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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Biography information for Virendra Sharma – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Biography information for Virendra Sharma – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Virendra Sharma on Health.

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    Jane Ellison

    Officials from the Department, Public Health England (PHE) and NHS England are currently discussing how hepatitis C services might be strengthened, including how local Health and Wellbeing Boards can be encouraged to include hepatitis C in their Joint Strategic Needs Assessments, where appropriate. The findings of the HCV Action report will help to inform those discussions.

    PHE is developing local profiles that include indicators of performance for hepatitis C which are aimed at local authorities and Health and Wellbeing Boards. These profiles include a summary of the issues around hepatitis C including those most at risk, as well as questions for Health and Wellbeing Boards to ask about local provision of hepatitis C services. PHE has produced a fact sheet for the Local Government Association on hepatitis B and C to support their scrutiny and oversight role.

  • Khalid Mahmood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Khalid Mahmood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2014-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to remove any contractual gagging orders or similar measures applicable to staff in the West Midlands involved in the ongoing investigation into school governance in that area led by Ian Kershaw.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education hopes that any individual with relevant information about the serious allegations made in relation to a number of schools in Birmingham will come forward and share this with the Education Commissioner, Peter Clarke, and Ian Kershaw, the Chief Adviser for Birmingham City Council’s investigation.

    Amendments to The Employment Relations Act 1996, introduced by the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA) 1998, mean that any confidentiality clauses in settlement agreements cannot have the effect of preventing a protected disclosure and any provision will be void to the extent it seeks to do so. The Department revised the model settlement agreements for new academies in January to make this absolutely clear. The PIDA Act 1998 also introduced provisions to protect workers from detrimental treatment or victimisation from their employer if, in the public interest, they blow the whistle on wrongdoing.

  • Peter Luff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Peter Luff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Luff on 2014-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to his Answer of 8 April 2014, Official Report, column 208W, on Common Agricultural Policy, if he will assess the value and purpose of advertising the merits of the EU Common Agricultural Policy in British cinemas.

    George Eustice

    We do not have any plans to assess the value and purpose of advertising the merits of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in British cinemas. Using cinema advertising is not part of the Government’s approach to communicating information on the CAP. My Department is informed by the European Commission that the advert ran for four weeks across the EU, including in the UK, but it has now ended and that the campaign was funded by reducing other activities, such as European Commission attendance at certain events.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to tackle the increase of type 2 diabetes; and what work is being done to identify best practice and share knowledge throughout the UK.

    Jane Ellison

    The NHS Health Check programme is a risk assessment and management programme aimed at preventing a range of illnesses, including diabetes. Economic modelling has shown that potentially it can prevent more than 4,000 people a year from developing diabetes.

    Public Health England is supporting local authorities to deliver the NHS Health Check programme. Take up continues to improve with the number of checks being undertaken up by 13% compared to the same period last year.

    Strategic Clinical Networks (SCNs) focus on priority service areas to help improve the quality and equity of care and outcomes by bringing together those who use, provide and commission services in the area they serve. There are 12 Cardiovascular Disease Strategic Clinical Networks, 10 of which have dedicated diabetes clinical leads, and they support the prevention of Type 2 diabetes, and identify and share good practice within their areas. Diabetes UK is supporting meetings between the NHS England National Clinical Director for Obesity and Diabetes, and the diabetes clinical leads and associate directors of the SCNs to help ensure that best practice is shared across all 12 regional networks.

  • Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlie Elphicke on 2014-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many illegal immigrants are estimated to have entered the UK from Calais in each year since 1999.

    James Brokenshire

    To ensure the integrity and security of the UK border Her Majesty’s Government
    cannot comment on port specific statistics.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners were charged with receiving illicit or unauthorised items through the post in each of the last four years.

    Jeremy Wright

    Prisons employ a range of measures to detect, disrupt and deter the trafficking of illicit items into prisons. Any contraband detected coming into the prison will be recorded on a central incident reporting system. However, to identify the manner in which the contraband entered the prison and any subsequent referral to the police would require a manual interrogation of incident reports. This could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.

