Category: Speeches

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve the diagnosis and treatment of lipoedema.

    Jane Ellison

    No such analysis has been made.

    There are several different treatments available for the management of lipoedema such as compression therapy, exercise and massage. There is limited evidence on the efficacy of liposuction for the treatment of lipoedema, and it is not routinely available on the National Health Service.

    In May 2014, the Royal College of General Practitioners, in partnership with the charity Lipoedema UK, developed and published an e-learning module for general practitioners on the diagnosis and management of lipoedema. The module was endorsed by the Royal College of Nursing and can be found at the following link:

    elearning.rcgp.org.uk/course/info.php?id=146&popup=0

    “

  • Maggie Throup – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Maggie Throup – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maggie Throup on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2015 to Question 18621, what further assessment he has made of levels of preparedness among clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) for the planned transfer of obesity surgery commissioning responsibilities to CCGs in April 2016.

    George Freeman

    NHS England is supporting the transfer of commissioning responsibilities to ensure that clinical commissioning groups are fully prepared to assume the role working through collaborative commissioning forums.

    NHS England have provided a commissioning information pack including a stocktake of local services, care pathways, waiting times and a quality overview for each local area. National clinical experts are currently finalising commissioning and clinical guidance on standards for the adult obesity surgery pathway.

    The draft service specification reflects best practice and describes the standard providers will need to meet for the surgical service.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department’s estimate of the number of people who have been affected by HIV or hepatitis C through treatment with NHS-supplied blood or blood products has changed since the publication of Impact Assessment No. 3140 on 21 January 2015.

    Jane Ellison

    The figures provided in Impact Assessment No. 3140 have not been updated since publication on 21 January 2016.

  • 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 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information he holds on the numbers of clinical commissioning groups in England which have reconfigured acute stroke services since the publication of the National Stroke Strategy in December 2007.

    Jane Ellison

    Information is not collected centrally on the numbers of clinical commissioning groups in England which have reconfigured acute stroke services since the publication of the National Stroke Strategy in December 2007.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the size of the prison population in (a) 2020, (b) 2025, (c) 2030 and (d) 2050.

    Dominic Raab

    The Ministry of Justice publishes, as National Statistics, a projection of the prison population over either (i) the period to the end of the current Spending Review or (ii) 4 years, whichever is longer. The department does not produce longer term projections.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/480031/prison-population-projections-2015-2021.pdf

    “

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many people working for his Department or its executive agencies on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation; and how many of those people are employed on zero-hours contracts.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    My department does not employ any staff earning less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation, or any staff employed on zero-hour contracts.

    One of our agencies, the Planning Inspectorate, currently has four agency staff employed on a temporary basis earning above the National Living Wage but less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation. They will be paid the higher Living Wage Foundation rate after 12 weeks employment.

    Another of our agencies, the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, has an outsourced contract for catering on-site. The contractor employs 42 staff earning the National Living Wage, but less than the Living Wage Foundation rate. These staff are on zero-hour contracts.

    At present, there are 154 staff employed by an outsourced company to work within the DCLG Facilities Management contract. Of these 111 are paid at or above the National Living Wage but beneath the Living Wage Foundation rate. There are 28 zero hour contracts in place.

    The Department maintains a position that the level of employee payment is for our external contractors to determine, while encouraging payment of a living wage.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-10-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of full-time equivalent officials in his Department who are employed on cases where tax credits have been stopped by Concentrix; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) currently has around 700 full-time equivalent (FTE) officials employed across a variety of Concentrix related activity.

    Concentrix only record the number of awards that have been amended, which could be stopped, reduced or increased. HMRC is unable to breakdown the FTE data to show those staff employed specifically on cases where awards have been stopped by Concentrix.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that drivers on public transport are trained to assist disabled passengers.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department for Transport (DfT) has work closely with the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee to commission work to evaluate the existing Disabled Awareness Training and to produce some guidelines in best practice.

    Since September 2008 all professional bus and coach drivers have been required to hold a Certificate of Professional Competence as a requirement of the EU Directive 2003/59. Disability Awareness Training is currently available to all drivers as part of the periodic Certificate of Professional Competence training syllabus. The bus industry has reported that virtually all drivers have now undertaken Disability Awareness Training and DfT will continue to work with the industry to encourage the further uptake of disability awareness training by bus and coach drivers.

    The standards that taxi and PHV drivers have to meet is a matter for individual local licensing authorities. DfT Best Practice Guidance for taxi and PHV licensing says that licensing authorities should consider requiring or encouraging their drivers to undertake disability awareness training. According to DfT’s 2015 taxi and PHV statistical survey, 104 licensing authorities in England and Wales require taxi drivers to undergo disability awareness training.

    In the rail industry awareness training is mandatory for all customer facing staff and managers.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-11-30.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to promote racial diversity in the film industry.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    This Government is committed to promoting diversity in the film industry. We support the British Film Institute’s (BFI) newly launched £1 million Diversity Fund, which works to provide professional development opportunities to people from underrepresented groups, as well as funding to organisations that are looking to support diversity projects. The BFI has also recently extended its Diversity Standards to cover all Film Fund Lottery schemes which support film development, production and distribution, and widen access to film in the UK.

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the announcement of 4 January 2016, The Government will directly build affordable homes, what steps he is taking to catalyse the delivery of the wider commercial development in the direct commissioning site at Daedelus Waterfront.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Homes and Communities Agency continues to work with the local authority to explore options for bringing forward the wider Daedalus site.