Category: Speeches

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Sarah Wollaston – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what account will be taken of NICE’s clinical guidelines on levels of patient access in setting the budgets devolved by NHS England to clinical commissioning groups for obesity surgery from April 2016.

    George Freeman

    NHS England would expect commissioners to take account of this guidance when commissioning services.

    Any transfer of budget from NHS England to devolved areas will be on the basis of existing contractual activity.

    Before the transfer of services, NHS England will complete a data capture exercise, working with providers through the specialised commissioning hubs, to collect the current activity level. This will provide the basis for the transfer of the budget. Governance sign off will then be agreed at NHS England Board level.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the consistency of sentencing for people convicted of online fraud.

    Andrew Selous

    Guidelines on sentencing are produced by the independent Sentencing Council, which was established to promote greater transparency and consistency in sentencing while maintaining the independence of the judiciary. The Council published a definitive guideline on fraud, bribery and money laundering offences in May 2014. The Council has a statutory duty to monitor the operation and effect of its guidelines.

    The most recent statistics on sentencing for fraud offences is available through the attached link. The courts database does not separate online and offline fraud offences.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2014

    “

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which guests have (a) visited and (b) stayed at Dorneywood House since 7 May 2015.

    Harriett Baldwin

    This Government regularly publishes more information on the use of official residences and ministerial meetings than under previous Governments.

    Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and senior official meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/senior-officials-expenses

    “

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

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases of repeat domestic abuse were dealt with by courts in each of the last six years.

    Caroline Dinenage

    This information is not held centrally.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many stroke survivors are currently in receipt of local authority-funded adult social care.

    Jane Ellison

    One of the actions set out in the 2007 National Stroke Strategy was to increase the rate of thrombolysis (treatment with clot busting drugs), which stood at around 1% of stroke admissions. Data from the Stroke Sentinel Audit Programme (SSNAP) suggests this rate has risen to 11-12%, with around 9,600 stroke patients now benefiting from treatment with thrombolysis each year. Evidence suggests that, on average, 13% of those treated with thrombolysis will have reduced disability as a result. It is therefore likely that more than 1,200 stroke patients per year now benefit from reduced disability due to thrombolysis.

    Although the Government has made no assessment of the quality and variation of rehabilitation and speech and language therapy available to stroke survivors in England, SSNAP has collected data over the last three years on the rehabilitation that patients get in hospital and when they are discharged in to the community.

    SSNAP also undertook an audit in 2015 of the provision and organisation of post-acute stroke care which includes details on the provision of speech and language therapy. It shows there are variations around the country in the availability of these services to stroke survivors. The Strategic Clinical Networks and the National Clinical Director for Stroke are working with clinical commissioning groups to help address this.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what measures the Government has (a) planned and (b) implemented to monitor the effects of abolishing student maintenance grants on students that the equality impact analysis identified would be disproportionately affected by that policy.

    Joseph Johnson

    Replacing maintenance grants with loans for new full-time students in 2016/17 will ensure the higher education system remains financially sustainable whilst enabling the sector to make progress in widening participation amongst those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Government will continue to monitor and evaluate a wide range of data and evidence relating to the Higher Education sector. This will include data on application and participation rates from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), as well as take-up and repayment rates of student financial support using Student Loans Company (SLC) data.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-06-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which people and organisations his Department consulted (a) before and (b) after the announcement of 25 November 2015 to end NHS bursaries for nursing, midwifery and allied health professional students.

    Ben Gummer

    As with all policy development to inform decision making the Government received and considered a range of representations from a number of stakeholders before and after the announcement in the Spending Review, 25 November 2015.

    These representations involved discussions with officials in the Department and from its arm’s length bodies, The Council of Deans of Health and Universities UK, Trade Unions, leading organisations including Royal Colleges, professional bodies and representatives from Universities.

  • Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings in the British Red Cross research paper, Don’t stop at 999, published in September 2016, on preventable deaths; and what steps he is taking to ensure that basic first aid education is included in the Government’s public health strategy.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    No specific assessment of the implications of the recent Red Cross research – Don’t Stop at 999 has been made. However, it is recognised the timely application of first aid can help minimise the impact of injuries, as well as health conditions such as heart attacks and strokes, and contribute to avoiding preventable deaths.

    The NHS Choices website contains information for the public on first aid responses to various injuries and health incidents. In addition, the Government is making available another £1 million to make public access defibrillators and coronary pulmonary resuscitation training more widely available in communities across England. This builds on last year’s funding of £1 million, which provided almost 700 more publicly accessible defibrillators in communities across England and increased the numbers of people trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

    The national Act Fast campaign also aims to raise awareness of the symptoms of stroke, teach people what to look out for in themselves and others, and encourage those who notice the symptoms to call 999. Since Act Fast launched in 2009, it is estimated that an additional 47,000 people reached hospital within the vital three-hour window and over 5,000 fewer people became disabled as a result of a stroke.

    Local authorities in England have the lead responsibility for identifying and meeting needs for local interventions to improve the health of their populations.

  • Andrew Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report by Waging Peace on the use of rape as a weapon of war in the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan.

    James Duddridge

    We remain acutely concerned by the use of sexual violence in Darfur as set out in this and other reports. It reinforces our policy approach of strong support for the presence of the African Union/United Nations Hybrid Mission operation in Darfur(UNAMID) and the need for the mission to have a strong mandate centred around protection of civilians. As a result, the UK led this year’s renewal of the operation’s Mandate to ensure it continues to operate across all the Darfuri states. We will continue to work with the mission, press for robust patrolling and encourage it to engage at the community level. We will also continue to urge the Government of Sudan to cooperate with the operation, and have consistently made clear to them that conditions on the ground must considerably improve before any moves towards the mission’s eventual exit can be made.

    At the same time, we continue – both bilaterally and through the UN’s Security and Human Rights Councils – to call on all armed actors to address sexual and gender-based violence in Darfur. The UK played a significant role in the adoption of Security Council Resolution 2242 reflecting the importance of Women, Peace and Security-related issues for the UN family. Bilaterally, we have provided support to over 150 survivors of rape in Darfur and contributed to the successful prosecution of members of the police and armed forces. We will remain active on these issues.

  • Oliver Colvile – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Oliver Colvile – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to assure the public of the safety and quality of laser eye surgery.

    Alistair Burt

    Providers of laser eye surgery are required to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), as this is a regulated activity. All providers of regulated activities under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 must be registered with the Care Quality Commission and meet the new fundamental standards of safety and quality that came into force on 1 April this year. The CQC has a range of enforcement actions that it can take if providers do not meet the fundamental standards.

    Doctors performing laser eye surgery in the United Kingdom must also be registered with the General Medical Council (GMC). All registered doctors are expected to be familiar with the GMC’s publication Good medical practice and supporting guidance, which describes what is expected of them. This document makes clear that medical doctors must recognise and work within the limits of their competence.

    It has now been agreed that work to improve the delivery, safety and standards for patient information for laser eye surgery will be taken forward separately from the work to implement the Keogh Review, and that, as the professional body for setting the standards of practice for refractive procedures, the Royal College of Ophthalmologists will lead on this work.