Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Prime Minister’s Oral Statement of 22 February 2016, Official Report, column 35, on the European Council, whether his Department is undertaking planning in the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the EU referendum.

    Mr David Gauke

    At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government’s position, as set out by the Prime Minister to the House on 22 February, is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.

  • Louise Ellman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Louise Ellman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Ellman on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2015 to Question HL248, when Network Rail is expected to complete the impact assessment of the European Rail Traffic Management System.

    Claire Perry

    Network Rail and Industry are evaluating the optimal deployment options for the European Rail Traffic Management System. These will be presented to the Department for Transport toward the end of 2016.

  • Baroness Featherstone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Featherstone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Featherstone on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the 10 year rule that is given as the reason that Lord Owen’s and Lord Jenkin of Roding’s ministerial papers in regard to contaminated blood were destroyed.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We do not recognise that a ten year rule has been established for the destruction of records created by ministers. The Department works to the guidance published by The National Archives on the appraisal and selection of official records which are retained and transferred for permanent preservation.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent estimate she has made of the cost to the National Grid of the London Power Tunnels project; and how much of that cost is related to (a) civil engineering, (b) electrical engineering and (c) equipment.

    Andrea Leadsom

    National Grid has said that the overall cost of the project is around £1bn and while it is always difficult to breakdown costs simply into different engineering elements, they have estimated the following:

    Tunnels and associated mechanical and electrical work 50%

    High voltage cable procurement, installation and testing 15%

    Substation works (including civil ground works at these locations) 26%

    Land and required permissions 9%

    Ofgem is responsible for regulating National Grid, to ensure that the work they do represents value for money for consumers.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many slavery and trafficking prevention orders on sentencing have been (a) applied for and (b) made under section 14 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

    Karen Bradley

    16 Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Orders (STPOs) have been made on sentencing in the Crown Court under section 14 of the Modern Slavery Act. Data on the number of STPOs applied for on sentencing is not collated centrally. No STPOs have been applied for or made in the Magistrates’ Court.

    No slavery and trafficking prevention orders have been applied for or made on application under section 15 of the Modern Slavery Act in the Magistrates’ Court.

    Nine Slavery and Trafficking Risk Orders have been applied for on application to the Magistrates’ Court, of which three have been made. Of the remaining six, two were refused, one was withdrawn and three cases were adjourned.

    This data has been run specifically to answer this question and is not verified to the same standard as Official Statistics.

  • Lord Jopling – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House of Lords

    Lord Jopling – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House of Lords

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jopling on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Leader of the House what explanation she has received from the Ministry of Justice concerning its failure to answer by 9 September a Question for Written Answer that was asked on 20 July (HL1379).

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Evans of Bowes Park):

    I regularly stress to departments the importance of giving timely answers to Questions for Written Answer. My office immediately approach departments who have not responded to questions after 10 working days, and remain in contact with them until the questions are answered. This process has been followed in both of the cases to which the noble Lord refers.

    In the case of the Ministry of Justice question, I am informed that the delay related the process of transferring it to the right department for response. After discussion it was transferred to the Cabinet Office, who will provide a substantive answer by close of play this week. As regards the Department for Education questions, I am informed that the delay related to gathering complex data spanning a long period and the need to obtain clearance from across government. Both of the questions concerned have now been answered.

    Regarding timely replies more generally, I have recently written to the three departments with the greatest proportion of late responses in the last session and I regularly set out the House’s expectations as they apply to QWAs to my frontbench team. Notwithstanding the cases referenced above, I am pleased to say that the proportion of on-time responses from the Ministry of Justice rose from 74% of questions in 2014-15 to 87% in 2015-16; while the Department for Education answered well over 90% of questions on time in both sessions.

  • Lisa Cameron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lisa Cameron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Cameron on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the proportion of households in East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow constituency that have access to superfast broadband.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    UK Government has allocated £122 million for the two Scottish SuperfastBroadbandprojects, which focus on areas where commercial coverage does not exist or is not planned.

    DCMS estimates that commercial coverage will provide superfast broadband availability to 83% of premises inEast Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, and theDigital Scotland Superfast Broadband Programme will add a further 12% premises to the commercial coverage following completion of the first phase of the project.

    In addition the Government is supporting seven pilot projects to explore options for delivering superfast broadband services to the hardest to reach parts of the UK.

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Sarah Wollaston – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the planning protection for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty; and if he will make a statement.

    James Wharton

    The National Planning Policy Framework provides strong protection for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is for decision makers to apply that policy and related legislation. The local planning authorities have responsibility for determining planning applications and developing local plan policies in the first instance.

    The strong protection for these valued areas is supported by planning guidance. We keep this guidance under review to ensure it reflects up-to-date planning policy.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure former aircraft carrier personnel do not become deskilled before the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers come into active service.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Comprehensive training programmes, including embedding personnel with the US and French Navies, ensure that skills are retained and developed in support of the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers coming into service.

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps the East Midlands Strategic Clinical Network is taking to diagnose atrial fibrillation and prevent atrial fibrillation-related strokes.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England’s Sustainable Improvement Team, which has taken over the work of NHS Improving Quality, is taking action to promote the use of GRASP-AF (Guidance on Risk Assessment and Stroke Prevention for Atrial Fibrillation) within general practitioner (GP) practices in England. GRASP-AF is an audit tool developed by and trialled in the National Health Service, which greatly simplifies the process of identifying patients with AF who are not receiving the right management to help reduce their risk of stroke. The Sustainable Improvement Team is currently collaborating with partner organisations, including charities, to support the nationwide roll-out of GRASP-AF.

    To support this work, an analysis of the costs and benefits of using the anticoagulant drug warfarin to help prevent stroke in people with AF was recently published. A copy of this analysis is attached.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence also published a Quality Standard on AF in July 2015, which sets out what a high quality AF service should look like and will help drive improvement locally. A copy of this Quality Standard is attached.

    There is also a wealth of information available on the detection and management of people who have AF. The NHS Atlas of Variation includes such data and similarly Public Health England (working with stakeholders) has produced information for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to enable them to identify and encourage poorly performing areas to improve their detection and management of people with AF. The Atlas is an online tool and therefore it is not possible to attach a copy.

    These resources are available to Strategic Clinical Networks to help them with their work to improve the prevention and diagnosis of AF locally.

    AF related stroke prevention has been a significant area of focus for the East Midlands Cardiovascular Strategic Clinical Network in recent years. Actions include:

    – providing individual advice to CCGs in the area, supporting CCGs to implement AF training for GPs;

    – supporting CCGs to implement GRASP-AF;

    – developing a non-valvular AF anticoagulation algorithm which has informed updates to local AF guidelines;

    – developing an electronic clinical template for the diagnosis and management of AF; and

    – promoting the use of the warfarin patient safety audit tool.

    AF is also covered as in the National Cardiovascular Intelligence Network’s masterclass programme aimed at all NHS health professionals within CCGs, local authorities and clinical services with an interest in cardiovascular disease data tools and information.