Tag: Simon Burns

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Burns on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to help protect heritage sites worldwide.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The protection of cultural heritage affected by acts of destruction is a priority for this Government. We are committing £30 million towards a new Cultural Protection Fund and will bring forward legislation to enable the UK to ratify the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols at the first opportunity.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Burns on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to implement efficiency savings across government departments.

Matthew Hancock

In May 2010 the deficit between government revenue and public spending was the largest percentage of GDP of any developed country. As part of our long-term economic plan to ensure the country lives within its means, we took action to drive efficiency from day one.

By 2014/15 the Government had saved £18.6 billion through efficiency and reform, and tackling fraud, error and uncollected debt (against a 2009/10 baseline). At a very conservative estimate this is equivalent to £850 for each working household across Britain.

The £18.6 billion saving includes £6.1 billion by improving how government buys goods and services and £1.5 billion by transforming how government works, including putting services and transactions online and rationalising the government’s property portfolio – releasing government land, by moving to shared property and using less office space, enables land to be released which can be put to better economic use.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Burns on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she plans to take in response to the most recent HM Inspectorate of Prisons report on HMP Chelmsford; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Sam Gyimah

HM Inspectorate of Prisons’ report on HMP Chelmsford was published on 16 August this year. We take all recommendations made by the Chief Inspector seriously and the prison is taking action to address the Chief Inspector’s findings. We will produce a detailed action plan within three months responding to all the recommendations in the report. The action plan will be published on the Inspectorate’s web site.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Burns on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total cost to the NHS was of providing free flu vaccinations in each of the last four years for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison

NHS England spent a total of £251 million on immunisation programmes in 2013-14. Of this, £89 million is identifiable as relating to the purchase of flu vaccines for adults and the administration of flu vaccines for both adults and children.

Vaccines for the national childhood immunisation programme, including for childhood flu immunisation from 2013-14, are purchased and managed by Public Health England on behalf of the Department and are not a cost for the National Health Service. The cost of the vaccine and its storage and distribution are commercially confidential.

Data for NHS spend for the years prior to 2013-14 is not held centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Burns on 2014-06-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 23 June 2014, Official Report, columns 27-8W, on pharmaceutical price regulation scheme, what payments have been made to the devolved administrations in the financial year 2014-15 to date; and what payments were made to the devolved administrations in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15 financial years under the iteration of the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme which has applied from 1 January 2014.

Norman Lamb

To date, no payments have been made to the devolved administrations in respect of the 2014 Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) in financial year 2014-15. Constructive discussions have taken place with the Department and the devolved administrations to identify a fair allocation of receipts received under the PPRS. Agreement on the allocations for financial year 2013-14 has been reached and the Department intends to make the payments for that financial year within the next month.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Burns on 2014-07-16.

To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, what the names are of the candidates who have been short-listed for consideration for the position of Clerk of the House and Chief Executive; and what the country of residence of each such candidate is.

John Thurso

Three candidates are currently shortlisted. It is not the Commission’s practice to disclose confidential personal information, including names of applicants for positions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Burns on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the right hon. Member for Chelmsford can expect a response from the Chief Executive of NHS England to his letter of 30 May 2014 on his constituent Mr John McPhee.

Jane Ellison

NHS England has confirmed that my Rt. hon. Friend’s correspondence is currently being actioned and apologise for not providing a response sooner.

The matters raised by the constituent are currently the subject of an ongoing complaint investigation with the Essex Area Team of NHS England. NHS England can reassure my Rt. hon. Friend that a complaints manager has been in contact with the constituent (who has also raised a complaint direct with NHS England) to discuss their concerns and agree a way forward for resolution.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Burns on 2014-06-17.

To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, what the criteria were for the choice of members of the panel of selection to consider the appointment of the next Clerk of the House and Chief Executive; and who selected those members.

John Thurso

The selection panel that will consider the appointment of the next Clerk of the House was chosen by Mr Speaker and its composition was considered by the House of Commons Commission at its meeting on 16 June. The criteria for selection of panel members included party balance, gender balance and the need for external independent input.