Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 10 October 2016 to Question 46317, whether he plans to review the terms of those trade deals.

    Greg Hands

    The Government is currently reviewing its trade policy as the UK prepares to leave the EU. This offers us an opportunity to forge a new role for ourselves in the world: to negotiate, in time, our own trade agreements and to be a positive and powerful force for free trade. We already enjoy excellent trading relationships with our Commonwealth partners and we are committed to strengthening these further.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the productivity of UK farmland; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    Defra produces a number of statistics on UK agricultural productivity and these are published on the GOV.UK website.

    The land productivity index (calculated as total agricultural output divided by the amount of land in agricultural production) shows:

    2009

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    Productivity by land

    98.1

    100.0

    103.8

    99.2

    100.7

    107.7

    Index base year = 2010

    Care needs to be taken in interpreting this measure, as agricultural output is determined by a number of inputs, both within farmers’ control (eg. labour) and outside their control (eg. weather).

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many North Korean owned or financed businesses operate in the UK.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his Written Statement of 16 July 2015, HCWS114, what progress he has made on consulting on the removal of local clinical excellence awards and proposals for a reformed National Clinical Excellence Award Scheme and determining the priority that will be given to recognising service-based consultants within any new scheme and monitoring the recognition that they receive.

    Alistair Burt

    In September 2015 the British Medical Association (BMA) and NHS Employers agreed to recommence negotiations on reforming the National Health Service consultant contract, using observations from the independent Review Body on Doctors and Dentists Remuneration (DDRB) as a starting point.

    The negotiations, which concluded in December, included considering the replacement of Local Clinical Excellence awards with contractual performance payments. We expect an amended contract offer will be put to BMA members in the coming weeks.

    We also expect to consult on proposals for a reformed national scheme early this year. This will be informed by developments on consultant contract reform, as well as recommendations previously made by the DDRB in 2012. The consultation will be mindful of the importance of recognising the contributions of all consultants including service based consultants.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-01-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have guidelines for local authorities about charging for responses to Freedom of Information requests.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Government has not published guidance for local authorities about charging for Freedom of Information requests.

  • Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will provide a breakdown of the main reasons why applications to the National Enterprise Allowance scheme were turned down in each of the last five years.

    Priti Patel

    The New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) is a voluntary scheme. Eligible claimants will be referred to one of our contracted NEA providers who will assess their business idea for viability and sustainability. Claimants who are not accepted onto the scheme can be re-referred at a later date.

    We do not hold the data on how many people are rejected by our providers.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the government of Bahrain on the imprisonment of Zainab Al Khawaja; and whether he plans to make representations to press for Zainab Al Khawaja’s release.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We have raised Zainab Al Khawaja’s case with the Government of Bahrain at the highest levels. The UK encourages Bahrain to respect the rights of all peaceful opposition figures. We call on the Bahraini government to act proportionately in all such cases to protect the universal rights of freedom of expression and assembly. I most recently raised human rights with the Bahraini Ambassador to the UK, His Excellency Sheikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa , on 8 March.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when the Government has made representations to the Egyptian government on the case of Giulio Regeni; whether those representations were made by Ministers or by HM Ambassador to Egypt; and which of those representations were made in person.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We regularly raise the case of Giulio Regeni with the Egyptian authorities. Most recently, I raised our concerns in a call to the Egyptian Ambassador on 11 April. These concerns have been reiterated by senior diplomats including the Permanent Under Secretary, Simon McDonald, who raised Mr Regeni’s case with the Egyptian Ambassador when they met on 11 April. Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Cairo raised the case directly with the Egyptian Prime Minister’s security advisor on 3 March; both he and officials in Cairo and London continue to raise the case on a regular basis, most recently in mid April.

    The Government published a response to the petition regarding Mr Regeni on 25th April: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/120832

    “

  • Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Jenkyns on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to page 23 of the final report of the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, published in May 2016, what steps his Department is taking to address the substantial evidence gaps relating to effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of new technologies for improving hygiene.

    Ben Gummer

    Auditing to improve hand hygiene and ensuring appropriate use of technology are important local responsibilities which contribute to improving the quality of care. However, tackling healthcare associated infections is complex and requires a strong patient safety system that integrates cleanliness, infection prevention and control and antibiotic use and addresses them all.

    To help the National Health Service improve infection prevention and control we continuously review and enhance national measures, systems and guidance. For example, reducing infections is part of the Guidance for the NHS on Sustainability and Transformation Plans. Antimicrobial resistance was added to Public Health England’s (PHE) Fingertips data system in April to enable easier monitoring and benchmarking against other organisations. PHE’s Rapid Review Panel assesses new products and technologies aiming to reduce infections and in addition the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including hygiene.

    The NIHR also supports research infrastructure in the NHS including Diagnostic Evidence Co-operatives which generate evidence on diagnostic medical devices that have the potential to lead to improvements in healthcare services and the quality of life of NHS patients. Two of these, based at Imperial and Newcastle, focus part of their work on clinical areas relevant to infection.

  • Julian Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Julian Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Lewis on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the implications for the technological competitiveness of the UK of the proposed takeover of ARM Holdings by the Japanese company Softbank; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The UK remains open for business and we welcome firms that want to invest in growth here. The UK’s technological innovations, skilled workforce and competitive business environment make it one of the world’s best destinations for investment.

    ARM Holdings is a highly respected company who have achieved great things: working with the UK’s Takeover Panel, Softbank have published a set of clear and binding undertakings, including that ARM’s global headquarters would remain in Cambridge and that the UK workforce would at least double if the acquisition is finalised. This provides reassurance that ARM would continue to develop leading-edge technology in the UK as part of the UK technology industry.