Tag: Parliamentary Question

Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-04-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to act on the concerns raised by the National Audit Office in its 23 March report regarding the lack of transparency in spending by Local Enterprise Partnerships in order to ensure taxpayers get value for money.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Government welcomes the findings in the report and the helpful scrutiny of our approach. Section 151 officers from the accountable local authorities for each of the 39 Local Enterprise Partnerships have already written to the Department for Communities and Local Government confirming that their assurance frameworks adhere to our national standards, including on transparency. Government will continue to work with Local Enterprise Partnerships to ensure this system remains robust.

January 1, 2023
Lord Teverson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Teverson on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to ensure that the consumer energy storage market is properly regulated so that consumers are not miss-sold inappropriate systems, and to protect responsible manufacturers in the sector.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

DECC has provided funding for the development of a Good Practice Guide on Electrical Energy Storage, which was published in December 2014. DECC officials are also involved in ongoing discussions led by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and by the British Standards Institution (BSI) on technical guidance and standards for electrical energy storage systems. Independent, professional bodies, such as the IET and BSI, are well-placed to lead development of relevant technical guidelines or standards.

The BRE Trust, a charity dedicated to research and education in the built environment, has published this year the “BRE Solar Storage Consumer Guide” which provides guidance for domestic and small commercial consumers considering a battery system to work alongside an existing or new solar PV system.

DECC aims to level the playing field for the storage market, removing policy and regulatory barriers in the first instance. We will be publishing a call for evidence on a smart systems routemap, including storage, in the near future.

January 1, 2023
Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-07-20.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the consequences of the referendum result on (a) the British economy and (b) investment spending in the UK in 2016-17.

Mr David Gauke

While it is clear that we do now face a significant economic challenge as a result of the referendum decision, the UK economy is well placed to respond. HM Government is monitoring ongoing developments in the economy and the independent Office for Budget Responsibility will produce an updated economic forecast alongside the Autumn Statement 2016.

January 1, 2023

Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many young offenders under the age of 18 have been admitted to an adult mental health ward in each month since January 2014.

Dr Phillip Lee

We are committed to improving mental health treatment for young people in contact with the youth justice system. We are currently working with NHS England to develop a specific £24 million programme to address gaps in mental health provision for children and young people in contact with the justice system.

The information requested is as follows:

(1) Young offenders under the age of 18 (including those on remand) admitted to an adult mental health unit since January 2014

There was one such admission in November 2014.

(2) Young offenders under the age of 18 (including those on remand) admitted to a children’s or adolescent mental health unit since January 2014

The number of such admissions is set out in the table below:

Month of Admission	Number Admitted

January 2014	nil
February 2014	5
March 2014	5
April 2014	3
May 2014	1
June 2014	nil
July 2014	1
August 2014	nil
September 2014	2
October 2014	3
November 2014	1
December 2014	4

Month of Admission	Number Admitted

January 2015	2
February 2015	1
March 2015	1
April 2015	nil
May 2015	3
June 2015	4
July 2015	2
August 2015	1
September 2015	4
October 2015	2
November 2015	nil
December 2015	2

Month of Admission	Number Admitted

January 2016	nil
February 2016	nil
March 2016	1
April 2016	3
May 2016	3
June 2016	1
July 2016	2
August 2016	nil

Note 1 – the figures may represent individual offenders admitted more than once since January 2014.

Note 2 – these figures represent restricted patients only.

January 1, 2023

Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how the findings of its Innovation, Health and Wealth report, published in December 2011, were taken into account in the terms of reference of the Accelerated Access Review.

George Freeman

The Accelerated Access Review (AAR), chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor, will make recommendations to government on reforms to accelerate access for National Health Service patients to innovative medicines and medical technologies making our country the best place in the world to design, develop and deploy these products. The terms of the reference for the review focus on faster access to innovations, which may include certain off-patent repurposed drugs, as opposed to the routine availability of medicines or medical technologies.

Prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR, the Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS including the Innovation, Health and Wealth report. As a result, building upon the lessons of previous reviews is explicit with the terms of reference of the AAR.

The AAR has regular meetings with senior officials from NHS England via a steering group as recommendations are being developed. In addition, some staff from NHS England have been assigned to support the review team.

Sir Hugh is still in the process of developing final recommendations which will be published in spring 2016. In his Interim Report published in October, Sir Hugh sets out a proposition on “galvanising the NHS”. This involves supporting the NHS to adopt innovation, more rapidly through better practical support, stronger incentives and the potential streamlining of local structures.

The Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR. It was clear that whilst progress has been made on the uptake of innovation in the NHS there is still much to do. Sir Hugh and the head of the External Advisory Group, Professor Sir John Bell, set out the case for uptake of innovation in the recently published AAR Interim Report.

The AAR has senior level contact with officials working on Lord Carter’s review of NHS efficiency to ensure that information is shared between the two teams.

January 1, 2023
Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-12-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the extent aid agencies, including both UN and voluntary organisations, are working in the Greek islands nearest to Turkey; and whether they plan to encourage those agencies to do further work.

