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  • Caroline Flint – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Caroline Flint – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate his Department has made of the number of households that will receive cashback under the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund in (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16, (c) 2016-17 and (d) all further years for which funding has been allocated.

    Gregory Barker

    The total number of homes supported under the GDHIF scheme will be dependent on a number of factors. Given these are unknown factors currently, the number of homes potentially supported could vary significantly. Up to £120m has been allocated to this scheme for 2014/15. A decision on allocating funding for future years has yet to be taken.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reason Sri Lanka has not been included as a priority country for the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The Foreign Secretary’s Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) is global in reach. It aims to address impunity for crimes of conflict related sexual violence wherever these occur. We remain concerned at reports of a culture of impunity for rape and sexual violence and a lack of support for victims in Sri Lanka, as well as reports of the use of sexual violence as a means of torture in custody. We have engaged significantly with Sri Lanka on this issue. When the Foreign Secretary visited Sri Lanka in November 2013 to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), he hosted an event to highlight concerns about allegations of sexual violence in Sri Lanka during and after the conflict, and urged Sri Lanka to sign up to the UN Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict. The UK is also supporting projects to ensure a zero tolerance approach to rape and sexual violence in Sri Lanka. Our presence at CHOGM also ensured that the final communiqué at the Commonwealth Heads of Government in Colombo in November 2013 contained the first ever commitment by member states to take action to prevent and respond to sexual violence.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of prevalence of sexual violence in conflict in Sri Lanka.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We remain concerned at reports of a culture of impunity for rape and sexual violence and a lack of support for victims in Sri Lanka, as well as reports of the use of sexual violence as a means of torture in custody. We are clear that rape and sexual violence whether during conflict or afterwards is unacceptable and must stop and we are committed to tackling sexual violence in conflict wherever it happens.

    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) and I have urged Sri Lanka to sign up to the UN Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, and we are supporting projects to ensure a zero tolerance approach to rape and sexual violence in Sri Lanka. On 27 March, the UN Human Rights Council agreed a resolution on Sri Lanka that establishes an international investigation into allegations of violations of international law of both sides of the military conflict, and calls upon the Sri Lankan government to make progress on reconciliation and human rights. The resolution also expresses serious concern at continuing reports of sexual and gender based violence.

  • Tessa Munt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tessa Munt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tessa Munt on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2014, Official Report, column 61W, on radiotherapy, what reports he has received of the reasons NHS England has paid for gamma knife treatment at University College Hospital London for a patient referred there from Plymouth Derriford Hospital by James Palmer, NHS England’s Clinical Director of Specialised Commissioning.

    Jane Ellison

    For reasons of patient confidentiality, it is not possible to comment explicitly on either case referred to. However, any primary care trust authorisations made for the gamma knife prior to 1 April 2013 were honoured by NHS England and the invoice associated with the agreed work was paid. University College London Hospitals (UCLH) were required to forward any referrals made after 1 April 2013 to NHS England, along the prescribed pathway, in accordance with the contract between the two. No invoices for work carried out by Queen’s Square Radiotherapy Centre at its own risk on behalf of UCLH have been paid by NHS England for referrals after 1 April 2013.

  • Tessa Munt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tessa Munt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tessa Munt on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether guidance issued by Monitor is mandatory for NHS England to follow.

    Jane Ellison

    It is the National Health Service (Procurement, Patient Choice and Competition) (No.2) Regulations 2013 that place requirements on NHS England, including requirements as to good practice in relation to procurement.

    Enforcement of the procurement requirements by Monitor may only follow its investigation of a complaint that there has been a failure by a commissioner to comply with the requirements. Guidance issued by Monitor on the regulations, including guidance issued in April, provides advice for commissioners on compliance with the regulations.

  • Tessa Munt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tessa Munt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tessa Munt on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 24 March 2014, Official Report, column 132W, on radiotherapy, what reports he has received on the reasons NHS England has paid for Gamma Knife treatment at University College Hospital London (UCHL) for a patient with an acoustic neuroma referred to UCHL from Bournemouth and Poole Hospital.

    Jane Ellison

    For reasons of patient confidentiality, it is not possible to comment explicitly on either case referred to. However, any primary care trust authorisations made for the gamma knife prior to 1 April 2013 were honoured by NHS England and the invoice associated with the agreed work was paid. University College London Hospitals (UCLH) were required to forward any referrals made after 1 April 2013 to NHS England, along the prescribed pathway, in accordance with the contract between the two. No invoices for work carried out by Queen’s Square Radiotherapy Centre at its own risk on behalf of UCLH have been paid by NHS England for referrals after 1 April 2013.

