Asked by: Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to seek a reduction in the incidence of deaths among refugees crossing the Mediterranean by boat.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Government is working with EU partners to prevent the deaths of people crossing the Mediterranean through joint efforts under the EU’s Task Force Mediterranean, established following the Lampedusa tragedy inOctober 2013.
While the UK is providing support for the new Frontex (EU External Border Agency) Operation ‘Triton’, an enhanced maritime border management operation that intercepts migrants in the Mediterranean, we believe that the only
sustainable means of addressing this issue is to take action to dissuade migrants from making these perilous and illegal journeys in the first place, enhance protection in refugees’ region of origin, and combat the criminal facilitators who place migrants’ lives at risk. This is why we support the EU’s focus on action ‘upstream’ in third countries of origin and transit.
For instance, we are playing a leading role in the new ‘Khartoum Process’ under which the EU countries and countries in the Horn of Africa will work together to combat people smuggling and human trafficking in that region. We also
support the EU’s proposals for Regional Development and Protection Programmes (RDPPs) to provide sustainable protection for refugees in North and East Africa. The UK also continues to work with EU partners and international organisations to develop information campaigns in North and East Africa, aimed at dissuading migrants from risking dangerous Mediterranean and Saharan crossings and countering the work of criminal facilitators.
Asked by: Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what progress has been made on the management of separated plutonium stocks.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The UK Government remains open to any credible option that offers the best value for money to the taxpayer. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) are undertaking work for us to:
1) gain further understanding of reuse options (reuse as MOX and assessment of the credible alternatives PRISM and Candu);
2) continue to develop the immobilisation option; and
3) establish potential approaches to acquisition and procurement.
We are expecting the NDA to complete this work by Spring 2015. When this information has been collated, DECC will begin the necessary Government process to decide whether or not to proceed into a formal selection process. However to be clear, only when the Government is confident that its preferred option could be implemented safely and securely, that it is affordable, deliverable, and offers value for money, will it be in a position to proceed.
Asked by: Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will publish his Department's timetable for progressing the management of separated plutonium stocks.
Answered by Matt Hancock
In January 2014 the NDA published a position paper on the progress it made on assessing options to manage separated plutonium, including the Government’s preferred option of reusing plutonium as MOX fuel, as well as the credibility of alternative proposals. Following this, Government concluded that all options for plutonium management required further work. We asked the NDA to undertake this work which we expect to be delivered in Spring 2015. When this information has been collated, DECC will begin the necessary Government process to decide whether or not to proceed into a formal selection process. However to be clear, only when the Government is confident that its preferred option could be implemented safely and securely, that it is affordable, deliverable, and offers value for money, will it be in a position to proceed.
Asked by: Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve care for lung cancer patients diagnosed through emergency routes.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Government is investing £450 million in raising awareness and achieving earlier diagnosis to ensure people are diagnosed with cancer before they present through an emergency route. NHS England are currently working on developing the new care models set out in the Five Year Forward View, which will help ensure that there are sufficient numbers of general practitioners (GPs) working in larger practices with greater access to diagnostic and specialist advice.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is in the process of updating the Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer (2005) to ensure that it reflects latest evidence and can continue to support GPs to identify patients with the symptoms of suspected cancer and urgently refer them as appropriate. NICE’s draft is currently out for consultation until 9 January 2015. The anticipated publication date for the revised guidelines is May 2015.
The Department ran a national Be Clear on Cancer lung cancer campaign from May to July 2012 to raise awareness of persistent cough as a symptom of lung cancer and to encourage people with this symptom to visit their GP. Public Health England took over running of Be Clear on Cancer campaigns in April 2013 and have since run two repeat national lung cancer campaigns in July-August 2013 and March-April 2014.
In 2012, to increase the awareness of cancer amongst GPs and support GPs to assess all patients more effectively, the Department funded the British Medical Journal (BMJ) Learning to provide an e-learning tool for GPs. The modules include tackling late diagnosis; risk assessment tools; and cancer pathway and the role of primary care.
In 2013, Macmillan Cancer Support, partly funded by the Department, piloted an electronic cancer decision support (CDS) tool for GPs to use in their routine practice. It is designed to help GPs recognise the symptoms of cancer and identify patients that they might not otherwise refer urgently for suspected cancer. The CDS covers lung cancer and a number of other cancers. Following the pilot, Macmillan is now offering the tool free of charge to all GPs in the United Kingdom.
In March 2012 NICE published the Lung cancer Quality Standard. This quality standard describes markers of high-quality, cost-effective care that, when delivered collectively, should contribute to improving the effectiveness, safety and experience of care for people with lung cancer.
We know from the 2013 National Lung Cancer Audit that there have been continued increases in curative surgery for lung cancer patients. The audit report supports providers and commissioners and NHS England to reduce variation in services and drive improvement locally. We are also providing improved access to treatment through other means, such as the Cancer Drugs Fund. With the development of the chemotherapy dataset, we now have detailed information about chemotherapy drug treatment for lung cancer patients.
