Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Kate Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Kate Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has assessed the merits of updating the NHS data dictionary to include the 2011 census ethnic group classification, which includes gypsy or Irish traveller.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The NHS Equality and Diversity Council has an agenda to look at Data supporting equalities monitoring on the Equality Act 2010 ‘protected characteristics’, of which Ethnicity is one. A decision is pending on whether to adopt the Ethnicity values from the 2011 census within the National Health Service; currently the NHS standard is to use the 2001 values, which do not include gypsy or Irish traveller. Until this decision is made, and a change to existing data standards is brought through the Standardisation Committee for Care Information process, the NHS Data Dictionary values cannot be updated.

  • Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had about a national job profile for Hazardous Area Response Team paramedics.

    Jane Ellison

    Local lead Clinical Commissioning Group commissioners contract with providers to deliver a Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) service compliant with the national specification. Banding and pay arrangements are not specified within the national HART service specification. NHS England, as advised by the National Ambulance Resilience Unit deems this to be a matter for employing trusts and their lead commissioners.

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of eligible early service leavers have participated in the Early Service Leaver Programme of the Careers Transition Partnership in each year since 2010.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Future Horizons Programme (FHP) for Early Service Leavers was introduced on 1 October 2013. Between 1 October 2013 and 31 March 2014 33% of eligible personnel participated in the FHP. During 2014-15 62% of eligible personnel participated in the FHP. Data prior to this date is not held as there was no requirement to collate this information prior to October 2013. However all Early Service Leavers prior to October 2013 were entitled to unit level support as part of standard Ministry of Defence policy.

  • Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to bring into force section 165 of the Equality Act 2010.

    Andrew Jones

    The Government is considering how best to address problems wheelchair users face when using taxis and private hire vehicles, including the possible commencement of Sections 165 and 167 of the Equality Act 2010.

    Both taxis and private hire vehicles are a particularly valuable form of transport for disabled people. We would strongly encourage all taxi and private hire vehicle drivers to assist wheelchair users, wherever possible, and would also strongly discourage the practice of making additional charges to assist a disabled passenger.

    Notwithstanding the status of section 165 of the Equality Act, disabled taxi and private hire vehicle passengers are protected from discrimination under the general provisions of the Act which prohibit any form of discrimination in the provision of good and services.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect on universities of their financial liability for international students overstaying their visas.

    James Brokenshire

    There has been no assessment made as the Home Office currently places no direct financial penalties on sponsors whose students overstay their visa.

    Our system of sponsorship is based on two basic principles; those who benefit most directly from migration (including universities that bring in migrants) help to prevent the system being abused; and those applying to come to the UK to study are eligible to do so and a reputable education provider genuinely wishes to take them on. The ability to recruit international students is not an automatic right, but a privilege. It is right, therefore, that sponsors check that a student is genuine and that they intend to leave the UK, or switch into work route, once their visa has expired before offering them a place. Making sure that, at the end of their visa, students leave the UK at the end of their visa or remain here legally is just as important a part of running a fair and efficient immigration system as controlling who comes here in the first place.

    The Government has made clear our intention to use the introduction of exit checks to place more responsibility on sponsors for migrants who overstay. We are currently considering how to best deliver this commitment.

  • Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much money accrued to the public purse at the time of rail privatisation from land sold by British Rail to private freight companies.

    Claire Perry

    British Rail did not sell land directly to private freight companies but transferred land to the different freight entities within its own operations in advance of the sale of the freight business. It would no longer be possible at this point to extrapolate the land value from the company value.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that workers are not financially worse off as a result of the recent increase in the minimum wage.

    Nick Boles

    On current Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts a full-time National Minimum Wage (NMW) worker will earn over £4,200 more by 2020 from the National Living Wage (NLW) in cash terms. 2.9m low wage workers are expected to benefit directly, and up to 6m in total could see their pay rise as a result of a ripple effect up the earnings distribution.

    What is allowed to be deducted from a salary is tightly controlled. The Government enforces this robustly, and is bolstering its resources to bear down on non-compliance through further increasing HMRC’s NMW/NLW enforcement budget for 2016/17.

    Employers can choose to set and change the overall, wider remuneration level as long as they are paying at or above the NMW / NLW minima, but they will also need to consider whether that package, overall, remains competitive to retain and develop the people and talent they need for their businesses.

    The Government has also taken measures to support businesses. First, from April 2016, the Government has increased the employment allowance from £2,000 to £3,000 from April 2016. We are also cutting corporation tax from 20% to 17% by the end of the Parliament, which will benefit over a million firms of all sizes and give the UK the lowest rate of corporation tax in the G20. The cuts since 2010 will be worth almost £15bn a year to businesses by the end of Parliament. Furthermore, the Government is cutting the burden of business rates by £6.7 billion over the next 5 years.

  • 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 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the most recent National Diet and Nutrition Survey data is being used in the development of the Childhood Obesity Strategy.

    Jane Ellison

    The Childhood Obesity Strategy will draw from a range of the latest data and evidence, including from Public Health England and other partners.

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

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps are being taken to address understaffing at the East Midlands Ambulance Service.

    Ben Gummer

    NHS Improvement advises that East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust has made good progress in implementing its recruitment plan for frontline staff. During 2015/16, the Trust recruited and educated 350 whole time equivalent frontline staff, against a recruitment plan target of 342. However, the Trust experienced a higher level of staff turnover than expected (11% against a target of 8%).

    The Trust is addressing this through a number of initiatives, including the introduction of the role of technician, an intermediate qualified role between emergency care assistant and paramedic. It has agreed a funded education and career progression route in partnership with Health Education England (East Midlands) to support existing technicians to become registered paramedics. A three-year contract will support 48 Trust technicians in 2016/17 with further cohorts commencing in 2017/18 and 2018/19.

  • Jessica Morden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jessica Morden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jessica Morden on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average length of time taken was to respond to email enquiries by the Security Industry Authority in each month since January 2016.

    Brandon Lewis

    The average time taken to respond to electronic (e-mail or online) enquiries is unavailable in the format requested prior to July 2016.

    From July 2016, the Security Industry Authority began using a new IT system, which has enabled it to produce a range of metrics. The average time taken to respond to electronic enquiries in July and August was 7 days against their service standard of 10 days.