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  • Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 11 February (HL5795), when NHS England’s plan for future hepatitis C funding will be finalised, how many patients will be able to access hepatitis C treatment via NHS England’s plan for future hepatitis C funding, and whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of NHS England’s plan once it is finalised.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Based on the modelling produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, NHS England has set out the NHS planning assumptions for hepatitis C in March 2016 for the financial year 2016/17. We understand that this has been shared with Members of Parliament and noble Lords, operational delivery networks, pharmaceutical companies and other stakeholders.

    An expected 6,500 patients will have been treated for the 12 months ending March 2016. NHS England and providers are planning for 10,000 patients to be treated in the 12 months from April 2016 to March 2017.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 11 February (HL5795), what is the value of payments made to Operational Delivery Networks (ODN) via the Commissioning and Quality Innovation payment network in (1) total, and (2) by ODN, for each of the last three financial years.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Operational Delivery Networks (ODNs) provide expert specialist oversight of prescribing decisions on hepatitis C. They were established in August 2015, therefore funding information is only available for 2015/16.

    In 2015/16, funding has been approximately £2.5 million. The majority of this amount has been via a central allocation.

    It is not possible to confirm the payments made to each ODN for commercial reasons.

    NHS England is funding ODNs via Commissioning Quality and Innovation in 2016/17 and 2017/18.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 11 February (HL5795), what aspects of treatment provided by drugs and alcohol services are not funded by the NHS.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    All public funding for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) is provided by the National Health Service.

    Depending on local arrangements, drug and alcohol services commissioned by local authorities in England and funded from the Public Health Grant, may provide service users with aspects of HCV treatment. These would usually include initial testing and counselling, referring and supporting patients who test positive to engage with and complete HCV treatment provided by the NHS. They might also cover providing premises for NHS diagnosis and treatment to take place in the community.

  • Baroness Redfern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Redfern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Redfern on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the current and future financial impact of private finance initiative projects on NHS Hospital Trusts (1) nationally, and (2) in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    HM Treasury holds information on the current estimated revenue payments for the lifetime of each health sector private finance initiative (PFI) in a live online database. This shows that for the 106 National Health Service PFI schemes that have now been signed, the estimated total revenue payments (over the lifetime of their contracts) are £79.0 billion (in nominal terms i.e. including an inflation assumption). This is from the date of the first construction completions in 2000-01 to the date of the very last payment in 2049-50. The revenue payment figures include not just the financing costs (debt repayment and interest) for initial construction but also the costs of all the other services such as building maintenance and support services (cleaning, catering, portering etc) provided over the lifetime of the contract. The payments are subject to meeting agreed performance and quality standards and include an annual uprate assumption for inflation of 2.5%.

    This Government launched an initiative in 2011 to extract savings and optimise value for money in operational PFI contracts. This included a pilot exercise at a major NHS PFI scheme which resulted in guidance with appropriate methodology and lessons learned being issued to all relevant NHS trusts in 2012. The Department has specialist officials to assist trusts in implementing the guidance.

    An extract giving details of PFI schemes in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire is attached.

    Further information on PFI projects nationally can be accessed via HM Treasury’s website as follows. The files are too large to attach to this reply, however when searching, the ‘Current projects as at 31 March 2015’ spreadsheet should be opened. This will show the latest estimates collected from each department as at the end of March 2015; the health sector schemes are clearly marked “Department of Health” and then “DH-Acute (i.e. Hospitals)”. The initial capital cost of each scheme is shown in Column R and the annual revenue payment in the columns headed ‘Unitary Charge Payment’ (UCP). The total of UCPs (England) for 2014-15, the latest audited figure (Column AO), is £1.9 billion.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/private-finance-initiative-and-private-finance-2-projects-2015-summary-data

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  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 10 February (HL5715), whether they now intend to legislate to allow heterosexuals to form civil partnerships, and if not, why not.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The Noble Lord wrote to me on this topic previously (HL5715). As I previously said:

    In 2014, after the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 was passed, the government carried out a review of the operation and future of the Civil Partnership Act 2004, including a thorough public consultation on potential changes to civil partnership. Views were invited on three options: Abolishing, or phasing out civil partnerships; or extending them to opposite sex couples.

    The review found that there was no clear consensus on the future of civil partnerships. A majority of respondents to the consultation were against extending civil partnerships to opposite sex couples and several important organisations thought it was too soon to consider making changes to civil partnerships until the impact of extending marriage to same sex couples is known. Given the lack of any consensus the Government has no current plans to make changes to the Civil Partnership Act 2004.

    On 29 January 2016 the High Court dismissed a legal challenge to the lack of availability of civil partnerships to opposite sex couples. The Court ruled unequivocally that the current regime of marriage and civil partnership does not disadvantage anyone nor does it infringe anyone’s right to family or private life. We also welcome the Court’s view that it is entirely reasonable for the Government to wait to see the impact of extending marriage to same sex couples before deciding on the way forward.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 10 February (HL5712), what other mechanisms are available to the EU to intervene on, or influence, taxation in individual member states.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    Direct tax is a Member State competence. Under the Treaties, any Directives on tax are agreed by unanimity, the effect of which is to give each Member State a veto power.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether parliamentary approval would be required for any decision to join the eurozone, and if so, why the Prime Minister has stated that the UK will never join the eurozone, in the light of the fact that one Parliament cannot bind its successor.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    As set out in Protocol 15, the United Kingdom is under no legal obligation to adopt the euro as its currency. Under the EU Act 2011, a decision by the UK under Protocol (No 15) leading to a decision by the Council under article 140 (3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union would require an Act of Parliament and a referendum result in favour before a Minister of the Crown could support it.

    The Prime Minister has been clear that Britain will never join the euro.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the percentage of food poverty or insecurity that is caused by state benefits being used for purposes other than to provide necessities.

    Lord Freud

    There has been no such assessment.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park on 23 February (HL6060), whether, in the light of clause 10 of the Trade Union Bill and the laws regarding pre-entry trade union membership, they will take appropriate action to ensure that student unions are bound by the same rules as other unions.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Student unions are not trade unions, as specified by Section 1 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. Therefore, none of the reforms being provided by the Trade Union Bill will impact students’ unions.

    The Education Act 1994 already requires publicly-funded universities to take reasonable steps to ensure that their students’ union observes the right for students to opt out of membership.

    The Green Paper “Fulfilling our Potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice” sought public views on the role of students’ unions and what further steps could be taken to increase transparency and accountability to individual members. The Government plans to publish a White Paper in response in the spring.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 24 February (HL6131) concerning a proposal by the EU to requisition member states’ gas supplies under certain circumstances, whether such a policy would require (1) parliamentary consent, and (2) a referendum.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    There is no suggestion in the proposals that the EU will requisition Member States’ gas supplies. The proposals are at a very early stage and we are engaging with the Commission to ensure that the final version is practical and proportionate. The proposals do not involve any agreement by the UK to transfer power or competence to the EU. These proposals are subject to the usual scrutiny process of both Houses.