The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of universities make unconditional offers to 18 year olds applying to study at those universities; and if he will make a statement.
Joseph Johnson
The information is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hamwee on 2015-12-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish the report by James Ewins of his review of the overseas domestic workers visa, and their response to it, before the Immigration Bill 2015 receives its second reading in this House.
Lord Bates
Mr Ewins’s report has been submitted to the Home Office and will be published shortly. The Government will announce its response to the report in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-01-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment the National Institute for Health Research Horizon Scanning Research and Intelligence Centre and Genomic England have made of the potential of precision oncology for less common cancers.
Lord Prior of Brampton
Genomics England undertook a comprehensive assessment of the technological and scientific challenges faced by molecular pathology in the context of the 100,000 Genomes Project. As part of the Project there has been extensive experimental work to identify best practice for molecular pathology (and more specifically genomics). In particular, the sequencing of whole tumour genomes at scale poses a significant scientific and clinical challenge. The Project is pushing these boundaries, driving new scientific knowledge and transformational change. Like all transformative projects there are barriers but the Project is providing the impetus to address those challenges.
Genomics England is working in partnership with NHS England, Health Education England and the newly inaugurated NHS Genomic Medicine Centres to facilitate the translation of scientific developments into practice, and to support the development of the molecular pathology workforce.
The Project will involve in-depth analysis of tumour genomics, creating new scientific discoveries which will in turn inform precision oncology. The Project includes both common and rare tumours to spread the transformative impact of the project across a range of cancer types.
In 2014, theNational Institute for Health Research Horizon Scanning Research and Intelligence Centreadvised the NHS England Molecular Testing Group (cancer) on the potential for horizon scanning in the use of genomic tests for cancer.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sue Hayman on 2016-02-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department plans to begin a procurement process for a technology to reuse plutonium stored at Sellafield before 2020.
Andrea Leadsom
Safely and securely managing plutonium remains a government priority. My Department is working across government, with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and industry to develop a solution.
NDA submitted advice to support DECC in its considerations on the policy options for separated plutonium held in the UK, in December 2015. The report gives a view on the balance of attractiveness and risk of each reuse option (reuse as MOX and assessment of the credible alternatives PRISM and Candu); as well as immobilisation and continued storage. This, together with other sources of information and evidence, is informing DECC’s consideration of the options for the way forward.
Only when Government is confident that an option could be implemented safely and securely, in way that is affordable, deliverable, and offers value for money, will it be in a position to proceed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much of Public Health England’s social marketing budget for 2015-16 has been allocated to mental health.
Jane Ellison
Mental health and wellbeing is integrated into many Public Health England campaigns.
In 2015-16 an estimated £380,000 has been allocated to the development and promotion of mental health content for 11-16 year olds via the Rise Above campaign.
In addition, the Information Service for Parents (ISP) programme delivers information on mental and physical health topics to support parents and parents-to-be. There are a wide range of topics relating to mental health covered including ante-natal and post-natal depression, and the importance of seeking professional help to address mental health issues in both parents and young children. The annual cost of delivering the ISP is £250,000, but we cannot ascribe a precise value to mental health given the breadth of issues it covers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to use the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) registry to get an accurate number of people living with IBD.
Jane Ellison
The IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) Registry provides a United Kingdom-wide repository of anonymised IBD adult and paediatric patient data for prospective audit and research purposes. Patients must consent for their data to be added to the registry. The Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) has allocated transitional funding this year to incorporate IBD audit data collection into the IBD Registry, providing an enhanced system for data capture and quality improvement that will be available to every hospital in the UK. This will allow the entry of data locally and support service improvement. Initially the focus will be for IBD patients receiving biologic treatments, but the system will address other key aspects of IBD care in the future.
The second step of data collection will be to focus on new patients with IBD to begin to understand the incidence of IBD in the UK. This picture will build up over a number of years and be dependent on the engagement of clinicians.
No specific assessment of the potential effects on healthcare due to the introduction of a registry of patients with IBD in England has been made. However, the data provided through the register can support National Health Service services in areas such as the assessment of local IBD populations as well as in measuring incidence and outcomes with services in other parts of the UK.
Although there is no direct Department funding, HQIP have given £290,000 for a year’s transition funding to join the audit data with the registry.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends faecal calprotectin testing as an option to help doctors distinguish between inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and non-inflammatory bowel diseases, such as irritable bowel syndrome.
The NICE IBD Quality Standard states that general practitioners (GP) and GP practices should ensure that testing is offered and clinical commissioning groups should ensure the diagnostic services are in place to support this.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-04.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what checks his Department makes on PAYE real time information data before it is forwarded to the Department for Work and Pensions to calculate universal credit.
Mr David Gauke
Data validation rules are built in to stop obvious errors at the point of filing. In addition, there are matching rules built within the system to ensure that the information matches to the correct customer. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Department for Work and Pensions continually monitor the quality of Real Time Information to understand errors. HMRC uses this information to support customer education and if appropriate develop system enhancements to prevent errors occurring.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers who were granted refugee status were not provided with a (a) biometric residence permit and (b) National Insurance number by her Department before their 28-day asylum support ceased in the latest period for which figures are available.
James Brokenshire
If an asylum seeker is granted refugee status written confirmation that there are no longer any restrictions on them living and working in the UK is posted to them. A Biometric Residence Permit and National Insurance number is also sent, which can then be used as evidence of their immigration status and in support of any application for benefits.
Statistics on the number of such cases are not recorded on centrally collated statistical databases and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost by examination of individual case records.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Helic on 2016-09-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, ahead of the referendum in the entity of Republika Srpska on 25 September, what support they have given High Representative Valentin Inzko to enable him to exercise his mandate under the Dayton Peace Accord to uphold the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
As members of the Peace Implementation Council, the UK issued a statement on 30 August 2016 urging the Republika Srpska authorities not to hold the proposed referendum and making clear our support for the High Representative. The Government is in close contact with the High Representative and international partners about the proposed referendum and is committed to upholding the territorial integrity and structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) as a single, sovereign state comprising two entities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2015 to Question 13632, on what dates in August 2015 he met (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) other ministers in HM Treasury to discuss the potential effects in Scotland of a carbon price support exemption scheme.
David Mundell
As indicated in my previous answers on this issue, I have had a number of meetings and discussions this year, both formal and informal, on the important issue of opencast restoration and in particular the proposal for a carbon price support exemption. These have included discussions with colleagues from HM Treasury, the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Scottish Government and Local Authorities.