The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-12-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many automatic payments of partial winter fuel payment have been made in each of the last three years; and how many of those payments have been converted to full payments following an application by the recipient.
Justin Tomlinson
The information requested is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-01-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the prevalence of the practice in the retail and leisure sectors of sending employees home during their shift without notice.
Nick Boles
We encourage employers to be clear with their staff up front on how work will be structured. However, the way in which work is arranged, or how shifts are decided upon will depend on each situation and sector. A ‘one size fits all’ solution would not be appropriate.
Where appropriate, Government publishes guidance. For instance, we recently considered the issue of late notice cancellation of shifts for those on zero hours contracts and have published updated guidance on gov.uk.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Inglewood on 2016-02-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Forestry Commission permits forms of shooting on any of its land in circumstances which fall within its definition of free shooting”.”
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Forestry Commission only associates the term free-shooting with the control of grey squirrels for the protection of red squirrel populations and the reduction of damage to timber crops, not any other wildlife management activity.
There may be occasions where free-shooting takes place by the holders of Game Shooting Leases or by its own wildlife rangers. There may also be free-shooting of grey squirrels carried out where there are retained sporting rights over which the Forestry Commission does not exercise any direct control.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many and what proportion of women accessing mental health services experienced sexual or domestic abuse in each of the last five years.
Alistair Burt
Information on the number and the proportion of women who access mental health services having experienced sexual or domestic abuse is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Madaya in Syria.
Mr Desmond Swayne
Across Syria, Assad and other parties to the conflict are wilfully impeding humanitarian access on a day-by-day basis. We have given support to the UN and international NGOs since the start of the conflict to deliver aid to those in need and continue to push for humanitarian access to be granted to all besieged and hard to reach places. This includes through our participation in the International Syria Support Group’s Humanitarian Taskforce and our position in the UN Security Council.
On Madaya, several inter-agency convoys have now reached the town delivering much-needed humanitarian assistance. On 23 March, the UN received written approval from the regime for further inter-agency convoys in April to six of eleven besieged locations including Madaya. Under this plan, deliveries are expected to reach 40,000 people in Madaya. We also are pleased that on 4 April, the Syria Arab Red Crescent was able to supervise medical evacuations from Madaya.
However, progress is too slow and we are deeply concerned by reports of civilian deaths in Madaya due to blocked medical evacuations. We are calling for this to end, alongside the removal of medical equipment from convoys by the regime, and regular access to healthcare for besieged populations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps have been taken by NHS England to commission access to molecular diagnostic tests for (a) melanoma, (b) lung cancer, (c) colorectal cancer, (d) breast cancer and (e) all paediatric cancers.
Jane Ellison
The independent Cancer Taskforce recognised the need for more accessible molecular diagnostic provision in its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: A Strategy for England 2015-2020, published in July 2015.
Following this, in September 2015, we confirmed a commitment from NHS England to implement the recommendations on molecular diagnostics. This will mean that around 25,000 additional people a year will have their cancers genetically tested to identify the most effective treatments. NHS England worked with partners across the healthcare system to produce an implementation plan, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: Taking the strategy forward, which was published on 12 May 2016.
Also in September 2015, the NHS England Board approved the development of a Personalised Medicine Strategy for the National Health Service, to be discussed at the NHS England Board in the summer. This work will build on the 100,000 Genomes Project, in which the NHS is a key delivery partner. The Project will sequence whole genomes from eligible patients with rare diseases and cancers. It is moving the NHS to a new model of diagnosis and treatment based on understanding of underlying genetic causes and drivers of disease and a comprehensive phenotypic characterisation of the disease (rather than deduction from symptoms and individual diagnostic tests). This will be critical in guiding the approach to molecular diagnostics.
In addition, changes to the section 118 guidance implemented in the national tariff payment system for molecular diagnostics which were implemented from April 2016 will support clinical change and practice and have been broadly welcomed by industry bodies. This means molecular genetic tests which are companion diagnostics being funded separately by commissioners for the first three years before being incorporated into national prices for treatment episodes. There are six tests routinely commissioned in this way in their first three years which have been funded in this way with effect from April, and an annual process for ensuring that new tests which are clinically and cost-effective and adopted as commissioning policy by NHS England or mandated by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, are reflected in ongoing arrangements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-07-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to reassure university students that the outcome of the EU referendum will not prevent those students from studying abroad in Europe.
Joseph Johnson
There are no immediate changes following the EU Referendum, including in the circumstances of British citizens studying, or planning to study, in the EU. Future arrangements for studying abroad will need to be considered as part of wider discussions about the UK’s relationship with the EU.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dominic Raab on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what procedures are in place for her Department to monitor and deport former students of (a) the Cambridge College of Learning and (b) similar institutions which also closed before collection of sponsorship data of non-EU nationals began.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Home Office continues to take action at every opportunity to prevent immigration abuse, pursue immigration offenders and increase compliance with immigration law including arresting and returning illegal migrants to their country of origin.
Information on former overseas students of the Cambridge College of Learning is not aggregated in national reporting systems. This information could only be obtained by a manual case by case review to collate the data, which would incur disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maggie Throup on 2015-10-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will assess the (a) potential effect on the number of antibiotic and (b) potential change in annual prescription and dispensing costs prescriptions of using C-reactive protein testing for patients presenting with respiratory tract infections in primary care.
George Freeman
We have no plans to do so.
The UK Government is committed to tackling antimicrobial resistance. The UK Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy, published in September 2013, proposed strong, cross-government action to manage this problem. The UK strategy recognises the central part diagnostics, like C-reactive protein tests, play in getting the right antibiotic drug to the right patient at the right time. A working group is actively looking at what can be done to improve diagnostic services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons the proposed in-service date for the Successor class of submarines has been postponed.
Mr Philip Dunne
Designing and building submarines is one of the largest programmes and one of the most complex activities that the Ministry of Defence and UK Industry has ever undertaken. It is the purpose of a design phase to improve our understanding of costs and timescales, which we have now done. The current estimates reflect what we have learned since the design phase began.
As stated in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) 2015 (Cm9161), our latest estimate of the total cost to manufacture the four Successor submarines reflects greater maturity of the design and understanding of the supply chain, amounts to £31 billion; we will also set a contingency of £10 billion. This level of contingency represents about 35% of the costs to completion and is a prudent estimate based on past experience of large, complex projects.