The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to reply to the letter to his Department from the hon. Member for Ashfield of 4 January 2016 on the GP surgery in Underwood.
Alistair Burt
I replied to the hon. Member on 28 January.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-03-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the implications for his policies are of the findings of the Annual Report of the National Clinical Audit for Rheumatoid and Early Inflammatory Arthritis on treatment targets in England and Wales for patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
Jane Ellison
National Clinical Audits are commissioned and managed on behalf of NHS England by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP). Audits help drive improvement by providing local trusts with individual benchmarked reports on their performance against a range of measures, feeding back comparative findings to help participants identify necessary improvements for patients
The first annual report of the national clinical audit of rheumatoid and early inflammatory arthritis was published on 22 January 2016. The report identifies that although most services offer prompt educational support and agree targets for treatment with their patients, performance against criteria for referral and assessment could be improved. Since the audit, HQIP has reported that a number of trusts have successfully reconfigured their services in order to improve patient care. More information can be found at the following link:
www.hqip.org.uk/national-programmes/a-z-of-nca/arthritis-rheumatoid-and-early-inflammatory
To help clinicians to identify the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and make prompt referrals to specialists, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published Rheumatoid arthritis: The management of rheumatoid arthritis in adults, in 2009. This best practice guideline sets out the signs and symptoms of the disease and emphasises the need for early diagnosis with urgent referral to a specialist rheumatologist on suspicion of RA. For those diagnosed with the condition, the guidance also recommends they should be offered the opportunity to take part in educational activities, including self-management programmes.
The NICE RA quality standard (QS), published in 2013, is based on the NICE guideline, and one of the seven quality statements recommends that people with suspected RA are assessed in a rheumatology service within three weeks of referral. However, whilst providers and commissioners must have regard to these standards in planning and delivering services, they do not provide a comprehensive service specification and are not mandatory.
Regarding the establishment of early arthritis clinics, the configuration of services, including decisions to such arthritis clinics, is a matter for the local National Health Service.
The latest monthly workforce statistics published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre showed that, as of November 2015, there were 563 full time equivalent rheumatology consultants employed in the NHS. This is an increase of 119 (26.8%) since May 2010. The recruitment and retention of staff is matter for local NHS services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-04-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 1.121 of Budget 2016, HC 901, when his Department will commence working with local authorities to release land capacity for at least 160,000 homes; and when such houses will be built.
Brandon Lewis
A guidance document for local authorities was published shortly after Budget. It set out how the Government will support and empower local authorities to dispose of assets that could be made surplus. This includes a broad range of policy measures, including: the expansion of the One Public Estate programme, funding for Starter Homes, flexibility in the spending of capital receipts, support for new Garden Villages, Towns and Cities, and support from the Homes and Communities Agency. The document can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-authority-assets-disposal-guidance.
“The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2016-05-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the legal requirements for MOT testing are a devolved matter in Scotland; what assessment they have made of the requirement for new vehicles to be subject to MOT testing after the first three years of use; and which other EU countries follow the present UK practice.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The legal requirements for MOT are not a devolved matter in Scotland. Following the commitment made by the Chancellor in the July 2015 budget statement, the Department for Transport is currently developing a public consultation and impact assessment which will consider options for extending the frequency of the first test for some vehicles. The consultation will take into account the potential benefits to consumers, the government’s safety priorities, as well as the impact a change may have on MOT garage businesses. I anticipate that the consultation will be published in the summer. The other EU countries currently requiring a vehicle to have an initial roadworthiness inspection at 3 years, as per the current GB practice are; Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Bulgaria.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-07-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to include a dedicated place for a student representative on the Board of the Office for Students, and if so what arrangements they plan to make to ensure that that member has a democratic mandate from the students they represent.
Earl of Courtown
Schedule 1 of the Higher Education and Research Bill requires the Office for Students (OfS) to consider the desirability of including members with experience of representing or promoting the interests of individual students, or students generally in higher education.
The appointment of OfS members will be made by the Secretary of State in accordance with the standard guidelines on public appointments, ensuring fair and open competition.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-09-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department has provided aid payments to Syrian businesses which have been approved by the EU and the US government.
Rory Stewart
My Department has not made any direct aid payments to Syrian businesses. Our aid is delivered through the United Nations, international non-governmental organisations and other international organisations.
The UN, which operates in a very difficult environment in Syria, has assured us that they comply with all relevant sanctions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many performance indicators the Office of Road and Rail uses to assess the performance of Network Rail.
Claire Perry
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) have advised that in the current five yearly regulatory cycle (Control Period 5) that started on 1st April 2014, they established 13 categories of regulated outputs,some of which are disaggregated further, such as by franchised train operator route or by delivery milestones.These outputs include train service reliability, enhancements, health and safety, network availability, network capability, stations, depots, asset management and environment.
There are 25 categories of core indicators from these outputs, which are disaggregated further. Full details of the regulated outputs can be found on table 3.11, page 125 of the Final Determination for Control Period 5, a copy of which is attached.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the apprenticeship targets for public sector organisations announced in the report, English Apprenticeships: Our 2020 Vision, published on 7 December 2015, will include targets for the creation of apprenticeships at Level 3 and above.
Nick Boles
We do not intend to set any targets for the creation of apprenticeships at specific levels.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether targets have been set for Centre for Health and Disability Assessment staff on the number of people to take off personal independence payments.
Justin Tomlinson
The Centre for Health and Disability Assessments delivers Work Capability Assessments for Employment and Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefit claimants. They do not carry out assessments of Personal Independence Payment claimants which are delivered by Atos Healthcare and Capita.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Kinnock on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2016 to Question 22461, on blood: contamination, how many cases of liability have been established for people with haemophilia infected with HIV and/or hepatitis C through NHS-supplied contaminated blood or blood products.
Jane Ellison
These infections are a tragedy for those affected but they occurred before blood donor screening tests or methods of viral inactivation were available in the United Kingdom. In 1991, a case brought by haemophilia patients infected with HIV was settled out of court with no liability established. In 2001 the National Blood Authority was found liable under the Consumer Protection Act for infection with hepatitis C in relation to whole blood caused to 117 patients infected between 1988 and 1991. It is not known if any of these plaintiffs were haemophilia patients. Since 1988, ex-gratia financial support schemes have been set up for people who have been affected by HIV and/or hepatitis C through treatment with National Health Service-supplied blood or blood products. To date over £390 million has been paid out to those affected through five different organisations funded by the health departments.