Tag: Tom Brake

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to reduce the incidence of disability and long-term health problems among children born prematurely.

Ben Gummer

On 13 November, the Government announced an ambitious campaign to halve the national rates of maternal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal deaths and brain injuries in babies by 2030. To help meet these aims, the Government will establish a £2.24 million fund to support trusts to buy cutting-edge monitoring or training equipment to improve safety.

NHS England commissions Neonatal Care from 165 neonatal units which are organised and supported by 13 Operational Delivery Networks. These Networks have brought tangible benefits in helping to ensure that babies are delivered in the right place to receive specialist care when it is needed.

To support the provision of safe, high quality care for sick and premature babies and their families, NHS England’s Neonatal Critical Care Service Specification states that providers should ensure that expert and experienced staff treat sufficient numbers of cases to maintain a safe high quality service and move towards national standards. Clinical expertise is a key determinant of outcomes for these babies.

The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence published guidelines in November 2015 on the care of women at increased risk of or with symptoms and signs of preterm labour (before 37 weeks) and women having a planned preterm birth. It aims to reduce the risks of preterm birth for the baby and describes treatments to prevent or delay early labour and birth.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the effectiveness of the technical assistance programme for the Bahraini police and prisons service in preventing the use of torture in police stations and prisons in that country.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We are aware of ongoing allegations against Ministry of Interior personnel, and we have expressed our concerns to the authorities.

The Government of Bahrain has previously committed to consider ratifying the Optional Protocol of the Convention Against Torture. The UK strongly supports this and we have been working with the authorities to share best practice on torture prevention measures. We also ask the Government of Bahrain to allow a visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.

We believe that UK support to Bahrain’s reform programme is the most constructive way to achieve long-lasting and sustainable reform in Bahrain. While it will take time to see the full results, UK support is having a direct, positive impact on areas of concern. All Foreign and Commonwealth Office programmes and project work is routinely monitored and evaluated to inform and improve future assistance.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of a UK withdrawal from the EU on relations between the UK and Ireland.

Mr David Lidington

At the February European Council the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government’s view is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.

The Government believes that the best context for friendly and constructive bilateral relations with the Republic of Ireland is common membership of a reformed European Union. A vote to leave the EU in the referendum would bring with it uncertainty across a range of issues.

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 fire and rescue services 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 representations he has made to his counterparts in countries that are members of the International Syria Support Group on reported Russian violations of the ceasefire in Syria.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK has been providing regular reports on violations of the Cessation of Hostilities (CoH) to the International Syria Support Group’s Ceasefire Task Force, of which we are a member. The Ceasefire Task Force meets twice weekly to consider such reports and to discuss measures to bring all parties into compliance with their obligations under the CoH.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the Government provides to Kurdish authorities in (a) Iraq and (b) Syria to support refugees in those regions.

Mr Nick Hurd

I have been asked to reply.

Since June 2014, the UK has committed £79.5 million of humanitarian aid to Iraq. This support is needs-based and provides life-saving assistance for the most vulnerable, including those in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). All UK humanitarian aid in Iraq is delivered through UN agencies, NGOs and other trusted humanitarian partners. We are providing funding to UNDP to build the capacity of the Joint Crisis Centre (JCC) within the Kurdistan Regional Government as part of this support. The JCC works closely with the UN, the Government of Iraq, and the international community to provide life-saving coordination.

To date, we have allocated £561 million to support vulnerable people inside Syria. Roughly half our support is delivered by agencies and INGOs working out of Damascus with the consent of the regime, and half is delivered across borders from neighbouring countries without regime consent, under the authorisation of the UN Security Council. In line with the key humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality, we work with trusted humanitarian partners with experience of operating in fragile and conflict affected states. These include UN agencies, international organisations, NGOs and civil society organisations. Through these partners, our support is reaching vulnerable Syrians in areas controlled by Kurdish groups.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will estimate the number of (a) UK firms based in the South West of England that trade with other EU member states and (b) people employed by those firms.

Anna Soubry

HMRC Regional Trade Statistics on the number of firms trading with the EU are publically available through the UKTradeInfo website.

HM Treasury has published estimates of the number of UK jobs linked to EU exports broken down by region. These are available through the GOV.UK website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what arrangements his Department has put in place to ensure that long-term funding is available for the transfer of care for people with learning disabilities from inpatient facilities to community care settings outlined in NHS England’s Transforming Care programme.

Alistair Burt

In national service model and Building the right support published in October 2015 NHS England, the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services set out how areas would be supported to deliver lasting change to people with a learning disability and/or autism who display behaviour that challenges.

To develop community capacity, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), local authorities and NHS England’s specialised commissioners have formed 48 transforming care partnerships (TCPs) to plan for the future. TCPs have been asked to use the total sum of money they spend as a whole system on people with a learning disability and/or autism to deliver care in a different way to achieve better results. This includes shifting money from some services (such as inpatient care) into others (such as community health services including mental health services or individual packages of support). The costs of the future model of care will therefore be met from the total current envelope of spend on health and social care services for people with a learning disability and/or autism.

During a phase of transition, commissioners will need to invest in new community support before closing inpatient provision. To support them to do this NHS England will make available up to £30 million of transformation funding over three years, to be matched by CCGs, and £15 million in capital funding. This funding is in addition to the £10 million made available to six fast track areas in 2015/16.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-04-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of airstrikes that have been conducted by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

Penny Mordaunt

The UK has a small number of military personnel serving as liaison officers to Saudi headquarters to provide insight into Saudi operations. The UK is not a member of the coalition and the release of operational data is a matter for the coalition.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has provided assistance to the Indonesian government on reforming discriminatory legislation against (a) religious minorities and (b) other minority groups.

Mr Hugo Swire

We have offered assistance and expertise to the Indonesian government on its Bill of Protection for Religious Communities. More broadly, our Ambassador in Jakarta has raised the issue of freedom of religion or belief with the Minister of Religious Affairs, Indonesian civil society, and religious leaders. Our Deputy Head of Mission in Jakarta has also raised these issues with the Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection.