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Category: Speeches

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure access to structured education for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

    Nicola Blackwood

    This Government is working hard to improve outcomes and quality of life for those already living with diabetes and those who will develop it in the coming years. One of our key goals in the mandate to the National Health Service is a measurable reduction in variation in the management and care of people with the condition within the lifetime of this Parliament. Funding has been secured through the spending review to help achieve this and NHS England is developing a programme to ensure that those clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) which need extra investment in this area, accompanied by sound plans for delivery, receive it.

    In addition, the Clinical Commissioning Group Improvement and Assessment Framework will play a key role in delivering this as it contains two recognised evidence based measures of whether patients with diabetes are being supported to successfully manage their condition (achievement of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence treatment targets and participation in structured education programmes).

    Using data from the NHS Atlas of Variation, NHS Right Care is also working with CCGs and other local partners to make improvements in diabetes care and reduce variation by providing hands on practical support.

    Since 2009/10, there has been an almost 70% increase in the proportion of people newly diagnosed with diabetes recorded as being referred to structured education courses, designed to help them manage their condition in the long term. However, whilst we know that the data on take up needs improving, there is still much further to go in enabling people with diabetes to access these programmes.

    The Department, NHS England and Diabetes UK are working on ways to improve the take up of structured education including exploring how more diversity of provision might be delivered through digital and web based approaches. The Department recently held a seminar with key stakeholders to identify actions that would facilitate improved access.

    CCGs are primarily responsible for commissioning diabetes services to meet the requirements of their population. In doing so, CCGs need to ensure that the services they provide are fit for purpose, reflect the needs of the local population, are based on the available evidence, taking into account national guidelines. This should include consideration of access to continuous glucose monitoring for people with Type 1 diabetes who might benefit from it.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many primates were imported into the UK for scientific research purposes in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office have previously published data on the numbers of non-human primates imported and used for scientific research in PQs 222873 (05 Feb 2015), 182703 (20 Jan 2014), 80687 (22 Nov 2011) and 76262 (25 October 2011). The numbers of non-human primates imported into the UK for scientific research were: 2,071 in 2010; 1,771 in 2011; and, 1,557 in 2012. This data was gathered from information supplied by project licence holders when requesting permission to import.

    On 1 January 2013, the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 was amended to transpose European Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. The amended legislation has no requirement to request prior permission to import non-human primates acquired from overseas breeding centres. Therefore, the Home Office does not hold the information requested for 2013 and 2014. The published Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals in Great Britain provide information on the sources of non-human primates used in experimental procedures for 2013 and 2014.

  • 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 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to address variations in stroke care and treatment across England.

    David Mowat

    The Sentinel Stroke National Audit programme (SSNAP) continuously monitors the quality of stroke care across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Audit results are returned to providers so that they can identify areas for improvement.

    There is good evidence that providing detailed information in a timely way has enabled the quality of stoke care to steadily improve. Since the introduction of SSNAP nearly four years ago when no teams scored an ‘A’, there are now units achieving this level, indicating excellent care. The National Clinical Director for Stroke, in association with the clinical networks, continues to work with hospitals to support those in need of improvement.

    NHS England is aware that the provision of stroke care in the community remains an area that has not progressed as quickly as hospital care. However, providing data to teams and working with the clinical commissioning groups to ensure that appropriate services are commissioned should help to improve care.

    In August this year, NHS England’s Medical Director Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, and Professor Anthony Rudd, NHS England’s National Clinical Director for stroke, met with Juliet Bouverie, the Chief Executive of the Stroke Association to discuss issues of common interest. Additionally, Professor Rudd meets regularly with various members of staff of the Stroke Association to ensure that the views of the charity are heard and understood. Departmental officials have also met with the Stroke Association.

  • Norman Lamb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Norman Lamb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the reasons are for the change in the publication date of the Mental Health Taskforce report to January 2016.

    Alistair Burt

    The independent Mental Health Taskforce has committed to delivering a costed five year mental health strategy for the NHS. Following the important announcement in the Spending Review that the Government is investing an additional £600m in mental health during this period, in line with the priorities identified in the strategy, the Taskforce is now finalising its recommendations and supporting analysis to ensure these are robust. Their report is due to be ready for publication by NHS England in the New Year.

  • Harriet Harman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Harriet Harman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Harriet Harman on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to ensure that (a) the consultation period on the proposed repeal of the Human Rights Act 1998 will not fall within the purdah period of the Scottish Parliamentary elections and (b) all devolved administrations will be fully consulted on that proposal.

    Dominic Raab

    We are committed to consulting fully on our proposals prior to the introduction of any legislation. We adhere to any guidance published by the Cabinet Office in respect of the pre-election periods.

    The government was elected with a mandate to reform and modernise the UK Human Rights Framework. We will engage fully with the devolved administrations, as well as with the public, legal, academic and civil society stakeholders across all of the UK, in the development of this work.

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many small business groups and coalitions responded to the Government’s consultation, Devolving Sunday trading rules, published on 5 August 2015; and what (a) number and (b) proportion of those respondents answered (i) yes, (ii) no and (iii) otherwise to Question 1 in that consultation.

    Anna Soubry

    The Department does not hold full data from this consultation broken down by specific question as a large portion of respondents chose to respond in their own words rather than addressing the consultation questions directly, and/or did not indicate the type of organisation they represented.

  • 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, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Community Rehabilitation Company and the National Probation Service work effectively together in dealing with domestic abuse offending.

    Andrew Selous

    The National Probation Service (NPS) Service Level Agreement and the contracts with the Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) make clear the importance of effective co-operation between the NPS and CRCs: there are mandatory local and national processes and structures in place to manage cases and to arrange transfer from the CRC to the NPS where there is an escalation of risk.

  • Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with clinical commissioning groups on the provision of support to people with mild to moderate dementia to allow them to remain in their own homes as long as possible.

    Jane Ellison

    Whilst we are not aware of such specific discussions, dementia is a key priority for the Government. On 6 March 2016, we launched the Implementation Plan to support the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020. The Implementation Plan sets out the actions partners, including clinical commissioning groups, will take to ensure commitments in the PM Challenge 2020 are delivered. A key commitment in the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020 is to support people with dementia to be able to live longer in their own homes.

    The publication ‘Dementia & Homecare: Driving Quality & Innovation’ published as part of the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia provides clear, practical ideas and suggestions to further dementia care in the community. Driving improvements in homecare will not only help ensure people stay independent for longer but will also support our ambition for people to receive meaningful care following a diagnosis of dementia.

    As part of the Implementation Plan, the Department will work with the Life Story Network to focus on older people and people with dementia who live in social housing to ensure they are supported to live in their homes for longer with a greater focus on independent living.

    NHS England is fully supportive of enabling people with dementia to live at home independently for as long as they want to do so. NHS England’s well-pathway for dementia includes streams on both living well and supporting well.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps the Government is taking to increase British trade with Mexico.

    Anna Soubry

    It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

  • 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, what estimate his Department has made of the potential number of redundancies which will result from the decision to abolish the nursing, midwifery and allied health professions policy unit.

    Ben Gummer

    As part of the DH 2020 plan, the Department is making significant changes to the way it works. The Department’s approach is to flexibly access professional advice from a wide range of sources, including arm’s length bodies, regulators and professional bodies, rather than from a fixed standing team of internal advisers.

    These changes do not affect the role of the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO), who as CNO of the Department already advises, and will continue to advise all Ministers and the Department on the range of nursing issues.

    All staff in the Department, including staff in the current nursing, midwifery and allied health professions policy unit are eligible to apply for new roles in the organisation or to apply for a voluntary early severance scheme.