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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government plans to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration; and whether it plans to encourage other states to endorse that Declaration.

    James Duddridge

    The intention of the Safe Schools Declaration is for countries to support the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military use During Armed Conflict.

    While we welcome the spirit of the initiative, we have concerns that the Guidelines do not mirror the exact language and content of International Humanitarian Law. We consider that the full implementation of International Humanitarian Law provides the best protection for civilians in all situations of armed conflict. The UK, along with the US, France, Australia and other countries, were therefore not able to sign the Safe Schools Declaration in Oslo in May 2015.

  • Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Clement-Jones on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on patients of the pause in listing new drugs accessible through the Cancer Drugs Fund introduced in June 2015.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We have made no such assessment.

    As part of its work to reprioritise the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) in 2015-16, NHS England took the decision not to consider new drugs for inclusion on the national CDF list.

    NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recently consulted on draft proposals for the future direction of the Fund. The consultation outlined a new system, fully integrated into the NICE appraisal process, where the CDF becomes a transitional fund – with clear criteria for entry and exit.

    Clinicians continue to be able to apply for cancer drugs not on the national CDF list through the Individual Cancer Drugs Funding Request procedure.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding the Government has allocated to cycling schemes in each year since 2010.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    In the five financial years from 2010/11 to 2014/15, the Department for Transport has provided: £63m to Cycling England, £94m to the Cycle Ambition Cities and National Parks fund, £30m to the Linking Communities/Cycle Rail fund, £12m to Links to Schools, £44m to Bikeability cycle training and £35m to the Cycle Safety fund. Between 2011 and 2015, the Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) also provided 28% of its budget, or £151m, to cycling projects. Overall between 2011 and 2015 funding was more than doubled compared to the previous administration.

    For 2015/16, a further £15m will be invested in Cycle Rail, £11m in Bikeability and £64.5m in LSTF projects; £15m was also invested in the second phase of the Cycle Ambition City programme. Looking forward, a further £99m will be invested in the Cycle Ambition Cities, £50m in Bikeability and £100m via the Road Investment Strategy.

    Long-term funding is also available for cycling from the Integrated Transport Block, Highways Maintenance Block, and the Local Growth Fund, where around £270m is already planned by Local Enterprise Partnerships for cycling infrastructure.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what criteria will be used to decide which 70 regions will be reached by the cultural citizens programme; and by what criteria the success of that programme will be judged.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Cultural Citizens Programme will be piloted from September 2016. As outlined in the Culture White Paper Annex 1 (measuring the impact), we will commission a bespoke evaluation of this pilot and the findings from this will determine how the programme will develop in subsequent years. The programme will operate in up to 70 areas across the country by the end of the third year, and will be focused in areas where cultural participation is lowest and where young people’s opportunities are likely to be more limited. We want everyone regardless of background to have the opportunity to experience culture.

  • Nusrat Ghani – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Nusrat Ghani – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nusrat Ghani on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Managing migratory flows in Calais: joint ministerial declaration on UK/French co-operation, published on 20 August 2015, what progress has been made on implementing the measures in that declaration to reinforce border security in northern France where the UK operates a juxtaposed border control.

    James Brokenshire

    The UK Government has invested tens of millions of pounds to reinforce border security through infrastructure improvements at the Juxtaposed ports, and continues to work closely with the French authorities at both political and operational levels. The vast majority of the security work identified in the Joint Declaration has been completed including the installation of 52 miles worth of critical security fencing, advanced anti-intrusion measures such as infra-red cameras, thermal detection cameras and floodlighting in key areas.

    In addition to this the UK has funded security guards and since June 2015 doubled Border Force contractor freight searching and dog detection capability at the juxtaposed controls. To help coordinate the law enforcement response from the UK and France a joint command and control centre has been established. The investment in security by the UK, the closer coordination of our law enforcement response and the significant investment in police resources by the French Government, has significantly improved the security situation in Northern France.

    The UK and France regularly review security at the ports to ensure the new measures are maintained and remain effective. Furthermore, at the UK-France summit in Amiens on 3 March, the Home Secretary announced that the UK will contribute £17 million over the next financial year to joint work with France to ease migrant pressures in the Calais region and further strengthen the UK border.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2016 to Question 40562, if his Department will publish details of which stakeholders it plans to engage with before publishing its response to the consultation on healthcare student funding.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The healthcare education funding reforms is a transformative policy with cross-cutting implications for both health and education sectors. Through agreed governance arrangements, the Department of Health, the Department for Education and HM Treasury have worked with health and education partners ahead of publishing the Government response.

    A list of respondents to the public consultation is included in the Government response published on 21 July 2016.

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the effects of food shortages in Malawi.

    James Wharton

    The humanitarian situation in Malawi is concerning. Some 6.5 million people are currently assessed to be in need of food security assistance. The UK has acted quickly, responding with a commitment of £35 million, a significant proportion of which is aimed at the food and nutrition response. This includes logistics support through the World Food Programme to enable the delivery of food to 4.75 million people, and cash transfers through an International Non-Governmental Organisations consortium to enable over 250,000 of the most vulnerable to purchase food. The UK has provided emergency nutrition support, including screening for over 1 million children, and treatment of 100,000 emergency cases. As well as this immediate support the UK is working closely with other key actors to identify and progress ways to break the cycle of food insecurity in Malawi.


  • Carol Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Carol Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research his Department has conducted on the disincentives to prescribing off-patent repurposed drugs.

    George Freeman

    The Department has conducted no such research. Current arrangements already allow off-patent drugs to be prescribed for new purposes where this is the most appropriate clinical treatment course for a patient. Prescribing decisions are a matter for the clinical judgement of the prescriber concerned.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2015 to Question 18555, whether he is consulting on what exemptions should apply to the cap on housing benefit for single under-35 claimants in social housing; and whether changes to the applications of that cap will be implemented through new regulations.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The existing exemptions that already apply to private rented sector tenants aged less than 35 will be carefully considered prior to implementing the Local Housing Allowance rate for similar tenants living in the social rented sector. Consultation forms a part of the policy development.

    This change will require legislative amendments.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Indian government on the case of Nick Dunn, Billy Irving, Ray Tindall, Paul Towers, John Armstrong and Nicholas Simpson.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    I refer the hon. Member my answer of 14 January to Parliamentary Question 21057.