The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether a decision on whether to fit the DB-110 sensor to Typhoon aircraft has been made.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Department has not made any decision to fit the DB-110 sensor to the Typhoon aircraft.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what contribution his Department plans to make to the Royal College of Ophthalmologists’ consultation on raising standards for refractive surgery.
Alistair Burt
Refractive eye surgery is regulated through providers being registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and doctors carrying out the surgery must be registered with the General Medical Council.
Once the Royal College of Ophthalmologists refractive surgery standards are published, the General Medical Council would expect a doctor to be aware of them. When carrying out inspections and assessments of services, the CQC would also expect a provider to be following best practice guidance, which would include the standards published by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.
These processes are well established and so the Department would not have a direct role in assisting in the implementation of the refractive surgery standards. However, the Department will maintain an interest in the consultation and the work of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists in this area.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-05-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of his proposals for the future of community pharmacy on care for elderly people.
Alistair Burt
Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service. We want to see a high quality community pharmacy service that is properly integrated into primary care and public health in line with the Five Year Forward View.
We want to make pharmacists a pivotal part of primary care for all patient groups, including the elderly and vulnerable, by increasing the number who bring their skills to general practitioner (GP) practices, care homes, urgent care and public health settings. We have consulted on how best to introduce a Pharmacy Integration Fund to help transform how pharmacists, their teams and community pharmacy will operate in the NHS, bringing clear benefits to patients and the public.
Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive. We are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared with others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.
The community pharmacy proposals for 2016/17 and beyond, on which we have consulted, are being considered in respect to the public sector equality duty, the family test and relevant duties of the Secretary of State under the NHS Act 2006.
An impact assessment will be completed to inform final decisions and published in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-07-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) planned and (b) unplanned train service cancellations in each reporting period would place Govia Thameslink Railway in breach of the Remedial Plan agreed with his Department in February 2016.
Claire Perry
Under the Franchise Agreement, where GTR can provide the evidence that cancellations are due to official or unofficial industrial action, they can claim Force Majeure, which they have done. The Govia Thameslink Railway Franchise Agreement in Schedule 7.1 sets out the performance benchmarks and financial regime that is in place in relation to cancellations. A copy of the Franchise Agreement can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/govia-thameslink .
The department is monitoring the position on a regular basis.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-09-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to procure general purpose frigates, and if he will make a statement.
Harriett Baldwin
Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 set out the Ministry of Defence plans to replace the eight Type 23 frigates that are optimised for Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) on a one for one basis with eight Type 26 Global Combat Ships, fitted with the full range of equipment required to fulfil the ASW role.
The Review also concluded that the remainder of the Royal Navy’s future frigate requirement would be better met by a new class of lighter, flexible, general purpose frigates (GPFF) than by the five general purpose Type 26 ships previously planned.The GPFF programme is currently in its pre-concept phase.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2015-11-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to make further changes to the FCO travel advice for France following the terrorist attacks in Paris on 13 November.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We will continue to keep the travel advice for France under close review given the evolving security situation in France. We encourage anyone planning on travelling to France to subscribe to travel advice e-mail alerts.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-12-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the performance of sponsored academies compares to that of maintained schools when grouped by prior results at achieving five A*-C grade GCSEs, including English and Maths, broken down per decile, over (1) the last year, (2) the last two years, and (3) the last three years.
Lord Nash
The figures for overall achievement of 5 A*-C Grade GCSEs including English and maths are provided by school type from 2011 to 2015 (provisional results) in Table 24 in the main text of the department’s publication, “Provisional GCSE and equivalent results in England, 2014 to 2015”, as attached to this answer. We do not hold the information grouped by prior results and broken down into deciles.
Interpreting trends in achievement in schools over time is complex with changes being driven by a wide range of influences and different circumstances that may exist between schools.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs brought into the UK under the Pet Travel Scheme were found to be non-compliant with that scheme’s requirements in each year since 2012.
George Eustice
The requirement to ensure that pet dogs travel to Great Britain on approved routes is the responsibility of the relevant transport companies. It is a condition of their approval that the transport companies check 100% of pets declared by their owners for compliance with the EU Pet Travel Scheme.
The table below lists the number of audits completed by APHA staff on pet checkers and the number of fails identified during the audits.
|
Year |
No of Pets travelling to GB under PETS |
No. of QA checks on Pet animals |
No. of non-compliances |
|
2012 |
184,338 |
6070 |
74 |
|
2013 |
167,507 |
4894 |
58 |
|
2014 |
170,659 |
5978 |
54 |
|
2015 |
267,613 |
4863 |
69 |
The data on the number of pets travelling from 2012/2014 was taken from the PETS database. We rely upon Pet checkers who operate upon behalf of APHA to complete the database and so cannot guarantee the accuracy of the data. A different system of recording the number of pets entering Great Britain in 2015 was implemented in Jan 2015. However, we still rely on pet checkers to provide this info and so cannot guarantee the accuracy of the data.
Of the pets found not to be in compliance with the entry rules, these pets were either detained until their compliance could be established, re-exported or placed into quarantine.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children and young people entering care complete the strengths and difficulties questionnaire to assess their wellbeing in (a) England and (b) Birmingham.
Edward Timpson
This Government is committed to supporting children in care and the unique challenges that they often face. That is why we’ve put in place a comprehensive package of support, including the introduction of the Pupil Premium Plus and compulsory Virtual School Heads to champion the attainment of children in care. We’ve also changed the rules so foster children can remain at home until 21 and have recognised long-term fostering as a placement in its own right, providing young people with greater stability as they prepare for independence and adult life.
The Department collects Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) scores for children looked-after for at least 12 months. The data returned by local authorities are based on questionnaires completed by the child’s main carer. SDQs should inform a looked-after child’s annual health assessment.
In England, 72% of 5-16 year olds, looked after for at least 12 months, have had an SDQ score submitted. In Birmingham, 85% of these children have had an SDQ score submitted. These figures are correct as of 31 March 2015. More information can be found in the Department’s Statistical First Release Children Looked After by Local Authorities in England at 31 March 2015[1].
The SDQ is an internationally validated screening tool that provides information about the behavioural and emotional health of children. It has been part of the Department’s statistical collection for looked-after children since 2008. Where the SDQ score from the main carer suggests there may be a problem, the statutory guidance Promoting the health and wellbeing of looked-after children[2], which is issued jointly by the Department for Education and Department for Health, makes clear that consideration should be given to further assessment.
The Department recently supported the research undertaken by the Rees Centre at the University of Oxford on The Educational Progress of Looked-After Children in England: Linking Care and Education Data[3]. This research demonstrates that having a high SDQ score was strongly predictive of poor GCSE outcomes. We are discussing the implications of this research with local authority Virtual School Heads.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that environmental permitting rules for back-up electricity generating plants are up to date and continue to reflect requirements of (a) environmental legislation and (b) the electricity system operator.
Rory Stewart
Electricity generating plants with a rated thermal input equal to or greater than 20MW are already subject to environmental permitting rules.
We will consult later this year on options to reduce pollution from smaller plants, including extending environmental legislation to set binding emission limit values on relevant air pollutants from backup electricity generating plants such as diesel engines, with a view to having legislation in force no later than January 2019 and possibly sooner. These limits would be likely to apply to generators or groups of generators with a rated thermal input equal to or greater than 1 MW and less than 50 MW irrespective of their number of hours of operation during any given year.
Defra will work with the Department of Energy and Climate Change to ensure that impacts of environmental legislation on electricity supply are suitably managed.