Asked by: Stephen Gilbert (Liberal Democrat - St Austell and Newquay)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the cost of liquid petroleum gas.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Fuel prices are primarily driven by the underlying price of crude oil, though are also influenced by a range of other supply and demand factors, including refining capacity, stock levels, distribution costs, retail margins and seasonal demand variations.
It is vital that the sharp fall in oil and gas prices are passed on to families at petrol pumps, through utility bills and air fares.
We will closely monitor whether companies are passing on the benefits to customers of falling oil and gas prices.
Asked by: Stephen Gilbert (Liberal Democrat - St Austell and Newquay)
Question
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what plans he has to further devolve powers to the South West.
Answered by Nick Clegg
The Growth Deal agreed with Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership last summer will see almost £49 million invested in Cornwall & Isles of Scilly. The deal will see a range of transport and infrastructure investments in the area, including £2 million to the Newquay Growth Area improving access to Newquay Airport and opening up employment and housing sites.
Asked by: Stephen Gilbert (Liberal Democrat - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many instances of fouling from abandoned or lost fishing gear affecting Royal Navy ships there have been in (a) UK or (b) non-UK waters in the last two years; how many operational days have been lost from (i) ship and (ii) personnel activities as a result of those instances; and what estimate he has made of the cost of the (A) loss of operational activity and (B) repairs as a result of those instances.
Answered by Mark Francois
The Royal Navy has no such record of any fouling by abandoned fishing gear; therefore the Royal Navy has no record of a ship being unable to complete its tasking due to fouling by fishing gear in the last two years.
Asked by: Stephen Gilbert (Liberal Democrat - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many instances affecting HM Coastguard ships there have been of fouling from abandoned or lost fishing gear in the last two years; how many operational days have been lost from (a) ship and (b) personal activities as a result of those instances; and what estimate he has made of the cost of (i) the loss of operational activity and (ii) repairs.
Answered by John Hayes
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency operates two small vessels in Scotland. Neither has been fouled by abandoned or lost fishing gear in the last two years.
Asked by: Stephen Gilbert (Liberal Democrat - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2014 to Question 212409, whether any clinical policies developed in the last three years have not followed this process.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Since NHS England took on responsibility for specialised commissioning in April 2013, the specialised services Clinical Reference Groups have developed all clinical policies for specialised services. These clinical policies have all passed through the NHS England governance committees process, which is outlined in the answer I gave to the hon. Member on 3 November 2014 to Question 212409.
Asked by: Stephen Gilbert (Liberal Democrat - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the (a) process and (b) timelines followed by the NHS to determine a specialised clinical commissioning policy are; and what the roles and responsibilities are of the NHS committees involved.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Clinical policies are developed by the appropriate service specific clinical reference group and reviewed by the Clinical Prioritisation Advisory Group (CPAG). CPAG then makes a recommendation whether to commission the service or treatment in question. CPAG recommendations are ratified by the Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group (SCOG).
The length of time to produce a clinical commissioning policy is variable depending on the complexity of the subject area. The timeline is typically between 6-9 months but can be shorter.
SCOG has operational oversight of specialised commissioning and has delegated authority to make decisions on the recommendations made by CPAG, which provides advice to NHS England about any decision-making that defines access to clinical services. The Directly Commissioned Services Committee, a sub-committee of the NHS England Board, oversees the delivery of directly commissioned services within the overall strategy set by NHS England. The SCOG reports to this committee.
Asked by: Stephen Gilbert (Liberal Democrat - St Austell and Newquay)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the timetable is for the implementation of the transparency initiative for open export licences.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The new reporting requirements came into place at the start of 2014 and the data for this year is due to be published as part of the Government’s UK Strategic Export Controls Annual Report 2015. We plan to commence a review of this initiative in early 2015.
Asked by: Stephen Gilbert (Liberal Democrat - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department plans to take to encourage long-term and sustainable growth in the finance sector.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government understands the importance of having a growing but stable finance sector. Since the financial crisis the Government has, domestically and with EU and international partners, implemented an unprecedented range of regulatory reforms to improve the safety and resilience of the financial sector. The Government will continue to promote long-term and sustainable growth domestically and with EU and international partners, including in the finance sector. In addition, the Government will continue efforts through the Financial Services Trade and Investment Board, a strategic body chaired by HM Treasury, to attract inward investment, promote external trade and encourage the growth of the UK’s financial services sector.
Asked by: Stephen Gilbert (Liberal Democrat - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time is for an Atos medical assessment in (a) Cornwall and (b) the UK.
Answered by Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport
The information requested on ESA is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Statistics on the time taken to process Personal Independence Payment cases are intended for future publication. The Department's analysts are currently considering what information will be included in the release. The release will be pre-announced in line with UK Statistics Authority protocols.
Asked by: Stephen Gilbert (Liberal Democrat - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to act on the recommendations made by the Health and Care Professions Council to extend statutory regulation to new groups of healthcare professionals.
Answered by Dan Poulter
The Health and Care Professions Council made 11 recommendations for professional groups to be brought within the framework for statutory regulation.
Operating Department Practitioners have been regulated. The Modernising Scientific Careers programme provides healthcare scientists in scope of the recommendations with standardised and accredited education and training that enables formalised regulation, whether voluntary or statutory.
Accredited voluntary registration by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) provides an appropriate and proportionate response to risks presented by many groups to patient safety. It is open to groups whose recommendations have not been progressed to applying to the PSA.