The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of when new, cheap forms of blood cancer tests are likely to be made available on the NHS.
George Freeman
A number of new blood tests, which show promise in diagnosing cancers earlier, are currently undergoing clinical trials. We would expect these to become available in the National Health Service once they have satisfied the regulatory requirements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to collect information centrally on how much clinical commissioning groups are overspending on mental health.
Alistair Burt
NHS England already collects information on clinical commissioning groups’ (CCGs’) planned spending on mental health through the annual CCG business planning and assurance process. NHS England also collects information on actual annual spend by CCGs through the programme budgeting process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-20.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which stakeholders were invited to the first meeting of the new Strategic Oversight Board.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The invitee list for the first Strategic Oversight Board meeting which took place on 18 November 2015 is below:
|
Name |
Organisation |
|
Professor the Lord Ara Darzi of Denham (Chair) |
Imperial College London |
|
Andrew Morris |
Farr Institute |
|
Anna Beckett |
Care Quality Commission |
|
Arvind Madan |
Primary Care |
|
Bethan George |
Tower Hamlets Clinical Commissioning Group |
|
Cynthia Clark |
Patients 4 Data |
|
Dame Sally Davies |
Department of Health |
|
Dawn Monaghan |
Information Commissioner’s Office |
|
Dr Aisling Burnand |
Association of Medical Research Charities |
|
Dr Ben Goldacre |
Bad Science |
|
Dr Grant Ingrams |
British Medical Association |
|
Dr Janet Valentine |
Clinical Practice Research Datalink |
|
Dr Mike Knapton |
British Heart Foundation |
|
Eve Roodhouse |
Health and Social Care Information Centre |
|
Gary Leeming |
Greater Manchester Academic Health Science Network |
|
Gerard Crofton-Martin |
Healthwatch England |
|
Jeremy Taylor |
National Voices |
|
John Newton |
Public Health England |
|
Katherine Rake |
Healthwatch England |
|
Katie Farrington |
Office of National Data Guardian |
|
Lisa Harrod-Rothwell |
NHS England |
|
Louise Wood |
Association of Medical Research Charities |
|
Neil Stutchbury |
Monitor |
|
Nicola Perrin |
Wellcome Trust |
|
Paul Bate |
Care Quality Commission |
|
Prof John Appleby |
The Kings Fund |
|
Prof Nigel Mathers |
Royal College of General Practitioners |
|
Prof Simon Wessley |
Royal College of Psychiatrists |
|
Prof Sue Bailey |
Royal College of Psychiatrists |
|
Ronan O’Connor |
NHS England |
|
Ros Roughton |
NHS England |
|
Sarah Schofield |
West Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group |
|
Sir Bruce Keogh |
NHS England |
|
Sir Cyril Chantler |
UCL Partners |
|
Steven Black |
Monitor |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2016 to Question 26339, what representations he is making to the Egyptian government on an independent inquiry being carried out into the death of Giulio Regeni.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We are aware of the tragic death of Mr Regini, an Italian national, following his disappearance on 25 January and pass our condolences to his friends and family at this difficult time. We support Italian and Egyptian efforts to investigate the circumstances of the tragic death of Mr Regeni, and are in contact with the Italian and Egyptian authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-03-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2016 to Question 28406, for what reasons the governments within the EU that support further political integration are not listed in that Answer.
Mr David Lidington
It is for other national governments to explain their own approaches to further European political integration. A government may, for example, be in favour of greater integration in some areas of policy but not in others. As I said in my responses to PQ 27033 and 28406, there is clearly support in some governments within the European Union for further political integration, but there are other, more sceptical voices too. The Decision of the Heads of State or Government, meeting within the European Council, on 18 and 19 February 2016, makes clear that the Treaty references to an ‘ever closer union’ are “compatible with different paths of integration and do not compel all Member States to aim for a common destination”.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-04-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of officials of his Department resigned in each of the last six years.
Mr Edward Vaizey
|
2011-12 |
2012-13 |
2013-14 |
2014-15 |
2015-16 |
|
|
Resignations (FTE) |
10 |
30 |
18 |
15 |
21 |
|
Payroll Employees (FTE) |
457 |
376 |
381 |
461 |
517 |
|
Proportion |
2% |
8% |
5% |
3% |
4% |
The data for resignations has been sourced from the HR Management System Leavers Reports for each financial year. Data is recorded from 2011 onwards and records prior to this data cannot be provided.
The Total headcount figures have been sourced from the DCMS Annual Accounts and only employees who were on DCMS payroll at the point they left the department are included in the data above.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department’s news story of 27 April 2016, Update on a new clause to be inserted into grant agreements, how long his Department plans to spend on the review of representations received on the anti-lobbying clause; and whether his Department will continue to consider representations made after the date of that announcement.
Matthew Hancock
As I made clear in the House on 27 April, we are committed to protecting taxpayers’ money from being wasted on government lobbying government. We are pausing the implementation of this clause into grant agreements, pending a review of the representations made.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-06-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many follow-up appointments for patients with a primary diagnosis of (a) age-related macular degeneration, (b) central retinal vein occlusion and (c) diabetic macular oedema were cancelled or postponed by the NHS in each of the last three years.
Alistair Burt
All follow-up appointments should take place when clinically appropriate. It is for clinicians to make decisions on when they see patients, in line with their clinical priority, and patients should not experience undue delay at any stage of their referral, diagnosis or treatment. The appropriate interval for follow up appointments will vary between different services or specialties, and between individual patients, depending on the severity of their condition.
To ensure that patients are seen at the appropriate time, NHS England’s guidance, “Recording and reporting referral to treatment waiting times for consultant-led elective care” is clear that when patients on planned lists are clinically ready for their care to commence and reach the date for their planned appointment, they should either receive that appointment or be transferred to an active waiting list. At that point, a waiting time clock will be started and their wait reported in the relevant statistical return.
Hospital episode statistics contain details of all outpatient appointments at National Health Service hospitals in England and commissioned by the NHS from independent sector organisations in England. The recording of a primary diagnosis and postponed or cancelled appointments is not mandatory within the outpatient commissioning data set and there are no plans to make it so.
Data is not, therefore, available on the number of cancelled or postponed follow up appointments for patients with age-related macular degeneration, central retinal vein occlusion and diabetic macular oedema.
No assessment has been made of the effect of hospital-initiated postponement or cancellation of ophthalmology follow-up appointments on patients’ sight. However, officials have met with the Clinical Council for Eye Health Commissioning and are considering their concerns.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what contingency plans his Department has to respond to a raised security threat level in Northern Ireland.
Mike Penning
Policing and security remains the responsibility of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Security Service. As with the rest of the UK, there are a number of standing contingency plans in place to provide Defence support in Northern Ireland beyond the capacity of the civil authorities and in times of crisis. I am withholding the detail of these contingency plans for the purpose of safeguarding national security and in order not to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of our armed forces.
Beyond this, as with the rest of the UK, Defence will consider requests for additional assistance on a case-by-case basis, ensuring that support provided is in line with Military Aid to the Civil Authorities principles.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is planning to enable more people aged over 50 to gain employment.
Priti Patel
DWP will continue to challenge people’s outdated perception about older workers, and build on the work started by Business Champion for Older Workers to actively promote the business case and benefits of employing older workers, seeking to engage and influence both strategically and in terms of practical advice.
Jobcentre Plus continues to use a range of innovative approaches to help claimants back to work. Work Coaches have the flexibility to offer all claimants, including older people, a comprehensive menu of help which includes skills provision and job search support.