Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what reports she has received from (a) the Metropolitan Police and (b) other police forces of delays in processing Disclosure and Barring Service applications; and if she will make a statement.

    Karen Bradley

    The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) provides a formal monthly performance report to the Home Office and Home Office Ministers. This includes updates on the performance of police forces in meeting the Service Level Agreement (SLA) standards for the time taken to complete local disclosure checks.

    The DBS monitors the performance of all police disclosure units and works closely with any force, including the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), not meeting its targets. An MPS Gold Group is overseeing the recovery plan in place at the MPS and Home Office officials maintain a close oversight of the progress being made by assessing weekly reports and through regular attendance at the Group.

    It is a priority of the MPS, DBS and the Home Office to see improvements as quickly as possible and I will continue to monitor the situation closely.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve (a) awareness training of staff, (b) support and advice for staff and (c) appropriate facilities and provisions for passengers relating to mental health in (i) airports and aviation sector, (ii) roads infrastructure, (iii) freight, (iv) taxis and (v) shipping and maritime.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department for Transport is preparing a revised Accessibility Action Plan (AAP).

    The AAP will set out how we aim to support all operators so they can improve the quality of the disability awareness training and the travel assistance they offer to meet the needs of passengers with mental health issues across all modes.

    We plan for the AAP to be ready for wider consultation in the summer and that it will be published by the end of the year.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what defence technology research and development programmes the Government is cooperating with other EU member states.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    As stated in National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 (Cmd 9161), as part of being international by design, we will participate in future international collaborative programmes in both the defence and security sectors where we have the right technology, skills and industrial capabilities, and where we can reduce our costs and share technology to mutual benefit, strengthening our defence relationships.

    We will work closely with, learn from and invest in joint research programmes with our allies and partners, many of whom are pursuing similar innovation initiatives. France has important technology programmes, especially in aerospace, maritime and space capabilities. We will also build on our important security relationships with partners, and with multilateral forums, including NATO.

  • Andrew Tyrie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andrew Tyrie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Tyrie on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of closing the Chichester Combined Court Centre and Chichester Magistrates’ Court on the work of (a) Chichester constabulary, (b) Chichester District Council and (c) other local services.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    All responses to the consultation were carefully considered before the decision was made to close the courts in Chichester. This included evaluating the impact on the police, the District Council and other local services. In recognition of the particular circumstances of court users in Chichester, the Combined Court Centre will not close until suitable local alternative provision is in place.

  • Karin Smyth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Karin Smyth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2016-06-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the higher education entry rate data, published in December 2015, what steps his Department is taking to increase the rate of entry to university from young people in (a) Bristol South constituency and (b) other areas that have a low rate of university entry.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone with the potential has the opportunity to benefit from higher education, irrespective of their background.

    In the last academic year we saw record entry rates to higher education, including among those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

    Since 2010, we have established a stronger framework, with increased responsibility placed on higher education institutions to widen participation. The Director of Fair Access has agreed 183 Access Agreements for 2016/17 containing an estimated £745m to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds – up from £404m in 2009/10.

    In addition, we will take steps through the Higher Education and Research Bill to widen access and participation further. This will include strengthening the system of access agreements, and introducing new transparency duties on higher education institutions. We have also asked Universities UK to form a Social Mobility Advisory Group to set out what further steps the higher education sector itself can take to promote social mobility.

  • MiDavies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    MiDavies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the use of air quality management areas by local authorities.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    Air quality has improved significantly in recent decades and we are working at local, national and international levels to continue those improvements. The UK currently meets legal limits for almost all pollutants; however, reducing levels for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) remains the most challenging.

    Local authorities (LAs) have opportunities to improve air quality for the protection of public health and the environment through decisions they make on land use planning, permitting, roads and air quality management areas (AQMAs).

    Across the UK, 259 LAs declared 715 AQMAs since 1999. Most AQMAs in the UK are in urban areas and have been established to address the contribution to air pollution from traffic emissions of NO2 or particulate matter (PM10). Details of the current AQMAs declared by LAs, broken down by region and pollutant, are set out in the table below.

    Region

    Total LAs

    Number of LAs with AQMAs

    For NO2

    For PM10

    For SO2

    England (outside London)

    294

    193

    497

    38

    6

    London

    33

    33

    33

    29

    0

    Scotland

    32

    14

    25

    21

    1

    Wales

    22

    10

    37

    1

    0

    N. Ireland

    11

    9

    20

    7

    0

    TOTAL

    393

    259

    612

    96

    7

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has made an estimate of the average time taken by NICE to evaluate new orphan and ultra-orphan therapies in the last three years; and what the average time taken from approval is to access those therapies for patients living with rare and ultra-rare conditions.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has advised that the average time it has taken to evaluate new orphan and ultra-orphan therapies under the highly specialised technologies (HST) programme to date has been 12-14 months. NICE published draft guidance (on average) 6-8 months into the process. NHS England has ensured access to treatments recommended by NICE through the HST programme is available to patients within three months of final guidance. NICE has also advised that its intention is to publish guidance within 4-6 months from marketing authorisation in the future.

  • Tim Loughton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tim Loughton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2015 to Question 8118, what the Atlantic coverage is of the Sentry airbourne warning MK1 aircraft.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The E-3D Sentry has a range of some 5,000 nautical miles with a mission endurance of some 11 hours. Both can be extended by air-to-air refuelling.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library a copy of the Civilian Manpower Capitation rates for 2015-16.

    Mark Lancaster

    I will place a copy of the 2015-16 Civilian Manpower Capitation Rates in the Library of the House, subject to the redaction of personal information. The 2015-16 rates will be available early in 2016, their compilation being determined by the timing of the relevant annual pay reviews.

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

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many highly specialised technologies are awaiting assessment by NHS England which were not selected for consideration by NICE’s highly specialised technology appraisal process.

    George Freeman

    NHS England is currently developing a refined process for the prioritisation of proposed new investments in specialised services and highly specialised services.

    The number of technologies to be routinely commissioned by NHS England will be determined by the new process.