Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much was spent on returning people from (a) other countries and (b) non-EU countries who were deemed homeless to their home countries in each year since 2010.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Department does not hold data centrally on the number of voluntary reconnections of non-UK rough sleepers. It is for local authorities to determine what homelessness services are required to best meet the needs of their local area. The Home Officeis responsible for administrative removal operations.

    We expect people who come to this country to be able to support themselves, and if they cannot find work or accommodation then they should return home. For vulnerable individuals who are sleeping rough on the streets, there are locally funded reconnection services available to help them return to their home countries voluntarily and connect into support services there. In London, the Greater London Authority commission the London Reconnection Team, which is targeted at non-UK nationals with support needs.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many full-time equivalent Environment Agency staff were employed on maintenance of flood defences on 1 April (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013, (e) 2014 and (f) 2015.

    Elizabeth Truss

    The Government has committed to protect flood maintenance funding in real terms over the course of this Parliament.

    The Environment Agency does not record the number of personnel working solely on maintaining flood defences, as the relevant staff undertake a number of activities, including both operating and maintaining defences. Maintenance may also be performed by third parties.

  • John Mc Nally – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    John Mc Nally – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mc Nally on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to tackle part payment in the construction industry; and if he will make a statement.

    Nick Boles

    Late payment remains an important issue. The Government is taking significant steps to assist small businesses to recover late payment debts.

    The Government promotes fair payment practices in construction through legislation (the “Construction Act”), the use of public procurement (promoting prompt payment to Tier 3 and the use of Project Bank Accounts), and by working with the industry through voluntary measures (such as the Prompt Payment Code and the Construction Leadership Council’s Payment Charter).

    The Government has legislated for new transparency measures in the public and private sectors. This will allow full public scrutiny of payment performance.

    The Payment Charter includes a commitment of zero retentions by 2025. To support this work, the Government recently announced a review of the practice of cash retentions under construction contracts in England.

    Tackling late payment is about creating a responsible payment culture where larger companies recognise the benefit of having a sustainable and robust supply chain, and smaller businesses feel able to challenge poor behaviour.

    The Government believes that taken together these measures will lead to significant changes in the UK’s payment culture.

  • Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the potential role of cranberries can play in reducing the frequency of prescribing antibiotics for simple infections such as urinary tract infections.

    Jane Ellison

    The research database, Cochrane, published a study in 2012 which assessed the effectiveness of cranberry products in preventing urinary tract infections in susceptible populations. Researchers found that there is no objective evidence for the benefit of cranberry juice in preventing urinary tract infections. Therefore the Department has not taken steps to promote the consumption of cranberry products.

    The UK five year Antimicrobial Resistance strategy set out the need to stimulate the development of new antibiotics, rapid diagnostics and novel therapies. The DH commissioned the Wellcome Trust to undertake a review of alternative treatments in 2014. The review concluded that while many approaches have potential, there is a continued need for conventional antibiotics to treat the majority of infections for the foreseeable future.

    A paper, summarising the review “alternatives to antibiotics – a pipeline portfolio review” was published in the Lancet in January 2016. This is available at the following link:

    http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(15)00466-1

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-03-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the oral contribution of Lord Bridges of Headley, of 25 February 2016, Official Report, column 396, on public bodies: Israel, what the Government’s policy is on whether the Occupied Palestinian Territories are a territory of Israel under the definition of the World Trade Organisaiton.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The World Trade Organisation does not define the territory of its members. The UK does not recognise Israeli sovereignty over the territories occupied by Israel in 1967. We therefore do not consider the Occupied Palestinian Territories to be part of Israel.

  • Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the proportion of people receiving social care in (a) Dartford and (b) Kent who are entitled to public funding to support that care.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department does not hold this information in the format requested.

    Data collected by the Health and Social Care Information Centre indicates that in 2014/15 there were 4,175 local authority supported long term residential and nursing care users aged 65 years and over supported by Kent County Council. This data is not available for the individual district councils in Kent, of which Dartford is one.

