Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • 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 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme outcomes for the BAME population.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England (NHSE) monitors clinical commissioning groups’ (CCGs) performance against the recovery target for people who have received psychological therapies through the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme. In October 2015, 77 CCGs met the 50% Recovery Standard.

    The Department is working closely with NHSE to reduce the variation in recovery rates across CCG areas.

    NHSE is also supporting lowest performing IAPT providers to improve their recovery rates and is offering workshops to spread good practice to all commissioners and providers.

    The Government is aware of evidence that shows that people from Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities are less likely to use psychological therapies. There is ongoing activity by NHSE in collaboration with the Department to encourage access to IAPT services by the under-represented groups.

    A BAME benchmarking tool has been developed and is currently being piloted by a number of IAPT services. This will assist services to improve access to people from BAME communities by helping those services understand the ethnicity of the population and whether this is reflected within the population they see. It asks services to assess whether outcomes for BAME communities are equivalent to non-BAME patients whilst also checking whether improvements for access to people from BAME communities have been made and specific training for therapists have been utilised. Once pilots are complete NHS England will publish the benchmarking tool for all services to access.

    Equality of access is an issue for wider mental health services and that is why the Mental Health Partnership Board is considering the issues around equality of access in mental health services, which includes the IAPT programme.

    The Health and Social Care Information Centre publish referrals and outcomes data by ethnic groups. NHSE intends to compare those numbers with BAME prevalence population data to highlight referrals and access rates for ethnic groups at CCG level. CCGs are responsible for taking the necessary actions to address any disparity.

  • Tom Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Tom Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Elliott on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on energy security of the UK leaving the EU.

    Amber Rudd

    When it comes to ensuring our families and businesses have secure, affordable and clean energy supplies they can rely on, the UK is better off being in Europe. The UK is leading the way in shaping EU energy and climate policies that strengthen our energy security, benefit consumers and help us tackle global climate change.

    Being a leading member of the EU helps improve UK energy security by attracting foreign investment, promoting competition and facilitating efficient and reliable cross-border energy trade.

    Unless the UK is prepared to be an EU rule-taker, keeping in lock-step with evolving EU energy and low carbon rules without any say on them, being outside the EU would create real and growing risks to energy security, consumer bills, and competitiveness.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of barriers to humanitarian agencies reaching people in need in Yemen.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    Conflict is making humanitarian access within Yemen extremely difficult. Humanitarian agencies report that they are constrained in reaching areas of greatest humanitarian need and delivering assistance for a number of reasons including bureaucratic requirements imposed by the authorities, access challenges for international staff, insecurity in a number of districts, and a proliferation of checkpoints across the country.

    We continue to urge all parties to the conflict to take all reasonable steps to facilitate rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access. We work with trusted and impartial partners such as UN agencies and NGOs who have good access and a strong track record of delivering and monitoring assistance in difficult and dangerous places.

  • The Earl of Clancarty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The Earl of Clancarty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Clancarty on 2016-04-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have carried out research to ascertain the degree of awareness of small businesses about intellectual property rights.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) IP Awareness Survey was first conducted in 2006 and was rerun in 2010 and early 2015. The survey establishes a sense of understanding of IP and IP rights across all sizes of UK firms and all sectors of UK industry. The most recent survey contained 3 sections: an IP knowledge section which tested the respondent’s familiarity with IP, a management section which sought to discover how firms were administering IP within their organisation and a final section which focussed on where IP information and advice was sourced from.

    Key findings include:

    • 94% of respondents thought that it was important for businesses to understand how to protect their IP.
    • 52% of responding firms had protected some sort of IP (either through a single right or a combination).
    • 65% of respondents thought that confidentiality agreements are important to protecting their IP. This method of protection was the most popular.
    • The majority of surveyed firms have not been involved in a dispute around IP, (over 75%).
    • 96% of firms have not valued their IP.
    • 79% of firms did not know that telling people about an invention before applying for a patent could lead to an unsuccessful application.
    • 28% of firms check they are not infringing other people’s IP, the most popular IP management activity amongst respondents.
    • 20% of firms indicated that they license their IP, allowing others to use it for a fee.

    In addition to this formal piece of research the IPO routinely surveys businesses in the course of designing and delivering its business support and outreach activities. This is intended to help to monitor and assess the effectiveness of these activities to ensure they are fit for purpose and if necessary improve, develop and even cease them for alternative approaches.

    The IPO is using findings from its own and other business surveys to inform its approach to business outreach and the creation of IP advisory and support tools.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of workforce confidence in the safe operation of commercial helicopter transport in the North Sea oil and gas industry.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The UK’s independent safety regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) takes seriously concerns raised in the safe operation of commercial helicopter transport.

    The CAA currently leads the Offshore Helicopter Safety Action Group (OHSAG) which seeks to drive through safety improvements.

    The Group is represented across industry and includes pilot and workforce representatives from key organisations to facilitate dialogue between helicopter operators, workforce representatives, manufacturers and regulators.

    The OHSAG has made significant safety improvements, including prohibiting helicopter flights in the most severe sea conditions.

  • Margaret Hodge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Margaret Hodge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

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

    To ask the Attorney General, how many times the Law Officers’ Departments have used the services of (a) PwC, (b) Deloitte, (c) Ernst and Young, (d) KPMG and (e) other consulting firms in the last three financial years; and what (i) work was undertaken and (ii) the cost to the public purse was on each such occasion.

    Jeremy Wright

    The Government Legal Department (GLD) and the Attorney General’s Office have not procured any consultancy advice or support in the last three years.

    GLD has used two of the firms specified to provide support to litigation cases involving the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The table below shows the amount spent with PwC and KPMG.

    Supplier

    2013/14 Total Value (Net)

    2014/15 Total Value (Net)

    2015/16 Total Value (Net)

    PwC

    £1,187,975

    £1,221,674

    £603,938

    KPMG

    £241,920

    £308,576

    £208,364

    Over the past three financial years Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service (HCMPSI) has spent £47,440 on consultancy services to provide general advice and support to the Chief Inspector and £6,662 to assist with a review of the shape and size of HMCPSI.

    The table below sets out payments made for the past three financial years by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to the above firms and the reason for payment. None of these payments were for consultancy services. The SFO have engaged some other firms who provide consultancy services but in all cases this was for forensic accounting or expert witness services in support of our investigations rather than consultancy.

    Supplier

    2013/14 Total Value (Net)

    2014/15 Total Value (Net)

    2015/16 Total Value (Net)

    Deloitte

    –

    £8,732

    –

    PwC

    £12,500

    £1,259

    £8,262

    KPMG

    –

    £4,800

    –

    The Deloitte spending related to data recovery. PwC and Ernst & Young expenditure related to payment to an expert witness for an SFO case.

    The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has not incurred any expenditure with PwC, Ernst and Young or KPMG in the last three financial years.

    he CPS has incurred expenditure with Deloitte. However, records of each separate engagement are not maintained and the department is therefore unable to confirm the number of times Deloitte’s have been engaged.

    Central records of total CPS expenditure are maintained and expenditure with Deloitte’s for each of last financial years is shown in the table below.

    Deloitte LLP Milton Keynes

    Year

    £’s

    2013/14

    9,661

    2014/15

    20,952

    2015/16

    26,347

    Total

    56,960

    The payments relate to building works and associated services in respect of three offices the CPS has lease agreements on and where Deloitte’s act on behalf of the properties landlords.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many applications HM Revenue and Customs has processed under the NHS Widening Access Training Scheme for each year in which that Scheme has been active.

    Jane Ellison

    HM Revenue and Customs only hold records of the number of NHS applications under the widening access fund for the tax year 2013/14 onwards. As at 19 October a total of 16,762 applications have been processed as follows:

    Year

    Number of applications

    2013/14

    253

    2014/15

    1,116

    2015/16

    4,175

    2016/17

    11,218
  • Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to remind the government of Turkey of its undertakings contained in the Dolmabahçe Declaration of 27 February.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We welcomed previous steps taken by the Turkish government to take forward the Kurdish peace process, including through discussions with Abdullah Öcalan and his representatives. We understand that the Government of Turkey did not commit itself to specific undertakings following the talks at the Dolmabahçe Palace in February. We have been very clear that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) violence must end and that the peace process should be resumed, in the interests of Turkey and the wider region. The UK stands ready to help in any way it can.

  • Martyn Day – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Martyn Day – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what timetable the Government plans to follow for the proposed sale of its share in NATS.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government is currently committed to exploring the sale of its 49% shareholding in NATS and maximise returns to the taxpayer.

    We have not yet set a timetable for the sale.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many requests for arms export licences to Saudi Arabia (a) have been made, (b) were rejected by the Export Control Organisation (ECO), (c) were granted by the ECO and (d) were revoked after being granted in each year since 2009-10.

    Anna Soubry

    a) The number of Saudi Arabian arms export licences submitted for processing, per calendar year since 2009, is as follows:

    Year 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

    Number of Applications 118 148 143 158 161 167 203

    b-d) Information on arms export licences are published as Official Statistics in the quarterly and annual reports on Strategic Export Controls. These reports contain detailed information on export licences issued, refused or revoked, by destination, including the overall value, type (e.g. Military, Other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences. They are available to view at GOV.UK.

    The most recently published information covers the period until 30 June 2015. Information covering 1 July to 30 September 2015 will be published on 19 January 2016 and information covering 1 October to 31 December 2015 will be published on 19 April 2016.