Results 1-20 of 297 for speaker:Bill Etherington

Scientific Procedures on Animals (Statistics) (24 Feb 2009)

Bill Etherington: May I place on the record my appreciation to the Speaker for allowing this debate at rather short notice and for giving us a one-and-a-half-hour slot? That will give many of my colleagues the opportunity, should they so wish, to put forward their views. I am very pleased to see my hon. Friend the Minister in her place, because in many ways she is more responsible for the debate than I am. On...

Scientific Procedures on Animals (Statistics) (24 Feb 2009)

Bill Etherington: The hon. Gentleman has put that in a very attractive way. He is expressing an opinion. One of the reasons for the rise is that we have failed to control the system in a proper manner. I will explain later why that has happened. It is probably not widely known, but the Freedom of Information Act 2000 does not apply to this particular industry. I shall call animal experimentation an industry...

Scientific Procedures on Animals (Statistics) (24 Feb 2009)

Bill Etherington: I agree with my hon. Friend, but all I can say is how long is a piece of string? Without the evidence, we do not know whether the 21 per cent. increase might have been a 60 per cent. or a 5 per cent. increase. We will only know that when we get the full information. We need to know why experiments are being carried out, what the results are and what conclusions are drawn from the results. We...

Scientific Procedures on Animals (Statistics) (24 Feb 2009)

Bill Etherington: I agree with my hon. Friend but, sadly, that is not likely to happen. All Governments seem to be reluctant to interfere and instead follow the status quo. Whenever someone suggests something radical, there is always a massive move against it. For every one good reason to change something, 10 good reasons are given to keep things as they are. My hon. Friend makes an attractive proposal, but it...

Written Answers — Health: Alcoholism: Health Services (23 Feb 2009)

Bill Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what specialist training is available for general practitioners to ensure that primary care services respond to the health needs of patients presenting with severe alcohol dependency.

Written Answers — Health: Alcoholism: Health Services (12 Feb 2009)

Bill Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to assess the effectiveness of alcohol rehabilitation services in each strategic health authority.

Written Answers — Health: Mental Health Services: Young People (12 Feb 2009)

Bill Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he plans to take to improve services for young people who require (a) mental health support, (b) bereavement counselling and (c) individual counselling in the North East; (2) what the average waiting time for young people to obtain (a) mental health support services, (b) bereavement counselling and (c) individual counselling...

Written Answers — Health: Alcoholic Drinks: Health Education (11 Feb 2009)

Bill Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been taken to increase awareness of safe drinking levels and the health risks associated with alcohol dependency amongst (a) adults aged over 45 years and (b) young people under 18 years living in the North East.

Written Answers — Health: Alcoholism: Health Services (11 Feb 2009)

Bill Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time was for (a) adults and (b) young people in each strategic health authority area to obtain (i) community-based and (ii) in-patient services to reduce severe alcohol dependency in the latest period for which information is available.

Written Answers — Health: Alcoholism: Health Services (11 Feb 2009)

Bill Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many in-patient beds there are in each strategic health authority area for patients who require medical support and intervention to reduce severe alcohol dependency.

Petition — Planning and Development (Sutton): Northern Rock (4 Feb 2009) has video

Bill Etherington: This petition is one of many involving Northern Rock shareholders. The issue is almost becoming an omnibus; there have been several such petitions, and I have no doubt that there will be more. I have not always seen eye to eye with all the Northern Rock shareholders, and I want to make my position plain. They have been very critical of the Government, but I do not accept that they should be....

Petition — Health Care (Sunderland) (8 Dec 2008)

Bill Etherington: When a Member has 12,280 petitioners in their constituency, they do not have to be particularly wise to know that they have a lot of disenchanted, disappointed or angry people. What makes matters even worse is the fact that this particular petition is on the subject of the national health service, where the Government have done extremely good work, and that it revolves around the current...

Written Answers — Environment Food and Rural Affairs: Bee Health Advisory Panel (26 Nov 2008)

Bill Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Bee Health Advisory Panel last met; what matters were discussed; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of the meeting.

Written Answers — Environment Food and Rural Affairs: Bees (26 Nov 2008)

Bill Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he last made an assessment of the effectiveness of the operation of the Bee Diseases Control Order 1982.

Written Answers — Environment Food and Rural Affairs: Bees (26 Nov 2008)

Bill Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent guidance his Department has provided to (a) hobbyist and (b) commercial bee keepers on (i) management of healthy hives and (ii) detection and reporting of bee diseases.

Written Answers — Environment Food and Rural Affairs: Bees (26 Nov 2008)

Bill Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) hobbyist and (b) commercial bee keepers there are in each local authority area in England; and how many hives each type of bee-keeper has.

Written Answers — Environment Food and Rural Affairs: Bees (26 Nov 2008)

Bill Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps will be taken to maintain levels of UK production of honey from 2009.

Written Answers — Work and Pensions: Child Support (13 Oct 2008)

Bill Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average level of debt of those committed to prison for non-payment of child maintenance payment debts in each year since 2002-03 was; and how many people were in this category in each year.

Written Answers — Work and Pensions: Child Support (13 Oct 2008)

Bill Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Child Support Agency cases in Sunderland are being processed as clerical cases arising from (a) pre-2003 and (b) post-2003 legislative changes.

Written Answers — Work and Pensions: Child Support (13 Oct 2008)

Bill Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) written complaints and (b) telephone complaints from Child Support Agency customers based in the Sunderland area there were in each year since 2003; and how many of these did not receive (i) acknowledgement within two working days and (ii) an outcome or progress report within 15 working days.