Tag: Parliamentary Question

Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was spent from the public purse on the payment of social security benefits to non-UK citizens in each non-European Economic Area country for each year from 1997-98 to 2014-15.

Priti Patel

The full information requested is not held centrally.

The Department for Work and Pensions checks the nationality and immigration status of benefit claimants to ensure the benefit is paid properly and to prevent fraud. While this information is used, it is not recorded as part of the benefit payment administrative systems.

Benefit Expenditure and Caseload tables are published on Gov.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/474453/expenditure-by-country-and-region-2014-15.xlsx

Please note that these figures include a breakdown for UK regions and a combined figure for expenditure abroad or where the region is unknown. Expenditure is not broken down by nationality.

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01/01/2023
Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to paragraph 1.57 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on research and development by industry of converting innovation grants into interest-paying loans.

Joseph Johnson

Access to finance remains an important challenge for innovative enterprises. We want to broaden the type of financial support available for innovation. Other European countries like France, Finland and The Netherlands offer financial products in their policy mix for business innovation. We are seeking to learn from these approaches. In doing this, we will engage with businesses to better understand their needs and support access to sufficient financing throughout the lifecycle of innovative projects.

01/01/2023
Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether new guidance has been issued to her Department on drafting responses to written parliamentary questions.

Nick Gibb

The Department for Education regularly refreshes its internal guidance on drafting responses to written parliamentary questions to ensure that it is up to date.

01/01/2023
Greg Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to ascertain the reason for a large number of whales becoming stranded on the east coast of the UK in 2016; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice

Mass stranding events of whales are rare and ascertaining what causes them can be difficult. This is why Defra, in conjunction with the Devolved Administrations of Scotland and Wales, funds the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP). Although it is still too early to draw any conclusions on what may have caused the recent mass strandings of sperm whales in the North Sea, the CSIP will be working with stranding networks in Germany and the Netherlands over the coming months to try to identify the potential cause.

01/01/2023
Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has held with pharmacy patients on the closure of community pharmacies.

Alistair Burt

Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service and can play an even greater role. In the Spending Review the Government re-affirmed the need for the NHS to deliver £22 billion in efficiency savings by 2020/21 as set out in the NHS’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy is a core part of NHS primary care and has an important contribution to make as the NHS rises to these challenges. The Government believes efficiencies can be made without compromising the quality of services or public access to them. Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive and so we are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

The Government’s vision is for a more efficient, modern system that will free up pharmacists to spend more time delivering clinical and public health services to the benefit of patients and the public.

Our proposals are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. A consequence may be the closure of some pharmacies but that is not our aim. We are not able to assess which pharmacies may close or the number of people who may lose their jobs, because we do not know the financial viability of individual businesses or the extent to which they derive income from services commissioned locally by the NHS or local authorities or have non-NHS related income.

We are consulting the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee and others, including patient and public representatives on our proposals. An impact assessment will be completed to inform final decisions and published in due course.

01/01/2023
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 2016-04-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to procure independent advice for whistleblowers in the NHS, in the light of the recommendation in the Freedom to Speak Up report by Sir Robert Francis.

Lord Prior of Brampton

We are committed to improving openness in the National Health Service and ensuring whistleblowers receive proper support. Every NHS trust will have a ‘Freedom to Speak up Guardian’ who will support whistleblowers and foster an open and honest culture. The National Guardian will lead, advise, and support the local guardians in carrying out investigations on how concerns are being handled, share good practice, report on national or common themes, and identify any barriers that are preventing the NHS from having a truly safe and open culture.

The Whistleblowing Helpline was established in 2003 by the Department of Health to provide advice to NHS staff and employers on the raising of concerns and on the protection of employees who do raise concerns. The Department holds regular meetings with the provider of the Helpline, Mencap, to keep its performance under review.

In the context of changes in the broader health and care system, such as the establishment of the National Guardian and the local guardians network, the Department is considering what role the Helpline should play in ensuring support for whistleblowers. The Department extended the existing contract to allow the Helpline facility to continue operating while future options for the Helpline are considered.

01/01/2023
Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-05-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much was paid by the NHS Trust Development Authority to meet the salary costs of the former Chief Executive of Liverpool Community Trust, Bernie Cuthell, during her (a) secondment to Manchester Mental Health Trust and (b) employment at the Betsi Cadwaladr NHS Trust.

Ben Gummer

This is a matter for NHS Improvement. We are informed by NHS Improvement that no payment was made by the NHS Trust Development Authority (NHS TDA) in connection with Bernie Cuthel’s secondment and employment at Manchester Mental Health and Social Care NHS Trust or her employment at the Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board. The NHS TDA became part of NHS Improvement in April 2016.

01/01/2023
Desmond Swayne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Desmond Swayne on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of the Latchmore Wetland Restoration Project in the New Forest.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

The planned Latchmore Wetland Restoration Project is being undertaken by the Forestry Commission as part of the New Forest Higher Level Stewardship Scheme. The Forestry Commission estimates that the cost of the project will be £1.5 million. The majority of this funding is being provided by the European Union under the Common Agricultural Policy.

01/01/2023

John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of people leaving the armed forces are still unemployed six months after the end of their service.

Mark Lancaster

UK Service personnel with four or more years’ Service who voluntarily left the Armed Forces in Financial Year 2014-15 (the latest statistic available) and used the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) services had the following estimated employment outcomes, up to six months after leaving:

Service	Employed %	Economically Inactive %	Unemployed %
Royal Navy	89% (1,950)	7% (160)	3% (70)
Army	84% (6,560)	9% (690)	7% (510)
Royal Air Force	83% (1,710)	14% (290)	4% (70)
Total Average %	85% (10,220)	10% (1,150)	6% (640)

Notes: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not record the training outcomes of Service leavers. The following categories of personnel have been included in the definition of those leaving Service voluntarily; those reaching the end of their engagement; those giving notice to terminate and those medically discharged. Figures include all Service leavers who used the Career Transition Partnership, less Early Service Leavers (this includes those with less than four years’ service and those compulsorily discharged). The numbers and percentages for employment outcomes cannot be summed together, as the unemployment figures were calculated on a different population to the employment and economically inactive figures. All totals and sub-totals have been rounded and so may not equal the sums of their rounded parts. When rounding to the nearest 10, numbers ending in “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.

For Early Service Leavers (ESL i.e. those with less than four years service or those compulsorily discharged irrespective of length of Service), the Future Horizons Programme (FHP) for ESL was introduced on 1 October 2013. Between 1 October 2013 and 31 March 2014 approximately 33% of eligible personnel participated in FHP. During Financial Year 2014-15 some 62% of eligible personnel participated in the Future Horizons Programme. Prior to the establishment of FHP all ESL were entitled to unit level support as part of standard MOD policy.

From 1 October 2015, the resettlement provision for ESL is termed CTP Future Horizons. Official statistics on the six-months post-discharge employment status of ESL who used CTP Future Horizons will be published in January 2017 as part of the CTP official statistic.

01/01/2023

Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-06.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the vulnerability of the UK banking system to a Russian debt default; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin

The Financial Policy Committee (FPC) within the Bank of England identifies, monitors and addresses risks to the UK financial system; including overseas exposures.

The FPC regularly publishes the indicators that it considers when formulating policy, and this includes all countries to which UK banks have large or rapidly growing total exposure. The most recent indicators (for Q2 2015) can be found on the Bank of England’s website using the link below.

http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/financialstability/Pages/fpc/coreindicators.aspx

01/01/2023