Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Rehman Chishti – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rehman Chishti – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much each clinical commissioning group spent on mental health services in England in each year from 2013-14 to 2015-16.

    Alistair Burt

    In total, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have set plans for 2015/16 which reflect an increase in mental health care expenditure in excess of their increase in allocation for the year. NHS England is tracking actual expenditure against those plans and it will report to the Secretary of State at the end of the year on whether those plans have been met.

    Departmental Ministers meet the Chief Executives of NHS England and Monitor regularly and discuss a wide range of issues, including funding for mental health services.

    NHS England was formally established on 1 April 2013.Expenditure by NHS England on Specialist Mental Health Services for 2013/14 was £1.780 billion and £1.795 billion in 2014/15. NHS England’s planned expenditure on Specialist Mental Health Services for 2015/16 is £1.859 billion.

    NHS England has published CCG level expenditure on mental health for 2013/14, which was estimated to be £8.1 billion. CCGs are currently in the process of preparing estimates of expenditure for mental health services in 2014/15. Estimates for 2015/16 are not available.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2015 to Question 17505, when he will publish the September half-yearly update on the job titles and pay grades of senior civil servants within his Department.

    Matthew Hancock

    The government publishes information on the job titles and pay grades of senior civil servants along with the numbers of staff they manage on a twice yearly basis.

    The Cabinet Office expects to publish an updated organogram at https://data.gov.uk/organogram/cabinet-officein due course.

    “

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-01-06.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many press and public relations staff are employed by (a) his Department, (b) the Office for Budget Responsibility, (c) the Financial Conduct Authority and (d) HM Revenue and Customs; how many of those employees earn more than (i) £50,000 and (ii) £100,000; and what the total expenditure was on press and public relations by each of those organisations in the most recent year for which figures are available.

    Harriett Baldwin

    I refer the honourable member to the answer given on the 05 January (UIN 20609)

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the legalisation of same-sex marriage, they intend to legislate to allow heterosexual couples who wish to form civil partnerships to do so, and if not, why not.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    In 2014, after the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 was passed, the government carried out a review of the operation and future of the Civil Partnership Act 2004, including a thorough public consultation on potential changes to civil partnership. Views were invited on three options: abolishing, or phasing out civil partnerships; or extending them to opposite sex couples.

    The review found that there was no clear consensus on the future of civil partnerships. A majority of respondents to the consultation were against extending civil partnerships to opposite sex couples and several important organisations thought it was too soon to consider making changes to civil partnerships until the impact of extending marriage to same sex couples is known. Given the lack of any consensus the Government has no current plans to make changes to the Civil Partnership Act 2004.

    On 29 January 2016, the High Court dismissed a legal challenge to the lack of availability of civil partnerships to opposite sex couples. The Court ruled unequivocally that the current regime of marriage and civil partnership does not disadvantage anyone nor does it infringe anyone’s right to family or private life. We also welcome the Court’s view that it is entirely reasonable for the Government to wait to see the impact of extending marriage to same sex couples before deciding on the way forward.

  • Patricia Gibson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Patricia Gibson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patricia Gibson on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what his plans are for the £3.5 million funding announced for tackling nuisance calls in paragraph 2.289 of the March 2015 Budget, HC 1093 of Session 2014-15; how much of this funding has been allocated to which local authorities; what information his Department holds on the number of call blockers that this funding has paid for the installation of in domestic properties; and what assessment his Department has made of the effect of that funding in the volumes of nuisance calls received and reports of such calls made.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government is taking forward a range of measures to tackle the problem of nuisance calls, including strengthening the regulators’ ability to take enforcement action against organisations that break the law and increasing consumer choice by consulting on making it a requirement for direct marketing callers to display their calling line identification. As part of the £3.5m package announced in budget, Government launched a competition for innovative solutions to tackle the scourge of nuisance calls – and contracts have been awarded to successful applicants, to help develop their products to launch on the open market and benefit customers right across the country. In addition, £0.5 million funding is going to the National Trading Standards Scams Team – via East Sussex County Council – to provide call blocking devices to vulnerable people nationwide and report its effects.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to limit the effect that engineering works on rail lines have on travel over long bank holidays.

