Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Mike Freer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mike Freer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Freer on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what mechanisms are in place to monitor the use of HIV innovation funding; and when he plans to (a) conduct and (b) publish his review of the projects that have received such funding.

    Jane Ellison

    In November 2015, the HIV Prevention Innovation fund announced one year’s funding for seven projects led by voluntary sector organisations. Project funding included an allocation for monitoring and evaluation of their activities and projects have been asked to submit regular monitoring reports to Public Health England. Projects will be asked to report the outcome of their work at the end of their contract. These results will be combined into a single report, which will draw out and highlight important learning from all projects, to be presented and published before the end of the 2016/17 financial year.

  • Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are their plans to strengthen UK contributions of military, police and civilian personnel both in operational activities and at headquarters level of the UN.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Strategic Security and Defence Review sets out the Government’s plan to: double the number of military personnel the UK contribute to UN peacekeeping operations; increase UK law enforcement and civilian experts on UN peace operations and in UN headquarters; and continue to train international peacekeepers.

    We are working with the UN to finalise the new military deployments announced in September 2015 by the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon. Member for Witney (Mr Cameron). The UK will deploy up to 70 personnel to UN peacekeeping operations in Somalia, and 250-300 to the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan. We will continue to identify and offer policing expertise where UK skills match UN missions’ requirements, with the objective of steadily increasing the number of officers the UK deploys. We will also continue to support British candidates for senior positions in the UN, and deploy civilian staff with relevant expertise to key roles in UN missions and at UN headquarters.

  • William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Cash on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions she has had with (a) OFGEM and (b) the National Grid on encouraging the construction of new combined cycle gas turbine power stations.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Ministers and officials are in regular contact with OFGEM and National Grid including in relation to the prospects for new gas power stations.

  • Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many coroners’ reports in the last five years have cited over-prescribing by online pharmacies as a (a) cause and (b) contributory cause of death; and what action the Government has taken as a result of those reports.

    Caroline Dinenage

    Until 31 March 2013 the Ministry of Justice published twice yearly updates on coroners’ reports to prevent future deaths. The relevant information can be found in the links below to the four reports which cover the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2013:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summary-of-reports-and-responses-under-rule-43-of-the-coroners-rules

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summary-of-reports-and-responses-under-rule-43-of-the-coroners-rules–10

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summary-of-reports-and-responses-under-rule-43-of-the-coroners-rules-1984

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summary-of-reports-and-responses-under-rule-43-of-the-coroners-rules–12

    Reports since 1 April 2013 are posted on the Chief Coroner’s website at https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/related-offices-and-bodies/office-chief-coroner/pfd-reports/

    Any review of the law relating to the operation of on-line prescribing would be the responsibility of the Department of Health.

  • Lord Willis of Knaresborough – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Willis of Knaresborough – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Willis of Knaresborough on 2016-09-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to make a decision about commencing recruitment of nursing students onto nursing associate programmes of study.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    In May 2016, the Government confirmed proposals to introduce a new nursing support role, a nursing associate. Health Education England (HEE) are in the process of establishing test sites to educate and train the new nursing associates, which will be confirmed in the autumn. Once the test sites are confirmed with health and care employers, HEE will recruit at least 1,000 nursing associates into training by the end of 2016.

    A draft Higher Degree Level Nurse Apprenticeship Standard has been submitted to the Department for Education for approval by the Nurse Apprenticeship Trailblazer Group. Trailblazer Group members are from a wide variety of health and care employers. Once the standard is approved, the Trailblazer Group will commence work on the associated assessment plan which will ensure employers and training providers are geared up to support the apprenticeship when it is ready to deliver.

  • Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have held with Vivarail, train operating companies, and Passenger Transport Executives on the potential use of D-trains (class 230), and for which areas or services.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The deployment of rolling stock is a matter for train operators.

    Department for Transport officials have met with Vivarail to understand their proposals for the refurbishment of D78-Stock. Along with other industry stakeholders, officials have visited Vivarail’s facilities at the Long Marston Depot.

    The Great Western Railway franchise includes a commitment for the operator to carry out initial feasibility studies in respect of a number of potential projects, and one of these is into the use of D-Class trains.

    Vivarail is a private sector company that has developed these proposals at its own risk.

  • Nicola Blackwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nicola Blackwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicola Blackwood on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much of her Department’s funding allocated in the Spending Review 2015 will be for research and development expenditure up to 2020.

    George Eustice

    Allocations for future years are currently being finalised as part of the Department’s business planning process. A breakdown of the funding allocated for research and development cannot be provided until this exercise is complete.

  • Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2016-01-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people of each gender work in his Department.

    Jane Ellison

    As at 31 December 2015, of the civil servants employed by the Department 1,180 were women and 838 were men. Their full-time equivalent numbers were 1,110 and 822 respectively.

    The Office for National Statistics produce annual and quarterly statistics for the whole of the Civil Service. The published figures include a gender distribution and a number of other demographics, for each Government Department and Executive Agency. These can be found at:

    http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pse/civil-service-statistics/index.html

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the duration of ambassadorial postings (a) where HM Ambassador is a speaker of the official language of the country to which he is posted (b) where HM Ambassador’s primary foreign language is not that of the country to which he is posted.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The majority of Heads of Mission have a tour length of three or four years, unless they are posted to a hardship or conflict post where the tour may be shorter. Around 100 Heads of Mission roles require language skills and are designated “speaker slots”.

    We offer language training to Heads of Mission where this is required. The FCO Language Centre was re-opened in September 2013 to renew the focus and investment in languages as a core diplomatic skill to ensure that we get the right people with the right skills in the right jobs to deliver our foreign policy objectives. The Language Centre gives us a strong platform to grow our language skills as an organisation and develop a pipeline of talent to fill language slots on a continuous basis. It is essential that all our Heads of Mission have the necessary skills, including languages, to do their jobs. Many of our Heads of Mission will return to Posts where they have existing language capability, in these cases we will provide top up or refresher training. Our Head of Mission Appointment Boards take into account language skills as part of the overall assessment of suitability for a role. In some cases the best candidate may not already speak the language and for these roles we will provide longer training to reach the requisite level. We encourage all those who have undergone language training to maintain their language skills throughout their careers.

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

    Andrew Murrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many community hospitals have closed in each year since 2005.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department does not hold this information.