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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Gavin Shuker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Gavin Shuker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Shuker on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans he has to engage with international partners to tackle the persecution of secularists or of people with no faith in Bangladesh.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    As I said to the House on 24 May, there is more we can do to help the Government of Bangladesh to tackle the challenges they face. I raised my concerns about the situation there most recently with the Bangladesh High Commissioner on 24 May.

    Our High Commission in Dhaka regularly meets international partners to discuss the treatment of secular activists and minority groups in Bangladesh. Most recently, on 22 May, our High Commissioner met Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister, Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali, with other EU Ambassadors, to discuss signs that intolerance across Bangladesh is increasing

    In September 2015, officials from the British High Commission in Dhaka met Heiner Bielefeldt, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, during his visit to Bangladesh. We urge the Government of Bangladesh to implement the recommendations in his report, which includes a call for the government to “protect the vibrant civil society and pluralistic society in Bangladesh”.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-07-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made in reducing GP waiting times.

    Alistair Burt

    There is no national standard for waiting to see a general practitioner (GP) and data on waiting times is not collected centrally. To implement the Government’s commitment to transform GP access however, £175 million has been invested in the Prime Minister’s GP Access Fund to test improved and innovative access to GP services. Across the two waves of the Access Fund, there are 57 schemes covering over 2,500 practices and 18 million patients – a third of the population – have benefited from improved access and transformational change at local level. This includes more appointments being made available, especially at times more convenient for patients, such as weekday evenings and weekends. It also includes different approaches like telephone consultations and better use of the wider primary care workforce (such as Advanced Nurse Practitioners, pharmacists, the voluntary sector, physiotherapists and paramedics) to deliver improved access to patients. These approaches have helped release local GP capacity and more appropriately matched the needs of patients with the most appropriate professional to care for them. In addition to Access Fund sites, other clinical commissioning groups may offer local initiatives for improving access to GPs.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-09-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of ships sailing under flags of convenience, and of the impact of that practice on the British maritime industry.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Department for Transport analysis of IHS Global data on ship characteristics as at 31 Dec 2015 shows 19,661 vessels registered on open flag registers.

    An analysis of the impact of these registers on the UK maritime industry has not been conducted. However, the Maritime Growth Study (2015) did note that while the volume of tonnage on open registers is significant the amount managed or owned by companies located in these countries is far less substantial.

    The UK is a leading global maritime centre. Government is committed to supporting the UK maritime sector and ensuring growth in UK Ship Register through a greater commercial focus while retaining its reputation for quality.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that guidance on changes to the disabled students’ allowance is easily accessible to (a) parents and (b) schools.

    Edward Timpson

    Reforms to the special educational needs and disability system mean local authorities must publish information in their Local Offers about support available to young people in Higher Education (HE), including Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) and the process and timescales for making an application for DSAs. We would expect this information to cover changes to DSAs.

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is currently considering the responses made to the recent consultation on proposed changes to DSAs, and the government response to the consultation will be published in due course. The proposed changes aim to make HE as accessible as possible, to re-balance support between HE providers and DSAs, and to improve value for money.DSAs will remain available to complement the support provided by institutions, and students will continue to receive the support they need.

    BIS has been clear that any changes implemented will take effect from August 2016 for the Academic year 2016/17. BIS will be working closely with the Student Loans Company and other stakeholders, to ensure that correct information is easily available.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kevin Brennan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2015 to Question 18925, which visits referred to that (a) he and (b) other Ministers in his Department made included a visit to a food bank.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department does not hold the information requested. Ministers have conducted visits to food banks in various capacities, including in their roles as Members of Parliament.

  • Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases have been transferred from community rehabilitation companies to the National Probation Service for risk escalation.

    Andrew Selous

    Offenders managed under the statutory Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements and those who present a high risk of serious harm are managed by the National Probation Service (NPS), while medium- and lower-risk offenders are managed by the 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs).

    Risk is a dynamic factor, and in many cases the degree of risk presented by an offender will change during the course of his or her sentence. The new probation structure that was put in place by the previous Government is designed to respond to this by providing for management of offenders initially allocated to a CRC to transfer to the NPS if their risk increases to the higher level.

    In the first eight months following the handover of the CRCs to their new owners, 5281 offenders have been transferred from CRCs to NPS, out of a total of 234,229 offenders managed by the CRCs and NPS.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many staff in his Department receive (a) home to work travel allowance, (b) a car allowance and (c) subsidised health insurance.

    Alun Cairns

    No staff in the Wales Office receive these allowances.

  • Lord MacKenzie of Culkein – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord MacKenzie of Culkein – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord MacKenzie of Culkein on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 22 October 2015 (HL2638), whether the study into the remuneration package for officers has been completed, and if so, whether they will publish the findings.

    Earl Howe

    The process of stakeholder engagement to support the study into the remuneration package for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and wider Royal Naval engineering officers is complete. The study report is now being finalised. Once the report is accepted, consideration will be given to its publication, in part or in full.

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to control the live exports of horses from the UK that are falsely declared to be exported for leisure purposes but where the true intention is for slaughter and human consumption.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Government is aware of concerns about horse exports and has been working closely with welfare charities on this issue and in particular on improving intelligence gathering. When reports are received by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) that horses are being exported other than for the declared purpose, or are being inappropriately transported, APHA will investigate and will take appropriate enforcement action. This may include suspending transporters.

  • Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what treatments are commissioned by specialist centres for severe asthma.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England commissions severe asthma services in line with national specifications to ensure that patient numbers are sufficient to support safe, quality service provision. It is revising the severe asthma service specification which is expected to be published later in 2016.

    Nationally there are 27 trusts that have identified themselves as providing severe asthma services.

    NHS England does not specify travel distances for patients attending treatment for severe asthma.