The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-04-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the activities of the organisation Khtame Nabuwwat for the purposes of possible proscription under the provisions of the Terrorism Act 2000.
Mr John Hayes
We keep the list of proscribed groups under regular review. We do not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not under consideration for proscription.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, following the announcement on Twitter by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Life Sciences on 15 April 2016 that a Managed Access Agreement had been reached for the Translarna drug, for what reasons NICE granted a further eight weeks on 4 May 2016 for discussions to take place.
George Freeman
On 15 April 2016, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) announced in its final draft guidance that it was recommending Translarna (ataluren) for the treatment of children aged five and over with Duchenne muscular dystrophy caused by a nonsense mutation.
Translarna was recommended only when (a) the company provides it at a discounted price to the National Health Service under the patient access scheme agreed with the Department and (b) that NHS England and the manufacturer, PTC Therapeutics, in conjunction with patient representatives, agree a managed access agreement setting out (i) the criteria for starting and stopping treatment, which individual patients would be required to agree, (ii) data collection to address considerable uncertainty in the evidence base and (iii) additional confidential financial controls between the company and NHS England.
On 4 May 2016, NICE announced that it was allowing extra time for further discussions on access arrangements for Translarna to take place before its final guidance is published. NHS England and PTC Therapeutics have been asked to reach agreement on the cost of the drug to the NHS by 7 July 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Greenwood on 2016-07-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish the internal guidance that his Department issues to staff on the safeguards that those staff must observe when consideration is being given to (a) suspend or withhold payment, (b) impose a sanction or (c) terminate a claim in the case of a claimant of jobseeker’s allowance who has a mental health condition.
Damian Hinds
There is no intention to publish the internal guidance as it is for Department use only.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-09-14.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2016 to Question 45282, where staff who work at the Valuation Office Agency in Preston are planned to be deployed after the planned closure of that office; and how many staff at what cost at that office he plans to make redundant after that closure.
Jane Ellison
The Valuation Office Agency will consult with staff affected by the closure of the Preston office. Options will include working from an alternative location or working from home.
The Agency is not looking to make redundancies and is committed to take every practical step to avoid job losses as a result of location changes.
The Agency‘s transformation programme is changing the way the Agency works, focusing on a core network of offices and greater use of technology.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to maintain the current level of train services between Eastbourne and Gatwick Airport under any proposals for a second Brighton mainline; and if he will make a statement.
Claire Perry
The Government has recently commissioned the London and South Coast Rail Corridor Study to examine the strategic case for investment in existing and new rail capacity. The findings of the Study will help Ministers make decisions on future rail network investment, which will help shape service patterns to Eastbourne and other areas of the South Coast. The intent of the Study is to ensure that services meet the current and future needs of passengers on this critical link between London and the South Coast.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Watson of Invergowrie on 2015-12-16.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to publish monthly information on those academies that have transferred from one academy trust to another, together with an explanation as to why those transfers have taken place.
Lord Nash
Information on the current academy trust is in the public domain through Edubase.
The Department has no plan to publish such information on a monthly basis. The Department regularly publishes a variety of information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many deaf students achieved three A* to A grades or better in their A-levels in 2015.
Edward Timpson
Information regarding the attainment of students with special educational needs (SEN) in England is broken down by type of SEN and published in the “Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessment: England 2015”[1], “National curriculum assessments at key stage 2: 2015”[2] and “GCSE and equivalent results in England: 2015”[3] statistical first releases.
A wider summary of available SEN information is provided in “Special educational needs – an analysis and summary of data sources”[4]
Information on the average points score of students with a hearing impairment or the number that achieve three A* to A grades or better at A level is not held by the Department. The Department also does not hold information on the number of students with a hearing impairment who have not achieved a level 2 qualification in English by the age of 19.
Currently, there are no plans for the Department to publish A-level data split by type of special educational need or to collect additional data on the outcomes achieved by students who have a disability but not an identified special educational need, although this is reviewed every year as part of the collection process.
[1] Phonics and KS1 assessments for 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/phonics-screening-check-and-key-stage-1-assessments-england-2015
[2] KS2 for 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-curriculum-assessments-at-key-stage-2-2015-revised
[3] KS4 for 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/revised-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2014-to-2015
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases were being dealt with by his Department’s Child Maintenance Group’s Financial Investigation Unit in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Priti Patel
Since the 1 April 2015 Child Maintenance Group’s Financial Investigations Unit received 2,800 referrals for investigation and 3,150 investigations were completed (including cases received prior to 1 April 2015).
Note:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-03-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Department of Health gateway final report regarding the contact between UnitingCare LLP and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) made no recommendations about the need to ensure that the business case was fully in-line with the accepted bid by UnitingCare LLP to run older people’s and adult community services for that CCG.
Lord Prior of Brampton
NHS England is responsible for the review of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough clinical commissioning group’s (CCGss) contract with UnitingCare LLP. NHS England advises that it has commissioned an independent review to ensure objectivity. The review is looking at the contract from a commissioning perspective, which means it will cover the role of NHS England, but the role of the Department is not within its scope.
The Department’s role in gateway reviews was to facilitate the review on behalf of the project owner. The procedure was that the Department’s Health Gateway Team, working with the project owner, selected a suitable review team from a pool of accredited, independent reviewers. At the end of the review, the independent review team produced a report which was presented to the project owner and was their property. The Department stopped providing this service in 2015.
NHS England advises that the CCG, as the project owner, used the Department’s Health Gateway Team to facilitate three independent gateway reviews into its procurement for older people’s and adult community services, two in 2013 before the submission of final bids and the third in November 2014. NHS England advises that these gateway reviews were not intended to undertake detailed financial reconciliation.
NHS England advises that it facilitated two gateway reviews in early 2014, before the appointment of the preferred bidder. These focused on reviewing significant service changes from a clinical pathway perspective. They were not intended to cover procurement and technical financial details.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-04-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of the Egyptian government’s restrictions on domestic non-governmental organisations on her Department’s effectiveness in that country.
Justine Greening
The UK Government is concerned by growing restrictions on civil society in Egypt and continues to make a positive case that the presence of a dynamic civil society is in Egypt’s interest.
We work with a range of partners in the country including the World Bank, private sector and including some NGOs and we will continue to ensure that work remains effective.