The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with NHS England on support for research into immuno-oncology treatments for head and neck cancer.
David Mowat
The Department has had no specific discussions with NHS England on this topic.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-09-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether it is the Government’s position that the UK can sign new trade deals before the UK has formally exited the EU.
Greg Hands
The UK will remain a member of the EU until we formally exit, with all of the rights and obligations that membership entails. This means that the EU currently retains competence for most aspects of trade policy. We are, however, engaging with a broad range of international partners to best promote British trade, and to ensure that Britain becomes the global leader in free trade once we leave the EU.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the reduction was in his Department’s support for bus funding in England in 2014-15.
Andrew Jones
The majority of public funding for local bus services is via block grant provided to local authorities in England from the Department for Communities and Local Government.
In 2014-15 my Department provided funding of around £250 million in Bus Service Operators Grant, of which over £40 million per year is now paid direct to authorities to help support bus services. This figure excludes some £93 million a year previously paid to bus operators for running bus services under franchise to Transport for London (TfL) in London, which is now incorporated into the general grant paid to TfL and the Greater London Authority.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-26.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what consumer organisations have been involved in the work of the Open Banking Working Group; and when that group is expected to report.
Harriett Baldwin
A list of the Open Banking Working Group (OBWG) participants was published on 23 November, setting out the organisations which are directly involved in designing the detailed framework for the open Application Programming Interface (API) standard in UK banking by the end of the year. The OBWG will publish its final report on 30 December. More detail is available on the Open Data Institute’s website.
A number of consumer organisations have participated in the development of the framework for the open API standard: the Money Advice Service is a direct member of the OBWG, and Citizens Advice and Which? have participated in discussions about its design.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-01-11.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, on which occasions officials of his Department have met representatives of the Royal Bank of Scotland in each of the last five years; and what topics were discussed at each such meeting.
Harriett Baldwin
HM Treasury officials meet regularly with representatives of financial services firms, including Royal Bank of Scotland, to discuss a wide range of domestic and international financial services issues. However, the Department does not maintain a registry of working level meetings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-01-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Israeli government on tackling the spread of Daesh in the Middle East.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials have regular discussions with the Israeli Government on shared security threats. These include sharing analysis on the spread of Daesh across the Middle East, and discussing our efforts to tackle this spread, including through the Global Counter-Daesh Coalition, international sanctions, and support to bolster countries in the region, such as Jordan.
I will be visiting Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories later this month where I will continue these discussions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for the policies of the Cabinet Office of the recommendations of the Mental Health Taskforce report, published in February 2016.
Alistair Burt
We welcome the recommendations for government in the report and will be considering how best to integrate them into our work programme. There will be an impact on policies across Government in this period and, more importantly, a positive impact on people using mental health services.
The Mental Health Five Year Forward View Taskforce Report proposes, and we accept, investing over £1 billion of additional funding by 2020/21 to reach one million more people. There are a number of recommendations in the report which will have an impact on crisis care services, accident and emergency departments, mothers suffering from mental health problems, suicide prevention, children and young people’s mental health services, access to psychological therapies and the physical health of people with mental health problems. The £1 billion announced with the Taskforce report is the total annual cost for all areas in 2020/21.
Announcements on the development of policies, including those with reference to implementing the Mental Health Taskforce will be made in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-03-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department sets targets related to the closing of benefit claims of people referred to the work programme.
Priti Patel
There are no targets set for providers in relation to the closing of benefit claims, though for a job to be eligible for outcome payments, providers must support people into enough work to take them off out-of-work benefits.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-04-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken through the Commonwealth to promote abolition of the death penalty in all Commonwealth States.
Mr David Lidington
The Government supports a moratorium on use of the death penalty across the Commonwealth and works diplomatically and by means of projects to promote abolition in individual Commonwealth countries. Some Commonwealth member states are steadily moving towards abolition. Relatively few persist with carrying out executions and several are contemplating legislative reform. Fiji abolished the death penalty altogether in 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-05-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will make it her policy to remove the deadline for the installation of SMETS 1 meters as a result of software upgrades making such meters compatible with her Department’s requirements.
Andrea Leadsom
The Government remains committed to ensuring the industry and consumer benefits of SMETS2 meters operated through the Data and Communications Company (DCC) are realised as soon as possible, while providing industry sufficient time to transition from SMETS1 to SMETS2 meters.
The Government considers that a SMETS1 end-date of 12 months from availability of all DCC functionality strikes this balance; however we reserve the right to review the end date.