Tag: Steve McCabe

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 15 July 2015 to Question 6494, whether he has made any representations to the government of China on accusations of the harvesting of organs in that country; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of legislation to prevent UK nationals from going to China for transplants.

Mr Hugo Swire

As I said in my reply to Question 6494, I remain concerned by reports of organ harvesting. We continue to raise this issue, and the full range of our human rights concerns, with the Chinese authorities at the annual UK-China Human Rights Dialogue. The next round of the Dialogue is scheduled to be held in the UK in April.

The Department of Health is making constant efforts to ensure that any British citizen requiring replacement organs is able to benefit from organ transplants in the UK. It is however very difficult to prevent UK citizens travelling to less well-regulated countries to seek an organ transplant, although physicians always advise patients against this. Although numbers are not known, it is thought that very few patients in the UK choose to do so.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to continue to permit civil society organisations to submit complaints to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator.

Nick Gibb

On 25 January 2016, we announced our intention to limit who may refer objections to the Schools Adjudicator to local parents and local authorities. This intention has not changed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who claim employment and support allowance in (a) England and (b) Wales have been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease.

Priti Patel

The number of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claimants with Inflammatory Bowel Disease as their main disabling condition, in England is 9,130 and the number for Wales is 730.

Source: DWP 100% data.

Notes:

1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
2. The data is at August 2015 which is the latest available information.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-24.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that consumers have adequate advice and information about the benefits and risks of investing in a lifetime ISA.

Harriett Baldwin

The Government is committed to ensuring that people have access to affordable financial advice and guidance, at all stages of their lives. As announced at Budget 2016, the Government will take forward all the recommendations of the Financial Advice Market Review for which it is responsible, to support the development of a market which provides affordable, high-quality advice.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2016 to Question 32057, on Epilepsy Death, for what reasons his Department made the decision to retire quality and outcomes framework indicators EP002 and EP003 in 2014.

Alistair Burt

Senior NHS England clinicians and representatives of the British Medical Association reviewed and agreed all the proposed changes to the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) taking into account the views of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and Public Health England.

The removal of QOF indicators will not mean that general practitioners (GPs) will no longer tackle important health issues, rather, the aim is that reducing QOF will help free up time to enable GPs to spend more time on providing more proactive coordinated and individual care for their patients, based on their clinical judgement. The reduction in the number of QOF indicators was intended to reduce bureaucracy, unnecessary patient testing and unnecessary frequency of patient recall and recording.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 12 April 2016 to Question 32506, how many stages there are in the asylum claims process prior to screening and substantive interviews; and at what stage of that process family ties to refugees already granted asylum in the UK are considered.

James Brokenshire

Screening is the first stage in the asylum process after a claim has been lodged. Each claim is considered on its individual merits, usually following a substantive interview. Consideration of a claimant’s personal circumstances such as family ties to the UK will be made following the interview.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 13 April 2016 to Question 32812, whether the figures provided for sums to be spent annually and in total are additional to each other; and if he will make a statement.

Priti Patel

The 2015 Spending Review agreed funding rising to £130m per year for the Work and Health Programme, focussing support for people with a disability or health condition and the long term unemployed (over 24 months). This figure is separate and in addition to the Prime Minister’s announced plans to provide further support and funding for people with mental health issues to retain or regain employment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33136, who is responsible for seeking to direct the admission of children to academies.

Nick Gibb

If a local authority considers that an academy will best meet the needs of a child, and the academy refuses to admit the child, the local authority can ask the Secretary of State to intervene. The Secretary of State has the power under an academy’s funding agreement to direct the academy to admit a child. The Education Funding Agency issues directions on behalf of the Secretary of State.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2016 to Question 29803, what representations his Department made to the government of China at the annual UK-China Human Rights Dialogue held in April on accusations of the harvesting of organs in that country.

Mr Hugo Swire

The UK-China Human Rights Dialogue is an important forum for us to raise the full range of our human rights concerns, including organ harvesting, with the Chinese authorities. We were not able to hold the Dialogue in April as initially scheduled, but we aim to hold it soon. In the meantime, we continue to discuss human rights issues with the Chinese, most recently when the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), met the President of the Chinese Supreme People’s Court, Zhou Qiang, on 9 June.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-06-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she expects the Bonfield Review of consumer advice, protection standards and enforcement for energy efficiency and renewable energy to be published.

Andrea Leadsom

The Bonfield Review is an independent review, being led by Peter Bonfield. We expect the review to be published in the near future and will announce the date in due course.