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  • Lord Pearson of Rannoch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Pearson of Rannoch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the percentage of child refugees to the UK from Syria and elsewhere who are from Muslim families, and whether the families of such refugees will be able to follow them in due course.

    Lord Bates

    The Home Office does not record the religion of those granted refugee status or humanitarian protection for statistical purposes.

    There is no provision in the Immigration Rules for children granted refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK to sponsor family members to join them. The policy is designed to avoid creating incentives for children to be encouraged, or even forced, to leave their country and risk hazardous journeys to the UK, which would play right into the hands of people smugglers and traffickers.

    Where a family reunion application fails under the Immigration Rules, there is provision in the policy to consider whether there are exceptional circumstances or compassionate reasons to justify granting a visa outside the Rules in individual cases.

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent finding by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine that pre-exposure prophylaxis could reduce HIV rates in men who have sex with men in the UK by between 40 and 60 per cent.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England is working with local authorities, clinicians, patient representatives and Public Health England to consider the clinical and cost effectiveness of providing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to groups at increased risk to prevent them acquiring HIV. This includes a full review and analysis of published literature in this area. The PrEP clinical policy proposition is one of many going through NHS England’s 2016/17 prioritisation round.

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to make pre-exposure prophylaxis available in England to men who have sex with men in England who are at high risk of HIV.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England is working with local authorities, clinicians, patient representatives and Public Health England to consider the clinical and cost effectiveness of providing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to groups at increased risk to prevent them acquiring HIV. This includes a full review and analysis of published literature in this area. The PrEP clinical policy proposition is one of many going through NHS England’s 2016/17 prioritisation round.

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when a vaccine will be procured for the human papilloma virus vaccination programme for men who have sex with men.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department and Public Health England are currently undertaking a procurement exercise to secure vaccine to support the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme for girls. The procurement will take account of the costs and benefits of all vaccines offered to establish which provides best value for money for the National Health Service.

    In November 2015, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the expert body that advises the Government on all immunisation matters, advised that a targeted HPV vaccination programme should be undertaken for men who have sex with men up to 45 years of age who attend genitourinary medicine and HIV clinics. They noted that this should be subject to procurement of the vaccine and delivery of the programme at a cost-effective price. The JCVI acknowledged that finding a way to implement its advice would be challenging and made clear that work was needed by the Department and others to consider commissioning and delivery routes for this programme. This work is already underway and we will announce our plans as soon as we can.

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the procurement of a human papilloma virus vaccination programme currently taking place includes the vaccine needed for men who have sex with men.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department and Public Health England are currently undertaking a procurement exercise to secure vaccine to support the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme for girls. The procurement will take account of the costs and benefits of all vaccines offered to establish which provides best value for money for the National Health Service.

    In November 2015, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the expert body that advises the Government on all immunisation matters, advised that a targeted HPV vaccination programme should be undertaken for men who have sex with men up to 45 years of age who attend genitourinary medicine and HIV clinics. They noted that this should be subject to procurement of the vaccine and delivery of the programme at a cost-effective price. The JCVI acknowledged that finding a way to implement its advice would be challenging and made clear that work was needed by the Department and others to consider commissioning and delivery routes for this programme. This work is already underway and we will announce our plans as soon as we can.

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the human papilloma virus vaccination programme for men who have sex with men will commence.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department and Public Health England are currently undertaking a procurement exercise to secure vaccine to support the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme for girls. The procurement will take account of the costs and benefits of all vaccines offered to establish which provides best value for money for the National Health Service.

    In November 2015, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the expert body that advises the Government on all immunisation matters, advised that a targeted HPV vaccination programme should be undertaken for men who have sex with men up to 45 years of age who attend genitourinary medicine and HIV clinics. They noted that this should be subject to procurement of the vaccine and delivery of the programme at a cost-effective price. The JCVI acknowledged that finding a way to implement its advice would be challenging and made clear that work was needed by the Department and others to consider commissioning and delivery routes for this programme. This work is already underway and we will announce our plans as soon as we can.

  • Baroness Byford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Byford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the results from the latest Blueprint for Water Scorecard as launched on 6 November 2012.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    Blueprint for Water is an ongoing campaign of Non-Government Organisations that make an assessment against the scorecard they have produced.

    Government has already taken substantive action to protect and improve the water environment. For example, through reducing phosphate pollution in rivers from sewage works by a fifth and ammonia by a sixth compared to 2010 through investment at almost 500 sewage treatment works. Also, £87 million invested in local actions to restore our rivers and this has supported projects to improve over nearly 10,000 miles of rivers

    Looking ahead, £900 million has been made available under Countryside Stewardship for environmental action by farmers and there are plans by water companies to invest £3.5 billion.

    These investments, together with other actions, are drawn together in River Basin Management Plans which contain a comprehensive programme for the water environment up to 2021 and which will be published soon.

    Since the Water Scorecard of 2012, Blueprint for Water published a further report ‘Water Matters’ in September 2015. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs accepted an invitation from the group to speak at the launch of this report in the Palace of Westminster, hosted by the hon. Member for Richmond Park, Zac Goldsmith.

    In her speech the Secretary of State made it clear that Government shares many of the long-term outcomes put forward by the Blueprint for Water and went on to explain how Government intends to pursue them through the 25 Year Plan for the Environment. Blueprint and its constituent organisations will have an opportunity to contribute to this plan as it is refined further over summer and autumn 2016.

  • Baroness Byford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Byford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to shorten the teacher training period for graduates in life science subjects by allowing them to qualify in a single subject, such as physics, where there are shortages in qualified teacher numbers.

    Lord Nash

    It is for Initial Teacher Training (ITT) providers to use their professional judgement to determine how to structure the course. However, ITT courses must be designed so that teacher trainees can demonstrate by the end of their training that they meet all of the Teachers’ Standards at the appropriate level. The Teachers’ Standards, revised in September 2012, set out the key elements of effective teaching and the minimum expectations for the professional practice and conduct of teachers. The Teachers’ Standards have been attached to this answer.

    Although it is already possible within existing flexibilities for schools and ITT providers to offer shorter or longer courses, the majority of postgraduate courses are one year in length. The National College for Teaching and Leadership is working with nine School Direct lead schools to pilot a shortened School Direct (salaried) route for physics and mathematics trainees. Findings from these pilots will be shared with the ITT sector to encourage other schools and ITT providers to use the existing flexibilities to meet their recruitment needs.

  • Baroness Byford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness Byford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many, and which, councils in England have followed the example of Hampshire and set up locally sourced food supplies for their schools or other council-run organisations.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The Department does not hold information on the number of councils that have set up locally sourced food supplies for school and other council-run organisations. However we encourage councils to use local goods and services in any of their procurement and commissioning activity, and to be open and transparent to their local community.

  • Baroness Byford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Baroness Byford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they collect statistics on the durability of condensing boilers; and if so, how they compare with the types of boilers they have replaced.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    The Government does not collect statistics on the durability of condensing boilers.