The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of how many people in supported housing specifically designated for (a) disabled people, (b) victims of domestic violence, (c) people with substance misuse problems and (d) others will be affected by the change in housing benefit to the Shared Accommodation Rate.
Justin Tomlinson
The information requested is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-03-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has issued guidance to GP practices on waiting times for patients seeking telephone consultation appointments.
Alistair Burt
There is no central guidance to general practitioner (GP) practices on waiting times for telephone consultations.
GPs can conduct telephone consultations with patients if they feel it is appropriate to do so. This could remove the need for the patient to go on to have a face to face consultation, however, it is for the GP to use his or her clinical judgement to decide if and when a face to face consultation should take place, and for the patient to decide if they wish to attend.
This Government is committed to improving access to GP consultations and the Prime Minister’s GP Access Fund encourages practices in the schemes to use innovative methods to provide appointments to patients.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her letter of 9 October 2015, when she will provide a substantive answer to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill on concerns raised in that letter on behalf of Mr M. Ikhlaq.
Nick Gibb
In her letter of 30 November 2015, my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Education stated that we would provide a full response as soon as further consideration of Mr Ikhlaq’s case is complete. She will write to the Rt Hon Member shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-05-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of whether the most recent Public Performance Measure figures reported by Govia Thameslink Railway put that company in breach of its franchise agreement.
Claire Perry
The Public Performance Measure figure does not put Govia Thameslink Railway in breach of their Franchise Agreement.
The Franchise Agreement does not include the Public Performance Measure as one of the benchmarks against which their performance is measured. The Department for Transport (DfT) performance benchmarks for Govia Thameslink Railway are for Delay minutes and Cancellations for which GTR are responsible, and Peak Short formation, as specified under Schedule 7.1 of the Franchise Agreement:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-07-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many visits there were to community pharmacies for minor ailments in (a) England and (b) each former strategic health authority area in each year since 2006.
David Mowat
The information requested is not collected centrally. However, information is available on the number of community pharmacies which are commissioned to provide a minor ailments service as an enhanced service under National Health Service pharmaceutical services at:
www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB19026
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Jenrick on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to work with the art and antiques industries to address the sale of ivory in the UK.
Dr Thérèse Coffey
My immediate predecessor met, and officials have had a number of discussions with, representatives of the arts and antique sectors over the past 18 months to discuss issues surrounding the sale of ivory in the UK. This included exploring issues that informed our announcement, made on 21 September, of plans for a ban on the sale of ivory items produced from 1947 to the present day.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if she will take steps to enable the Government to direct the Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland to investigate a complaint from a former police officer where matters giving rise to the complaint took place more than 12 months ago and there are exceptional circumstances which justify such an investigation being held.
Mr Ben Wallace
The RUC (Complaints etc) Regulations 2001 allow the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland to investigate complaints into matters which took place more than 12 months ago in exceptional circumstances, for example when new evidence has come to light which was not reasonably available at the time of an original complaint.
The Police Ombudsman is accountable to the Northern Ireland Assembly, through the Minister of Justice for Northern Ireland.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-11-24.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much Big Lottery funding was provided to Northern Ireland in 2014; and how much such funding will be provided in (a) 2015 and (b) 2016.
Mr Rob Wilson
Information on grant expenditure broken down by country is available through the Funds’s annual report and accounts:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/big-lottery-fund-annual-report-2014-to-2015
The annual report and accounts for 2015/16 and 2016/17 will be published in due course.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Stuart on 2015-12-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to increase parliamentary engagement in the implementation of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions.
Amber Rudd
My Rt Hon Friend, the role of Parliamentarians in helping ensure delivery of nationally determined commitments is very important. We will continue to take every opportunity to encourage other countries, including members of their Parliaments, to take action to deliver on their commitments and consider how they might increase ambition further. I recognise the valuable part that my Rt Hon Friend plays as the Chairman of the Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alasdair McDonnell on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve early diagnosis rates of pancreatic cancer.
Jane Ellison
Improving early diagnosis of cancer is a priority for this Government. We have committed to implementing recommendation 24 of the Independent Cancer Taskforce’s report Achieving World-Class Outcomes and this will be underpinned by investment of up to £300 million more in diagnostics each year by 2020. The strategy also makes recommendations for speeding up diagnosis of cancers with non-specific but concerning symptoms through the use of multidisciplinary diagnostic centres. NHS England is working with partners across the health system to consider how best to take forward these and other recommendations.
Updated suspected cancer referral guidelines by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), including new guidelines for pancreatic cancer, which was published last June will continue to support general practitioners (GPs) to identify patients and urgently refer them as appropriate, where pancreatic cancer is suspected. NICE noted that more lives could be saved each year in England if GPs followed the new guideline, which encourages GPs to think of cancer sooner and lower the referral threshold.