Category: Speeches

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people in a high-risk group for contracting HIV.

    Jane Ellison

    The PROUD trial was launched in 2012, coordinated by the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit and Public Health England (PHE). The number of people enrolled in the trial, was 544.

    Based on evidence from the PROUD study, PHE has made an assessment that of the 100,000 men who have sex with men who attend genito-urinary medicine clinics annually, 8,000 can be identified as being at ‘high-risk’.

    The Department has not yet made its own assessment.

  • Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-06-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to increase the number of heart failure patients who have access to heart failure specialist nurses.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England is working with key partners to ensure better co-ordination and integration of all services with the aim of delivering person-centred and coordinated care which is tailored to the needs and preferences of the individual, their carer and family.

    In particular, to encourage better practice in the caring for heart failure patients, NHS England has established a best practice tariff for acute heart failure. It is also working with Health Education England to explore ways of improving the provision of and increasing access to echocardiography, which is used for the diagnosis of heart failure.

    To help the NHS understand what a good quality service looks like, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) publish quality standards which define best practice within a topic area and it has published quality standards for acute and chronic heart failure. NHS England expects all commissioners and providers to take account of quality standards in the services that are delivered to patients.

    NICE has developed a commissioning toolkit for the use of natriuretic peptides assessment in primary care for suspected heart failure. It has also produced guidance on acute heart failure and chronic heart failure, both of which cover the use of natriuretic peptides.

    NICE guidance and quality standards are published online only, but due to the complexity and length of their content, they cannot be included as attachments.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of Simon Kirby’s resignation from HS2 Ltd on achieving the 2026 target date for opening phase one of High Speed 2.

    Andrew Jones

    Simon Kirby has built a high calibre team and leaves HS2 Ltd in excellent shape. Sir David Higgins remains as chair and a new CEO will be appointed as soon as possible. The 2026 target date for opening phase one of HS2 is not affected.

  • Johnny Mercer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Johnny Mercer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Johnny Mercer on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information he holds on whether Sir Peter Hendy’s review of Network Rail’s programme plans will consider extending electrification to Plymouth and the South West Peninsula.

    Claire Perry

    The Secretary of State for Transport asked the new Chair of Network Rail, Sir Peter Hendy Review to review the enhancements programme as detailed in the Network Rail’s Control Period 5 (2014-2019) Rail Enhancement’s Delivery Plan. This did not include the electrification to Plymouth and the South West Peninsula. Electrification of this route is expected to be considered as part of the future strategy for the railway.

  • Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2015-12-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the implications of a poor maternal diet in pregnancy for the life chances of babies, in the light of research conducted in the last decade.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The most recent assessment of the influence of poor maternal diet on later health consequences, including the risk of chronic disease in adulthood, was carried out for government by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) in 2011.

    Taking into account the international evidence base and the findings from the United Kingdom National Diet and Nutrition Surveys showing that women of childbearing age are not meeting dietary recommendations, SACN concluded that there is cause for concern. It advised that improving the nutritional status of women of childbearing age, infants and young children, has the potential to improve the health of future generations.

    Current dietary advice to women of reproductive age, those planning a pregnancy and those who are pregnant, is promoted via the NHS Choices website as well as the government’s social marketing campaigns, such as Start4Life.

  • Catherine McKinnell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Catherine McKinnell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many incidents of medication errors involving hospital patients with Parkinson’s disease resulting in (a) no, (b) low, (c) moderate and (d) severe harm were reported to the National Reporting and Learning System in the last quarter of 2014 and in each quarter of 2015; and which reporting organisation reported each such incident.

    Ben Gummer

    A recent search of the National Reporting Learning System was carried out of all medication incidents reported as occurring between the dates 1 October 2014 and 31 December 2015.

    This search used key word searches most likely to identify the requested incidents. The search mechanism available does not allow us to confirm that the patients involved with these incidents have Parkinson’s disease but it was focused on medication incidents involving drugs commonly used in Parkinson’s. It is possible that there are additional relevant incidents.

    The information requested is provided in the attached table.

  • Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 4 February (HL5345), how many of the 20 patients with reports issued so far by the Genomic England cancer project had (1) a clinically actionable mutation for which the NHS will reimburse the costs of the treatment drug, and (2) a clinically actionable mutation for any trial currently open in the UK; and of those patients in both categories, how many had a clinically actionable mutation in open reading frames that would be covered by a simple next-generation sequencing panel test.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    In 2006 the United Nations imposed restrictions on a range of goods from entering or leaving North Korea and imposed a travel ban and asset freeze against those persons designated as persons who engage in or provide support for North Korea’s nuclear-related, other weapons of mass destruction related and ballistic missile-related programmes. These restrictions were implemented in the EU in 2007, and have subsequently been expanded by the EU.

    Under the current EU Regulation, UK financial institutions are able to establish banking relationships with North Korean banking institutions if there are no reasonable grounds to believe this will contribute to North Korea’s nuclear-related, other weapons of mass destruction related or ballistic missile-related programmes. In practice, there are almost no financial links between the UK and North Korea. North Korea is almost wholly dependent on China for international assistance.

  • Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Clement-Jones on 2016-03-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the average earnings for (1) men, (2) women, and (3) all individuals, aged between 22 and 24 inclusive who are in possession of a first degree and who are not in full-time education in each of the 50 most populous cities in the UK.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Nadine Dorries – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Nadine Dorries – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to make travel on the Thameslink line more accessible for disabled passengers.

    Claire Perry

    On the Thameslink route, the new Thameslink trains currently being manufactured will enter service later this year. The full fleet will be in service by the end of 2018. The train specification was developed to meet the latest standards and is fully compliant with accessibility standards for heavy rail (the Persons of Reduced Mobility Technical Specification for Interoperability – PRM-TSI).

    To aid boarding and alighting, the Thameslink Programme is providing dedicated ramps at stations and on board the trains, in addition to raised platform areas at busy central London stations that will step free from street level to the new trains. The boarding positions will be clearly indicated for disabled users.

  • Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-05-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by the Prime Minister on 4 May (HC Deb, col 168) that there is a very strong case here for saying that it is genocide

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    As the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), has said, the Government’s position remains that although there is a very strong case to answer, ultimately it should be a matter for judicial authorities. The Government continues to believe that recognition of genocide should be a matter for international courts, not political bodies. It should be a legal, rather than political determination, decided by international judges after consideration of all the evidence available in the context of a credible international judicial process.