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Baroness Barker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-03-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their expected bilateral spending on technical assistance to programmes funded by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in addition to their commitment to the Global Fund in (1) 2015–16, and (2) 2016–17.

Baroness Verma

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is a critically important part of the international architecture for fighting the three diseases. The UK provides technical assistance to programmes funded by the Global Fund through the following organisations: the Stop-TB Partnership, Roll Back Malaria, UNAIDS and the World Health Organisation’s Global Malaria Programme. The table (below) shows DFID’s spend to these organisations over the last five financial years.

(£ Millions)

	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15
WHOs Global Malaria Programme	–	1.50	3.50	1.50	3.50
Roll Back Malaria	0.52	1.00	1.63	0.63	1.23
Stop TB Partnership	1.00	1.90	1.50	0.50	1.00
UNAIDS	10.00	10.00	15.00	15.00	15.00

Total (£ Millions)	11.52	14.40	21.63	17.63	20.73

The UK is committed to remaining a world leader in tackling global diseases and ending the epidemics of AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria by 2030. Our future contributions to the Global Fund will be determined following the completion of the Bilateral and Multilateral Aid Reviews.

01/01/2023

Baroness Barker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-03-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which organisations have received, or will receive, bilateral funding for technical assistance for programmes funded by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in (1) 2014–15, (2) 2015–16, and (3) 2016–17.

Baroness Verma

(£ Millions)

	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15
WHOs Global Malaria Programme	–	1.50	3.50	1.50	3.50
Roll Back Malaria	0.52	1.00	1.63	0.63	1.23
Stop TB Partnership	1.00	1.90	1.50	0.50	1.00
UNAIDS	10.00	10.00	15.00	15.00	15.00

Total (£ Millions)	11.52	14.40	21.63	17.63	20.73

01/01/2023

Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-03-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why their devolution agreement with Bath and North East Somerset Council, Bristol City Council, North Somerset Council, South Gloucestershire Council and the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership is called the West of England devolution agreement, in the light of the fact that it does not include Cornwall Council or Devon County Council.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The West of England is the recognised name used to describe the area covered by the four local authorities: Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Bath and North East Somerset. The West of England is used to describe organisations and functions that work across this geography, which include the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership and the West of England Nature Partnership. Cornwall is already covered by a devolution deal – it is called the Cornwall Devolution Deal.

01/01/2023
Baroness Byford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-03-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they support Public Health England’s decision to reduce the dairy food group in the revised Eatwell Guide; whether the dairy industry was consulted before that change was made; and on what scientific basis that decision was taken.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Government has adopted the refreshed Eatwell Guide which reflects updated government dietary recommendations based upon conclusions from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition, robust modelling and consumer research. It shows the proportions of the different types of foods and drinks we should consume to have a healthy, balanced diet.

No individual organisation was consulted as part of this refresh. An external reference group informed the development of the Eatwell Guide. Representatives from the health sector, voluntary sector and industry groups including membership, trade and levy organisations (including ones representing agricultural sectors), were members and provided routes of engagement.

Outside of the reference group involvement, 25 individuals/organisations commented directly to Public Health England. Linear programming, considered the most objective and robust approach by the reference group, informed the sizes of the food group segments, ensuring all government dietary recommendations, including that for calcium, were met.

01/01/2023
Baroness Byford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-03-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria they used to decide on which radio channels to advertise the new workplace pensions; whether they are being advertised on BBC Radio; and if not, why not.

Baroness Altmann

We select radio stations to reach the largest proportion of our employer target audience in a cost efficient manner. This is determined by RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) listener surveys and using a sample audience profile that represents employers with less than 30 employees.

We are unable to advertise on BBC Radio due to their commercial policy.

01/01/2023
Baroness Byford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-03-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there is a legal obligation for goods offered for sale in shops in the UK to carry contents and usage instructions in English.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Labelling and information requirements vary by product.

If information on a UK product label is a mandatory requirement, this information must be provided in English.

