Category: Speeches

  • Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Poulter on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the proportion of junior doctors not rostered on at evenings and weekends as a result of the terms of the current junior doctor contract.

    Ben Gummer

    NHS Employers’ evidence to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration – “Reform of national contracts for consultant doctors and doctors and dentists in training”1 – published in December 2014 during the hon. Member’s tenure as a Minister, included a profile of how the hours worked by doctors in training were spread across the week.

    We have evidence that hospital leaders consider the junior doctors’ contract to be a significant barrier to delivering more seven-day services. NHS Providers’ written evidence to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration on contract reform for consultants and doctors and dentists in training2 stated that the junior doctor contract is still a significant source of barriers to seven day working and reform of the junior doctor contract is also required to support trusts to deliver more seven-day services. In particular, the pay banding system for junior doctors needs to be reviewed. There were concerns from employers that the banding system is too complicated, can create “perverse incentives” for junior doctors and hospital management, and means that providing more seven-day services is unfeasible, since more junior doctors would be working outside core hours and receive premiums under the current banding system. NHS Providers also believe that more hours in a day and more days of the week need to be defined as core hours, as the current arrangement does not support the delivery of more seven-day services or reflect the needs and expectations of today’s patients.

    Future working patterns are for individual employers to determine. The evidence on doctors’ working patterns has not altered since the hon. Member was a Minister for Health.

    1 http://www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/pay-and-reward/pay/medical-pay/ddrb-evidence—in-detail/consultants-and-junior-doctors-contract-reform-submission-of-evidence-to-the-ddrb

    2 http://www.nhsproviders.org/resource-library/written-evidence-ddrb-special-remit/

    “

  • Carolyn Harris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Carolyn Harris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when the next Triennial Review of Gaming Machine Stake and Prize Limits will begin.

    Tracey Crouch

    The government, along with Gambling Commission colleagues, are in the process of evaluating the regulations which came into force in April this year which required customers in bookmakers to interact either over the counter or via account based play in order to stake over £50. The last triennial review of stakes and prizes was in 2013, and the findings of the evaluation will inform the timing of the start of the next review.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit switch centres there are in (a) Burnley, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West.

    Priti Patel

    There are two Universal Credit service centres in the North West – Bolton and Makerfield.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 27 January (HL5039), whether the recently approved application by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to perform genome editing in human embryos by means of CRISPR-Cas9 will be performed on embryos specifically created for research or only on those considered to be surplus to infertility treatments; whether that research application included any application for the creation of embryos; and if not, why the person responsible requested that reference to surplus embryos should be removed from the research project title.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that this research project will make use of donated embryos that were originally created for treatment purposes. An application was not made to create embryos for the purposes of this research project.

    The removal of ‘surplus’ from the title does not reflect a change in the way embryos will be donated to the research.

  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many legacy continuing health care cases are more than two years old and have payments outstanding (a) in England, (b) in the West Midlands and (c) at Birmingham Cross City Clinical Commissioning Group.

    Alistair Burt

    At the end of March 2013, the National Health Service had received approximately 59,000 requests to assess previously unassessed periods of care for NHS Continuing Healthcare eligibility.

    NHS England collects information on the number of these cases which are awaiting a decision on eligibility.

    As at 31 January 2016:

    (a) There were 15,716 requests to assess previously unassessed periods of care in England;

    (b) there were 848 requests to assess previously unassessed periods of care in the West Midlands; and

    (c) there were 260 requests to assess previously unassessed periods of care in Birmingham Cross City Clinical Commissioning Group.

    It is not possible to assess how many of these individuals may be entitled to redress payments until a full assessment of eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare is undertaken, in line with the principles and processes set out in the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care (November 2012) (revised).

  • Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff employed by the Environment Agency earn salaries of more than £100,000 per year.

    Rory Stewart

    This information is published annually as part of the government’s transparency agenda at: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/staff-organograms-and-pay-environment-agency

    “

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will introduce a duty on shareholders of a significant size to address executive pay and company performance and increase those shareholders’ reporting requirements to pension trustees.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the noble Lord.

  • Baroness Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Cox on 2016-06-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they or the UN are collecting reports or intelligence detailing suspected crimes against humanity or genocide in Iraq and Syria, and if so, whether that information will be used to profile people who wish to enter the UK from that region.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We have provided over £8 million to support the documentation of human rights abuses and violations in Syria and Iraq.

    In Syria, we support the work of the UN Commission of Inquiry and continue to call for them to be given unhindered access to investigate human rights violations and abuses. The UK provides financial support to a specialist organisation to collate and build prosecution-ready criminal case files against the high level perpetrators in Syria. These cases are built for international prosecution should a referral to the International Criminal Court be forthcoming, or should individuals be subject to litigation by hybrid, specialised and national courts.

    In Iraq, the UK co-sponsored the UN Human Rights Council Resolution in September 2014 mandating the investigation of Daesh abuses. The UN continues to issue regular reports on abuses committed by Daesh in Iraq. Through our Human Rights and Democracy Fund we funded a project that documents case of sexual violence crimes.

    A unit within the Office of Counter-Terrorism monitors various country situations, focusing on issues such as international crimes. This information can be used to help identify possible perpetrators and also to support any decision to refuse their application to enter or stay in the UK.

    Where there is credible evidence that a visa applicant has been involved in international crimes (war crimes and crimes against humanity) their case will be investigated further. This applies to any nationality. If there is sufficient evidence, the applicant would be refused entry on the of grounds of their character, conduct or associations. It is also possible to exclude such people from the UK by virtue of the Home Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Theresa May)’s powers under the Immigration Act. With regard to Syria, applicants under the Syrian Humanitarian Assistance Programme are also screened for any security concerns; including international crimes.

  • Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many married quarter void properties are situated on each military base in the UK.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Ministry of Defence does not hold the information in the format requested.

  • George Howarth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    George Howarth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Howarth on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will undertake a national review of liver transplantation services to help (a) ensure better access for patients and (b) increase capacity.

    Nicola Blackwood

    NHS England intends to review liver transplantation services during 2018/19. There is sufficient capacity to transplant the organs that are donated currently.

    Organ donor and transplant rates have been increasing steadily over the last eight years. In 2008/09 there were 1,860 donors and 3,513 solid organ transplants. In 2015/16 these figures were 2,439 donors and 4,601 transplants. This increase of 31% in both donors and transplants over this timeframe, was achieved mainly through a strengthening of the donation infrastructure including increased specialist nurses, improved retrieval arrangements, increasing consent rates and better organ utilisation.

    The current United Kingdom strategy launched in July 2013, Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020, sets the agenda for increasing organ donation and transplantation rates still further.