Category: Speeches

  • Carolyn Harris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Carolyn Harris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department’s Accelerated Access Review will consider issues relating to the routine availability of off-patent, repurposed drugs.

    George Freeman

    The Accelerated Access Review (AAR), chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor, will make recommendations to government on reforms to accelerate access for National Health Service patients to innovative medicines and medical technologies making our country the best place in the world to design, develop and deploy these products. The terms of the reference for the review focus on faster access to innovations, which may include certain off-patent repurposed drugs, as opposed to the routine availability of medicines or medical technologies.

    Prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR, the Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS including the Innovation, Health and Wealth report. As a result, building upon the lessons of previous reviews is explicit with the terms of reference of the AAR.

    The AAR has regular meetings with senior officials from NHS England via a steering group as recommendations are being developed. In addition, some staff from NHS England have been assigned to support the review team.

    Sir Hugh is still in the process of developing final recommendations which will be published in spring 2016. In his Interim Report published in October, Sir Hugh sets out a proposition on “galvanising the NHS”. This involves supporting the NHS to adopt innovation, more rapidly through better practical support, stronger incentives and the potential streamlining of local structures.

    The Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR. It was clear that whilst progress has been made on the uptake of innovation in the NHS there is still much to do. Sir Hugh and the head of the External Advisory Group, Professor Sir John Bell, set out the case for uptake of innovation in the recently published AAR Interim Report.

    The AAR has senior level contact with officials working on Lord Carter’s review of NHS efficiency to ensure that information is shared between the two teams.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to publish statistics on the number of (a) young carers accessing children and adolescence mental health services (CAMHS) and (b) children provided with young carers assessments following contact with CAMHS.

    Alistair Burt

    The number of young carers accessing Children and Adolescence Mental health Services (CAMHS) and the number of children provided with young carers assessments following contact with CAMHS will not be published as this data is not collected centrally.

    Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), working with local partners, have submitted Local Transformation Plans (LTPs) to transform their local offer for children and young people’s mental health. These plans must cover the whole spectrum of services from prevention to intervention for emerging or existing mental health problems and address the full spectrum of need, including the most vulnerable, such as young carers.

    NHS England have received and successfully assured LTPs that cover every clinical CCG in England. This assurance process requires local areas to evidence how they are meeting the needs of vulnerable groups which may include young carers. Young adult carers are unlikely to be covered by these LTPs as these are generally the responsibility of adult mental health services. All CCGs will have received the funding allocation agreed through the assurance process by the end of December (published in January).

  • Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what consultation he has had with the Scottish Parliament on the consultation period on the repeal of the Human Rights Act 1998 and its replacement with a British Bill of Rights.

    Dominic Raab

    We have already sought views and will continue to engage with the devolved administrations to deliver a modernised and reformed human rights framework for the whole of the United Kingdom. We are committed to consulting fully on our proposals prior to the introduction of any legislation and will announce further details in due course.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2016 to Question 25804, what the two sites are that are being considered for disposal within the Greater Manchester Combined Authority area.

    Edward Timpson

    Until a decision has been made, the Department does not wish to name both schools in order to protect the Secretary of State’s decision making powers when considering whether to give consent.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-03-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment the Government has made of the value to the economy of the Scotch whisky industry.

    Damian Hinds

    There is no alcohol duty payable on exported Scotch Whisky.

    The government is committed to supporting the Scotch Whisky industry. The duty on spirits was cut at March Budget 2015 and, to continue this support, Budget 2016 announced a duty freeze for spirits this year.

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have received demands to pay underpaid tax as a result of his Department not notifying HM Revenue and Customs when an employment and support allowance claimant is moved from the work-related activity group into the support group in each of the last three years.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not held.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Vietnamese counterpart on the reported arrest of two people on 14 May 2016 for distributing hymnals in Southern Laos.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) raised human rights concerns with the Vietnamese Foreign Minister during his recent visit to Vietnam. The EU Human Rights Dialogues held with each country also provide an opportunity to raise individual cases of concern.

    Our Embassies in Laos and Vietnam are investigating the case in question.

  • Greg Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Greg Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason his Department deploys speed cameras that photograph vehicles from the front in addition to speed cameras that photograph vehicles from the rear; and for what reasons his Department does not have a single policy on the deployment of such cameras.

    Andrew Jones

    It is for local authorities and police to decide how they wish to operate speed cameras. The Department issued guidance in 2007 entitled “Use of speed and red-light cameras for traffic enforcement: guidance on deployment, visibility and signing”. I wrote to all local authorities in England and Wales on 20 October 2015 to remind them of the guidance which is available on gov.uk.

  • Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding his Department has provided for research on pancreatic cancer in each of the last three years.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The information requested is not available. Spend on research funded directly by the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is categorised by Health Research Classification System (HRCS) health categories including ‘cancer’. There are no HRCS health sub-categories, such as for pancreatic cancer or other cancer sites.

    Investment in cancer research by the NIHR has risen from £101 million in 2010/11 to £135 million in 2014/15 (the latest available figure). The NIHR works closely with patients, charities and our world-leading life sciences industry to support further research into pancreatic cancer.

  • Emma Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Emma Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the potential proportion of local authorities which will experience (a) any reduction in their allocation and (b) a reduction of 20 per cent or more in their allocation as a result of the new proposed public health funding formula.

    Jane Ellison

    On 8 October 2015, the Department published Public health grant: proposed target allocation formula for 2016/17, an engagement of behalf of the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA), a technical consultation to inform ACRA’s recommendations to Ministers on target shares of the local authority public health grant.

    ACRA is currently considering the responses before providing its final advice to ministers. Actual allocations for 2016-17 will be determined separately and will be announced in due course.