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  • Lord Turnberg – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Turnberg – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Turnberg on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 10 February (HL4453), what plans they have to encourage NHS Trusts to employ and re-employ experienced medical staff who wish to practice part-time towards the end of their careers.

    Earl Howe

    It is for local National Health Service organisations to decide how many and what staff they employ, and they are best placed to do this based on the needs of their patients and local communities.

    Health Education England (HEE) is responsible for ensuring the NHS workforce has the right numbers, skills, values and behaviours to meet the needs of patients.

    HEE will work with NHS Employers and other key partners to develop a more strategic and cost-effective approach to staff retention including the encouragement of greater employer focus on retaining and investing in their current staff.

    To support nursing workforce requirements, HEE announced on 29 September 2014 that it is putting £4.7 million into training resources over the next three years as part of a major national campaign that will allow former nurses to return to the workforce.

    Over 1,000 have entered Return to Practice programmes this year. These programmes fast track experienced nurses back into the NHS in 3-6 months, compared to 3-4 years training new nurses.

    HEE is working with NHS England, the British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners to standardise a funded scheme which allows general practitioners to return to United Kingdom general practice following a career break. This is anticipated to be launched at the end of March.

  • Lord Morris of Aberavon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Morris of Aberavon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Morris of Aberavon on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the level of funding into the artificial pancreas; and why there has not been a call for artificial pancreas research by the National Institute for Health Research.

    Earl Howe

    Research infrastructure funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) contributes to international artificial pancreas research. This infrastructure includes the NIHR biomedical research centres at Cambridge and Imperial College London, the NIHR/Wellcome Trust Imperial Clinical Research Facility, and the NIHR Clinical Research Network. Spend on artificial pancreas research cannot be disaggregated from total expenditure through this infrastructure.

    There has been no specific call for artificial pancreas research by the NIHR. However, the NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including artificial pancreas systems. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.

  • Lord Mawson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Mawson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mawson on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what impact assessments have been carried out regarding the implementation of the Union Customs Code and its impact on micro and small businesses’ access to simplified procedures, the requirement to provide a six-digit Harmonised Tariff Code and changes to existing transit procedures.

    Lord Deighton

    HM Revenue and Customs has been formally consulting with UK trade bodies and businesses about the impact of the European Commission’s draft proposals for regulations to enable implementation of the Union Customs Code. Discussions have considered the impact of requirements to provide a six-digit commodity code that is needed for enhanced safety and security purposes and changes to existing transit arrangements which have enabled us to preserve a valuable simplification for movement of goods albeit in a different form. Trade views have been invaluable in informing the UK position, helping us to influence negotiations with the Commission and Member States and in securing agreement to necessary changes where possible. The UCC represents a package of measures to modernise and simplify customs procedures and requirements while also addressing the need to tighten safety and security and fight against fraud measures and its impact is being assessed in this overall context.

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the Future of News report published by the BBC on 28 January.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    No formal assessment has been made of the report, but we welcome the BBC’s insight into the future of news.

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many new HIV diagnoses were made among prisoners in 2014 in England and Wales.

    Earl Howe

    Data for 2014 is not available until October 2015.

    Latest data from the national human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) surveillance system shows that in 2013, of 5,594 adults (aged 15 years old or above) newly diagnosed with HIV in England and Wales, nine were newly diagnosed with HIV at a prison service. An additional 210 patients living with a diagnosed HIV infection (diagnosed before 2013) were resident in prison.

    Notes:

    The numbers are likely to be under-reported because prison status is not routinely collected. Prisoners were identified if the residential information provided related to a prison setting. Therefore the completeness and accuracy of the numbers depends on the clinicians’ reports. Furthermore, most prisoners have short custodial sentences and consequently may not be included in the national HIV surveillance system which collects information relating to a patients’ most recent attendance at an HIV service.

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much was spent on HIV-related information campaign advertising in 2014.

    Earl Howe

    The Department holds a contract with the Terrence Higgins Trust to deliver targeted HIV prevention programmes for those groups most at risk of HIV which in the United Kingdom is men who have sex with men (MSM) and black African communities. The current contract delivers the HIV Prevention England programme. In 2014-15 the value of this contract was £2.450 million and of this £550,000 was spent on social marketing activity including advertising.

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken in response to allegations of the theft of almost 300 cats in the Suffolk area between June and December 2014.

    Lord Bates

    Allegations of criminal behaviour should be reported to the Suffolk Constabulary so they can decide whether to instigate a criminal investigation. The Government has introduced Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to ensure that police force priorities across England and Wales better reflect those of the communities they serve, and that the police respond effectively to crime committed in the local area.

  • Lord Patten – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Patten – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which European Union legislation they have considered in framing the proposed draft Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015; what view they have taken on the applicability of the European Union legislation; and what is the basis for their view.

    Earl Howe

    As I said in the debate on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015 on 24 February 2015 (columns 1570 and 1617-8) the Government is satisfied that the Regulations do not contravene any aspect of European Union law. It has carefully considered recent arguments relating to the Clinical Trials Directive (Directive 2001/20/EC) but is satisfied that the Directive is not relevant in this context as it relates to clinical trials of medicines.

  • Lord Patten – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Patten – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consider that the principles and prohibitions regarding eugenic practices in the Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine form part of the constitutional traditions common to member states of the European Union.

    Earl Howe

    The United Kingdom has not signed or ratified the Council of Europe’s Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine.

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the oral statement by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 19 November 2014 (HL Deb, col 505), whether they will confirm the terms of reference for their review of unsafe product recall, and name the chair of the review and the date by which it will report.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    I expect the review of consumer product recalls to be launched in early March 2015, The Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) will make public the Terms of Reference, the name of the Chair and the timescale for the Review at that time.