UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • David Winnick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Winnick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Winnick on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to urgently consult with medical authorities on ensuring a meningitis B vaccine is provided to all young children; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    National immunisation programmes are introduced on the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the independent expert body that advises the Government on all immunisation matters. JCVI’s recommendations are based on a comprehensive and careful review of a wide range of evidence including information from medical experts.

    JCVI reviewed the available evidence on meningitis B vaccine and recommended a national Meningococcal B (MenB) immunisation programme for infants. The MenB vaccine is first offered to babies at 2 months of age, with further doses offered when they reach 4 and 12 months of age.

    MenB was introduced into the NHS programme in September 2015. JCVI keeps the eligibility criteria of all vaccination programmes under review and considers new evidence as it becomes available. If JCVI provides further advice about the programme, we will consider this.

  • Tom Pursglove – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Pursglove – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will estimate how much the presence of the UK military in Cyprus contributes annually to the Cypriot economy.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The estimated economic benefit of British Forces Cyprus and the Sovereign Base Areas Administration to the Republic of Cyprus (RoC) economy was assessed in 2015 to be approximately 1% of RoC Gross Domestic Product.

  • Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many doctors have applied for a Certificate of Good Standing in the last six months.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department does not hold this information.

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many full-time equivalent staff in his Department were working on breastfeeding in each year from 2010 to 2016.

    Ben Gummer

    Following the discontinuation of the Infant Feeding Survey, the Department has been exploring with Public Health England (PHE) and other key stakeholders alternative methods and sources of information to monitor the impact of its policy on infant feeding.

    In future, the Maternity and Children’s Dataset will regularly capture data on breastfeeding initiation and prevalence from all women using NHS services rather than using a survey sample. This means that local service providers and commissioners can have up-to-date (e.g. quarterly) information about outcomes for their local populations, enabling service provision to be more agile, responsive and targeted.

    The Government is committed to supporting breastfeeding through the Healthy Child Programme. Breastfeeding is also included in the Public Health Outcomes Framework so that the improvements can be tracked, and action taken as needed.

    Since 2010, we have recruited more than 2,100 additional midwives who will provide women with the information, advice and support they need with breastfeeding. A further 6,000 midwives are in training. There are also 3,400 more health visitors than in 2010.

    The Department is working with PHE, NHS England and UNICEF to try and encourage women to breastfeed for the first six months, although we recognise that not all mothers choose to or are able to breastfeed.

    Support and information is currently available to health professionals and parents through NHS Choices, the National Breastfeeding Helpline, UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative, the Start4Life Information Service for Parents and local peer support programmes.

    The Department has not retained a record of how many full-time equivalent staff there were with a specific focus on breastfeeding between 2010 and 2016; breastfeeding policy has always formed part of the larger maternity policy for which the Department has the policy lead. Resources to cover this policy area would have fluctuated according the level of work required at any one time.

  • Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-07-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to implement English language checks on doctors who have come from other EU countries to test their knowledge of clinical English rather than general social English.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    In June 2014 the General Medical Council (GMC) was given powers to carry out proportionate language controls on all applicants from the European Economic Area (EEA) to ensure that doctors have the necessary English language skills to practise safely in the United Kingdom. In addition the GMC was given powers to take fitness to practise action if a doctor working in the UK has insufficient language skills to carry out their job safely. Doctors must register with the GMC to practise in the UK.

    Since June 2014 a total of 1,659 doctors from the EEA have been unable to demonstrate to the GMC that they have sufficient language skills to practise safely in the UK; 564 of those doctors have gone on to reach the standard required by the GMC and have been issued with a licence to practise.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the (a) time and (b) cost of clearing all contaminated material on the grounds where Heathrow plans to build a third runway.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Airports Commission shortlisted three airport expansion schemes, two at Heathrow and one at Gatwick. The Airports Commission considered site enabling works as a part of their cost and commercial analysis and the Government is considering all of the evidence before reaching a view on its preferred scheme.

    The Government accepted the Commission’s shortlist in December 2015 and outlined that it will take forward a draft Airports National Policy Statement (NPS) to deliver new airport capacity. The NPS will be supported by an Appraisal of Sustainability which will examine the economic, social and environmental impacts of the new runway proposals. This will include an assessment of the impacts on soil.

  • Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects new rolling stock to be introduced on the forthcoming Transpennine Express franchise; and whether that rolling stock is planned to be diesel or electric powered.

    Andrew Jones

    Bids are currently being evaluated for the TransPennine Express (TPE) franchise and we expect to announce the winning bidder and its rolling stock plans by the end of the year. When the detailed plans for TransPennine electrification are confirmed, the Department will work with the TPE franchisee to ensure that the necessary rolling stock is put into place; this is expected to take place during the franchise term.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many employees were identified as being paid less than the national minimum wage following HM Revenue and Customs enforcement activity in each of the last five years; and how many of those employees were compensated in full.

    Mr David Gauke

    In 2014/15, HM Revenue and Customs identified 735 incidences of non-compliance and issued penalties of £934,660. They recovered arrears for 26,318 workers.

    I refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN 218083 for numbers of workers for the previous years, to the answer provided to her on 6 May 2014 at Hansard Column 110W for information on arrears, and to the answer provided to her at UIN 205613 with regard to penalties.

    I further refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN 211605 for information on recovery of arrears.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department’s report, Universal Credit Extended Gateway Evaluation, published on 6 December 2015, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the report’s finding on page 39, that participants in the study who were claiming universal credit were more flexible regarding the type of work they would consider at the outset than people claiming jobseeker’s allowance.

    Priti Patel

    The research finding that Universal Credit claimants appeared to be more flexible regarding the type of work they would consider is broadly consistent with other findings from the same research report that indicate that UC claimants are more engaged with the labour market than their JSA counterparts. UC claimants are spending longer on job search per week, and Universal Credit appears to be driving more active labour market behaviour, resulting in better labour market outcomes.

    The key finding from another recently published report entitled, ‘Estimating the Early Labour Market Impacts of Universal Credit’, is that UC has a substantial impact on the chances of people moving into work after they make a new claim. UC claimants were 8 percentage points more likely to get a job within 270 days of claiming than equivalent new claims to JSA made at the same time in similar areas by similar individuals.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will raise with the government of Bulgaria the issue of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community being denied the right to register as a religious organisation in Bulgaria.

    Mr David Lidington

    We are aware of the concerns of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Bulgaria. The UK supports the right to freedom of religion or belief for every individual. We would expect the Bulgarian Government to meet its international obligations to ensure freedom of religion or belief for all its citizens.