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76525

	registered interest
	date	08/07/2014
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	c2c Rail Franchise
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the costs of planned investment in (a) Wi-Fi access on trains, (b) provision of customer information and (c) SMART ticketing technology during the new franchise agreement with NXET Trains Ltd for passenger services on the Essex Thameside line; what proportion of each category of funding will fall to (i) the franchisee, (ii) Network Rail and (iii) the public sector.
	tabling member constituency	Hackney North and Stoke Newington
	tabling member printed	Ms Diane Abbott
	uin	204530
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The standstill period for the Essex Thameside franchise competition has not yet concluded, as such the Department has not signed the new Franchise Agreement and we are not able to confirm this information at this time. An announcement will be made shortly once the Agreement has been signed.</p> answering member constituency Wimbledon answering member printed Stephen Hammond question first answered 14/07/2014 15:50:42 answering member 1585 label Biography information for Stephen Hammond
	tabling member	172 label Biography information for Ms Diane Abbott

63032

	registered interest
	date	20/06/2014
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Overseas Students
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the decline in the number of international students coming to the UK to study; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Hackney North and Stoke Newington
	tabling member printed	Ms Diane Abbott
	uin	201621
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/06/2014 answer text <p>As highlighted in the International Education Strategy, there is no cap on the number of genuine overseas students who can come to the UK, nor do we have plans to introduce one. This has been reaffirmed by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister.</p><p /> <p>Government and the sector are taking every opportunity to promote the warm welcome the UK extends to international students, notably using the ‘Britain is GREAT' campaign. For example, the High Commission in Delhi began work last year (with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK Trade and Investment and the British Council) to promote positive messages on UK education at outreach events, exhibitions and road shows in some of India's biggest cities.</p><p /> <p>Early indicators for 2014 show there was an increase in the year to March 2014 in the number of visa applicants for higher education institutions (+7%). UCAS figures, to May 2014, for undergraduate applications suggest a 7% increase from non-EU countries.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Havant answering member printed Mr David Willetts question first answered 30/06/2014 16:00:12 answering member 53 label Biography information for Lord Willetts
	tabling member	172 label Biography information for Ms Diane Abbott

63992

	registered interest
	date	25/06/2014
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	New Businesses: Hackney
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many start-up loans have been granted to businesses in Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Hackney North and Stoke Newington
	tabling member printed	Ms Diane Abbott
	uin	202501
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2014 answer text <p>The Start-Up Loans programme commenced in September 2012, in that year there was 1 loan with a value of £5000 drawn down in Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency. In 2013 there were 110 loans with a drawn value of £752,465 granted and 2014 to date there have been 53 loans with a drawn value of £259,065 granted.</p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 01/07/2014 14:25:10 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
	tabling member	172 label Biography information for Ms Diane Abbott

64039

	registered interest
	date	25/06/2014
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Mental Health Services: Ethnic Groups
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will assess the effectiveness of the implementation of the conclusions of Delivering race equality in mental health care: An action plan for reform inside and outside services published in 2005; what his Department's strategy is for reducing inequalities in Black and minority ethnic patients' access to, experience of, and outcomes from mental health services; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Hackney North and Stoke Newington
	tabling member printed	Ms Diane Abbott
	uin	202552
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2014 answer text <p>The Delivering Race Equality in mental health care programme, a five-year Department of Health programme launched in January 2005, was developed to address inequalities in patient admission, detention and experience of services.</p><p> </p><p>The 2010 document <em>Race Equality Action Plan: A five-year review</em> looks back at the work of the Delivering Race Equality in mental health care programme and describes some of the key challenges, successes and learning. A copy of <em>Race Equality Action Plan</em> has been placed in the Library.</p><p> </p><p>Our mental health Strategy, <em>No Health Without Mental Health </em>states that the <em>Race Equality Action Plan</em> provides a strong base from which commissioners and service providers can make improvements. These will rely on:</p><p> </p><p>- local collection and monitoring of information on ethnicity and culture;</p><p>- better use of these data to inform commissioning and provision in health and social care;</p><p>- a focus on outcomes that work for individuals and communities;</p><p>- monitoring and evaluating effectiveness of service delivery, especially around equality needs; and</p><p>- establishing mechanisms that allow local user groups to engage with providers and commissioners, and that empower and support them so that they can engage effectively.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, our new mental health action plan, <em>Closing the Gap </em>sets out our priorities for essential change in mental health: 25 areas where people can expect to see and experience the fastest changes. The fourth priority is that we will tackle inequalities around access to mental health services. We know that people from black and minority ethnic (BME) communities have to date been less likely to use psychological therapies.</p><p> </p><p>Which is why we are working with the Race Equality Foundation and other stakeholders to try and understand why this is the case and to understand inequalities around access to other services. NHS England are also working with BME community leaders to encourage more people to use psychological therapies.</p><p> </p><p>The Ministerial Working Group on Equality in Mental Health has been established to support the Mental Health Equality work-stream of the Mental Health Strategy programme. The group will report to the Mental Health Strategy Ministerial Advisory Group. This will help to ensure that equality issues directly inform strategy implementation and enable the Government to fulfil their duties under the Equality Act 2010 and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Act" target="_blank">Human Rights Act</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Information on the number of open hospital spells, the number of occupied beds on a single day as a proxy for beds available, broken down by ethnicity is provided in the attached table.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Norfolk answering member printed Norman Lamb grouped question UIN 202500 question first answered 02/07/2014 15:24:45 answering member 1439 label Biography information for Norman Lamb attachment 1 file name PQ202552_PQ202500 - Table.docx title Table
	tabling member	172 label Biography information for Ms Diane Abbott

