Tag: Tom Brake

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-09-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has received on reports of the use of ammunition produced and exported by Primetake, a company based in Lincolnshire, to kill Abdul-Rahim al-Faraj by security forces in Saudi Arabia; and whether he plans to investigate such reports.

Sir Alan Duncan

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is aware of claims by Mr al-Faraj’s family that ammunition produced in the UK was used in the incident that killed him. The UK Government takes decisions on all arms export licensing applications on the basis of close and careful consideration, assessing them against the EU and National Consolidated Arms Export Licensing Criteria, which includes an assessment of whether there is a clear risk that the items might be used for internal repression.

The Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman stated that Mr al-Faraj was suspected of previously killing security forces personnel and indicated that substantial arms and ammunition were found on the premises during the operation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the UK Security Council on prosecuting the people responsible for the massacre of political prisoners in Iran in 1988.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The British Government opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances and takes any allegations of extrajudicial killings seriously. The Iranian Government has repeatedly denied that a mass execution took place, though we are aware that between July 1988 and January 1989 executions did take place. However, even with the recording and media reporting on the incident, we have no confirmation of the numbers involved. Although we have no plans to pursue this specific matter we will continue to take action with the international community to press for improvements on all human rights issues in Iran, including ending the death penalty.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, when her Department plans to publish its Civil Society Review.

Rory Stewart

The Government intends to publish the outcome of the Civil Society Partnership Review shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has had discussions with the Competition and Markets Authority on the implications for competition of the vertical integration of pharmacies and pharmaceutical wholesalers; and if he will make a statement.

Margot James

I have had no discussions with the Competition and Markets Authority on the implications for competition of the vertical integration of pharmacies and pharmaceutical wholesalers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much of the welfare budget was spent on employment and support allowance, incapacity benefit and income support claimants or universal credit claims with sickness or disability elements in 2014-15.

Priti Patel

The benefit expenditure for 2014/15 is in the table below:

Benefit	2014/15 expenditure £m
Employment & Support Allowance	12,827
Incapacity Benefit	245
Income Support incapacity	389
Severe Disablement Allowance	735
Total	14,196

Severe Disablement Allowance is a non-contributory version of Incapacity Benefit and is included here for completeness. Information on the sickness or disability element of Universal Credit is currently unavailable.

Detailed information on benefit expenditure is available in our Benefit Expenditure tables which can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2015

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his Written Statement of 16 July 2015, HCWS114, what progress he has made on consulting on the removal of local clinical excellence awards and proposals for a reformed National Clinical Excellence Award Scheme and determining the priority that will be given to recognising service-based consultants within any new scheme and monitoring the recognition that they receive.

Alistair Burt

In September 2015 the British Medical Association (BMA) and NHS Employers agreed to recommence negotiations on reforming the National Health Service consultant contract, using observations from the independent Review Body on Doctors and Dentists Remuneration (DDRB) as a starting point.

The negotiations, which concluded in December, included considering the replacement of Local Clinical Excellence awards with contractual performance payments. We expect an amended contract offer will be put to BMA members in the coming weeks.

We also expect to consult on proposals for a reformed national scheme early this year. This will be informed by developments on consultant contract reform, as well as recommendations previously made by the DDRB in 2012. The consultation will be mindful of the importance of recognising the contributions of all consultants including service based consultants.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to take account in its policies of the conclusions of the Muslim Brotherhood Review, HC 679, published on 17 December 2015.

Karen Bradley

The Review into the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) has highlighted concerns about the Brotherhood and concluded that aspects of its ideology and tactics in the UK, and overseas, have been contrary to our values, national interests and national security.

The Government will intensify its scrutiny of the views and activities that Brotherhood members and associates promote, both here and overseas. It will also continue to consult, and share information and analysis, with other governments in the Middle East and North Africa as appropriate.

We have looked carefully at the findings of the review and will continue to:

• refuse visas to members and associates of the Brotherhood who are on record as having made extremist comments, in line with our existing policy guidelines and approach to extremism in all forms; • seek to ensure charities that have links to the Brotherhood are not misused to support or finance the Brotherhood instead of their lawful charitable purpose; • strengthen liaison arrangements with international partners to ensure that allegations of illicit funding or other misuse of charities are robustly investigated and appropriate action taken; • enforce the EU asset freeze on Hamas; and • keep under review whether the views and activities of the Brotherhood meet the legal test for proscription.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment the Government has made of trends and development in the quality of care given by NHS trusts to people with rheumatoid arthritis in each year from 2010 to 2015.

Jane Ellison

Since 1 April 2013, the Government has set out high level strategic ambitions for the National Health Service through the Mandate. For patients with long term conditions (LTCs), including musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, we have asked the NHS to improve the care and support of patients, helping them to live healthily and independently, with much better control over the care they receive.

In response, NHS England has set out a range of actions designed to deliver this, central to which was implementation of the House of Care model, which is designed to support the delivery of person-centred, coordinated care. The House of Care enables individuals to make informed decisions about their treatment and empowers them to self-manage their LTCs in partnership with health and care professionals. NHS England has provided data, tools and guidance to support local services in identifying those most likely to benefit from a care planning approach. Specifically on MSK conditions, the National Clinical Director for MSK, Peter Kay, has been working in partnership with the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance, to develop new MSK clinical networks across England to build consensus on the way forward for models of care.

In terms of assessment, the first annual report of the National Clinical Audit of Rheumatoid and Early Inflammatory Arthritis, commissioned on behalf of NHS England by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP), was published on 22 January 2016. This report, which includes data from 1 February 2014 to 30 April 2015, assesses the quality of care by specialist rheumatology services using criteria derived from sources such as the Rheumatoid Arthritis Quality Standard, published by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence in June 2013. The report identifies that although most services offer prompt educational support and agree targets for treatment with their patients, performance against criteria for referral and assessment could be improved. Since the audit, HQIP has reported that a number of trusts have successfully reconfigured their services in order to improve patient care. More information can be found at the following link:

www.hqip.org.uk/national-programmes/a-z-of-nca/arthritis-rheumatoid-and-early-inflammatory

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential effect on the number of people employed by the NHS who are from non-EU countries of the salary threshold increase for Tier 2 visa applications to £35,000.

James Brokenshire

The Government announced in 2012 that from 6 April 2016 Tier 2 visa holders who apply for settlement in the UK will be required to meet a minimum annual salary requirement of £35,000. PhD level roles and those in recognised shortage will be exempt from the £35,000 threshold.

Data of the number of people employed in specific regions of the United Kingdom is not available. The Home Office holds individual records showing the working location of Tier 2 (General) migrants, but centralised records show the registered address of the Tier 2 Sponsor, which is normally that organisation’s Head Office.

The Home Office published a full impact assessment on the changes to Tier 2 settlement rules when they were laid before Parliament on 15 March 2012. This includes the impact on the top ten occupations and is available on the gov.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/117957/impact-assessment-tier2.pdf

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the extent of Russian support for Kurdish forces in Syria and that support’s effect on the ceasefire and peace process in that country.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We have recently seen a number of worrying patterns of behaviour that clearly suggest coordination between Kurdish forces in the Afrin region, the Asad regime and Russia. The expansion of Kurdish forces from Afrin just before the Cessation of Hostilities, supported by Russian airstrikes, directly targeted the moderate armed opposition and further complicated the situation in northern Syria. Further actions by Kurdish forces to take ground from the moderate opposition would risk undermining the Cessation of Hostilities, and in turn political negotiations in Geneva.