Category: Speeches

  • Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the NICE quality standards on rheumatoid arthritis, what steps he has taken to ensure patients with early inflammatory arthritis are referred from their GP to rheumatology services within three days.

    Jane Ellison

    Quality standards (QS) are important in setting out to patients, the public, commissioners and providers what a high quality service should look like in a particular area of care. Whilst providers and commissioners must have regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) QS in planning and delivering services, they do not provide a comprehensive service specification and are not mandatory.

    The first annual report of the national clinical audit of rheumatoid and early inflammatory arthritis, commissioned on behalf of NHS England by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP), was published on 22 January 2016. This report, which includes data from 1 February 2014 to 30 April 2015, assesses the quality of care by specialist rheumatology services using criteria derived from sources, including the rheumatoid arthritis quality standard, published by the NICE in June 2013. The report identifies that although most services offer prompt educational support and agree targets for treatment with their patients, performance against criteria for referral and assessment could be improved. Since the audit, HQIP has reported that a number of trusts have successfully reconfigured their services in order to improve patient care.

    More information can be found at the following link:

    www.hqip.org.uk/national-programmes/a-z-of-nca/arthritis-rheumatoid-and-early-inflammatory

    “

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) survivability, (b) sustainability and (c) readiness of NATO forces.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    The Readiness Action Plan (RAP), agreed at the NATO Summit in Wales in September 2014, is progressing well and it will deliver enhanced NATO Response Forces, including the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), by the time of the NATO Summit in Warsaw in July 2016. The UK has played a leading role in the implementation of the RAP: we have committed to spending 2% of GDP on Defence, and 20% of that on new equipment; we will lead a capable and credible VJTF (Land) Brigade in 2017; we have increased our commitment to NATO’s Standing Naval Forces this year; and will continue to provide Airborne Early Warning, Air to Air Refuelling, Tornado and Typhoon aircraft to the VJTF (Air).

    Considerable work on survivability, sustainability and readiness of NATO forces has been undertaken. The RAP includes a commitment to generate an enhanced NATO Response Force (eNRF) including a VJTF. To enhance survivability, the eNRF has been designed from the outset as a Joint, Multi-National force with an appropriate quantity and balance of forces needed to effectively conduct the full range of potential operations. Integral logistic structures, which include the newly created Multi-National Corps Headquarters in Poland and a Multi-National Division Headquarters in Romania, ensure the sustainability of the enhanced NRF and VJTF. Enhanced NRF forces are designed to meet the readiness timelines that are laid down in NATO’s strategic planning documents, including the Alliance’s Graduated Response Plans.

    Considerable work on Interoperability has also been undertaken since the end of combat operations in Afghanistan at the end of 2014. This has built upon NATO’s Connected Forces Initiative to ensure that NATO’s Multi-National forces force are able to continue to operate together effectively beyond the end of combat operations in Afghanistan. For our lead of the VJTF (Land) in 2017, the British Army will operate alongside the armed forces from 13 contributing nations.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress has been made in updating tax treaties between the UK and (a) Malawi, (b) Lesotho and (c) Ghana.

    Mr David Gauke

    The UK is not currently involved in active treaty discussions with Tanzania.

    Discussions with Malawi over a new tax treaty began some years ago, and substantive agreement has been reached at official level. The Government of Malawi have stated that they hope to be in a position to sign the new treaty in the near future.

    The UK has negotiated a treaty with Lesotho and are currently seeking to arrange signature.

    The UK is currently involved in negotiations with Ghana in agreeing a new tax treaty.

    Nepal has approached the UK to begin negotiation of a tax treaty. We are seeking suitable dates for discussions.

  • Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the (a) treatment targets and (b) care processes are for people with (i) sickle cell disease and (ii) thalassaemia in each (A) clinical commissioning group area, (B) trust area and (C) national sickle cell and thalassaemia centre area in the most recent year for which figures are available.

    George Freeman

    NHS England has a published service specification for haemoglobinopathy which covers the requirements of commissioned services providing specialised services for patients with sickle cell disease or thalassaemia. The specification was developed by the Haemoglobinopathies Clinical Reference Group that covers Sickle Cell Disease, Thalassaemia and other very rare anaemias requiring lifelong transfusion and chelation. The specification reflects that although these are complex disorders they are often grouped together and managed by the same specialist team. It recognises that each condition will have distinct clinical manifestations and treatments.

    Specialised services for haemoglobinopathy care B08/S/a:

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/b08-speci-serv-haemo.pdf

    “

  • Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to promote breastfeeding in the curriculum.

    Edward Timpson

    Where there is a demand from parents and pupils, schools can choose to teach about any topic of interest, including breastfeeding. For example, it can be covered in schools’ personal, social, heath and economic (PSHE) lessons. The suggested programme of study for teachers by the PSHE Association does not specifically cover breastfeeding, but it includes teaching about parenthood and the development of parental skills. Schools can expand on these topics if they wish, and include breastfeeding if there is a demand to cover it.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the cost of using external agencies for recruitment of Senior Civil posts in his Department in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The cost to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of using external agencies for the recruitment of Senior Civil Service posts in the last 5 financial years is set out in the table below:

    Financial Year

    Cost

    2010-11

    £161,706

    2011-12

    £32,028

    2012-13

    £102,390

    2013-14

    £70,347

    2014-15

    £20,300

    Total

    £386,771

    We predominantly use external recruitment firms for specialist roles where the necessary experience and expertise does not exist elsewhere in the Civil Service

  • Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to allocate enough funding to cover predicted changes in the cost of cancer care beyond treatment.

    Jane Ellison

    The Independent Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, in July this year. It identified improving support for people living with and beyond cancer, and improving long-term quality of life as high priorities.

    NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to determine how best to take forward the recommendations of the Taskforce report. A cross-system Cancer Transformation Board, chaired by the new National Cancer Director, Cally Palmer, will be established to oversee implementation of the strategy, and will have its first meeting in early 2016. The Transformation Board will formulate more detailed plans for implementation of the report’s recommendations based on the final outcome of the spending review. More details will be available in early 2016.

  • Pat Glass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Pat Glass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pat Glass on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with his Cabinet colleagues on cases in which workers do not receive compensation awarded by an employment tribunal because the companies which were paying them less than the national minimum wage have moved into voluntary liquidation.

    Nick Boles

    The Government is committed to the effective enforcement of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and will take tough action where employers are found to have underpaid their staff. BIS Ministers regularly discuss issues of enforcement with colleagues in other relevant Departments to ensure the system is effective.

    Ensuring employees get the money they are owed is a priority. Where employees are owed monies but their employer has gone in to liquidation, they are entitled to claim for the difference between their rate of pay and the NMW, through the Insolvency Service’s Redundancy Payments Service (RPS). The RPS will consider these claims and make payments, within certain statutory limits, to employees.

    The Government has also taken action to strengthen the enforcement powers available for NMW breaches, including ensuring that every criminal breach of the NMW Act is considered for Director Disqualification.

  • David Simpson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Simpson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential benefits of talking therapy for the treatment of mental health.

    Alistair Burt

    The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme is a National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommend evidence based intervention, helping adults with common mental health conditions (including anxiety and depression) to recover. The latest data shows that that nationally we are achieving a 45% recovery rate and 61% rate in reliable improvement. In total over 733,000 people have recovered from their condition since the start of the IAPT programme, and between October 2008 and February 2015 over 100,000 people moved off of sick pay and benefits.

    The Impact Assessment published in 2011 shows that the IAPT programme would expect to deliver improved health and wellbeing of those treated, as well as savings to the National Health Service and wider economic benefits such as reductions in sickness absence.

  • Catherine McKinnell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Catherine McKinnell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has to contribute to an international framework for the sharing of communications data; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr John Hayes

    The UK and United States Governments have begun considering a framework under which US-based communication service providers could disclose data directly for serious criminal and counter terrorism investigations, in response to a warrant requesting the content of communications, and with notices requiring the disclosure of communications data.

    This builds on the work of the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Intelligence and Law Enforcement Data Sharing; the recommendation of the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation; and the recommendations of the Joint Committee on the draft Investigatory Powers Bill, that the UK develop a framework for accessing data across jurisdictions.