    The data can be found at:

    http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB18663

    An internal estimate carried out by the Department in 2012/13 estimated that 48% of people aged 65 and over in residential and nursing care in Kent were receiving local authority support at that time.

    “

  • Gary Streeter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gary Streeter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gary Streeter on 2016-05-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the latest assessment of liquefied petroleum gas within the Alternative Fuels Framework.

    Damian Hinds

    The Alternative Fuels Framework (AFF) was set out at Pre-Budget Report 2003, and focused on carbon emissions. Based on the evidence available at the time on Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), the AFF found LPG to result in greater natural environmental damage compared to other road fuel gases. It was determined that the environmental case for LPG was poorer than diesel and so its duty differential should be reduce over time.

    The government continues to review evidence concerning the environmental impact of LPG and will announce any changes to the tax treatment at fiscal events.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-06-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have assessed proposals from the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority that more carriages should be added to trains on the InterCity West Coast service to reduce overcrowding.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Rail services between London and the Midlands are currently provided by the West Midlands and InterCity West Coast franchises. These franchises are due be replaced when they expire in October 2017 and April 2018 respectively. The Department has completed a consultation in respect of the replacement West Midlands franchise, and commenced another in respect of InterCity West Coast in May. The outcomes of those consultations will be used to inform what we ask the operator of the new franchise to provide. This information, including the key challenges and opportunities that the Department has identified for those franchises, will be published in due course.

  • Baroness Smith of Basildon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Smith of Basildon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2016-09-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken under the national Female Genital Mutilation Prevention Programme.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department’s Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Prevention Programme was launched in 2014 to improve the way in which the National Health Service responds to the health needs of girls and women who have had FGM, and to actively support prevention. As part of the FGM Prevention Programme, working in partnership with NHS England, we have delivered a comprehensive change programme, with practical guidance and materials to support professionals and NHS organisations to understand how best they can tackle FGM. The programme outputs have:

    – Introduced the first ever FGM data collection across the NHS, now published quarterly by NHS Digital as an official statistic;

    – Published specialist FGM safeguarding guidance to help health professionals protect against FGM;

    – Published specialist guidance to help health professionals commission appropriate FGM services;

    – Commenced the early adopter phase for a new national safeguarding system linked to a child’s electronic health record;

    – Awareness-raising roadshows and outreach work across the country have directly reached over 3500 professionals;

    – Published educational films about FGM and updated content on the NHS Choices website.

    – Delivered a patient and public facing FGM prevention advertising campaign using African satellite television, radio and Facebook. This has generated over 650,000 views on social media since its launch in July 2016;

    – Launched comprehensive e-learning on FGM, free of charge to all NHS staff. This was developed by Health Education England, with more than 4000 staff having used this to date;

    – Supported a number of projects with health partners including Royal Colleges, delivering a range of practical measures to improve clinical skills, awareness and preparedness to treat and safeguard women and girls with FGM;

    – Sent all GPs, approximately 8,000 practices, FGM information packs containing resources to enable them to support patients living with FGM; and

    – Worked with the York Health Economics Consortium to cost FGM treatment in the NHS and consider tariff implications. This work is nearing completion.

    In this next phase of the Programme we have launched an ambition to make sure FGM survivors are aware of and have access to the right mental health support. We are also focusing on embedding recent developments across NHS systems.

  • Conor McGinn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Conor McGinn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the time taken to (a) implement broadband roll-out and (b) tackle non-spots on people and businesses in (i) St Helens North constituency, (ii) Merseyside and (iii) the UK.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government is committed to achieving the availability of superfast broadband to 95% of UK premises by December 2017. In May 2015 superfast coverage had reached 83% of UK premises.Of the 44,815 premises in the St Helens North constituency we estimate that 94% will have superfast broadband available to them through planned commercial rollout. The Connected Merseyside project will add a further 4% to that total.

    Telefonica (O2) have agreed a licence obligation to deliver indoor 4G coverage to 98% of premises in the UK by 2017; other Mobile Network Operators have indicated that they will also match this commitment.