64061

	registered interest
	date	25/06/2014
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Mental Health Services: Ethnic Groups
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of beds in (a) residential mental health facilities and (b) psychiatric wards in NHS hospitals in England are occupied by black and minority ethnic people.
	tabling member constituency	Hackney North and Stoke Newington
	tabling member printed	Ms Diane Abbott
	uin	202500
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2014 answer text <p>The Delivering Race Equality in mental health care programme, a five-year Department of Health programme launched in January 2005, was developed to address inequalities in patient admission, detention and experience of services.</p><p> </p><p>The 2010 document <em>Race Equality Action Plan: A five-year review</em> looks back at the work of the Delivering Race Equality in mental health care programme and describes some of the key challenges, successes and learning. A copy of <em>Race Equality Action Plan</em> has been placed in the Library.</p><p> </p><p>Our mental health Strategy, <em>No Health Without Mental Health </em>states that the <em>Race Equality Action Plan</em> provides a strong base from which commissioners and service providers can make improvements. These will rely on:</p><p> </p><p>- local collection and monitoring of information on ethnicity and culture;</p><p>- better use of these data to inform commissioning and provision in health and social care;</p><p>- a focus on outcomes that work for individuals and communities;</p><p>- monitoring and evaluating effectiveness of service delivery, especially around equality needs; and</p><p>- establishing mechanisms that allow local user groups to engage with providers and commissioners, and that empower and support them so that they can engage effectively.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, our new mental health action plan, <em>Closing the Gap </em>sets out our priorities for essential change in mental health: 25 areas where people can expect to see and experience the fastest changes. The fourth priority is that we will tackle inequalities around access to mental health services. We know that people from black and minority ethnic (BME) communities have to date been less likely to use psychological therapies.</p><p> </p><p>Which is why we are working with the Race Equality Foundation and other stakeholders to try and understand why this is the case and to understand inequalities around access to other services. NHS England are also working with BME community leaders to encourage more people to use psychological therapies.</p><p> </p><p>The Ministerial Working Group on Equality in Mental Health has been established to support the Mental Health Equality work-stream of the Mental Health Strategy programme. The group will report to the Mental Health Strategy Ministerial Advisory Group. This will help to ensure that equality issues directly inform strategy implementation and enable the Government to fulfil their duties under the Equality Act 2010 and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Act" target="_blank">Human Rights Act</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Information on the number of open hospital spells, the number of occupied beds on a single day as a proxy for beds available, broken down by ethnicity is provided in the attached table.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Norfolk answering member printed Norman Lamb grouped question UIN 202552 question first answered 02/07/2014 15:24:45 answering member 1439 label Biography information for Norman Lamb attachment 1 file name PQ202552_PQ202500 - Table.docx title Table
	tabling member	172 label Biography information for Ms Diane Abbott