Work is also underway to support early diagnosis through delivery of transparent data about performance in outcomes. For example, indicators on stage of diagnosis of cancer and diagnosis through emergency routes are part of the clinical commissioning group outcomes indicator set, which support clinical commissioning groups to understand how their local communities are performing in relation to cancer outcomes.
Asked by: Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what further steps he plans to take to encourage the upgrade of boilers in off gas grid areas.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The Government is actively encouraging all householders, whether on or off the gas grid, to invest in energy efficiency and reduce their energy bills.
Asked by: Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department gives planning authorities on the extent to which they should assess the cumulative effect of intensive chicken units on the environment and local communities in determining planning applications relating to such units.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Local authorities across England must have regard to the National Planning Policy Framework. This asks local authorities to assess the needs of the food production industry and resolve any associated planning barriers, but also to recognise the character and beauty of the countryside and prevent unacceptable levels of pollution. Local authorities have to assess each proposal on its facts and merits in the light of the Local Plan, of national planning policies, and all other material considerations, including the views expressed by local people. They can also assess the cumulative impact of numbers of such premises on the area.
Asked by: Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to fund and support businesses in the horticulture sector to take on apprentices.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Apprenticeship reforms are addressing exactly the barriers that employers have identified to taking on apprentices.
Trailblazers led by employers are designing the new Apprenticeship standards for occupations in their sectors. Horticulture employers are fully engaged in the reform programme and the Trailblazer for the sector has recently submitted a standard for approval.
The budget announced £170 m funding to extend the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers to help smaller businesses take on young apprentices aged 16-24. This will fund over 100,000 incentive payments of £1,500. Extending the grant into 2015 will ensure Apprenticeship take up by small businesses, including those in the horticulture sector, continues to be supported.
Asked by: Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent representations he has received from UK retailers on the effect of the Sunday Trading Act 1994 on their businesses.
Answered by Jenny Willott
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has received representations from a number of correspondents in the last 12 months on Sunday Trading. These include representations from Asda Stores Ltd, Horticulture Trades Association and shopping centres advocating further liberalisation, as well as others such as the Association of Convenience Stores, some large retailers, 2 individual stores and small groups, supporting the current Sunday trading rules or for further restrictions.
Asked by: Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will estimate the potential reduction in gas imports from the roll-out of ground sourced heat pumps.
Answered by Lord Barker of Battle
I have not made such an estimate. However, we expect the impact of ground-source heat pump (GSHP) deployment on gas imports to be negligible.
Asked by: Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much beef was imported into the UK from (a) the Republic of Ireland, (b) the rest of the EU and (c) non-EU countries in each of the last 18 months.
Answered by George Eustice
The following tables provide details of UK imports of beef and veal as recorded in the Official Overseas Trade Statistics for the period January 2012 – April 2014.
Thousand Tonnes | Thousand Tonnes | ||||||||||||||
Imports from | Month | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | Imports from | Month | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | ||||||
Irish Republic | January | 12.3 | 12.1 | 13.3 | Non EU | January | 1.6 | 2.6 | 2.2 | ||||||
February | 13.7 | 10.8 | 12.2 | February | 1.3 | 1.7 | 1.5 | ||||||||
March | 14.9 | 13.0 | 16.2 | March | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.5 | ||||||||
April | 12.9 | 11.9 | 13.5 | April | 1.4 | 2.3 | 2.1 | ||||||||
May | 12.5 | 12.4 | May | 2.1 | 2.6 | ||||||||||
June | 11.8 | 14.9 | June | 3.1 | 3.5 | ||||||||||
July | 11.3 | 12.2 | July | 2.2 | 3.5 | ||||||||||
August | 12.4 | 11.7 | August | 2.2 | 3.1 | ||||||||||
September | 13.8 | 14.9 | September | 1.9 | 2.8 | ||||||||||
October | 15.0 | 15.6 | October | 2.2 | 3.5 | ||||||||||
November | 14.0 | 15.1 | November | 2.0 | 2.5 | ||||||||||
December | 15.1 | 16.4 | December | 1.7 | 2.0 | ||||||||||
Irish Republic annual total | 159.7 | 161.0 | Non EU annual total | 23.0 | 31.7 | ||||||||||
Rest of EU | January | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.4 | |||||||||||
February | 4.1 | 3.2 | 3.4 | Ó Crown Copyright | |||||||||||
March | 4.4 | 2.9 | 3.3 | Source: HM Revenue and Customs | |||||||||||
April | 4.4 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 2013 & 2014 data is subject to amendments | |||||||||||
May | 5.3 | 3.9 | |||||||||||||
June | 4.3 | 3.3 | EU data based on EU 28 | ||||||||||||
July | 4.8 | 4.1 | |||||||||||||
August | 4.7 | 3.7 | |||||||||||||
September | 4.2 | 3.9 | |||||||||||||
October | 5.1 | 4.4 | |||||||||||||
November | 4.4 | 4.6 | |||||||||||||
December | 3.8 | 4.2 | |||||||||||||
Rest of EU annual total | 53.4 | 45.6 | |||||||||||||