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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether any non-UK EU nationals were sent postal votes in error for the upcoming EU referendum.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission became aware of an issue with elections software used by a number of local authorities in England and Wales on 1 June that meant some non-eligible EU citizens had mistakenly received postal votes.

    The software provider has resolved the issue which means that all postal votes that have been sent to non-eligible EU citizens have been cancelled, including in cases where completed postal votes had already been returned.

    All of the affected electors have also been written to by their local Electoral Registration Officer with an explanation of what happened and have been told that they will not be able to vote at the referendum.

  • Peter Bone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Peter Bone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to announce when construction of the Isham bypass in Wellingborough constituency will (a) commence and (b) be finished.

    Andrew Jones

    Funding for the proposed Isham Bypass (also known as the A509 Wellingborough Development Link) was provisionally approved by the Government in 2014 as part of the Northamptonshire Growth Deal. This approval is subject to the scheme promoters, Northamptonshire County Council, obtaining any necessary statutory permissions and submitting to the Department a Final Business Case for approval.

    The Council expects to submit a Final Business Case in March 2017. Ministers will then make a final funding decision, as quickly as possible thereafter, on whether to support the scheme. The Council’s current programme is to start construction in September 2017 and to open the completed road in April 2019.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Berkeley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2015-11-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures the Department for Transport has taken to ensure that the appointment of the Managing Director of ScotRail Alliance to the Network Rail Executive Committee does not give a commercial advantage to Abellio in respect of future franchise bids across the UK.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Managing Director of the ScotRail Alliance has now also been appointed as Managing Director Scotland within Network Rail and, as part of his new role, will sit on Network Rail’s Executive Committee. He is an employee of Network Rail in both roles, but continues to report to the head of Abellio UK in his capacity of running the ScotRail Alliance only.

    It is for Network Rail and any individual concerned to ensure that no conflicts of interest are allowed to affect the conduct of the company’s business.

  • Oliver Heald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Oliver Heald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Heald on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 June 2015 to Question 2734, what progress her Department has made on restoring physical habitats on chalk rivers in North East Hertfordshire constituency.

    Rory Stewart

    Through its Restoring Sustainable Abstraction (RSA) Programme, the Environment Agency (EA) is working with local water companies and the Catchment partnerships to significantly improve the condition, flow and habitats of chalk streams Beane, Mimram and Lee.

    As part of the Programme, Affinity Water and the EA have committed to investing £3 million by 2020 in habitat improvement projects for these chalk streams. These are currently in the planning and design stage. Delivery will accelerate as the Programme progresses over the next five years.

    In order to achieve the greatest benefit from these works, Affinity Water has agreed to reduce abstraction from local chalk streams by over 40 million litres per day by 2024. It will significantly reduce abstraction at the Whitehall pumping station on the River Beane by 2018 by building a pipeline, currently under construction, to supply customers with water from alternative sources.

    The EA partnership project at Waterford Marsh, also on the River Beane, has seen improvements for both wildlife and people through chalk stream restoration, pond creation, access repair, and the provision of new information boards.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Registration of Births and Deaths Regulations 1987 to include a requirement to stipulate the time of death.

    James Brokenshire

    There are no plans at present to amend the Registration of Births and Deaths Regulations 1987 to include time of death at death registration.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce deaths of premature babies.

    Ben Gummer

    We are committed making sure every baby receives consistently high quality care, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

    In November 2015, the Government announced a national ambition to halve by 2030 the rates of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries occurring during or soon after birth.

    To support the National Health Service in achieving this ambition we also announced:

    ― a £2.24 million capital fund for equipment to improve safety;

    ― over £1 million to roll out training programmes to make sure staff have the skills and confidence they need to deliver world-leading safe care; and

    ― £500,000 to develop a new system that can be used consistently across the NHS to enable staff to review and learn from every stillbirth and neonatal death.

    The announcement also committed to publishing an annual report to update the public, health professionals, providers and commissioners on the progress we are making towards achieving the ambition.

    The National Maternity Review, chaired by Baroness Cumberlege, will include proposals for the future shape of modern, high quality and sustainable maternity services across England. We anticipate that its report will have an important role in shaping the system to achieve our ambition.

    For those babies who are born sick or premature, NHS England commissions Neonatal Care from 165 neonatal units. These units are organised and supported by 13 Operational Delivery Networks. The organisation of networks has brought tangible benefits in the delivery of babies in the right place to receive specialist care when it is needed.

    NHS England’s Neonatal Critical Care Service Specification states that providers should ensure that expert and experienced staff treat sufficient numbers of cases to maintain a safe high quality service and move towards national standards.

    It is for local hospital trusts and specialised commissioners to decide how best to use the guidance and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence quality standard for specialist neonatal care to improve babies’ chances of survival and minimise mortality associated with being born either premature or unwell. We know that that there is still more to do to ensure these services are consistent across the country and that is why the Neonatal Clinical Reference Group at NHS England has committed to review the findings of the Bliss report, (published in October 2015 which can be found here http://www.bliss.org.uk/babyreport), and will work with all of its key partners to make recommendations for further improvement.

    Unless we invest in research we cannot understand how to best improve services for mothers and their babies. Significant sums have been invested over recent years in support of research looking at important questions regarding premature birth. The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funds a range of research relating to causes, risk factors and prevention of stillbirth and neonatal death. The NIHR Health Technology Assessment is funding a £6.0 million trial of an intelligent system to support decision making in the management of labour using the cardiotocogram – due to report in 2017. The NIHR is also funding a £1.2 million study on preventing adverse pregnancy outcome in women at increased risk of stillbirth by detecting placental dysfunction– due to report in 2019.

    To help achieve the best outcomes, women are also offered a comprehensive programme of scans, screening tests and development examinations during pregnancy and following birth babies will receive the checks in the NHS newborn and infant physical examination screening programme and the NHS newborn blood spot screening programme .

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to stop the black market economy in aid allocations.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    DFID’s work on the black market is primarily related to illicit markets and organised crime. We are building the evidence base on the linkages between organised crime, development and conflict, and exploring innovative integrated approaches to tackling organised crime in partnership with other government departments. Our work in this area is focused on building resilience and reducing vulnerabilities to organised crime, increasing transparency, and mitigating harm. Examples of our work related to organised crime include:

    • The Work in Freedom programme, which helps prevent 100,000 women and girls from India, Bangladesh and Nepal from being trafficked;
    • Tackling Corruption by Tackling Drug Trafficking in Ghana, which focuses on improving detection of drug smuggling by the Narcotic Control Board, and increasing criminal proceedings against those involved;
    • The Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, managed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, supports projects that develop sustainable livelihoods for communities affected by illegal wildlife trade, strengthen law enforcement, and reduce demand for the products of the illegal wildlife trade;
    • Working to tackle illicit finance in partnership with the Metropolitan and City of London Police, the National Crime Agency and the Crown Prosecution Service.
  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether during his meeting with Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz in Riyadh on 28 March 2016 he (a) discussed human rights in that country (b) made representations about Ali a Nimr, Dawood al Mahroon and Abdullah al Zaher.

    Michael Fallon

    During my visit I had discussions with senior Saudi leadership on a range of defence and security issues, including the importance of International Humanitarian Law. The government of Saudi Arabia is well aware of our views on human rights and our opposition to the death penalty. Our expectation remains that these three individuals will not be executed.

  • Lord Inglewood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Inglewood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Inglewood on 2016-05-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of leaving the EU on businesses that trade with Europe, and how those businesses may communicate that impact.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with my noble Friend.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has investigated, in his Department’s work assessing the reasons for delays and cancellations on the Brighton Mainline, whether or not GTR are preventing staff who took part in recent strike action from working overtime; and if he will make a statement.

    Claire Perry

    GTR are providing the Department with information on the current disruption in line with their franchise agreement. Management of staff is a matter between GTR and its employees, however I have been assured by GTR that it is not the case that they are preventing staff who participated in industrial action from working overtime.