  • David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the time and resources that clinicians spend on administering individual funding requests for treatments of Parkinson’s disease and other progressive conditions; and if he will make a statement.

    Norman Lamb

    We have made no such assessment.

    From April 2013, NHS England assumed responsibility for commissioning adult specialist neurosciences services, including the majority of services for patients with Parkinson’s disease, with some being the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups.

    NHS England has advised that it does not routinely fund Duodopa (co-careldopa) for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and is currently considering its clinical policy.

    Clinicians can submit individual funding requests for this treatment on behalf of their patients as per NHS England’s individual funding requests standard operating procedure, which is at:

    www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/cp-04.pdf

    This process is monitored against the standard operating procedure to ensure that referring clinicians are informed of outcomes in a timely manner.

    Once the commissioning position relating to this service area is agreed and service access criteria published, NHS England has advised that the number of individual funding requests from clinicians may reduce.

  • David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment his Department has made of the (a) prevalence of additional health problems experienced by people with Parkinson’s Disease due to delays in receiving Duodopa and (b) costs incurred by the NHS as a result of such delays; and if he will make a statement.

    Norman Lamb

    We have made no such assessment.

    From April 2013, NHS England assumed responsibility for commissioning adult specialist neurosciences services, including the majority of services for patients with Parkinson’s disease, with some being the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups.

    NHS England has advised that it does not routinely fund Duodopa (co-careldopa) for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and is currently considering its clinical policy.

    Clinicians can submit individual funding requests for this treatment on behalf of their patients as per NHS England’s individual funding requests standard operating procedure, which is at:

    www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/cp-04.pdf

    This process is monitored against the standard operating procedure to ensure that referring clinicians are informed of outcomes in a timely manner.

    Once the commissioning position relating to this service area is agreed and service access criteria published, NHS England has advised that the number of individual funding requests from clinicians may reduce.

  • David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that clinicians making individual funding requests for Parkinson’s disease medication are informed of the outcome within 40 days; and if he will make a statement.

    Norman Lamb

    We have made no such assessment.

    From April 2013, NHS England assumed responsibility for commissioning adult specialist neurosciences services, including the majority of services for patients with Parkinson’s disease, with some being the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups.

    NHS England has advised that it does not routinely fund Duodopa (co-careldopa) for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and is currently considering its clinical policy.

    Clinicians can submit individual funding requests for this treatment on behalf of their patients as per NHS England’s individual funding requests standard operating procedure, which is at:

    www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/cp-04.pdf

    This process is monitored against the standard operating procedure to ensure that referring clinicians are informed of outcomes in a timely manner.

    Once the commissioning position relating to this service area is agreed and service access criteria published, NHS England has advised that the number of individual funding requests from clinicians may reduce.

  • Nadine Dorries – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Nadine Dorries – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of all UK visa applications processed by TPContact in (a) Israel, (b) Russia, (c) South Africa and (d) Ukraine have been subject to delays outside the stated service standards.

    James Brokenshire

    Any failure against the contractual critical service levels may result in
    deductions against their submitted invoices. In the event of continuous and
    unacceptable failures the Department has the ability to terminate the contract.

    The performance of Teleperformance as with all of our contracts is subject to
    close Home Office scrutiny. The governance processes include regular meetings
    at all levels, from local operational teams up to senior official levels, to
    allow in-depth reviews of performance against the service standards set out in
    the contract, and to provide an escalation route to resolve any issues that may
    arise. We also expect suppliers to provide continuous improvement in delivery
    of customer services over the course of the contract, which is also monitored
    through these processes.

    The Department withheld payment of the contractual transitional payment until
    transition was complete in each country where Teleperformance operates. This
    has now been has now been approved for payment in countries where visa
    application centres (VACs) are operational but withheld in locations still to
    be transitioned. Ongoing contractual payments will be subject to the service
    credit process outlined above.

    The data required to judge performance against contractual service standards is
    not yet available. We are not aware of any withdrawn applications linked to
    delays in processing at the identified visa application centres since they took
    over this service. The Home Office is currently collating data on complaints
    for the period since Teleperformance commenced operations and it is not
    available for publication.

    UK Visas & Immigration has worked closely with Teleperformance from the point
    at which contracts were awarded to prepare for live operations, including the
    summer peak. Annual and monthly application volumes and forecast figures for
    2014 were provided to Teleperformance as part of the tender process and local
    discussions have taken place to determine the number of appointment slots
    available. Opening hours have been extended and appointment availability has
    been increased in a number of locations to prepare for the summer period. Where
    VACs are open every day, the availability of appointment slots is continually
    monitored, with further measures being taken if appointments are consistently
    fully booked.