Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Huw Irranca-Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Huw Irranca-Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Huw Irranca-Davies on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent meetings his Department has had with representatives of (a) the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, (b) National Asian Business Association and (c) other representative organisations or affected businesses to discuss (i) the EU ban on importation of mangoes from India, (ii) any alternatives to a ban and (iii) measures to mitigate the effect of such a ban on UK importers, distributors, retailers and restaurateurs.

    Dan Rogerson

    Lord de Mauley chaired a roundtable discussion on 21 May with the National Asian Business Association, the Fresh Produce Consortium and the Indian High Commission to discuss the implications of the European Union (EU) ban on mangoes from India and what help the UK might be able to offer India to comply with EU import requirements. Defra officials have also met these bodies and other trade representatives to discuss the issue.

  • Gregg McClymont – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gregg McClymont – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregg McClymont on 2014-04-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to privatise HM Revenue and Customs Debt Management and Banking operations; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has no plans to privatise its Debt Management and Banking (DMB) Operations.

    HMRC has been using debt collection services provided by private sector suppliers for several years. This has given HMRC additional capacity to complement its in house operations and increase the flexibility of its business operations, with Debt Collection Agencies (DCAs) working alongside in house debt collection activity.

    HMRC plans to continue to use private sector services – the overall aim being to strengthen further HMRC’s debt collection service, making optimal use of both internal and external collection specialists.

    In the future, HMRC will purchase those externally provided services through the Debt Market Integrator (DMI), a Cabinet Office led initiative to create a “one stop shop” for all government departments to access a range of private sector debt collection services.

  • Daniel Kawczynski – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Daniel Kawczynski – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Kawczynski on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department takes to ensure the referral to the relevant authorities of terminating doctors who do not fulfil their statutory obligations to fill in HSA4 forms correctly.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department has recently issued a range of guidance which will help clinicians to comply with the requirements of the Abortion Act, including their obligations with regard to the completing of HSA4 forms. In addition, we are working with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to take forward their recommendations on tackling under-reporting of abortions for fetal abnormality.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions (a) photographs have been taken of intercepted aircraft on Quick Reaction Alert flights and (b) such photographs have been released to the public in each of the last three years.

    Mr Mark Francois

    Photographs are routinely taken during Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) interceptions. There is strong public and media interest in the RAF Quick Reaction Alert deterrent capability. MOD policy is to release a limited amount of non-sensitive information on QRA launches, sometimes including photographs. This provides the public with strong examples of how the RAF is able to respond to this kind of incident. It also provides public awareness of the RAF’s ability to defend the UK through the effectiveness of its air defences and to maintain the full deterrence value of the QRA mission. Media enquiries regarding QRA launches also often include requests for photographs.

    Consequently, RAF Operations Staffs in coordination with MOD officials, including the MOD Directorate of Media and Communications, will occasionally consider these photographs for public release.

    Photographs of a recent QRA mission were released on 25 April 2014. The previous release of photographs of intercepted aircraft from a recent mission was in March 2010; additionally for other QRA information releases in the last three years, MOD have utilised stock images from the Defence Image Library.

  • Yasmin Qureshi – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Yasmin Qureshi – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of kidney disease among the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic community.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department is not currently undertaking any work to raise awareness of kidney disease among black, asian and minority ethnic communities. However, local National Health Service organisations can undertake such campaigns should they wish to do so.

    The NHS Choices Website contains detailed information on both black and asian health issues which includes a page on the increased risk these ethnic groups have of developing kidney disease. The page can be viewed at the following link.

    www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Kidneyhealth/Pages/BlackandAsiankidneyhealth.aspx

    We are identifying kidney disease earlier through the NHS Health Check. This programme identifies those aged between 40 and 74 at risk of cardiovascular diseases and helps them to reduce that risk. We anticipate that up to 20,000 cases of kidney disease and diabetes (a contributing factor) could be prevented through the programme.

  • Ian Lavery – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ian Lavery – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2014-04-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the performance of the Tax Credit Error and Fraud Adding Capacity trial involving the private company Transactis in 2013.

    Nicky Morgan

    From April to July 2013, HMRC carried out a trial to test whether it would be feasible to increase the number of compliance checks on tax credits claims, through the use of private sector resource. HMRC will publish the evaluation of the trial and the customer research report in due course.

    It is not appropriate to place the business case in the public domain given the commercial sensitivities and the risk of prejudice to HMRC’s ability to tackle tax credits error and fraud.

    In terms of the external costs of the trial, I refer the Hon Member to the Thirty-Fourth Report of the Committee of Public Accounts [2013/14] into HMRC Tax Collection: Annual Report & Accounts 2012–13, which may be found at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmpubacc/666/66602.htm. All internal HMRC operating costs are published annually in the HMRC Annual Report and Accounts.

    “

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to extend pilot treatments for motor neurone disease; and what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the devolved adminstrations on those pilots.

    Norman Lamb

    The Department is not managing any pilot treatments for motor neurone disease (MND) and no recent discussions have taken place between the Department’s Ministers and the devolved administrations about pilots for MND.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Charlotte Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the number of surgical care practitioners on the training of junior doctors in surgery.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The Government has mandated Health Education England (HEE) to provide national leadership on education, training and workforce development in the National Health Service.

    HEE supports the delivery of excellent healthcare and health improvement to the patients and public of England, by ensuring that our workforce has the right numbers, skills, values and behaviours, at the right time and in the right place. A key part of that role is a continuing responsibility for ensuring the provision of an appropriate number of surgical trainees. Assurance of the quality of surgical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council.

  • Christopher Chope – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Christopher Chope – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the deportation order served on Didier Pierre Paulet on 19 November 2007 pursuant to a recommendation by a Crown Court Judge for deportation has been implemented; and if she will make a statement.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Office does not comment on individual cases.

  • 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 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what items prisoners are barred from purchasing with earned income.

    Jeremy Wright

    Prisoners are barred from purchasing those items which could compromise good order, security and safety, or which is otherwise unlawful. Prisoners are also not permitted to purchase items that are prohibited for reasons of Public Protection.

    Under the incentives and Earned privileges national policy framework, prisoners can purchase those items that the Governor has selected from the standardised facilities list, which identifies and limits the property that prisoners can retain in their cells.