Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Chinese counterpart on religious freedom in Tibet; and whether he has received reports on expulsions of Buddhist students and the demolition of dwellings at the Larung Ghar Buddhist Institute in Sichuan province.

    Alok Sharma

    ​I refer my Hon. Friend to my answer of 18 October 2016 (PQ 48663). We are aware of, and concerned by, reports of the closure or demolition of churches and monasteries and that individuals are being harassed or detained for their beliefs across China. However, I am unable to comment in detail on the demolitions at Larung Gar, as British diplomats are not currently allowed to travel to the area, so my information is partial. Our Consulate General in Chongqing is seeking further information on the situation.

  • Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had about reducing the time taken by the Valuation Office Agency to consider rating assessment appeals.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Government is committed to delivering a quicker and more efficient business rates appeals system in England, so that businesses can be confident they are paying the right amount of business rates and any refunds can be paid quickly. Details of our proposals are set out in the consultation paper Check, Challenge, Appeal: Reforming Business Rates Appeals, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/reforming-business-rates-appeals-check-challenge-appeal. Enabling legislation is being taken forward in the Enterprise Bill.

    “

  • Helen Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Helen Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2015-12-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on its investigations into the operation of the Connaught Income Fund; and if he will make a statement.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Treasury Ministers have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

    Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

  • Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Will Quince on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to launch its consultation on amending the school admissions code to enable summer-born children to be admitted to reception class at the age of five.

    Nick Gibb

    Ministers have announced plans to change the admissions system to support the admission of siblings and of summer born children. Ministers are currently considering whether to make any additional changes to the admissions system alongside this.

    Any changes will be subject to a full public consultation and parliamentary scrutiny. The details of proposed changes and of the consultation will be announced in due course.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans she has to increase investment in home insulation.

    Andrea Leadsom

    We have made a commitment to insulate 1 million more homes this Parliament.

    We are providing support for households to improve their energy efficiency through a reformed domestic supplier obligation (ECO) from April 2017. This will run for five years, with a value of £640 million per year.

    Additionally, our Private Rented Sector Energy Efficiency Regulations made law from March 2015, will help up to 1 million domestic tenants in the private rented sector. This is expected to grow over time as people move from property to property.

  • 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 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February to Question 27441, if he will place in the Library the report received by the Civil Aviation Authority on the emergency landing of 25 January.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    In the UK it has long been the case that in order to contribute effectively to the improvement of flight safety, reportable occurrences in aviation are treated confidentially to maintain full and free reporting from the aviation community and to protect the identity of the individual.

    Occurrence reporting is now covered by (EU) Regulation No 376/2014. It requires that the reporting, analysis and follow-up to an occurrence pursuant to an ongoing CAA investigation remains confidential. For this reason, we are unable to place the report in the Commons Library.

    However, the Regulation does permit information to be released on request to interested parties that have a genuine safety related need for the information. An Application can be made at www.caa.co.uk

    “

  • Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2016-04-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the number of child benefit claims made for children living in each other EU member state in each of the last 10 years; and what the estimated cost to the public was of such claims.

    Damian Hinds

    Around 7m people are receiving Child Benefit. To extract and collate the value of all payments made to EU migrants for children living outside the UK in the format requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

    Information relating to the number of Child Benefit claims paid to families with children living overseas is available in the Government publication , “The best of both worlds: the United Kingdom’s special status in a reformed European Union”. This publication is available on Gov.uk

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-best-of-both-worlds-the-united-kingdoms-special-status-in-a-reformed-european-union

    The Government’s new settlement between the UK and the EU means that EU nationals whose children live abroad will ultimately receive Child Benefit at a rate that reflects the conditions – including the standard of living and child benefit paid – of the country where their child lives. This will restore fairness to the system.

    “

  • 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 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps with the Department of Education to introduce a counselling strategy for schools.

    Alistair Burt

    This is a matter for the Department for Education (DfE).

    Schools can play an important role in supporting pupils with mental health issues. We want them to decide how best to meet the needs of their pupils. DfE has taken a range of actions to help them build a whole-school approach to good mental wellbeing, including the recently revised and updated blueprint for effective school-based counselling. This provides practical, evidence-based advice, informed by experts on how to ensure school based counselling services achieve the best outcomes for all students, including vulnerable children and young people. The weblink to the guidance, Counselling in schools: a blueprint for the future – Departmental advice for school leaders and counsellors is:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/counselling-in-schools

    “

  • Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what contingency plans his Department has for the event of the closure of North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust’s emergency department.

    Ben Gummer

    NHS England is the responsible organisation for emergency planning and resilience in London. As such, it has well-established contingency plans in place which take effect in the event of emergency departments (EDs) having to temporarily reduce their scope of operations in order to ensure the best standards of patient care, our central concern.

    As the Rt. hon. Member is aware, following an unannounced inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) at North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust, the CQC issued a Warning Notice. The Warning Notice, published on 6 June 2016, requires the trust to significantly improve the treatment of patients attending its emergency department.

    The CQC is responsible for assessing whether the Trust is providing the right standard of care and ensuring that improvement plans meet the level of improvement required.

    NHS Improvement is working alongside NHS England and the local health and care system to ensure that the Trust has the resources it needs to ensure that patients receive safe, high quality care.

    We are informed by NHS Improvement that, in order to address the poor performance at the Trust’s ED, it has devised a plan titled Safer, Faster, Better. This is a whole system programme with the primary objective of improving performance, patient experience and outcomes for patients.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what impact assessment his Department has conducted on the potential cost of eliminating or reducing prescription charges for people with long-term medical conditions.

    David Mowat

    The Department receives numerous representations on prescription charges for people in England with long-term medical conditions. It is not possible to say how many of these were from clinical experts or health economists, though the independent Commission on the Future of Health and Social Care in England’s report, A new settlement for health and social care, published in 2014, did have health economist input. There have also been representations from the Prescription Charges Coalition, but it is not certain to what extent these were informed by clinical experts or health economists.

    Arrangements are in place to ensure that prescriptions are affordable for everyone, including those with a long-term condition. There are exemptions from the prescription charge for people with low income, including through receipt of specific benefits and through application to the NHS Low Income Scheme. For those who do not qualify for exemption, prescription prepayment certificates are also available, which allow people to claim as many prescriptions as they need for a set cost. To support those with high levels of need, the cost of the 12-month and 3-month certificates have been frozen since 2009 and 2011, respectively.

    The Department has not undertaken a formal impact assessment on the potential cost of eliminating or reducing prescription charges for people with long-term medical conditions. However, the Prescription Charges Review undertaken by Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, and published in 2010, estimated that extending exemption to all those with a long-term condition would lead to a loss in revenue of between £360 and £430 million.