64016

	registered interest
	date	25/06/2014
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Languages: Education
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to improve the quality and increase the uptake of foreign language training in schools; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Hackney North and Stoke Newington
	tabling member printed	Ms Diane Abbott
	uin	202499
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2014 answer text <p>The new national curriculum introduces the teaching of a foreign language to key stage 2 (ages 7 to 11) from September 2014, which will increase the uptake of foreign languages in both primary and, over time, secondary schools. By starting languages earlier, pupils will have longer to develop their skills to a high level before continuing with language learning in secondary school. The English Baccalaureate is already encouraging more young people to take a language at GCSE level. Take up by key stage 4 pupils in England of a modern foreign language increased by over 20% between 2012 and 2013.</p><p>The Department for Education believes it is important to give teachers the flexibility to decide how to teach. We expect schools to identify the support that they need to prepare for the new curriculum, recognising that different schools will face different challenges.</p><p>We are allocating £350,000 this year to fund training on the new national curriculum for teachers of modern foreign languages in primary and secondary schools. We have also allocated some £1.9m to teaching schools to lead curriculum change across and within their teaching school alliances. 46 of the projects being supported involve languages.</p><p>The independent Expert Group, chaired by a leading primary headteacher, has published links to useful resources, which are hosted on the website of the Association for Language Learning. This is specifically to support the introduction of a compulsory foreign language at key stage 2. We are also making extensive use of social networking, including using high profile headteachers and others to raise the profile of the new curriculum, including for languages, through podcasts, webchats and blogs.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Norfolk answering member printed Elizabeth Truss question first answered 01/07/2014 13:19:38 answering member 4097 label Biography information for Elizabeth Truss
	tabling member	172 label Biography information for Ms Diane Abbott

76511

	registered interest
	date	08/07/2014
	answering body	Prime Minister
	answering dept id	23
	answering dept short name	Prime Minister
	answering dept sort name	Prime Minister
	hansard heading	Jamaica
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Prime Minister, when he last met the Prime Minister of Jamaica; and when he next plans to meet her.
	tabling member constituency	Hackney North and Stoke Newington
	tabling member printed	Ms Diane Abbott
	uin	204495
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/07/2014 answer text <p>I last met Prime Minister Simpson Miller of Jamaica in July 2012 during HM The Queen's reception to mark the opening of the Olympic Games. I do not currently have plans for a future meeting. I met Caribbean Foreign Ministers at the UK-Caribbean Ministerial Forum hosted by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) on 16-17 June.</p> answering member constituency Witney answering member printed Mr David Cameron question first answered 14/07/2014 11:52:58 answering member 1467 label Biography information for Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton
	tabling member	172 label Biography information for Ms Diane Abbott

62655

	registered interest
	date	18/06/2014
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Hospitals: Waiting Lists
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of patients waiting more than six weeks for diagnostic tests through NHS England; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Hackney North and Stoke Newington
	tabling member printed	Ms Diane Abbott
	uin	201358
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/06/2014 answer text <p>The Government has invested more than £750 million over four years to support early diagnosis in cancer and improve access to key diagnostics to make sure that everyone has access to the best possible treatment. Awareness raising campaigns such as Be Clear on Cancer are encouraging more people to come forward with their symptoms.</p><p> </p><p>Patients should receive timely care, and NHS England, the NHS Trust Development Authority and Monitor are working with providers and commissioners to ensure patients get access to tests and treatment as quickly as possible.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Battersea answering member printed Jane Ellison question first answered 25/06/2014 12:06:36 answering member 3918 label Biography information for Jane Ellison
	tabling member	172 label Biography information for Ms Diane Abbott

64037

	registered interest
	date	25/06/2014
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Egypt
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he plans to make to his Egyptian counterparts on the seven year jail terms handed down to three Al-Jazeera journalists; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Hackney North and Stoke Newington
	tabling member printed	Ms Diane Abbott
	uin	202537
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/06/2014 answer text <table><tbody><tr><th> </th><td><table><tbody><tr><td>The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) made a statement on 23 June expressing his concerns and urging the Egyptian Government to demonstrate its commitment to freedom of expression by reviewing this case as a matter of urgency. <br><br>The Egyptian Ambassador Ashraf el-Kholy was summoned to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on 23 June. FCO Political Director, Simon Gass told the Egyptian Ambassador that the British Government was deeply concerned by the verdicts, and with the procedural shortcomings of the trials. The British Ambassador to Egypt also raised this issue in Cairo with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 24 June. We will continue to raise this case with the Egyptian authorities.</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Faversham and Mid Kent answering member printed Hugh Robertson question first answered 30/06/2014 15:31:16 answering member 1415 label Biography information for Sir Hugh Robertson
	tabling member	172 label Biography information for Ms Diane Abbott

44792

	registered interest
	date	24/03/2014
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report by the Refugee Council, When Maternity Doesn't Matter, what steps her Department has taken to reform the dispersal policy of the former UK Border Agency.
	tabling member constituency	Hackney North and Stoke Newington
	tabling member printed	Ms Diane Abbott
	uin	193461
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/03/2014 answer text <p>The report covers procedures for accommodating pregnant asylum seekers who are destitute. The Home Office has been consulting about changes to these procedures and is considering some detailed suggestions by the Refugee Council and Maternity Action. Once that is completed we will move towards finalising and publishing revised guidance on the procedures.</p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 31/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
	tabling member	172 label Biography information for Ms Diane Abbott