Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • 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 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department last reviewed the arrangements at RAF Northolt on the safety of residents living under the flight path and nearby vicinity; and if he will make a statement.

    Mark Lancaster

    Military safety regulations mandate that a continual assessment of air safety risks are carried out. This provides not only internal assurance of operating procedures and air safety standards, but considers wider safety aspects such as the risks to individuals’ off-station.

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) actively manages air safety via this system, across all of its aerodromes, publishing any mitigated or permitted deviations via the individual stations’ Defence Aerodrome Manual.

    For MOD aerodromes that accept commercial/civilian flying activity, these processes have additional Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) oversight and assurance. Commercial operators are required to have similar safety management systems by the CAA, including those operating into RAF Northolt. The MOD and the CAA requires commercial operators to satisfy themselves that RAF Northolt is suitable for the safe operation of their particular aircraft.

  • Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if the Government will increase its political and economic support for the UN Human Rights Office in Bogota to increase the capacity of that office to observe the human rights situation in that country; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The UK is one of the top ten donors to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) giving £2.5m annually in global un-earmarked funding, in addition to our assessed voluntary contributions. We will also give another £1m in earmarked funding towards Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) and conflict prevention related work globally in 2016/17. I announced a contribution of £4.2m to the UN Post Conflict Trust Fund for Colombia and £1.1 for an EU Trust Fund. Both will be an important part of the multilateral effort once the peace deal is signed.

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the likely effect of the extension of right-to-buy and the sale of council properties on the total cost of housing benefit in each year to 2020.

    Brandon Lewis

    The voluntary Right to Buy will give 1.3 million housing association tenants the opportunity to purchase a home.

    For every home sold through the voluntary Right to Buy or the sale of higher value vacant housing, at least one additional home will be built and for every higher value property sold in London, two will be built, increasing overall supply.

  • Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department spent on renovations and repairs to Dover House in 2015-16.

    David Mundell

    The Scotland Office spend on renovations, repairs and maintenance to Dover House in 2015-16 was £660,715.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress his Department is making on the rationalisation of the NHS estate.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The National Health Service estate represents both one of its largest assets, critical in supporting high quality services for patients, as well as one of its largest elements of its running costs.

    As part of the Government’s wider public sector land programme, the Department is committed releasing surplus NHS land sufficient for delivering 26,000 houses by 2020 and raising £2 billion in receipts. The Department and the NHS have made good progress so far, having released land with capacity for over 3,000 homes by June 2016.

    The Department is also committed to driving improvements in the operational efficiency of the NHS estate. Lord Carter of Coles’ report, Operational Productivity and Performance in English NHS Acute Hospitals: Unwarranted Variations, published in February 2016, sets out how acute trusts can improve productivity and achieve efficiency savings, including through reducing the proportion of the hospital estate that is made up of non-clinical services, and reducing under-utilisation. It highlighted that annual savings of up to £1 billion by 2020-21 were achievable by reducing current variations in estates and facilities management running costs.

    The majority of the NHS estate is owned by individual NHS trusts and foundation trusts and it is for them to make decisions about their estate which best support their clinical priorities, in discussion with the commissioners of NHS services. This is part of the current process through which local NHS footprints are developing sustainability and transformation plans (STPs).

    The Department and other national health organisations are providing a range of support measures to the NHS in delivering on the surplus land ambition, in implementing Lord Carter’s recommendations and in delivering high quality estates plans as part of the STP process.

    In addition, the Department has commissioned Sir Robert Naylor to undertake an independent review of the NHS estate. He will produce a report in the autumn which will provide recommendations on how the NHS can achieve best value from NHS property, in alignment with the delivery of the vision set out in the NHS’s Five Year Forward View.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what mandatory requirements are in place to ensure that care home staff are well trained.

    Alistair Burt

    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 all providers of regulated activities have to register with the CQC and follow a set of fundamental standards of safety and quality below which care should never fall.

    The Fundamental Standards include a regulation on staffing which ensures that suitably qualified, competent, skilled persons must be deployed. This regulation also ensures that the person employed receives the appropriate training, professional development and have the opportunity to obtain further qualifications appropriate to the work they perform.

    CQC inspections ensure that providers are meeting these Fundamental Standards and have a wide range of enforcement powers if a provider fails to meet them.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 19 November (HL3436), whether doctors registered as temporary and occasional under the revised Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive will be subject to revalidation like other doctors licensed to practise medicine in the UK.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The General Medical Council (Licence to Practise and Revalidation) Regulations Order of Council 2012 provide for a registered medical practitioner visiting the United Kingdom from a relevant European state to be exempt from revalidation if providing medical services in the UK on a temporary and occasional basis, as defined in schedule 2A of the Medical Act 1983.

    Doctors registered to work in the UK on a temporary or occasional basis are expected to meet UK national standards of fitness to practise. To join the General Medical Council (GMC) register on a temporary or occasional basis, a European Economic Area doctor must provide proof that they are legally established in their home member state and evidence of their professional qualification as part of a declaration. To remain practising in the UK, this declaration must be renewed annually. The GMC has the power to challenge the individual if they do not consider that they are providing services on a temporary and occasional basis.

    Individual National Health Service organisations are responsible for ensuring that all their staff are fully qualified and have the necessary knowledge and skills to perform their role.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2016 to Question 21765, on birds: census, when she plans to publish her Department’s internal allocations.

    Rory Stewart

    Defra’s Business Planning process is still underway. At this time it would not be appropriate to comment on how this translates into internal allocations for both the core Department and its Network Bodies.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 2.2.72 of his Department’s Annual Report and Accounts 2014-15, for which roles responsibility has been transferred from military to civilian personnel since 2010.

    Mark Lancaster

    The potential for non-operational Armed Forces roles to be filled by civilian personnel is routinely considered under the Whole Force Approach. However, details of these changes are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of her Departments (a) Senior Civil Servants and (b) core policy civil servants are based in London.

    Nick Gibb

    As at 29 February 2016, 73% of the Department’s senior civil servants and 65% of the Department’s core policy civil servants were based in London.