantly within delivery bodies of the department such as the Student Loans Company. It also includes the Core Department roll out of a new ICT system, Evolve, for use by all staff. This replaced the previous IT service. The total cost of the Evolve rollout was £3.5 million.

    The IT systems at 2 St Paul’s Place Sheffield are part of the Core Department’s IT infrastructure, so the upgrades are included in the total cost of the Evolve rollout of £3.5m. Costs were not recorded separately by location for this general upgrade to our systems.

  • Lord Smith of Hindhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Smith of Hindhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Smith of Hindhead on 2016-04-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the current annual arrangements for setting the Horseracing Betting Levy will continue under the proposed new funding arrangements, or will be extended beyond twelve months.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Currently the levy rate is agreed each year by the Horserace Betting Levy Board.

    Under the new model the level of contribution from betting to racing will be set by Government. We will take into account various findings when considering the rate and its duration, including the independent economic analysis that we commissioned last year. We will hold discussions with both industries before reaching decisions on these issues.

  • Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many staff were paid off-payroll in each agency for which his Department is responsible in each of the last three financial years for which information is available.

    Jane Ellison

    The number of people paid off payroll, in both of the Department’s agencies, for the last three financial years are presented in the table below.

    The information given is an average for each financial year. Off payroll staff includes all agency workers, contractors and consultants.

    Number of People Paid Off Payroll by Financial Year

    Financial Year

    Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency

    Public Health England

    Average Headcount

    Average Headcount

    2013-14

    41.17

    279

    2014-15

    43.33

    167

    2015-16

    40.08

    179

    Notes

    1. An average figure for the year has been used to take account of staff who leave and/or join within the year.

    2. Headcount refers to the total number of staff in both part-time and full-time employment.

    3. The figures in the table also includes the off payroll workers earning £220 or more per day and reported separately in the agencies respective annual resource accounts.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people who received redundancy payments from the NHS in 2015-16 were subsequently re-employed by the NHS on a (a) consultancy and (b) permanent basis; and what the cost to the NHS was of those redundancy repayments.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The number of compulsory redundancies in 2015-16 was 1,944.

    The number of staff made redundant and then re-employed is not currently available.

    In May 2015 the Government announced that it intended to take forward its manifesto commitment to end six-figure exit payments for public sector workers, including the National Health Service. The Enterprise Act containing provisions for the £95,000 public sector exit payment cap received Royal Assent in May 2016 and will come into force later this year.

    Further legislation is being taken forward to allow for the recovery of exit payments from all high earning public sector workers who return to any part of the public sector within 12 months of leaving.

    The Government’s changes to the NHS mean a huge net gain for the taxpayer. The Department published a written ministerial statement on 21 July 2015: Column 90WS NHS Modernisation setting out the costs and benefits of NHS modernisation. “The Department of Health also originally forecast that between 2010-11 and 2014-15 the reforms would save the NHS £4.5 billion in lower administration costs, as well as a further £1.5 billion a year thereafter. Actual savings were far greater, in cash terms at £6.9 billion over this period, including £2 billion in 2014-15—and in 2010-11 prices comparable to the impact assessment £6.5 billion, including £1.8 billion in 2014-15. This means the Government have successfully achieved their aim to reduce NHS bureaucracy costs by a third”.