Category: Speeches

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the planned replacement of student bursaries by loans, how many grants for higher cost students will be made to universities in respect of degree courses in nursing in 2017–18.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    Institutional autonomy and academic freedom are key strengths of our higher education system. To protect these, the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 prohibits Ministers from being involved in decisions about funding for individual institutions or particular courses. Details on teaching grant funding will be set out in the normal way in the annual grant letter from ministers to The Higher Education Funding Council.

    As part of the changes announced at the Spending Review, we will lift the cap on the number of students that can get on to nursing courses and provide nursing students with access to around 25% more financial support. We expect this reform to enable universities to provide up to 10,000 additional nursing, midwifery and allied health training places over this parliament.

  • Louise Ellman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Louise Ellman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Ellman on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Attorney General, how many cases relating to each type of crime were prosecuted by the CPS in (a) magistrates’ courts and (b) the Crown Court in each of the last 10 years; how many hours the CPS spent on prosecutions of each type in each type of court in those years; and if he will make a statement.

    Robert Buckland

    The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) identifies the type of crime prosecuted with reference to twelve principal offence categories. The Principal Offence Category is assigned at the end of a prosecution case to indicate the most serious offence with which the defendant is charged at the time of finalisation. It is not possible to disaggregate the number of prosecutions for individual offences recorded in each category or the times involved on specific categories without incurring a disproportionate cost.

    The attached tables contain details of the number of completed prosecutions in magistrates’ courts and at the Crown Court, for each principal offence category, in each of the last ten years.

  • 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 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government plans to take to review the provision of legal aid to domestic abuse victims as a result of the Court of Appeal judgement of 18 February 2016 quashing restrictions on obtaining such aid in family court cases.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    We are pleased the court confirmed that the Lord Chancellor did have the power to set domestic violence evidence requirements. We are now carefully considering the judgment as we decide how best to respond to the court’s concerns.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of officials of his Department resigned in each of the last six years.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    In the past six years, 334 officials resigned from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. The breakdown is as follows:

    Resignations

    Resignations as %

    2010/11

    67

    1.4%

    2011/12

    83

    1.8%

    2012/13

    43

    0.9%

    2013/14

    46

    1.0%

    2014/15

    48

    1.1%

    2015/16

    47

    1.1%

    The figures do not include staff recruited locally by our Missions overseas.

  • Rupa Huq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rupa Huq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rupa Huq on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment the Government has made of the extent of variation between local authorities in their (a) per capita spending on physical activity services and (b) facilities for children and young people.

    Jane Ellison

    Information on local authorities’ total spending on physical activity services and facilities for children and young people is not collected centrally.

    The decision on how much is spent on specific local public health services rests with individual authorities who are best placed to assess local population needs and priorities.

    Local authorities are required to undertake Joint Strategic Needs Assessments and to develop Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategies which must inform local authority commissioning plans.

  • Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many instant rewards of what value were given to officials of his Department in 2015-16.

    David Mundell

    The Scotland Office paid no instant rewards to officials in 2015-16.

  • 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 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve NHS triage systems.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    As part of NHS England’s review of urgent and emergency care, the intention is to develop a clinical decision support system to enable patients to be directed to or connected with the right service to meet their needs, rather than being sent or taken to accident and emergency unless absolutely necessary.

    Commissioners, clinicians and the wider governance of urgent and emergency care have requested a next generation system that builds on the success of NHS Pathways but recognises the needs of individuals on the basis of the language they use, links to patient records and crisis plans and has the potential to factor in phenotypic data from wearables and remote monitoring devices.

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Thomas-Symonds on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department has provided for clinical commissioning groups on the commissioning of off-patent drugs for use in new indications.

    George Freeman

    NHS England supports the national commissioning system in England, including the provision of guidance to the service, where appropriate.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) does not routinely appraise drugs outside their licensed indications. Where drugs are not appraised by NICE, it is the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to decide how drugs should be funded locally, in line with any guidance from NHS England. The Department has produced no guidance and had no discussions with CCGs on off-label drug use.

    Many thousands of patients benefit from the use of off-patent drugs, off-label, every day in the National Health Service. NICE publishes Evidence Summaries on unlicensed and off-label medicines. These provide a summary of the published evidence for selected unlicensed or off-label medicines that are considered to be of significance to the NHS, usually when there is no licensed medicine for the condition requiring treatment or no licensed medicines are appropriate for a significant proportion of people requiring treatment.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what response his Department has made to requests for more rail travel paths from North Wales to Manchester Airport.

    Andrew Jones

    The allocation of train paths is a matter for the independent Office of Road and Rail to decide, not the Department for Transport.

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

    Lord Bradley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradley on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) children, and (2) adults, had an appointment with an NHS dentist in each of the 10 districts of Greater Manchester in each of the last five years.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Information is not available in the format requested.

    The attached tables show the unique number of patients who received National Health Service dental care in the previous 24 months. An equivalent measure covering the 12 month period is not available.