For non-food consumer products, the UK General Product Safety Regulations 2005, which implements the European General Product Safety Directive, require that a product is safe when placed on the market. In this context, it is considered safe to have the instructions and safety information in the language of the Member State where the product is being sold.

01/01/2023
Baroness Byford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-03-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why National Savings and Investments stopped the sale of Premium Bonds for cash in Post Offices and withdrew their brochures, forms and reply envelopes at the same time, and what assessment they have made of the effect of that decision on the sale of Premium Bonds.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

National Savings and Investments’ (NS&I) core remit is to provide cost effective financing for the Government. Over the past few years, NS&I has been moving its business to direct only channels – internet, phone and post – producing significant savings for the taxpayer.

The end of Premium Bond sales and wider NS&I services at the Post Office was a commercial decision made by NS&I. This decision reflects the way that their customers are choosing to do business with NS&I and also the growth of the Post Office’s own range of savings products. The change followed the success of 65+ Pensioner Bonds, which saw over one million pensioners from around the country invest via direct only channels.

01/01/2023
Baroness Byford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-03-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is (1) the average hourly rate, and (2) the range of charges, for official veterinary surgeons employed in abattoirs.

Lord Prior of Brampton

In 2014/15 the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) full cost normal time hourly charge rate for an Official Veterinarian (OV) in Great Britain was £37.30. Discounts are applied to FSA charges and as a consequence the average hourly rate of charge for an OV was £16.81.

The range of normal time hourly rates charged for FSA OVs in Great Britain in 2014/15 was £0.00 to £37.30.

01/01/2023
Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-03-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any plans for a database of outcomes from innovative medical treatments will be subject to the patient level extraction process of the Standardisation Committee for Care Information.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Access to Medical Treatments (Innovations) Bill, which has passed through all Parliamentary stages and is awaiting Royal Assent, provides a power to the Secretary of State for Health to direct the Health and Social Care Information Centre to; design, build and operate a database of innovative medicines which clinicians may wish to consider helping their patients gain access to, which will be implemented using internationally standardised medical coding.

01/01/2023
Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-03-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to publish a response to their consultation on accredited safe havens, Protecting personal health and care data: a consultation on proposals to introduce new regulations, which closed on 8 August 2014.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Department received 278 responses to the 2014 consultation Protecting personal health and care data, but was unable to publish the Coalition Government’s response to that consultation before the 2015 election.

The consultation set the clear ambition to move as quickly as possible to a future state where:

– the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) is the place for holding identifiable health and care information at the national level;

– access to data is more automated so that routine functions, including many commissioning functions, do not require access to identifiable data; and

– consent is used more widely as the means for sharing identifiable information.

Analysis of consultation responses demonstrated no obvious consensus about the function, purpose, number and controls required for Accredited Safe Havens (ASHs) to operate. Since the 2014 consultation, HSCIC, working with NHS England, local government, Public Health England and other key stakeholders has committed to the delivery of the future state within two years, without the need for interim ASHs. Delivery of these functions by HSCIC has the added benefits of:

– increasing the likelihood of the public that there are robust protections and safeguards in place for their health and care data and information and;

– reducing the need for the health and care system to use identifiable data as a basis for delivering their functions.

The Government has concluded that the focus should be on supporting the HSCIC and NHS England in taking forward the future state as soon as possible. This will address the need to support integration and, in the longer term, to ensure flexibility is built in to reflect future priorities and also developments in technology and data.

In September 2015, The Secretary of State for Health commissioned the Care Quality Commission to undertake a review of data security in the National Health Service, and in parallel commissioned Dame Fiona Caldicott, the National Data Guardian, to undertake an independent review of data security and consent, to:

– Develop new data security standards;

– Devise a method of testing compliance with the new standards, and;

– Propose a new consent/opt-out model for data sharing.

The National Data Guardian’s independent review will report shortly and the government will consult on the recommendations and respond to them in due course.

01/01/2023