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Dr Ashok Kumar MP

Making the Difference for Hemlington, Easterside, Park End, Coulby Newham,  Marton, Nunthorpe, Stainton, Thornton, Guisborough, Dunsdale, Mount Pleasant, Boosbeck, Charltons, Slapewath, Margrove Park, Lingdale, Stanghow, Skelton, New Skelton, North Skelton, Skelton Green, Saltburn, Skinningrove, Carlin How, Brotton, Loftus, Liverton Mines, Moorsholm, Cowbar, Boulby, Easington, Grinkle, Upleatham, Upsall, Newton-Under-Roseberry & Pinchinthorpe

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   Monday 16th June - Friday 27th June 2008, Debate

Transport

Railways
Ashok Kumar (PPS (Rt Hon Hilary Benn, Secretary of State), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland, Labour) | Hansard source

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps her Department has introduced to ensure that train companies providing long-distance travel allow standard class passengers to sit in first class when there are no seats available in standard class.

Tom Harris (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport; Glasgow South, Labour) | Hansard source

Train companies guarantee the provision of seats where reservations have been made. Seat reservations are automatically included with many tickets, such as quota controlled 'Advance' fares.

In other circumstances, on-train staff may give permission for holders of Standard Class tickets to travel in First Class accommodation without extra charge. Alternatively they may declassify First Class carriages. However, this is a matter for the train companies and their staff and will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

Treasury

Foreign Relations: India

Ashok Kumar (PPS (Rt Hon Hilary Benn, Secretary of State), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland, Labour) | Hansard source

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made establishing an Indo-British economic and financial dialogue on bilateral and global issues since the joint declaration with India of 20 September 2004.

Yvette Cooper (Chief Secretary, HM Treasury; Pontefract & Castleford, Labour) | Hansard source

The first meeting of the UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue, led by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown and Indian Finance Minister Shri P. Chidambaram, was held in New Delhi, India on 18 January 2007.

In the meeting, Ministers and officials from both sides discussed issues on the current global economic situation, financial services, climate change, and using public-private partnership to enhance infrastructure investment.

A further meeting of the UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue was held at officials level on 27 September 2007 in London. In addition to the topics covered in the January ministerial meeting, development and financial inclusion issues were also discussed. The Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling held a bilateral meeting with Minister Chidambaram in parallel to the Economic and Financial Dialogue.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer will host the next round of the UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue in London in July 2008.

Health

Migraine

Ashok Kumar (PPS (Rt Hon Hilary Benn, Secretary of State), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland, Labour) | Hansard source

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on research into the treatment of migraine in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo (Minister of State (Public Health), Department of Health; Bristol South, Labour) | Hansard source

Over the last 10 years, the main part of the Department's total expenditure on health research has been devolved to and managed by national health service organisations. Details of individual NHS supported research projects undertaken during that time, including a number concerned with migraine, are available on the archived national research register at:

https://portal.nihr.ac.uk/Pages/NRRArchiveSearch.aspx

Implementation of the Department's research strategy "Best Research for Best Health" (copies of this publication are available in the Library) and the establishment of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has resulted in an expansion of our research programmes and in significant new funding opportunities. The NIHR funded University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre is for example undertaking research on headache and pain. A five-year budget of £3.7 million has been allocated to this work.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) is one of the main agencies through which the Government support medical and clinical research. The MRC, an independent body, receives its grant-in-aid from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

Since 1998 the MRC has funded three research projects relevant to migraine, at a total cost of £1.7 million.

Defence

Armed Forces

Ashok Kumar (PPS (Rt Hon Hilary Benn, Secretary of State), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland, Labour) | Hansard source

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what support is provided to the families of British service personnel killed in action.

Des Browne (Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence; Kilmarnock & Loudoun, Labour) | Hansard source

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 27 February 2007, Official R eport, column 1145W, to the hon. Member for Lancaster and Wyre (Mr Wallace).

Health

Sex Change Operations

Ashok Kumar (PPS (Rt Hon Hilary Benn, Secretary of State), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland, Labour) | Hansard source

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what counselling is provided before a sex change operation is carried out (a) by the NHS and (b) privately; and what criteria must be met.

Dawn Primarolo (Minister of State (Public Health), Department of Health; Bristol South, Labour) | Hansard source

In the NHS, protocols for care pathways for the treatment of gender dysphoria are established locally and so vary. The general pattern would begin by the patients being referred by their general practitioners to a psychiatrist and/or psychologist for assessment.

The Department does not provide specific guidance on treatment for gender dysphoria to private health care establishments.

Health

Sex Change Operations

Ashok Kumar (PPS (Rt Hon Hilary Benn, Secretary of State), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland, Labour) | Hansard source

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many sex change operations were carried out (a) by the NHS and (b) privately in each of the last 10 years.

Dawn Primarolo (Minister of State (Public Health), Department of Health; Bristol South, Labour) | Hansard source

The Department of Health does not collect such information from private healthcare providers.

Following is a table containing the total number of finished consultant episodes where an operative procedure for sexual transformation has been performed in the NHS for the period 1997-98 to 2006-07.

  Finished consultant episodes
2006-07 155
2005-06 146
2004-05 144
2003-04 128
2002-03 118
2001-02 109
2000-01 98
1999-2000 68
1998-99 65
1997-98 78

Health

Health Centres

Ashok Kumar (PPS (Rt Hon Hilary Benn, Secretary of State), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland, Labour) | Hansard source

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to ensure that local authorities are fully consulted on the introduction of polyclinics.

