Category: Speeches

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) the Think Kidneys programme, (b) ongoing work relating to acute kidney injury and (c) other work programmes being led by the National Clinical Director for Renal Disease for NHS England will continue to be taken forward following the discontinuance of that director’s post.

    Jane Ellison

    Following a review of the National Clinical Directors (NCDs), NHS England will be supported by 16 NCDs from 1 April 2016. Objectives for the NCDs will be set according to the priority areas and major programmes, as set out in the Mandate and planning guidance, and where there are established programmes of service improvement.

    Where there will no longer be a specific NCD role for renal disease, NHS England will secure expert clinical advice from its Clinical Networks and through its relationships with professional bodies and by appointing clinical advisors.

    Think Kidneys is scheduled to continue until the end of 2016, and a strategy for the longer term is being developed. Wider work on renal disease will be taken forward through the specialised commissioning infrastructure within NHS England and through joint working with the Royal Colleges and specialist societies.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to continue to permit civil society organisations to submit complaints to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator.

    Nick Gibb

    On 25 January 2016, we announced our intention to limit who may refer objections to the Schools Adjudicator to local parents and local authorities. This intention has not changed.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department provided in start-up costs for the Greater Manchester City Region Mayor.

    Mr Mark Francois

    We are not providing funding for start-up costs for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority mayor, with any such costs being met by the Combined Authority from the resources available to it.

  • Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answers of 23 May 2016 to Questions 37209 and 37235, whether official guidelines on the policing of football matches abroad state that authority must be granted by her Department under section 26 of the Police Act 1996 to permit UK police officers to perform operational police duties abroad.

    Mike Penning

    Guidelines on overseas police deployments include detail on when approval from the Home Office is required under section 26 of the Police Act 1996.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to make personal devices for instant monitoring of insulin levels available to people with diabetes on the NHS.

    Nicola Blackwood

    We are not aware of any clinical utility associated with the instant monitoring of insulin levels. However, continuous glucose monitoring devices can measure glucose levels 24 hours a day and it is for National Health Service commissioners to decide whether to make these available to their local populations.

    In August 2015, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published guidelines which recommend that such devices should not be made routinely available to people with Type 1 diabetes unless they are willing to commit to using them at least 70% of the time and to calibrate them as needed (as well as meeting certain other criteria).

    NICE has found that, for some people, continuous glucose monitoring can have clinical benefit but generally it is not more effective than current methods of self-monitoring.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether it is the Government’s policy to comply with EU rules on the exchange of (a) blood and (b) organs after the UK has left the EU.

    David Mowat

    The safety and quality of our blood, tissue and cells and organ donation and transplant programmes must be assured. Any proposed changes within or outside Europe will continue to be considered carefully to ensure a safe and high quality service. Whilst the United Kingdom remains a full member of the European Union, EU legislation will of course continue to be in place and all obligations of EU membership will apply. Ongoing discussions are taking place regarding which rules and regulations are best placed to meet UK healthcare needs.

  • 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 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for NHS policies of the use of a regional eye inspection liaison officer in Northern Ireland.

    Alistair Burt

    The Health and Social Care Board Northern Ireland (HSCB) have funded Eye Care Liaison Officers since 2012. The HSCB are not aware of any regional eye inspection liaison officers in Northern Ireland.

    In England, the Government fully appreciates the impact that sight loss can have on a person’s life and the importance of information being available for those newly diagnosed with sight loss, including signposting patients to appropriate support and rehabilitation services.

    Eye clinics and their staffing, including eye clinic liaison officers, are commissioned and funded by individual clinical commissioning groups on the basis of local assessments of need.

  • Lord Warner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Warner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-11-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the budget figures for the Department of Health and the Department for Communities and Local Government include provision for the implementation of the Dilnot Commission proposals for capping individual liability for social care, as under the Care Act 2014; and if so, in which years such provision has been made.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Government remains committed to introducing the cap on reasonable care costs and extension of means tested support, which will come into force and be funded from April 2020. The Spending Review 2015 sets budgets for the next four years to 2019/20. The final year includes funding to cover the costs of local authorities preparing to implement the changes the following year. This start date is also indicated in the Autumn Statement 2015, as the delayed annually managed expenditure impact of this policy is shown with the policy starting in 2020.

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2015-12-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 17 September (HL2043), when they expect to publish updated guidelines relating to lower-risk drinking.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Chief Medical Officer, with advice from a group of independent experts, has reviewed current drinking guidelines. The proposals will be published shortly.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the government of Russia on human rights violations in that country.

    Mr David Lidington

    During my visit to Moscow on 21-22 December 2015, I raised the UK’s concerns about the human rights situation in Russia with my counterpart First Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov. I pressed for the immediate release of Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, who has restarted her hunger strike having spent 18 months in illegal detention, and I called for the release of filmmaker Oleg Sentsov and activist Olexandr Kolchenko, whose trials have also raised serious concerns. I raised our concerns about restrictions on civil society, Russia’s labelling of NGOs as “foreign agents”, and the situation of the LGBT community. I also met a group of human rights defenders to hear their concerns first hand. The UK will continue to support Russian civil society and to raise human rights issues with the Russian Government.