    Claire Perry

    An independent review of how the rail industry plans and schedules major improvement work was carried out last year. The review concluded that Christmas, Easter and bank holidays were the best times to carry out upgrades requiring major line closures, particularly in and around London where the network is busiest and access for engineers is most difficult.

    Network Rail always looks to minimise the overall impact of these vital projects on passengers. As such, Network Rail and train operators are conscious that many people want to use the railway over holiday periods to reunite with their friends and families, so where possible they try to ensure the vast majority of services are kept running, as well as delivering passenger improvements on time. Network Rail will ensure around 96% of the network will be available during the next May bank holiday.

  • Stewart Malcolm McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Stewart Malcolm McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on assessing the effect on air quality and levels of emissions from motor vehicles of data published by Emissions Analytics and the Department for Transport on the level of emissions from new diesel cars.

    Rory Stewart

    Tackling air quality is a priority for this Government and we are committed to meeting air quality limits for nitrogen dioxide in the shortest possible time. Defra and the Department for Transport work closely together at all levels to embed air quality considerations in the development of transport policy and delivery, including in relation to vehicle emissions. The inter-Ministerial group on Clean Growth meets as and when required and its members include Ministers and officials from the relevant departments, including Defra and the Department for Transport.

    The Government’s comprehensive National Air Quality Plan (www.gov.uk/government/publications/air-quality-in-the-uk-plan-to-reduce-nitrogen-dioxide-emissions), published in December last year, is based on the best available evidence and uses the latest COPERT (Computer Programme to Calculate Emissions from Road Transport) (4v11) factors to calculate emissions from diesel cars.

    In May, the Government will present the results of its vehicle testing programme (www.gov.uk/government/publications/vehicle-emissions-testing-programme-conclusions) to European Research for Mobile Emission Sources (ERMES), the body responsible for collating vehicle emission data, to inform its updated emissions factors later this year. This will ensure that EU-wide emission factors more accurately reflect the difference between real world driving and laboratory test conditions.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to develop a cross-departmental strategy to provide more support to carers in England.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government recognises the invaluable contribution made by unpaid carers and the importance of supporting them in their carer roles. This includes provision of and access to respite and replacement care.

    The Department has provided £400 million to the National Health Service over four years from 2011 for carers to have breaks from their caring responsibilities. The carers breaks funding of £130 million is now included in the Better Care Fund in 2016/17. The Department has also provided £186.6 million of funding in 2016/17 to local authorities for improved carers’ rights, as established in the Care Act 2014.

    The Care Act 2014 duty for local authorities to undertake carers’ assessments also provides an opportunity for the local authority and the carer to look at the support they need and the outcomes that they wish to achieve, including providing them with a break or taking up work, educational and leisure opportunities if they wish.

    The Department is committed to continuing to improve support for carers and is currently leading the development of a new cross-Government national carers’ strategy, due to be published by the end of 2016. We are currently consulting widely with a range of stakeholders and carers themselves to inform the development of the strategy.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has to improve the provision of asylum accommodation.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    We have worked closely with our COMPASS Providers to improve property standards and over the lifetime of the contract quality standards have increased. Where issues with accommodation are discovered we work with our contractors to ensure issues are quickly addressed. When they are not we can and do impose sanctions and seek remedial plans to drive improvement. Through continued engagement with service users and accommodation providers and regular property inspections the Home Office will continue to ensure asylum accommodation is adequate.

  • Pauline Latham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Pauline Latham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pauline Latham on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the number of employees of mining companies that are registered in the UK and listed on the London Stock Exchange.

    Chris Skidmore

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.