Ben Bradshaw (Minister of State, Department of Health; Exeter, Labour) | Hansard source

In commissioning new additional primary medical services (additional general practitioner (GP) practices and GP led health centres) the Department has consistently emphasised to strategic health authorities and primary care trusts the need for strong public and clinical engagement in making decisions on the location and the range of services to be provided. The precise scope and nature of the consultation process should be determined locally, but we would expect this to engage with local authorities and their representatives as well as directly with patients and clinicians.

Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform

Joint Economic and Trade Committee: India
Ashok Kumar (PPS (Rt Hon Hilary Benn, Secretary of State), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland, Labour) | Hansard source

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what progress has been made in establishing the Joint Economic and Trade Committee with India since the joint declaration with India of 20th September 2004.

Gareth Thomas (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for International Development; Harrow West, Labour) | Hansard source

The UK-India Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) held its inaugural meeting on 13 January 2005 in New Delhi, co-chaired by the then Secretary of State for the Department of Trade and Industry and the Indian Minister for Commerce and Industry (Shri Kamal Nath).

Since then the ministerial meetings have been held annually, alternating between London and New Delhi—the most recent on 13 December 2007 in London chaired by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Mr. Hutton) and Minister Nath.

Culture Media and Sport

Theatre

Ashok Kumar (PPS (Rt Hon Hilary Benn, Secretary of State), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland, Labour) | Hansard source

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps his Department is taking to increase access to theatres in the English regions, with particular reference to rural areas.

Margaret Hodge (Minister of State (Culture, Creative Industries and Tourism), Department for Culture, Media & Sport; Barking, Labour) | Hansard source

The Department's support for the theatre is channelled through Arts Council England. In recognition of their work in giving people in rural areas access to high-quality performing arts, the Arts Council will provide above-inflation increases in grants for 2008-09 to 2010-11 to a number of local authorities and touring companies. Several arts centres serving rural areas, and offering high-quality performing arts programmes also received increases in the Arts Council's last investment strategy. The Arts Council has also increased its funding to the National Rural Touring Forum, the umbrella body for rural touring circuits, by 50 per cent. in 2008-09.

Through its Thrive! programme, the Arts Council has allocated over £1.7 million of lottery funds to support better collaboration within the sector to improve understanding of existing audiences and access for new audiences; and over 25 per cent. of local strategic partnerships (many of them rural) have prioritised increasing engagement in the arts in their new local area agreements.

Transport

Bus Services: Rural Areas
Ashok Kumar (PPS (Rt Hon Hilary Benn, Secretary of State), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland, Labour) | Hansard source

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of trends in reliability and consistency of local bus services in rural areas where an individual bus company has the monopoly.

Rosie Winterton (Minister of State, Department for Transport; Doncaster Central, Labour) | Hansard source

The Department's survey of bus punctuality and reliability was not designed to identify trends in areas where an individual bus company has a monopoly and those where this is not the case. But, the latest figures from "Bus Punctuality Statistics GB: 2007" (available in the Libraries of the House) show that performance in rural authority areas has improved since the last survey in 2005.

In 2007, 76 per cent. of non-frequent buses (five buses or less per hour) were on time, compared to 73 per cent. in 2005; and excess waiting time for frequent buses was 1.08 minutes, compared to 1.56 minutes in 2005 (figures for all bus stops).

Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

Terrorism: International Cooperation
Ashok Kumar (PPS (Rt Hon Hilary Benn, Secretary of State), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland, Labour) | Hansard source

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made on joint working against global terrorism since the 20 September 2004 joint declaration with India.

Jim Murphy (Minister of State, Foreign & Commonwealth Office; Renfrewshire East, Labour) | Hansard source

The UK and India enjoy a close working relationship on countering terrorism and extremism. This is underpinned by Prime Ministerial agreement at annual UK/India summits to work together in specific areas.

At the most recent summit in January we agreed to intensify mutual exchange of views, experiences and practical cooperation in the fight against terrorism. We have agreed to build on existing co-operation, including in the protection of critical national infrastructure, mass transit systems and the security of major sporting events—including the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games and the 2012 London Olympics. In addition, we have agreed to expand co-operation on civil aviation security and crisis management and to establish a new bilateral dialogue on terrorist financing.

Multilaterally, the UK and India remain committed to pursuing an agreement in the UN on the Comprehensive Convention against International Terrorism. The UK continues to support India's request for full membership of the Financial Action Task Force.

Defence

India: Defence

Ashok Kumar (PPS (Rt Hon Hilary Benn, Secretary of State), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland, Labour) | Hansard source

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made on (a) joint military training and (b) co-production of defence equipment since the joint declaration with India on 20 September 2004.

Bob Ainsworth (Minister of State (Armed Forces), Ministry of Defence; Coventry North East, Labour) | Hansard source

There has been a significant increase in the breadth and depth of defence co-operation between UK and India since the Joint Declaration of 2004, and combined military training involving all three Services is an important dimension of our security relationship.

The UK also has a strong commitment to partnering with India in the field of defence equipment production. We are well placed to support India's efforts to develop a sustainable defence manufacturing sector that produces a positive contribution to the economies of both UK and India.

The growing relationship is underpinned by a regular dialogue between our respective Defence Ministries at the highest level that provides for the exchange of ideas, the sharing of experience as well as a forum for the resolution of any problems.

 
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