Tag: Richard Burden

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for (a) seafarer welfare and (b) compliance with the Maritime Labour Convention Regulation 4.1 on medical care onboard ship and ashore of the proposal in Question 35 of the Department of Health consultation on the extension of charging overseas visitors and migrants using the NHS in England.

Mr Robert Goodwill

UK regulations implementing Regulation 4.1. of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC) make the shipowner responsible for meeting the cost of medical care for seafarers working on their ships, in order to ensure that such care is provided at no cost to the seafarer. Since the Department of Health’s proposal does not affect seafarers’ access to medical care at the point of need, no seafarers should be affected by the proposal, and there should be no impact on the welfare of seafarers. I am satisfied that the proposal in Question 35 of the Department of Health consultation is not contrary to the requirements of the Convention.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the projected savings accruing to the public purse are from the proposed closure of the Marine Offices in (a) Tyne and (b) Plymouth in 2017; and what the value of (i) land and (ii) buildings is on each site.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Both (a) Tyne and (b) Plymouth operate from leasehold properties ((i) land and (ii) building), as such the only value to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency is the cost of the lease.

(a) Assuming that the office at Tyne closes in September 2017, the projected savings realised to the public purse in that year would be £50K. The projected annual steady state savings would be £103K.

(b) Assuming that the office at Plymouth closes in December 2017, the projected savings realised to the public purse in that year would be £12K. The projected annual steady state savings would be £50K.

Through the proposed new ways of working both Tyne and Plymouth would continue to see a surveyor presence through remote working, either within spare civil estate, such as the Marine Management Organisation or the Land Registry, or working from home depending on the operational and business need

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that all drone owners are aware of restrictions on their use and the risks they pose.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Civil Aviation Authority is undertaking activities to raise awareness of the basic safety requirements, including an ongoing ‘Dronecode’ safety awareness campaign, issuing safety leaflets at the point of sale, publishing an animated video on their website, and running ‘small UAS’ Risk and Hazard workshops with industry as part of the Mid Air Collision Programme.

Officials from my Department are actively considering with the CAA the development of an expanded and diversified communication and education campaign, to include more mediums and supporting products, such as smart phone applications.

The Secretary of State will be writing to the police to request their assistance in raising awareness of drone risks and restrictions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the projected cost savings are from the proposed closure of the Marine Offices in (a) Beverley, (b) Orpington and (c) Harwich in 2018; and what the value is of (i) land and (ii) buildings on each site.

Mr Robert Goodwill

(a) The projected savings from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) operating out of their own facility at Bridlington and closing Beverley Marine Office would be £90K per annum.

The only value to the MCA is the value of the lease. The value of (i) land and (ii) building assets reside with the landlord.

(b) The projected savings from stopping operation from Orpington Marine Office would be £75K per annum.

The only value to the MCA is the value of the lease. The value of the (i) land and (ii) building assets reside with the landlord.

(c) Stopping the survey functions from the Harwich Marine Office, based at Walton-on-the Naze, will introduce minimal cost savings to the MCA. Moving to a new location in the Ipswich area would improve survey and inspection service capability to customers and is a better option for support to Her Majesty’s Coastguard Coastal Safety management teams.

The Harwich site has a book value of (i) £184K for the land and (ii) £530K for the building.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what regulations are (a) in place and (b) under consideration to ensure appropriate management and use of data collected from drones.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Personal data collected from drones is covered under the Data Protection Act 1998. The Information Commissioners Office has published guidance for drone operators on their website this can be found at https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/drones/.

Issues concerning data protection are under consideration for our forthcoming consultation.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Egyptian government on the disconnection of power lines providing electricity to Southern Gaza; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We are aware that there are power shortages in Gaza, leading to severe power restrictions and blackouts. We have discussed this issue with Egyptian officials.

We regularly raise the humanitarian situation in Gaza with the Egyptian government. The UK will continue to urge the parties to prioritise progress towards reaching a durable solution for Gaza, and to take the necessary practical steps to ensure Gaza’s reconstruction and economic recovery.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Highways England had agreed with Dartford Borough Council an up-to-date contingency plan for emergencies.

Andrew Jones

Highways England has a Dartford – Thurrock Crossing Emergency Response Plan which covers 11 major stakeholders. Version 9.0 was issued in September 2015, and the document is reviewed annually.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-06-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assistance his Department is providing to support research and development into technologies to reduce emissions from ships.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Department has played a leading role – for example, at the International Maritime Organization – in removing legal and technical barriers which could restrict the growth in ‘green technologies’ and distort fair competition.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will list the UK representatives appointed to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

Alok Sharma

The list of the members of the UK delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) is available on the country pages of the IHRA website. The current UK delegation is:

Sir Eric Pickles (UK Envoy for Post Holocaust Issues) – Head of Delegation
Sue Breeze (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) – Deputy Head of Delegation
Karen Hamling (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) – Deputy Head of Delegation
Samantha Abrahams (Holocaust Educational Trust) – Communication Working Group
Paula Cowan (University of the West of Scotland – Faculty of Education, Health and Social Sciences, School of Education) – Academic Working Group
Alan Fell (JW3 – Jewish Community Centre London) – Education Working Group
Trudy Gold (JW3 – Jewish Community Centre London)
Jerold Gotel (JW3 – Jewish Community Centre London) – Education Working Group
Ben Helfgott (’45 Aid Society of Holocaust Survivors) – Museums and Memorials Working Group
Olivia Marks-Woldman (Holocaust Memorial Day Trust) – Museums and Memorials Working Group
Alex Maws (Holocaust Educational Trust) – Education Working Group
Michael Newman (Association of Jewish Refugees) – Communication Working Group
Alice Pettigrew (Institute of Education, University of London) – Education Working Group
Karen Pollock (Holocaust Educational Trust) – Education Working Group
Paul Salmons (Institute of Education, University of London) – Education Working Group

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps his Department has taken to (a) improve access to and (b) decrease waiting times for services provided by GPs.

David Mowat

To implement the Government’s commitment to transform access to general practice (GP), £175 million has been invested in the GP Access Fund to test improved and innovative access to GP services. Across the two waves of the Access Fund, there are 57 schemes covering over 2,500 practices and 18 million patients – a third of the population – have benefited from improved access and transformational change at local level.

This includes more appointments being made available, especially at times more convenient for patients, such as weekday evenings and weekends. It also includes different approaches like telephone consultations and better use of the wider primary care workforce (such as Advanced Nurse Practitioners, pharmacists, the voluntary sector, physiotherapists and paramedics) to deliver improved access to patients.

These approaches have helped release local GP capacity, improve patient choice, and more appropriately matched the needs of patients with the most appropriate professional to care for them. In addition to Access Fund sites, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) may offer local initiatives for improving access to GPs.

Practices in the GP Access Fund are testing an automated appointment measuring interface (the GP Appointment Tool) to give them detailed information about their activity and how it varies over time. This will help practices match their supply of appointments more closely to demand. It will be available for every practice from 2017-18.

The General Practice Forward View, published in April 2016, announced that an extra £2.4 billion a year will be invested in GP services by 2020-21. As part of overall investment in general practice, NHS England will provide over £500 million of recurrent funding by 2020-21, on top of current primary medical care allocations, to enable CCGs to commission and fund extra capacity across England. This is to ensure that by 2020, everyone has access to GP services, including sufficient routine appointments at evenings and weekends to meet locally determined demand, alongside effective access to out-of-hours and urgent care services.