Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Carolyn Harris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Carolyn Harris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to ensure that there will be sufficient childcare places in place by April 2017 for pre-school aged children of parents who will be expected to seek work from that date under the provisions of the Welfare Reform and Work Bill.

    Priti Patel

    We expect the childcare market to adapt and expand as it has done so successfully in the past. There has been an increase of 230,000 places since 2009 and a significant increase in the take up of childcare provision in low and middle income areas. To support that continued growth and build capacity in the sector, the government has made capital funding available to create nursery provision as part of new Free Schools which will create at least 4,000 places. This government has supported existing providers to expand by reducing bureaucracy and making it easier for providers such as childminders and schools, to provide places and will continue to do so. In addition, we are trialling innovative ways of providing the extended entitlement next year, in particular to look at how the childcare can be provided more flexibly to suit the needs of working parents and increase choice. So far, there have been over one thousand expressions of interest to take part in the early implementation of the extended entitlement.

    There is an extensive menu of childcare support in addition to the Department for Education offer including: the Universal Credit Childcare element; Tax-Free Childcare; and help with childcare costs under the Jobcentre Plus Flexible Support Fund to enable parents to undertake training, attend interviews or start work. Work related requirements should be tailored to individual circumstances and compatible with child care responsibilities. Parents should not be asked to undertake work related requirements which they cannot fit around their childcare responsibilities if suitable childcare is not available in their local area.

  • Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many temporary exclusion orders have been issued since the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015 came into force; how many of those orders resulted in the individual (a) being excluded from the UK and (b) returning to the UK with obligations placed on them; and of those allowed to return how many were relocated in the UK on their return.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Government will publish information about the use of temporary exclusion orders as part of a wider report including information about the use of other investigative and disruptive powers. As a new power which can only become available this year, TEOs will be inculded in next year’s report which will cover the use of powers in 2015.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what consideration his Department has given to making funding available for equipment manufacturers to research and develop equipment for operation in new spectrum allocated for use by the Programme Making and Special Events sector since the reallocation of the 700MHz band.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Ofcom have published a consultation outlining alternative spectrum bands for PMSE users. The PMSE community have been involved in the process to identify alternative suitable spectrum. We are currently working closely with Ofcom to look at how PMSE users can be supported if they need to purchase new equipment.

  • Carolyn Harris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Carolyn Harris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of mandatory electrical safety checks in care homes.

    Mike Penning

    Fire safety in care homes is the responsibility of the operator who is required under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 to assess the risk from fire to residents and employees and to implement appropriate fire precautions to prevent fires and mitigate the risk that, should a fire break out, lives are not put at risk. This would include mitigating the risk of and from electrical fires.

    The Government’s fire safety risk assessment guidance for residential care premises provides detailed advice on ensuring electrical equipment is safe, and is inspected regularly by a competent electrical engineer in accordance with the Electricity at Work Regulations.

    It is for local fire and rescue authorities to determine whether the specific fire precautions and management and maintenance arrangements in place in any particular residential care premises are sufficient to comply with the provisions of the Order.

  • Bob Blackman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Bob Blackman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Blackman on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of encouraging increased residential density around business and transport hubs to reduce community demand on public and private transport.

    Brandon Lewis

    There are some specific circumstances where there are clear opportunities for having higher density housing development while creating high quality, safe and attractive places to live.

    Last December we consulted on changes to national planning policy to encourage higher densities around commuter hubs, and will publish our response to this consultation in due course.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-04-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the South Warwickshire Clinical Commissioning Group is going ahead with its proposals to tender out its £227 million Out of Hospital Programme in the light of (1) the review of such contracts that is being conducted following the review by David Stout into the causes of the termination of the Uniting Care Partnership Contract, and (2) the criticism by the local acute Foundation Trust of that process.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England advises that it is reviewing how this type of contract is assured. We understand that South Warwickshire Clinical Commissioning Group’s procurement has been placed on hold until the appropriate assurance is in place.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how the £40 million that was allocated to the Supertram scheme for Leeds that was cancelled in 2005 was spent.

    Claire Perry

    The Department of Transport did not provide any funding for the Leeds Supertram or Leeds New Generation Trolleybus schemes. Any expenditure committed so far is the responsibility of the promoters – West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Leeds City Council.

  • Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rob Marris on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to the letter to his Department from the hon. Member for Wolverhampton South West of 5 May 2016 on neighbourhood plans, reference ZA3476.

    Brandon Lewis

    I replied to the hon. Member on 11 July 2016.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, who is responsible for deciding which heroin addicts are provided with heroin in line with his Department’s policy set out on page 31 of the Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, published by his predecessor in March 2016.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The prescribing of injectable opioids, such as methadone or diamorphine (pharmaceutical heroin) as substitutes for illicit heroin, as outlined in the Government’s Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, published in March by the then Home Secretary, has been an option for many years but since the late 1960s, prescribing of diamorphine for the management of addiction has been restricted to licensed addiction specialists.

    The decision to prescribe injectable diamorphine for the treatment of dependence is a clinical matter, for a clinician to take in conjunction with the patient. Advice to guide these decisions is contained in Chapter 5 and Annex 8 of the 2007 UK Guidelines on the Clinical Management of Drug Misuse and Dependence. The guidelines advise that:

    – “injectable opioid treatment may be suitable for a small minority of patients who have failed in optimised oral treatment.”;

    – “clinicians providing injectable opioid treatment should encourage patients not to regard it as a lifelong treatment option and should regularly review their patients and the continuing necessity for this unusual and expensive treatment”; and

    – The use of diamorphine “alone does not constitute drug treatment…it should be seen as on element or pathway within wider packages of planned and integrated drug treatment”.

    The guidelines are currently being reviewed by an Expert Working Group, to take into account developments in the evidence base. In July 2016, the Expert Working Group published their draft update for consultation. The consultation has closed and the responses are being considered by the Expert Working Group.

    Diamorphine is licensed as a medicine by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Clinicians wishing to legally prescribe it for the treatment of dependence need to obtain a licence for that purpose from the Home Office and to comply with all other legislation relevant to the safe management, use and supply of medicines which are controlled drugs.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Government plans to maintain a separate programme of employment support for people with disabilities after the end of the current contracts for the Work Programme and Work Choice.

    Priti Patel

    Increasing disability employment is a key part of the Government’s aim to achieve full employment. That is why this Government is committed to halving the disability employment gap by creating the opportunity for a million more disabled people to work.

    The Spending Review announced that a new ‘Work and Health Programme’ will replace Work Choice and the Work Programme when current contracts end, restructuring our current provision to providing the best possible support for claimants with disabilities or health conditions as well as those who are long term unemployed. The Department will work with stakeholders on the design, including the structure and how people will be referred to the programme.

    The Government will publish a White Paper next year that will set out reforms to improve support for people with health conditions and disabilities and further reduce the disability employment gap.