Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government’s policy is on the proposal from the French government to convene a conference on the Israel-Palestine peace process.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are in close contact with the French about the proposed conference in Paris next month. We share the frustration at the lack of progress in the Middle East Peace Process. We believe that peace will ultimately only come through negotiations between the parties. Regional players, the EU and the Quartet can play a role in supporting progress.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effects on public health of changes in the number of paramedics employed by the London Ambulance Service.

    Ben Gummer

    We are advised by London Ambulance Service NHS Trust (LAS) that during 2015/16 it recruited 717 frontline staff. In doing so, LAS achieved its recruitment target and filled all its available frontline posts.

    We understand that LAS has put in place a number of measures to help it support and retain staff. These measures include updating the vehicle fleet and re-launching the trust’s learning and development function. LAS has also established a new clinical team leader role, with 50% of the role devoted to supporting staff.

    Demand on the service has increased significantly over the past five years. During March 2016, demand was the highest on record for patients with serious and life threatening illnesses. LAS continues to work to improve services for patients by focusing on reducing demand, recruiting more staff and supporting staff to work more efficiently.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that energy costs are competitive to support manufacturing industries.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The Government is working hard to ensure energy costs are not a barrier to growth and investment in the UK.

    We have put in place a package of measures to alleviate the impact of electricity policy costs passed through in energy intensive businesses electricity bills. Due to this action, by 2020, this Government will have reduced the impacts of energy and climate change policies passed through in energy bills for the most energy intensive businesses by 80%.

    To date, we have paid 105 companies including nine steel companies a total of £294m to address these costs. A number of energy intensive sectors are also exempted from the costs of the Climate Change Levy.

    Additionally the Government is working closely with eight key energy intensive sectors to support energy efficiency and decarbonisation measures to help reduce energy costs, improve their competitiveness and cut emissions.

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

    Baroness Blood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Blood on 2016-10-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the most recent meetings they have had with the Association of Port Health Authorities.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Food Standards Agency (FSA) can confirm since June 2016, FSA officials have met for discussions with Port Health Authority officials from the following ports:

    – Belfast

    – Felixstowe

    – Southampton

    – Gatwick

    – Doncaster

    – Heathrow

    An official from the FSA will provide a presentation on imports and exports policy at the Association of Port Health Authorities (APHA) annual general meeting on Wednesday 30th November 2016. At the meeting, APHA members will be encouraged to provide their thoughts and views on the future work of Port Health Authorities in the United Kingdom.

    A number of large UK ports are no longer members of APHA. These ports have formed another group which hold regular (quarterly) ‘Major Ports Forum’ meetings. The FSA, The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and The Animal and Plant Health Agency actively participate in all of these meetings.

    The Government will continue to collaborate with Port Health Authorities going forward to ensure impacts on Port Health Authorities are fully considered in any policy making decisions.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of people diagnosed with cancer in each of the last five years were diagnosed as a result of attending (a) A&E departments, (b) a GP appointment and (c) a consultant appointment.

    Jane Ellison

    The proportion of people diagnosed between 2006 and 2010 in England (a) as an emergency presentation was 23%, (b) from a general practitioner (GP) referral (including referrals made via the Two Week Wait (TWW) Pathway) was 54% and (c) by a consultant appointment (other outpatient or inpatient elective) was 13%.

    The latest published data is available for 2006 to 2010 from Public Health England’s National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN), with an update to these figures taking data up to 2013 being due for publication shortly.

    The breakdown by year is shown in the table below:

    Year

    Route

    GP – GP referrals and TWW referrals

    Consultant (other outpatient and inpatient elective)

    Emergency presentation

    2006

    52%

    14%

    24%

    2007

    53%

    13%

    23%

    2008

    54%

    13%

    23%

    2009

    55%

    13%

    22%

    2010

    57%

    12%

    22%

    2006-2010

    54%

    13%

    23%

    Source: http://www.ncin.org.uk/publications/routes_to_diagnosis.

    Notes: A consultant appointment is defined as the proportion diagnosed through the other outpatient and inpatient elective routes.

    The emergency presentation route combines all types of emergency referral – around 6 out of 10 of these are from the A&E department and 3 out of 10 are emergency referrals made by a GP. More information can be found http://www.ncin.org.uk/view?rid=2174 with more detail on the breakdown of the emergency presentation route.

    “

  • Jake Berry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jake Berry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much it cost his Department to send out winter fuel allowance payments in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information is not readily available and could only be provided at a disproportional cost.

  • Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the economic effect of delays to rail services into London Victoria from the Sussex coast in the last 12 months.

    Claire Perry

    No estimate has been made, though officials are considering how to do so.

    Customers on this part of the rail network haven’t always received the service they deserve. When we awarded the franchise through our robust competitive process we bought a plan to deliver a high quality service for passengers which will deliver more services, more capacity and three new fleets of trains on the Govia Thameslink Railway. None of this comes without short term challenges as a result of this significant four year programme of transformation. We believe that this plan alongside the Government’s investment in the Thameslink programme will deliver the improvements passengers deserve.

    I am concerned about ensuring passengers receive the best possible service during the present crucial works on this part of the rail network. Shortly after the election I set up the South East Quadrant Taskforce, which I continue to chair. This group, which includes Network Rail and Govia Thameslink Railway, is absolutely committed to making improvements and, crucially, to making sure that rail customers see the benefits of these improvements.

  • Shabana Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Shabana Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has had discussions with the Indian authorities on the use of section 7 of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in the last 12 months.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The Armed Forces (Jammu & Kashmir) Special Power Act, 1990, has not been raised in bilateral discussions within the past 12 months. We are aware of concerns on the use of section 7 of the Act regarding immunity from prosecution. Any allegations of human rights abuses must be investigated thoroughly, promptly and transparently.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that the Afghan Minerals Law includes the strongest possible measures to strengthen transparency and reduce the risk of corruption in the Afghan extractive sector.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK proposed changes to the Minerals Law as part of a review commissioned by the Afghan Ministry of Mines and Petroleum in 2015; and supported the incorporation of recommendations from donors and transparency organisations into amendments. The Mining Advisory Council is reviewing the amendments before submission to the Ministry of Justice.

  • 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 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the response of the government of China was to representations the Government made to it during the UK-China Human Rights Dialogues held in Beijing in April 2015 and in London in 2014 on human rights violations against Tibetans.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    I should like to refer my Hon. Friend the Member of East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) to my response to PQ35360.