    Information on prosecutions and convictions for these offences is not held centrally and could only be obtained by asking each prison to source information locally. This, again, could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the average change in the number of days people will spend claiming benefits as a result of the help-to-work scheme.

    Esther McVey

    We have a strong evidence base which shows that Help to Work has a positive impact in terms of reducing the number of days claimants spend on benefit.

    Over almost two years, claimants who took part in a trailblazer for Community Work Placement (CWP) and Mandatory Intervention Regime (MIR) spent on average 21 (CWP) and 26 (MIR) fewer days on benefits than an equivalent group of JSA claimants.

    They also spent more time in work than the control group: 9 days for CWP and 11 days for MIR participants.

  • Alun Cairns – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Alun Cairns – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alun Cairns on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the performance of the Start Up Loan scheme in Wales to date; what the take-up has been under this scheme to date; and how much has been lent to which businesses in each constituency in Wales in each of the last three years.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Start-Up Loans Scheme was extended to Wales in October 2013. To date 249 loans have been committed with a value of over £1.52m.

    The table below sets the number of loans made in each constituency and their value:

    Welsh constituencies

    Number of loans

    Value of loans

    Aberavon

    6

    £38,700

    Aberconwy

    2

    £10,500

    Arfon

    2

    £24,000

    Blaenau Gwent

    5

    £12,000

    Brecon and Radnorshire

    2

    £7,500

    Bridgend

    9

    £58,000

    Caerphilly

    7

    £42,250

    Cardiff Central

    6

    £37,500

    Cardiff North

    5

    £41,500

    Cardiff South and Penarth

    12

    £83,600

    Cardiff West

    6

    £55,500

    Carmarthen East and Dinefwr

    9

    £49,250

    Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire

    12

    £35,000

    Ceredigion

    7

    £19,100

    Clwyd South

    7

    £54,500

    Clwyd West

    8

    £43,500

    Cynon Valley

    8

    £35,000

    Delyn

    1

    £5,000

    Dwyfor Meirionnydd

    2

    £22,000

    Gower

    13

    £50,500

    Islwyn

    5

    £35,550

    Llanelli

    7

    £27,000

    Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney

    7

    £53,000

    Monmouth

    10

    £75,284

    Montgomeryshire

    7

    £36,500

    Neath

    4

    £9,500

    Newport East

    11

    £77,470

    Newport West

    11

    £78,350

    Ogmore

    4

    £23,998

    Pontypridd

    6

    £36,000

    Preseli Pembrokeshire

    6

    £23,000

    Rhondda

    6

    £36,300

    Swansea East

    8

    £47,500

    Swansea West

    8

    £57,650

    Torfaen

    6

    £91,000

    Vale of Clwyd

    3

    £12,000

    Vale of Glamorgan

    5

    £21,000

    Wrexham

    2

    £12,500

    Ynys M“n

    4

    £47,500
  • Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many businesses received support through the UK Guarantees Exports Refinancing Facility in 2013-14.

    Michael Fallon

    Following the Chancellor’s announcement in the 2014 Budget UK Export Finance formally launched the Export Refinancing Facility (ERF) on 30 April 2014.

    ERF is aimed at supporting UK bids for projects that require finance above $150m. As these projects typically involve lengthy contract negotiations, it may be sometime before we see a pipeline of deals that benefit from the ERF.

  • Robert Halfon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Robert Halfon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Halfon on 2014-04-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the potential cost to the public purse of raising the income tax personal allowance for 2015-16 from £10,500 to £12,300 with the same maximum cash benefit going to basic and higher rate taxpayers but no benefit going to additional rate taxpayers.

    Mr David Gauke

    Raising the income tax personal allowance to £12,300 in 2015-16 is estimated to cost in the region of £9.5 billion.

    A reduction to the basic rate limit has been assumed so that the higher rate threshold is unchanged. As a result of this, basic rate and most higher rate taxpayers would benefit equally from the personal allowance increase.

    This estimate is based on the 2011-12 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected to 2015-16 using economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s March 2014 economic and fiscal outlook.