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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Ian Blackford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Blackford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to correct the computer error in the child maintenance system on the collection of arrears.

    Priti Patel

    There were well-documented IT failures in the 1993 and 2003 Child Support Agency (CSA) statutory child maintenance scheme systems. The Coalition government introduced a new Child Maintenance scheme in 2012 which addresses these issues. This is operated by the Child Maintenance Service and used a pathfinder approach to introduce new IT systems in a slow, safe and controlled way. The 2012 scheme systems are designed to be more cost-effective and overcome the key failings associated with the 1993 and 2003 CSA schemes and systems. We will be closing all the cases on the old schemes, and we are continuing to pursue existing debt.

  • 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 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to reduce levels of obesity.

    Jane Ellison

    Tackling obesity, particularly in children, is one of our major priorities. Progress has been made in recent years, but we know we have much further to go. We will be launching our childhood obesity strategy shortly. It will look at everything that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese. It will also set out what more can be done by all sides.

  • Baroness Scott of Needham Market – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness Scott of Needham Market – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Scott of Needham Market on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are planning to take to ensure that council tax billing authorities pass on to parish and town councils the council tax support funding providing for those councils by the Department for Communities and Local Government.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The patients with clinically actionable reports from the pilot phase are from rare diseases where improved knowledge of the causal mutation improves the management of the patient, their family members and possible future reproductive decisions. The patients diagnosed by whole genome sequencing had not been diagnosed using existing National Health Service panel tests. We are still evaluating the data from the 100,000 Genomes project to identify options for panel testing or other clinical sequencing strategies.

  • Baroness Deech – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Baroness Deech – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Deech on 2016-03-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the reported rise in anti-Semitism in the UK, in particular at universities, and what action they plan to take to tackle anti-Semitism in the light of that assessment.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    There is no place in our society, including higher education, for bigotry, hatred and any form of racism such as anti-Semitism. We expect universities to act swiftly to investigate and address any anti-Semitic incidents reported to them.

    Responsibility for ensuring students do not face harassment, abuse or violence rests with individual institutions, as a clear part of their duties under the 2010 Equality Act.
    The higher education sector is committed to tackling discrimination and challenging intolerance on campus. Bodies such as Universities UK (UUK), Guild HE and the Equality Challenge Unit provide support to institutions to help discharge their responsibilities through the provision of practical guidance, discussion and networking events to help share best practice across the sector.

    In addition, at the request of the Government, UUK have set up a task force to consider what more can be done to address harassment on campus, including on the basis of religion and belief. The Union of Jewish Students are part of the wider advisory group.

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Compass asylum accommodation contract with Clearsprings Ready Home Limited for the region of London and South East England, how many faults were reported or identified from Compass inspections for each contractual pay period in 2014-15 and 2015-16; and how many such faults were not resolved within the agreed contractual timescales.

    James Brokenshire

    Providers are contractually required to provide safe, habitable, fit for purpose and correctly equipped accommodation to comply with the Housing Act 2004 and the Decent Homes Standard. Providers are monitored closely to ensure accommodation meets these standards and the contracts include measures to ensure any issues are quickly addressed. These performance standards are defined in the contract and are managed using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) including those which measure whether an individual property is compliant with contractual obligations following an inspection and also the number of service users effected if a fault is not repaired within the contract timescales.

    The Home Office does not centrally record the number of individual faults reported or identified during accommodation inspections, or the number of individual faults not resolved within the agreed timescales. The requested information could therefore only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that the pricing rules set out in the national tariff guidance take into account the different costs bases of mental and physical healthcare.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS Improvement sets out local pricing rules in the national tariff which are designed to encourage commissioners and providers to set appropriate prices that reflect local conditions and priorities for services that do not have a national price. This includes mental health and community services.

    NHS Improvement is leading the cost transformation programme which aims to improve the quality and use of patient-level cost information for all National Health Service funded services. This information will have local and national benefits from helping inform commissioner and provider decision making to setting prices and rules in the national tariff.

    NHS Improvement has started the process for developing new costing standards for mental health and ambulance services. The draft costing standards for these services is expected to be published in 2017 and the final standards will be published in 2020.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of the projected increase in defence expenditure during the current Parliament his Department expects to spend on (a) equipment and (b) the maintenance of equipment.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    As a result of the increase in the Defence Budget following the Spending Round, the rigorous efficiency programme being pursued by the Ministry of Defence and the uplift from the Joint Security Fund, our planned spend on equipment acquisition and support has risen from £166 billion to £178 billion over the ten years of the forward programme. The annual breakdown of the Equipment Plan 2016 will be published in the autumn and will detail the expenditure over this Parliament.

  • Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne-Marie Trevelyan on 2016-09-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many serving armed forces personnel are in receipt of Continuity of Education Allowance; and in respect of how many children such allowances are allocated.

    Mark Lancaster

    There are 3,008 serving Armed Forces personnel in receipt of Continuity of Education Allowance for 4,454 children.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, in which towns and cities the Government intends to create pocket parks; and what the estimated cost will be to (a) his Department and (b) the Government of this programme.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    On Saturday 7 November the Government launched its Pocket Park programme which will provide a total of £1.5 million support to communities in urban areas to establish up to 100 pocket parks, in our busy towns and cities. The programme will support communities and their local authority partners across England and outside London (which has already benefited from funding from the Mayor). Full details can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pocket-parks-support-for-communities-to-manage-small-green-spaces.

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  • Karin Smyth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Karin Smyth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make it her policy to continue to invest in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The UK is currently reviewing all core contributions through the Multilateral Aid Review. We are committed to remaining a world leader in tackling global diseases like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. We will continue to invest in the Global Fund, which has saved 17 million lives.