Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 91 of the Budget 2016, what steps he is taking to respond to planned changes to his Resource DEL in 2019-20.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Budget sets out that the government will find a further £3.5 billion of savings from public spending in 2019-20, building on the plans set out at Spending Review 2015. To inform future spending decisions and the delivery of these savings, the government is launching an efficiency review. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, with the support of the Paymaster General, will lead this efficiency review, which will report in 2018. The Department for Culture Media and Sport will actively support this review.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of disabled people living in social housing who will be affected by the cap to local housing allowance.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information requested is not available. As such it is not possible to accurately estimate the number of disabled people living in social housing that will be affected by this policy in 2018.

  • Valerie Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Valerie Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what (a) oral and (b) written communication, guidance and information there has been between his Department and Health Education England on implementation of changes to junior doctors’ contracts and terms and conditions.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department communicates on a regular basis with Health Education England (HEE) on a wide range of issues including the implementation of the new contract for doctors and dentists in training.

    Departmental officials and I meet on a weekly basis to discuss the implementation of the new contract; the group includes representatives from NHS Employers, HEE and NHS Improvement.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received of Turkish members of parliament being verbally abused, physically assaulted and threatened with murder within the parliament of that country; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Government is aware of disturbances in the Turkish parliament which took place in the context of its decision to lift parliamentary immunities for MPs. We continue to stress that, as a modern democracy, we would expect Turkey, following the lifting of immunity, to undertake any subsequent legal processes transparently and fully respect the rule of law.

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the government of Kosovo on the extradition of Abbot Laurence Soper.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    My Officials have been in close contact with the Kosovo authorities about this case. Abbot Laurence Soper was deported from Kosovo to the UK on 21 August as he was in breach of his immigration status in Kosovo. He was arrested by the UK Police on his arrival, and is now in custody in the UK.

  • Harriet Harman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Harriet Harman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Harriet Harman on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the effect on the preparedness of complainants to report rape of the use of complainants’ previous sexual history in evidence in rape trials; and if she will make a statement.

    Sarah Newton

    This Government has made protecting women and girls from violence and supporting victims and survivors of sexual violence a key priority.

    The most recent Crime Statistics published on 20 October by the Office for National Statistics show that police recorded rape increased by 16% (to 36,438) in the year ending July 2016 compared with the previous year. The ONS state that the increases are believed to result from an improvement in the recording of sexual offences by the police and an increased willingness of victims to come forward and report these crimes to the police. In addition, the Crown Prosecution Service annual Violence Against Women and Girls Report, published in September 2016, shows the highest volumes ever recorded of charged defendants, prosecutions and convictions for rape.

    We welcome the fact that more victims of rape are coming forward and reporting these crimes to the police. Victims must have the confidence to report these crimes, knowing that they will get the support they need to go through the criminal justice process and that everything will be done to bring offenders to justice.

    Section 41 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 places a statutory restriction on introduction of evidence and questioning of complainants about their sexual history. Section 41 was introduced to protect complainants in proceedings for sexual offences, introducing a presumption that such evidence and questioning will only be allowed in exceptional circumstances.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what timetable his Department has set for drawing up contracts for new welfare to work schemes; and if he will make a statement.

    Priti Patel

    Now that the 2015 Spending Review is finalised, we are working on our Commercial Strategy for the welfare to work contracts.

    All procurement opportunities will be advertised in the normal manner via Contracts Finder.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that lower limb amputees are able to access microprocessor-controlled knees through the NHS via a specialised commissioning policy before June 2016.

    Alistair Burt

    The commissioning of prosthetics is the responsibility of NHS England as a specialised service. The rehabilitation and re-ablement of patients is provided at a local level by specialised Multi-Disciplinary Teams which should be consultant led. The NHS Standard Contract for Complex Disability Equipment – Prosthetics, sets out how the specialist centres should operate and the required level of prosthetic services to be delivered.

    A revised policy proposal for the routine commissioning of microprocessor controlled knees was considered by NHS England’s expert Clinical Priorities Advisory Group which recommended its adoption for routine commissioning. The proposal was then considered by NHS England’s Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group at its meeting on 9 December where it was agreed that NHS England would support this service development as a possible call on its resources. However given the potential scale of investment and the need to consider its priority relative to other treatments which would also have a possible call on the specialised commissioning resources, it was decided that the policy should go forward for consideration as part of NHS England’s next annual prioritisation round in June 2016.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2016 to Question 22034, whether he plans that any further investment will take place at RAF Northolt (a) on the proposed Engineered Material Arresting System and (b) otherwise until after the Government has responded to the Davies Commission on Aviation Capacity in the South East; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS) is being scoped as a military infrastructure requirement commensurate with safety cases for military aircraft operating at RAF Northolt and the associated military aerodrome design standards utilised at the Station. I am withholding estimated costs for the EMAS project as it is at the pre-tender stage and disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice commercial interests.

    The Mott McDonald report has no opinion or relevance against the military aerodrome design criteria and safety cases in place at the Station or the current operation of RAF Northolt. Any infrastructure investment for military operational requirements will continue to be undertaken as necessary to support military and Government outputs.

  • Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if the Government will bring forward proposals to review the needs-based formula for local government.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    By the end of this Parliament, local authorities will fund local services from their local taxes, including £26 billion raised from business rates.

    We have announced that we will conduct a review of what the needs assessment formula should be in a world in which all local government spending is funded by local resources not central grant, and use it to determine the transition to 100% business rates retention. We will develop this approach in partnership with local government.