Tag: Tom Brake

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2015-10-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy to transfer responsibility for military graves maintained by his Department to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Mark Lancaster

Discussions between Ministry Of Defence (MOD) and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) are continuing regarding the transfer of maintenance responsibility for the graves of military personnel buried in the UK since 1948.

Annual costs for the maintenance of each grave for which MOD is responsible are estimated to be between £65 and £205 depending on the location and condition of the grave. The MOD’s annual grant to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in respect of the graves they maintain is in excess of £47 million.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that all parents with a child admitted to a neonatal unit have access to psychological and bereavement support.

Alistair Burt

The NHS locally is expected to ensure that appropriate facilities and services are in place to support parents following the illness or death of a newborn baby. NHS England’s Neonatal Critical Care Service Specification states that “the service will deliver the aim to improve both life expectancy and quality of life for newborn babies by:

– Delivering care in a family-centred way that seeks to minimise the physical and psychological impact of neonatal care on the baby and their family, for example by improving psychological outcomes and breastfeeding rates

– Providing an environment where parents are enabled to make informed decisions about treatment and become involved in the care of their baby / babies, thereby minimising the psychological trauma of premature or sick term babies.”

The MBRRACE-UK report on the confidential enquiry into term antepartum stillbirths, published on 19 November 2015, found a good standard of bereavement care documented as being given to parents immediately following birth. However, several areas for improvement were identified including the finding that there was wide variation in the availability of a specialist bereavement midwife, with only one third of case notes showing evidence of their involvement.

Following that report, and following a debate in the House of Commons on 2 November, (Official Report, columns 844-852) the Department is looking at the number of bereavement suites around the country and will engage with the NHS to reaffirm the importance of putting into practice existing guidance on bereavement including through mandated accountability processes.

Health Education England is working with partners to ensure that pre and post registration training in perinatal mental health is available to enable specialist staff to be available to every birthing unit by 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the NHS’ budget is spent on research and campaigns on (a) gender-specific cancers and (b) fertility treatment.

George Freeman

National Health Service revenue expenditure was £110.6 million in 2014/15.

The Department funds the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to provide a health research system in which the NHS supports outstanding individuals working in world-class facilities, conducting leading-edge research focused on the needs of patients and the public. Information on total NIHR spend on research on gender-specific cancers and on fertility treatment is not available. Spend on research funded directly by the NIHR is categorised by Health Research Classification System (HRCS) health categories including ‘cancer’ and ‘reproductive health and childbirth’. There are no HRCS health sub-categories, such as for gender-specific cancers or fertility treatment.

NHS England has advised that information on campaigns spending by NHS organisations is not collected centrally.

Public Health England (PHE) has run gender-specific campaigns on breast cancer in women over 70, ovarian cancer and prostate cancer in black men as part of Be Clear on Cancer. Information on media spending for these campaigns in each of the last three complete financial years is shown in the table.

	2012/13 £ million	2013/14 £ million	2014/15 £ million
Breast 70+	0.50	1.48	–
Ovarian	0.44	0.57	–
Prostate	–	–	0.07

Source: PHE

Notes:

Figures are net plus agency fees and commissions (rounded to nearest £10,000). Figures exclude VAT and Central Office of Information fees.

Media spend includes expenditure for advertising on Television, Radio, National Press, Regional Press, Out of Home (Outdoor), Cinema and Digital.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in other EU member states on the potential effect of a UK withdrawal from the EU on cultural, sporting and media initiatives currently supported by the EU within the UK.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Ministers meet with a range of EU counterparts in the course of normal business. The Government’s view is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.

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 in roles classed as an essential public service 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 Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to promote the export of Scotch whisky.

George Eustice

We are committed to increasing and promoting sales of our excellent food and drink here and overseas. This is why we have launched the Great British Food Campaign, created a new Great British Food Unit and designated 2016 “The year of Great British Food.”

Scotch whisky is a phenomenal global success. In 2014 exports were worth £3.95 billion* representing 21% of total UK food and drink exports. We are working with the industry to boost exports by developing a new Exports Action Plan, taking every opportunity to promote our products overseas and working hard to secure a global liberalised market for all our spirit drinks.

*Source: Scotch Whisky Association

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the number of jobs supported by the Scotch whisky industry.

George Eustice

The Scotch whisky industry estimates that 10,800 people are directly employed in the industry in Scotland and the sector supports more than 40,000 jobs in total across the UK.

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 East 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 plans his Department has to work with Muscular Dystrophy UK on increasing access to hydrotherapy pools for people with muscular dystrophy and neuromuscular conditions.

Jane Ellison

NHS England continues to work with Muscular Dystrophy UK through the Bridging the Gap Project, which aims to ensure people with neuromuscular conditions, along with their families, play a leading role in the development and commissioning of the services they use.

NHS England commissions some services for patients with neuromuscular conditions nationally as part of its remit to deliver specialised neurological services. However, the majority of services are provided outside of specialised centres and are the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups to provide, should they deem it clinically appropriate. This includes services such as hydrotherapy.

In 2012 Muscular Dystrophy UK, working with the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) issued a call for research proposals into the clinical effectiveness of hydrotherapy in maintaining physical function in people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The call was made because there is little evidence to support the use of hydrotherapy in relation to DMD and other neuromuscular disorders. The NIHR Health Technology Appraisal programme is now funding a pilot study to look at hydrotherapy for the treatment of DMD, with an evaluation report expected in January 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the activities of the organisation Khtame Nabuwwat for the purposes of possible proscription under the provisions of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Mr John Hayes

We keep the list of proscribed groups under regular review. We do not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not under consideration for proscription.