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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Kinnock on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the reasons are for the government policy not to support the progress of the European Commission’s proposed reforms to (a) trade and defence instruments and (b) the lesser duty rule.

    Anna Soubry

    The UK fully supports modernisation of the European Union’s/Commission’s trade defence instruments but believes that effective trade defence measures should be proportionate, not protectionist, and set tariffs only as high as necessary to remove the injury inflicted on EU industry without being punitive, which would hurt users of products, including downstream manufacturers, and consumers.

    The Government’s response to the Commission’s public consultation on the modernisation of trade defence instruments (TDI), in June 2012, stated:

    “The strongly held UK view is that the EU’s use of the lesser duty rule is one of the elements of the TDI regime which contributes to its being recognised as one of the most progressive global trade defence systems. Furthermore, it enhances the economic coherence of European TD actions as imposing tariffs no higher than that level needed to offset the injury caused by dumping / subsidy is entirely consistent with restoring fair competition. We have fully supported the Commission’s efforts to encourage FTA partners to adopt the lesser duty rule in their regimes. It would be a retrograde step to remove its position as a central part of the EU regime (2.3.3).”

  • Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teaching assistants who speak a language other than English to a native level of proficiency have a specific responsibility to provide support to pupils whose first language is not English.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department does not hold data on languages spoken by Teaching Assistants.

    The deployment of Teaching Assistants, including any responsibilities for supporting pupils whose first language is not English, is a matter for schools to decide.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on which organisations have offered mental health support to veterans in (a) England, (b) Merseyside and (c) Liverpool in each year since 2010.

    Mark Lancaster

    In the UK, primary responsibility for the provision of healthcare, including mental healthcare, for veterans rests with the NHS in England and the Devolved Administrations. Funding of mental healthcare for veterans is a matter for the NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups in England and their equivalents in the Devolved Administrations. These bodies will hold information on the organisations providing mental healthcare to veterans in the UK.

    The Ministry of Defence provides advice, information and signposting to support services for veterans though its Veterans UK web pages and free telephone helpline service and we encourage veterans wishing to seek help with mental health problems to visit: www.gov.uk/mental-health-support-for-the-uk-armed-forces or call the 24-hour veterans’ mental health helpline on 0800 138 1619.

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

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

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the conclusions of the report led by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology published in Nature Communications on 16 August 2016, entitled Impacts of neonicotinoid use on long-term population change in wild bees in England; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    We consider new studies on neonicotinoids, including the recent study led by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, carefully, drawing on advice from the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides as well as from government experts. The Government remains committed to ensuring that pesticides are not authorised if the scientific evidence shows they pose unacceptable risks to the environment.

  • 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 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of a moratorium on the commissioning of new specialised mental health services on patient access to mental health care; and if he will make a statement.

    Nicola Blackwood

    NHS England is reviewing the provision of specialised beds for adult secure mental health services, tier 4 child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and perinatal mental health services. NHS England is expected to start a procurement process soon to ensure that the provision of mental health beds across the country supports improved access and care close to home where possible.

    Since 2013 NHS England has continued to commission additional specialised mental health beds to provide further capacity in areas where it is required. This has included 56 tier 4 CAMHS beds, seven perinatal mental health beds and two medium secure mental health services beds.

    The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health made recommendations for improving the commissioning of inpatient specialised mental health services, including national commissioners working more closely with local commissioners to better meet the needs of local populations.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has held with the government of Nigeria on the situation in Biafra.

    James Duddridge

    The UK fully supports the territorial integrity of Nigeria and President Buhari’s commitment to work for a secure and prosperous Nigeria for all Nigerians. President Buhari has recently concluded the appointment of a new Government. We will continue to underline the importance of freedom of expression and acting in accordance with the rule of law with all parties, including the new Nigerian government.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the reasons in the discrepancy between the proportion of granted asylum claims which are made to people from Pakistan and the proportion of applicants under the detained fast-track procedure who are from that country.

    James Brokenshire

    The basis of an individual’s asylum claim is not recorded on Home Office systems. It is not therefore possible to differentiate Pakistani applicants claiming for reasons of religious persecution and discrimination from Pakistani applicants claiming for one or more other reasons in the Detained Fast Track (DFT) or the non-detained process.

    Certification under section 94 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 is not requested by an applicant. It is applied by the Secretary of State in circumstances where the applicant’s claim is refused and considered to be so lacking in merit as to be clearly unfounded.

    The number of initial certified refusals for Pakistan main asylum applicants, from year ending September 2013 to year ending September 2015, was 604. The Home Office publishes data on asylum applications and decisions on a quarterly and annual basis. The information supplied on certified refusals is based on initial decisions which do not necessarily relate to applications made in the same period.

    No assessment has been made of any difference that might exist between grant rates in respect of Pakistani applicants in the DFT process when it operated, and cases entering the non-detained process at the same time. However, as the DFT process avoided claims involving particular complexity and/or vulnerability, and prioritised cases which appeared to be late or opportunistic, it is to be expected that the DFT would have fewer grants than the non-detained process.

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-01-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make provision to apply fixed recoverable costs across the range of fast-track cases, and in the lower reaches of the multi-track, as recommended by the judiciary and referred to in the Lord Chief Justice’s Review of the Administration of Justice in the Courts of 2015.

    Lord Faulks

    The Government remains supportive of the principle of extending fixed recoverable costs and we continue to consider areas in which implementation might be appropriate and workable.

  • Andrew Murrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Andrew Murrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, on which dates (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have met with BT to discuss separating Openreach from its parent company.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    This is a matter for the independent telecoms regulator, Ofcom, who is currently reviewing the markets for digital communications in the UK and is due to report at the end of this month. Government has no role in this process.

  • Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many offenders have been sentenced and imprisoned in the UK after having been returned to the UK under a European Arrest Warrant.

    Lord Faulks

    This information is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

    The National Crime Agency publishes statistics on the operation of the European Arrest Warrant. These can be found on their website.