Category: Speeches

Kevin Foster – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Foster on 2016-09-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many guardians of safe working have been appointed to NHS organisations; and what the responsibilities will be of those roles.

Mr Philip Dunne

177 out of 217 trusts had appointed Guardians of Safe Working Hours as at 4 September 2016, with interim arrangements in place in a further 14 trusts; meaning 88% have arrangements in place. NHS Improvement is aiming for appointments or interim arrangements to be in place for all 217 shortly.

The Guardian of Safe Working Hours will act as the champion of safe working hours for doctors in approved training programmes and ensure that action is taken to ensure that the working hours within the trust are safe. They will provide assurance to the trust board or equivalent body that doctors are safely rostered and are working hours that are safe and in compliance with the Terms and Conditions of Service (TCS). The Guardians will also record and monitor compliance with the restrictions on working hours stipulated in the TCS, through receipt and review of all exception reports in respect of safe working hours.

January 1, 2023
Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will collect statistics on waiting times for disability benefit appeals to reach tribunal to ensure that such cases are not subject to delays.

Mr Shailesh Vara

HMCTS is unable to provide the information requested as it is not held centrally.

Information about the timeliness of SSCS appeals is published by the Ministry of Justice in the Tribunal and Gender Recognition Certificate Statistics Quarterly. The most recent report (for the period April to June 2015, published on 10 September 2015) can be viewed at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2015.

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January 1, 2023
Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that the implementation of European Professional Cards for doctors does not inhibit his Department’s ability to perform background checks on doctors from European countries and to ensure that they meet the medical qualification standards required by the NHS.

Ben Gummer

The European Professional Card (EPC) will not be introduced for doctors until 2018 at the earliest. The European Commission will review the effectiveness of the EPC process for the first wave of professions, which includes nurses, pharmacists and physiotherapists, before any decision is taken to extend the EPC to other professions.

In the United Kingdom, independent health regulators are responsible for performing checks on health professionals from European countries to ensure that they meet agreed standards of fitness to practise. For doctors, this role is undertaken by the General Medical Council.

Although under the EPC system the responsibility for carrying out initial background checks will transfer to the home regulator of the professional, UK regulators will continue to be able to carry out registration checks, and can require additional information if there are any justifiable doubts about a registrant’s application or fitness to practise.

The UK Government has negotiated new safeguards to ensure that the high standards we expect from staff in this country are met by those from elsewhere in Europe who come to work here. These include:

– the introduction of an EU-wide alert mechanism which regulators will use to inform other countries of professionals who have been restricted from practising; and

– applying language controls for healthcare professionals from the EU so that regulators are able to ensure that professionals have the necessary knowledge of English before they are able to work in the UK.

January 1, 2023
Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish the aircraft noise attitudes survey carried out by Ipsos Mori on his behalf; and how he plans to use the findings of that survey to inform aircraft noise policy.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government is currently analysing the results of the survey carried out by IPSOS Mori to produce a report, which will be independently peer reviewed. The Government hopes to publish a report later this year on the findings.

The report along with other relevant robust evidence will be used to inform the Government in setting out its aviation noise policy.

January 1, 2023
Michael Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2015 to Question 19143, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on the administration of disability exemptions on vehicle excise duty and the effect on parking charges in local authority car parks.

Andrew Jones

The Department for Transport has not issued guidance to local authorities on the administration of disability exemptions on vehicle excise duty. The issue of guidance to local authorities on off-street car parking charges would be a matter for the Department for Communities and Local Government, which has policy responsibility for this matter. It is for local authorities to decide what factors to take into account when considering how to apply concessions and exemptions from parking charges.

January 1, 2023
Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 15 February 2016 to Question 26147, whether the cost of the work undertaken during the Long Overhaul Period of HMS Vengeance exceeded the value of the contract for that work.

Mr Philip Dunne

No, the total cost of the work undertaken has not exceeded the value of the contract.

January 1, 2023
Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Adams on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what (a) demographic factors, (b) deprivation level factors and (c) factors of difference in distance from target market forces he took into account when determining the funding allocated for (i) Vale of York CCG, (ii) NHS West Cheshire, (iii) NHS North East Essex, (iv) NHS South Warwickshire, (v) NHS Canterbury and Coastal, (vi) NHS Lincolnshire West and (vii) NHE East Riding of Yorkshire.

Alistair Burt

Responsibility for clinical commissioning group (CCG) allocations rests with NHS England and the funding allocated to all CCGs is based on the CCG allocations formula. This is based on advice provided by the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA). ACRA is an independent committee and reports jointly to the Secretary of State for Health (in regard to public health allocations) and NHS England in regard to CCG and primary care allocations. The formula was initially approved by NHS England in 2013 and they have now reviewed and updated the formula for 2016-17 onwards.

The formula is based on the size of the population of each CCG and adjustments, or weights, per head for relative need for health care services and unavoidable costs between CCGs. The weights per head are based on the following:

― need due to age (typically, the more elderly the population, the higher the need per head, all else being equal);

― additional need over and above that due to age (this includes measures of health status and a number of proxies for health status such as deprivation);

― an adjustment for unmet need and health inequalities;

― unavoidable higher costs of delivering health care due to location alone, known as the Market Forces Factor (this reflects that staff, land and building costs are higher in for example London than other parts of the country); and

― an adjustment for the higher costs of providing emergency ambulance services in sparsely populated areas, and an adjustment for the higher costs of unavoidably small hospitals with 24 hour accident and emergency services in remote areas.

The final step of the allocations process is to determine how quickly to move CCGs from their current allocation to the target allocation determined by the formula. The objective is to reduce the ‘distance from target’ so that areas furthest below their target allocation receive the biggest increases. This needs to balance against the need to ensure service stability for those areas above target, and that increases are not so large that resources are not used efficiently. The approach also takes account of the distance from target in each area for primary care and specialised services so that the overall funding position for the area is taken into account.

NHS England recently published a technical guide to allocations which sets out all the individual factors used in determining the allocation levels. The guide is available here:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/2016/04/allocations-tech-guide-16-17/#

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January 1, 2023
Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the budget is for the Inter-Ministerial Group on Corruption.

Matthew Hancock

Budget for work to tackle corruption are held by departments. The work of the Inter-Ministerial Group is to co-ordinate and lead departmental activity.

January 1, 2023
Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-06-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports that at least 85,000 refugees have escaped from Fallujah, and of the adequacy of the camps that have been established by the UNHCR for those refugees.

Baroness Verma

According to the UN, 85,000 people have been displaced from Fallujah and the surrounding area since May. The UK is concerned by the humanitarian situation in the Fallujah area, including overcrowded camps and the risks posed by the extreme heat of the Iraqi summer.

The UK is working closely with UN, government and other partners to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches people who have fled Fallujah. We call on all sides to the conflict to respect International Humanitarian Law and to ensure free, unimpeded access for humanitarian agencies.

Since June 2014, the UK has committed £79.5 million in humanitarian assistance to the crisis in Iraq. The UK is the largest contributor to the Iraq Humanitarian Pooled Fund, through which we are funding projects to support those leaving Fallujah.

January 1, 2023
Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-09-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations he has received from (a) Birmingham Airport and (b) other regional airports outside London on maintaining existing routes and increasing the number of long haul flights on offer; and if he will make a statement.

Mr John Hayes

Transport Ministers have regular discussions with airport operators across the country on aviation policy issues, including domestic and international air connectivity. The UK’s airports operate commercially, and it is a matter for them to work collaboratively with airlines to maintain existing air services and develop new ones.

January 1, 2023