The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Allan on 2016-07-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps he has taken to reduce childhood obesity.
Jane Ellison
Our Childhood Obesity Strategy, which will be launched in the summer, will look at everything that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese. It will set out what more can be done by all.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Efford on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the 46th Report of the Public Accounts Committee, Session 2014-15, HC971, An update on Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust, what the cost is to the public purse of Circle Holdings Plc’s withdrawal from delivery of its contract to run Hinchingbrooke Hospital; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Trust paid no management fee to Circle under the contract. Costs incurred by the Trust as a result of the termination of the franchise were agreed as £130,000 and billed directly to Circle. Costs included recruiting to new Board positions and those filled by Circle partners; an expected increase in the scope of External Audit due to termination of the contract; time of the Department’s Legal and NHS England Estates teams; and removing the Circle branding from the hospital.
During the operation of the franchise agreement, the Trust received £5 million from Circle between 2012 and 2014 – the maximum deficit support payment required under the contract.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department’s Accelerated Access Review will consider issues relating to the routine availability of off-patent, repurposed drugs.
George Freeman
The Accelerated Access Review (AAR), chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor, will make recommendations to government on reforms to accelerate access for National Health Service patients to innovative medicines and medical technologies making our country the best place in the world to design, develop and deploy these products. The terms of the reference for the review focus on faster access to innovations, which may include certain off-patent repurposed drugs, as opposed to the routine availability of medicines or medical technologies.
Prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR, the Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS including the Innovation, Health and Wealth report. As a result, building upon the lessons of previous reviews is explicit with the terms of reference of the AAR.
The AAR has regular meetings with senior officials from NHS England via a steering group as recommendations are being developed. In addition, some staff from NHS England have been assigned to support the review team.
Sir Hugh is still in the process of developing final recommendations which will be published in spring 2016. In his Interim Report published in October, Sir Hugh sets out a proposition on “galvanising the NHS”. This involves supporting the NHS to adopt innovation, more rapidly through better practical support, stronger incentives and the potential streamlining of local structures.
The Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR. It was clear that whilst progress has been made on the uptake of innovation in the NHS there is still much to do. Sir Hugh and the head of the External Advisory Group, Professor Sir John Bell, set out the case for uptake of innovation in the recently published AAR Interim Report.
The AAR has senior level contact with officials working on Lord Carter’s review of NHS efficiency to ensure that information is shared between the two teams.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which years are included in his Department’s consultation on the annual registration fee that local health trusts pay to the Care Quality Commission.
Ben Gummer
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is consulting on its fee levels from 2016-17 to move it to a full chargeable cost recovery position by either 2018 or 2020. The Department is consulting on a regulation that will bring the CQC’s new comprehensive inspections which look beyond compliance with registration and any associated rating within the scope of its fee raising power. Subject to Parliamentary approval, the regulation will come into force from 2016-17 onwards.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average distance between home and school was for school-aged children in (a) London and (b) each London borough on 1 January in each year from 2010 to 2016.
Nick Gibb
Information in the form requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Betts on 2016-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many public libraries have (a) closed and (b) opened in England since May 2010; and how many libraries which were previously run by professionally-qualified staff are now run by volunteers.
Mr Edward Vaizey
While the Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not commission specific information relating to the closure or opening of public libraries, or of libraries run entirely by volunteers, the Department does monitor closely proposed changes to library service provision throughout England. Based on desk research undertaken by the Department, we estimate that from January 2010 to January 2016 approximately 110 static public libraries in England closed and at least 77 new public libraries have opened, including relocations to new buildings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luke Hall on 2016-03-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what information the Certification Officer holds on the number of members of the National Union of Mineworkers in each year from 2003-04 to present.
Nick Boles
The number of members of the National Union of Mineworkers in each year from 2003-04 to present, as submitted to the Certification Officer, are provided in the two links below.
2003-2012
2012-2014
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-union-of-mineworkers-annual-returns
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his consultation on drones expected to be published before summer will include options on the classification of drones generally; and whether he has assessed existing weight categories as appropriate.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Department for Transport (DfT) is currently working with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to develop consistent, EU-wide safety rules for drones.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is developing new rules for all drones that are proportionate to the risk of their specific operation rather than based on weight categories.
The Government will seek to ensure that UK regulation is consistent with this approach. EASA has conducted a consultation and impact assessment on the approach and therefore we do not currently intend to consult further on these measures.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2016-05-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the effect on the solar industry of the Valuation Office Agency’s proposals to increase business rates for solar PV FIT and RO installations dating back to 2010.
Andrea Leadsom
Business rates are calculated based on a property’s ‘rateable value’. The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is responsible for determining the rateable values in line with existing legislation and case law.
The VOA is currently consulting with the solar industry over how those rateable values will apply to solar installations from 1st April 2017.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-07-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman is not a statutory body.
Sir Oliver Heald
We are carefully considering options for future legislation on prisons, including the role of the current Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, and will announce proposals in due course.
Previous governments have made unsuccessful attempts to secure a statutory status for the Ombudsman. We are confident that the Ombudsman has been able to operate effectively with full functional independence without statutory status but note the arguments for statutory footing to strengthen their current position.