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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to create a Best Practice Tariff or similar sustained improvement incentive for sepsis.

    Ben Gummer

    In 2015/16, NHS England introduced an incentive payment (a national Commissioning for Quality and Innovation measure) to encourage the timely recognition and treatment of sepsis for emergency admissions. In 2016/17 this was extended to include in-patients who deteriorate in hospitals. NHS England will continue to review the best way of incentivising high performance in recognising and treating sepsis promptly and appropriately.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to reduce his Department’s vacancy rate.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is developing a Resourcing Strategy that will include targeted recruitment over the next few years including apprenticeships, graduate recruitment, loans from other Government Departments and increasing the use of secondments from the private sector. These interventions, along with having clear workforce plans across the organisation, including undertaking more internal managed moves to deliver priority work, will help reduce the Department’s vacancy rate.

  • Richard Bacon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Richard Bacon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Bacon on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much to date the NHS has paid BT for licensing, deployment and support of acute IT systems in London.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Information regarding payments made by National Health Service trusts to BT is not held centrally by the Department.

    The Department, to the end of financial year 2015-16, has paid BT £1.1 billion for services it delivered to acute and community and mental health trusts in London under the BT Local Service Provider contract. This contract has now closed.

  • Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of adding a five years sunset clause to the proposed Great Repeal Bill governing the expiry of EU legislation which has entered the statute book.

    Mr David Jones

    The Government has committed to introducing a Bill in the next parliamentary session which will repeal the European Communities Act 1972. The principle of the Bill is about creating legal certainty for the UK on exit day and we will set out its content in due course.

  • Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress there has been on delivering support to NATO aspirant countries since the NATO summit in Wales in 2014.

    Mr David Lidington

    There is no formal list of NATO aspirant countries. However, this term is presently understood within the Alliance to refer to Georgia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia. The United Kingdom strongly supports NATO’s open door policy for any European country in a position to undertake the commitments and obligations of membership, and contribute to security in the Euro-Atlantic area. We therefore support the membership aspirations of all countries currently seeking to join the Alliance.

    At the NATO Summit in Wales, the Alliance agreed a ‘Substantial Package’ of support for Georgia to strengthen defence capabilities and interoperability with the Alliance, and provide a new “enhanced partnership” status. Separately, Allies agreed to establish Defence Capacity Building (DCB) Missions in Georgia. The initial infrastructure for the first DCB project, the Joint Training & Evaluation Centre, was inaugurated by the NATO Secretary General at the end of August. The UK has provided a Strategic Communications Subject Matter Expert to the NATO Core Team in Georgia, while other Allies have offered similar secondments. The UK has also contributed £1,750,000 to a new Trust Fund to help facilitate these.

    Following the Wales Summit, NATO intensified talks with Montenegro to help them further prepare for future membership. The UK has supported Montenegro’s aim to increase public support for NATO membership and has initiated a number of Defence Engagement activities focussed upon changing public perceptions and putting Montenegro’s international credentials and capabilities into the public eye. The UK has supported a NATO Trust Fund set up to decommission surplus arms and ammunition in the country, and has provided financial and managerial support for the provision of English Language training in Montenegro, underpinning the ability to deploy officers on international operations including NATO. Foreign Ministers are due to take a decision in December on whether to invite Montenegro to open accession talks.

    Since January 2015, the UK has been the NATO Contact Point Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Embassy organised its first outreach event in Bijelijina in June, with the new NATO Commander and a representative of the Bosnian Armed Forces on the panel. Complementing its role as Contact Point, the British Embassy continues to run its officer Selection and Training project, which provides a framework and support for the Bosnian Armed Forces to recruit and train a new cadre of officers.

    NATO Allies, including the UK, continue to support the conditional invitation granted to Macedonia in 2008, subject to stipulated conditions. Macedonia completed its latest Annual National Plan process in September. The UK has continued to underline to Macedonia the importance of reforms in areas such as democratic dialogue, media freedom and judicial independence in order to meet the standards expected of a future NATO Ally.

  • Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with business and tourism representatives in Northern Ireland on the Davies Commission and increased airport capacity in the south east of England.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    There have been no discussions with business and tourism representatives in Northern Ireland on the Davies Commission and increased airport capacity in the south east of England.

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to recruit and retain embryologists in the NHS.

    Ben Gummer

    Healthcare providers are responsible for ensuring that they have the right level of staffing to provide high quality care.

    Health Education England (HEE) has been established to ensure the National Health Service has access to the right numbers of staff, at the right time and with the right skills. In doing so, HEE works with key external stakeholders to develop its National Workforce Plan for England which sets out the number of training places it will commission in the year ahead.

    HEE will continue to work with Local Education and Training Boards and others to ensure that there are sufficient Healthcare Scientists, including embryologists, being trained to meet the needs of patients.

    Currently HEE has 28 reproductive Scientists in training (which includes embryology) and are planning a further 11 to start in 2016/17.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many unregistered schools there are in England and Wales.

    Edward Timpson

    We are currently investigating 21 institutions that may be operating as unregistered independent schools in England and have not applied for registration. However, this number often changes as new settings are established and existing ones close, or are confirmed not to be operating as schools. We have taken robust steps to tackle unregistered schools and improve safeguarding which includes being clear it is a criminal offence to operate an unregistered independent school. All these institutions have been warned that it is a criminal offence to operate as an unregistered school. We are asking Ofsted to visit and to prepare cases for prosecution as necessary.

    We do not hold data on the numbers in Wales as the Department is not the regulatory body for independent schools in Wales.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential effect on the number of people employed as teachers who are from non-EU countries of the salary threshold increase for Tier 2 visa applications to £35,000.

    James Brokenshire

    The Government announced in 2012 that from 6 April 2016 Tier 2 visa holders who apply for settlement in the UK will be required to meet a minimum annual salary requirement of £35,000. PhD level roles and those in recognised shortage will be exempt from the £35,000 threshold.

    Data of the number of people employed in specific regions of the United Kingdom is not available. The Home Office holds individual records showing the working location of Tier 2 (General) migrants, but centralised records show the registered address of the Tier 2 Sponsor, which is normally that organisation’s Head Office.

    The Home Office published a full impact assessment on the changes to Tier 2 settlement rules when they were laid before Parliament on 15 March 2012. This includes the impact on the top ten occupations and is available on the gov.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/117957/impact-assessment-tier2.pdf

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding priorities her Department has in Bangladesh.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    Our priorities in Bangladesh reflect those of the wider UKAid Strategy:

    • Strengthening peace, security and governance
    • Building Bangladesh’s resilience to climate change and strengthening disaster preparedness
    • Tackling extreme poverty, in both rural and urban areas and improving the quality of education and health services
    • Promoting economic prosperity and inclusive growth, ensuring that no one in Bangladesh is left behind.

    Running through all of these priorities is a commitment across all of our work to support women’s empowerment and addressing early marriage, promoting voice and choice for all girls