Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of Crown immunity on the ability to bring legal action on liability for the infection of patients with contaminated NHS blood.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department’s assessment is that Crown immunity does not limit an individual’s right to redress via legal action. Crown immunity does not protect from civil suit, but only from criminal prosecution. Indeed, some affected persons did bring an action in 1988, which was settled out of court, without establishment of liability.

  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish an independent analysis of the economic forecasting record of the Office for Budget Responsibility, including an assessment of the accuracy of forecasting against free consensus expectations.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) already publish an assessment of the accuracy of their forecasts in their annual Forecast Evaluation Report (FER). This compares the latest outturn data for the economy and public finances with the OBR’s earlier forecasts, and aims to explain the differences. This assessment is required by the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act (BRNAA); this provides self-discipline for the OBR, and maintains transparency and accountability around their forecasting.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will direct the Rural Payments Agency not to make any bonus payments to its Chief Executive until payments to eligible farmers have been completed.

    George Eustice

    Senior Civil Servants (SCS) who are moderated as top performers at the end of the performance management year are eligible to receive a bonus payment.

    The performance management year for the SCS runs from 1 April to 31 March. Performance markings for 2015/16 will be determined by the end of May 2016. Only then will the eligibility of SCS for bonus payments be known.

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Report of the HS2 Residents’ Commissioner, published in May 2016, what steps his Department and HS2 Ltd have taken to introduce a newsletter for affected residents.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    In Euston, HS2 Ltd have committed to producing a quarterly newsletter, the first newsletter was circulated in May 2016 to over 21,000 homes in the Camden area. The newsletter includes information about HS2, project updates, highlights key milestones and publicises upcoming engagement activities.

    More widely HS2 Ltd plan to publish community newsletters across the Phase One route. The first series of these newsletters is scheduled for autumn 2016.

    Phase Two is at a much earlier stage of development and HS2 Ltd are working closely with existing community engagement forums to ensure people are kept update with the latest information. HS2 Ltd anticipate publishing a community newsletter following a route announcement.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-09-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the four points for urgent action in the International Rescue Committee situational brief of 5 September.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The IRC report outlines four areas for action. The Government response to each is as follows.

    On point one in the report, the Government has been clear that the UK will not be part of the European Union relocation scheme. We remain of the view that relocation schemes within Europe risk creating perverse incentives for people to put their lives into the hands of traffickers. The Government is supporting efforts at hotspots through the deployment of resources to Italy and Greece through the European Asylum Support Office. We are fully committed to the efficient and timely operation of the Dublin Regulation and we are working closely with the Greek authorities, to identify, assess and transfer those with family connections to the UK under the Dublin family reunion process.

    On point two, through our £70 million contribution to the Mediterranean Migration Crisis response, we are funding the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organisation for Migration, and other agencies and Non-Governmental Organisations, and have strongly encouraged them to ensure close coordination with the authorities, to together achieve improved accommodation for refugees and migrants. Our funds are also helping to provide alternative shelter options for vulnerable migrants.

    On point three, DFID is delivering a £10 million Refugee Children’s Fund for Europe which prioritises unaccompanied and separated children. The fund provides safe places for at risk children, data management to trace children to their families, and services such as counselling and legal advice. A new Women and Girls’ Fund for Europe will provide specialised protection services, responding to the risk of exploitation, violence and trafficking, including for children.

    On point four, the Government believes that resettlement programmes are best operated at the national level. Under the Syrian Vulnerable Person’s Resettlement Scheme, we have committed to resettle 20,000 Syrians by the end of this Parliament. In addition to this through the Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement scheme we will resettle 3,000 individuals from the Middle East and North Africa region over the same period, focusing on children at risk.

  • The Countess of Mar – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The Countess of Mar – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Countess of Mar on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to emerging evidence relating to the appropriate level of dietary sodium intake; what meetings Ministers have had with scientists and others about that issue; and what representations they have received regarding dietary sodium intake.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The evidence base relating to dietary sodium intake was extensively reviewed in the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition’s (SACN) report ‘Salt and Health’, published in 2003. In reviewing the evidence, SACN noted that the greatest benefits were likely to be achieved by taking a population approach to reducing salt intakes rather than through individual targeted advice. SACN continues to monitor average salt intakes through a programme of dietary survey work.

    New voluntary salt reduction targets have been developed for 76 specific food groups that contribute most to people’s salt intakes and major retailers, manufacturers and caterers are working to meet these targets by December 2017.

    SACN has also reviewed the evidence around the impact of low sodium intakes. It found no basis for changing the existing recommendation for a target reduction in average salt intake to 6 grammes per day for the adult population, equivalent to an average reduction of 2.4 grammes per day of sodium.

    SACN’s ‘Salt and Health’ report is attached and can be found at:

    www.gov.uk/government/publications/sacn-salt-and-health-report

    Baroness Masham of Ilton has recently asked three questions about dietary sodium intake. Further representations have been received from the Salt Association. Ministers have not met with scientists and others about this issue.

    “

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward plans to monitor the effectiveness of how the Homelessness Protection Grant is spent.

    Greg Hands

    Since 2010, local councils have had more flexibility over how they spend the money they receive from central government. It is up to individual authorities to decide how grant funding should be spent in order to deliver local services. To ensure that councils have the necessary skills to do this, the Government supported the establishment of the National Practitioner Support Service’s ‘Gold Standard’ programme to help improve the effectiveness of local authority homelessness prevention services.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases were referred to the National Referral Mechanism as potential victims of trafficking for domestic servitude in each year since 2009; and how many such cases had a (a) positive reasonable grounds decision and (b) positive conclusive grounds decision.

    Karen Bradley

    Statistics relating to the National Referral Mechanism are published quarterly by the National Crime Agency in their “Human Trafficking: National Referral Mechanism Statistics” report, which includes information on exploitation type and decision outcomes. These can be found here:

    http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/national-referral-mechanism-statistics

    Data prior to April 2012 is held for internal use but has not been validated for publication.

  • Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-01-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of functional areas of the existing HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) IT Aspire contract for which any HMRC plan to create a GoCo capability would not require TUPE transfers of staff.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has reviewed a number of options when considering the transition from Aspire. Due to commercial confidentiality, the Department is not in a position to give more details of its plans at this stage. HMRC’s ultimate aim is an operating model that has the right mix of technology, processes and skills, delivered in a multi-sourced model.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the government of Romania about the activities of (a) Central Media Enterprise, (b) Adrian Sârbu and (c) Ronald Lauder in (i) 1995 to 1999, (ii) 2000 to 2010 and (iii) 2011 to 2015.

    Mr David Lidington

    I refer the hon. Member to my previous answers of 14 December 2015 (PQ 18601) and 17 December 2015 (PQ 19436). The information requested in the years prior to 2011 is not held centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.