Category: Speeches

Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the proposed protocols for (1) detection of aneuploidy in embryos following application of the proposed Augment technique, and (2) demonstrating that injected mitochondria either disperse so as to be equally inherited by each blastomere of any resulting embryos or are concentrated in the inner cell mass, in the recent application received by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) for a pilot trial in the UK; what estimate the HFEA has been provided regarding (1) the likely financial costs to patients undergoing the proposed Augment procedure, and (2) the potential impact on clinical pregnancy rates of any assessments deemed to be scientifically necessary; and what assessment the HFEA has made of the ruling by the US Food and Drugs Administration in 2013 that Augment is a novel drug in need of extensive and expensive safety testing.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) advises that it does not hold data from clinics on the incidence of aneuploidy in oocytes over time, nor has it received evidence from OvaScience, Professor Simon Fishel or other sources that mitochondrial defects are primarily responsible for age-related increases in oocyte chromosomal aneuploidy.

The HFEA also advises that it has not been made aware of any published randomised trials regarding the Augment technique and has not made an assessment of the credibility of claims by OvaScience and those previously made by Clonaid, in the light of data available in peer-reviewed journals. It is currently considering whether techniques, which involve addition of autologous mitochondria to eggs, would be legal in the United Kingdom (under the framework of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, as amended). Part of this consideration involves considering the claims made for Augment by Ovascience.

The HFEA has not received any formal applications for clinical use of the Augment technique, and has not made an assessment of the ruling by the US Food and Drugs Administration to which the Noble Lord refers.

01/01/2023
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-02-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to enforce better compliance with the School Admissions Code among religiously selective schools in the light of the findings of the report An Unholy Mess, published by the Fair Admissions Campaign and the British Humanist Association last year.

Lord Nash

The Government is giving careful consideration to the report of the Office of the Schools Adjudicator as part of our current review of the School Admissions Code, in addition to other research and publications.

We will be conducting a full public consultation in due course and will give careful consideration to all the views expressed in that consultation.

01/01/2023
Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2016 to Question 28603, how many cleaners working in her Department are paid at the rate of (a) £7.85 and (b) £9.15.

Andrea Leadsom

The number of cleaners in the Department paid at an hourly rate of a) £7.85 is five and b) £9.15 is fourteen.

From 1 April 2016, the rate of pay will be increased to the 2016 Living Wage Foundation rates.

01/01/2023
David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-04-15.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment as to how much the abolition of class 2 national insurance contributions will save on average for each self-employed person; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke

The abolition of Class 2 NICs means that 3.4 million self-employed individuals will gain by an average of £134 in 2018-19 when Class 2 National Insurance contributions are abolished. This will allow millions of self-employed individuals to keep more of their money and invest it back into growing their business, as well as ending an outdated and complex feature of the NICs system.

01/01/2023
Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons people in Plymouth who have epilepsy are waiting six months from having a seizure to see a consultant of specialist nurse.

Jane Ellison

There are no national measures or means by which the Department monitors frequency of patients reviews, either by consultants or nurses. Guidance is issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence however this does not replace the skills and knowledge of health professionals in managing patients. The arrangements for the management and follow up of people with epilepsy are a local matter and decisions on the frequency with which patients are seen should be made on a case by case basis, taking into account the individual circumstances of each patient.

NHS England advises that the maximum wait for outpatients to receive a neurology appointment is 12 weeks currently. Additionally 92% of patients are being seen under the specified ‘Referral To Treatment’ waiting times of 18 weeks which is within the national target.

The information on the number of people with epilepsy in Plymouth is not available in the format requested.

01/01/2023
Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-07-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the South Sudan Troika plans to issue a comprehensive statement on its priorities in Sudan and South Sudan.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UK, along with our Troika partners (the United States and Norway), has been active in supporting efforts to resolve the crisis in South Sudan. This includes working with the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development and regional partners.

We are deeply concerned about the recent fighting and will continue to work with our troika and regional partners to resolve the crisis.

01/01/2023
Marie Rimmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Marie Rimmer on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the report of the Independent Cancer Taskforce, Achieving world-class cancer outcomes: A strategy for England 2015-2020, published in July 2015, what progress has been made on implementation of recommendation 47 on NHS England commissioning NICE to develop updated guidelines for adjuvant treatment for breast cancer.

Nicola Blackwood

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guideline on early and locally advanced breast cancer: diagnosis and management (CG80) recommends the use of adjuvant bisphosphonates for the management of breast cancer treatment-induced bone loss in specified clinical circumstances. This guideline is currently being updated and the use of adjuvant bisphosphonates has been identified as one of the key areas that will be covered in this update. NICE expects to publish its updated guideline in July 2018.

01/01/2023

Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cars the DVLA clamped in each month of each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones

The table below shows the information requested.

	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
January	9,023	8,370	5,131	5,197	5,696	8,890
February	10,892	10,550	4,947	5,391	5,115	8,741
March	12,722	9,517	5,356	5,450	5,333	8,630
April	8,978	8,911	4,636	5,802	5,214	8,228
May	8,887	8,265	5,065	5,450	5,549	8,511
June	8,790	8,217	4,339	4,968	5,530	9,957
July	8,970	7,365	5,257	4,238	5,634	10,554
August	8,883	7,947	4,644	2,079	5,384	8,050
September	8,562	7,472	4,525	3,918	5,530	9,444
October	9,435	5,533	4,275	4,576	5,806	9,778
November	9,873	2,828	4,349	4,791	5,756
December	7,587	4,507	1,870	4,283	6,740
Total	112,602	89,482	54,394	56,143	67,287	90,783

By way of context, the equivalent total figure for 2009 is 123,695 cars.

These vehicles would have been clamped by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s national wheelclamping contractors or by local authorities and police forces with devolved powers to clamp and impound unlicensed vehicles.

01/01/2023

Ian C. Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations his Department has made to the Office of Road and Rail on the allocation of rail paths to Manchester Airport in the last five years.

Andrew Jones

The Department has monthly trilateral (Department for Transport, Office of Rail and Road (ORR) and Network Rail) meetings in order to deliver the existing requirements of the current franchise agreements throughout the last 5 years, especially in connection with the bi-annual timetable changes.

Last month, the Department wrote to the ORR in connection with the application from Arriva Trains Wales (ATW) for additional train paths to and from Manchester Airport. The letter acknowledged that the ATW proposal offered passenger benefits but also noted that, on conclusion of the Northern and TPE franchise competitions, there were likely to be other competing pressures for train paths on the route between central Manchester and the Airport. The purpose of the letter was to draw ORR’s attention to the likelihood of such pressures emerging, and to observe that ATW’s application should be considered alongside the proposals from the successful Northern and TPE bidders to ensure that maximum passenger benefit is obtained from the train paths available.

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Dholakia on 2016-01-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many individuals have commenced interferon-free treatment for hepatitis C within a prison or secure institution in the last 12 months.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England collect data on the offer, uptake and outcome of testing for hepatitis C for people in prison using a system of metrics co-designed with Public Health England (PHE) called the Health & Justice Indicators of Performance (HJIPs). This dataset includes information on whether those requiring treatment were referred to specialist services but does not record details of the treatment provided.

PHE has been working with NHS England and Operational Delivery Networks (ODNs) and others on a dataset which would allow for more detailed monitoring of treatments but these have not yet been introduced. Therefore, we do not currently have any data on the number of individuals commenced on treatment for hepatitis C within a prison or other prescribed place of detention in the last 12 months. Further, we do not have data on those former prisoners commenced on treatment in the community.

01/01/2023