Baroness Verma

Meeting the humanitarian needs of the huge numbers of refugees arriving in Greece this year is a major challenge. The UK has so far provided £4.5 million to trusted partners working in Greece in support of the Greek authorities. With our funding, the Red Cross is providing assistance and emergency first aid to refugees and migrants arriving on the beaches. We are also providing assistance through the International Organisation for Migration and UNHCR, who are delivering essential coordination, reception and registration support, direct physical assistance, and protection services for the most vulnerable people. UK support is also being delivered via a consortium of NGOs led by the Start Network, and via the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism, through which we have provided in-kind assistance of blankets, sleeping bags and tents.

The scale of the response by aid agencies has been impressive but we continue to push for greater coordination, both between agencies and with the Greek government. We are holding discussions with major agencies and NGOs to assess the best way to do this and to plan effectively for 2016. We remain committed to responding in the most effective and comprehensive manner. DFID officials have also recently travelled to Greece to assess the current situation on the ground and how to further scale up support. We will consider further support as needs emerge.

January 1, 2023
Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps his Department has taken to increase the number of bone marrow donors in the UK.

Jane Ellison

The Department has provided £19 million in additional funding to improve the provision of stem cells through the work of our delivery partners, NHS Blood and Transplant and Anthony Nolan since 2011. This funding has supported a range of developments including the targeted recruitment of young male donors. To date over 75,000 young male donors have been recruited and evidence shows that these donors are approximately six times more likely to be requested to donate.

January 1, 2023
Lord Scriven – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2016-02-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what role they are playing in the EU to ensure that the dumping of cut-priced subsidised steel is brought to an end.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The government is strongly in favour of effective trade defences to tackle unfair trade practices. We voted in favour of anti-dumping measures on steel products in July and November. We also supported the imposition of provisional anti-dumping measures on reinforcing bar in January, an investigation for which we lobbied the European Commission successfully, and on cold-rolled flat steel products in February. We share the steel industry’s concerns about the level of duties imposed in both cases, and we are pressing the Commission to reconsider this. We also welcomed the opening of three new anti-dumping investigations in February.

The government is also pushing the Commission for faster, more effective action to deal with dumping of steel. This was one of the conclusions of the Extraordinary Competitiveness Council on Steel in November, a meeting which my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills was instrumental in convening. In advance of the European Commission’s energy-intensive industry stakeholder’s summit on 15 February – another key action from the Competitiveness Council – the government and several other EU Member States sent a joint letter to the Commission, pressing it to make full and timely use of all trade defence instruments to tackle unfair trade. My Rt Hon Friend the Minister of State for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise played an active role at this summit. My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has also raised these issues in discussions with Trade Commissioner Malmström, most recently on 25 February. I reiterated the need for faster and more effective action on dumping at the Competitiveness Council held on 29^th February and the Presidency conclusions of that Council reflected this message.

The government is also supporting a robust discussion of the issue of overcapacity through the EU’s ongoing dialogue with the Chinese and other governments.

January 1, 2023
Lord Chadlington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chadlington on 2016-03-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the UK Chief Medical Officers’ alcohol guidelines review, what steps they are taking to educate young people about the dangers of drinking.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Public Health England’s Rise Above social marketing programme aims to reduce the uptake of risky behaviours, including alcohol consumption, by young people aged 11-16. It teaches them the skills required to make better decisions in ‘risky’ situations to delay and prevent them from engaging in exploratory behaviours.

Talk to FRANK is a web-based information service that explains the effects and risks of excessive alcohol consumption. It also provides a help service via phone, text, live chat and email for people who are concerned about their own or others’ alcohol consumption. Talk to FRANK is an independent Government funded programme.

The Government also commissions the Alcohol and Drug Education and Prevention Information Service to enable schools to understand and implement evidence-based approaches to preventing harmful alcohol use by children and young people.

In the new science curriculum, there are opportunities for young people to be taught about the dangers of drinking: for example, at key stage 2, pupils should be taught to “recognise the impact of diet, exercise, drugs and lifestyle on the way their bodies function”, or in biology at key stage 3, where pupils will learn about “the effects of recreational drugs (including substance misuse) on behaviour, health and life processes”.

January 1, 2023
Melanie Onn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-04-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assistance his Department provides for domestic violence victims unable to provide documentation and information on previous tenancies to help them secure new tenancies.

Mr Marcus Jones

Victims of domestic abuse who are staying in a refuge or hostel are exempt from the Right to Rent scheme checks. Those not in a hostel or refuge can also use a number of less standard documents to prove their right to rent.

Domestic abuse is a devastating crime and we are determined to ensure that no one is turned away from the support they need. In the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy published on 8 March, we set out our ambition to improve services for women suffering from domestic abuse, committing to a new Statement of Expectations to set out for the first time what we expect from local areas. To support this, we are launching a new two year fund for refuges and other forms of accommodation based support and to help local areas take the steps they need to meet the National Statement.

In last year’s Spending Review we secured new, dedicated funding of £40 million to support victims of domestic abuse. This builds on the £3.5 million funding in 2015/16 and is on top of the £10 million funding to strengthen the provision of safe accommodation in the last spending review period. Since 2003, the Government has provided funding to UKRefugesOnline to help victims of domestic abuse access the help and support they need.

There are a number of accommodation options for victims of domestic abuse. The Homelessness Code of Guidance for local authorities outlines the type of housing related and other support services that might be required. When making decisions, local authorities should sensitively consider which are the most appropriate options for each person on a case by case basis taking account of their individual needs.

January 1, 2023