The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with medical organisations on treatment of chronic bronchitis through the freezing of lungs.
Jane Ellison
There have been no such discussions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-07-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the National Audit Office (NAO) investigation into the collapse of the Uniting Care Partnership Contract in Cambridge and Peterborough, whether they intend to hold to account (1) the Strategic Projects Team, (2) Monitor, and (3) NHS England, for the failings identified in the NAO’s report.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The Department welcomes the National Audit Office (NAO) report. Decisions about the Strategic Projects Team (SPT) are, however, for NHS England. Following an internal review and the NAO report, NHS England identified concerns about the work of the SPT. As a result, the SPT will close and all its ongoing commitments will be reviewed with a view to bringing them to a conclusion.
NHS Improvement advises that it also welcomes the NAO report and is working closely with NHS England and the Department to consider assurance processes for such complex transactions. NHS Improvement further advises that its focus since May has been liaison with the NAO on its report and joint consideration with NHS England of the assurance issues raised.
NHS England confirms that the NAO investigation supports the findings of its previously published independent review. Before the NAO investigation, NHS England had already commissioned a follow-up review focusing on the role of external advisors, the effectiveness of the Gateway review process, and the role of the clinical commissioning group leadership and governing body. This work continues and NHS England expects to publish findings later this summer.
More widely, NHS England has been undertaking assessments of current and planned novel contracts and is developing an assurance framework for contracts of this sort. This is being informed by the findings of the Uniting Care reviews.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Double on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the likely effect on accident and emergency services of the proposed changes to the pharmacy funding formula.
David Mowat
The Government’s proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond, on which we have consulted, are being considered against the public sector equality duty, the family test and the relevant duties of my Rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health, under the National Health Service Act 2006.
Our assessments include consideration of the potential impacts on the adequate provision of NHS pharmaceutical services, including the supply of medicines, access to NHS pharmaceutical services, supplementary hours, non-commissioned services, individuals with protected characteristics, impacts on other NHS services, health inequalities, individuals with restricted mobility and access to healthcare for deprived communities.
An impact assessment will be completed to inform final decisions and published in due course.
Our proposals are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. We believe these efficiencies can be made within community pharmacy without compromising the quality of services or public access to them.
Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive. We are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared with others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.
We want a clinically focussed community pharmacy service that is better integrated with primary care and public health in line with the Five Year Forward View. This will help relieve the pressure on general practitioners and accident and emergency departments, ensure better use of medicines and better patient outcomes, and contribute to delivering seven day health and care services.
The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England, Dr Keith Ridge has commissioned an independent review of community pharmacy clinical services. The review is being led by Richard Murray, Director of Policy at The King’s Fund. The final recommendations will be considered as part of the development of clinical and cost effective patient care by pharmacists and their teams.
NHS England is also setting up a Pharmacy Integration Fund to support the development of clinical pharmacy practice in a wider range of primary care settings, resulting in a more integrated and effective NHS primary care patient pathway.
The rollout of the additional 1,500 clinical pharmacists announced by NHS England will help to ease current pressures in general practice by working with patients who have long term conditions and others with multiple medications. Having a pharmacist on site will mean that patients who receive care from their general practice will be able to benefit from the expertise in medicines that these pharmacists provide.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2015-11-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to ensure that smart meters provide the maximum possible benefits for consumers.
Andrea Leadsom
Smart meters will bring and end to estimated bills, make switching faster, and give bill payers more control ovr their energy use. It is vital that all consumers in Britain can benefit, so we’re requiring energy suppliers to offer a smart meter to every home and small business by the end of 2020.
Good progress is being made – over 1.7 million meters are already operating under the Programme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patricia Gibson on 2015-12-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when responses from members of the public to the recent BBC Charter review consultation will be published.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The Government’s BBC Charter Review Public Consultation closed in October. Over 190,000 people responded to the consultation – the second largest response to any Government consultation. We are in the process of reading and analysing all the responses, and will publish the results once this exercise is completed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-01-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her Department’s aid policy of the research on global income distribution published by Oxfam on 19 January 2016.
Mr Desmond Swayne
Eradicating extreme poverty is central to DFID’s mission and the Sustainable Development Goals. Oxfam say inequality affects the politics around growth. Our economic development strategy takes account of this by supporting inclusive growth and tackling inequality by creating opportunities, widening access to them (including through education and health), economically empowering women and leaving no-one behind.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the distinctions between Volkswagen’s practices (a) on the use of defeat devices and (b) in mitigating customer inconvenience in the US and the UK; and whether his Department has made an assessment of the reasons for those distinctions.
Andrew Jones
The Government takes the unacceptable actions of Volkswagen extremely seriously and our priority is to protect the public. In Europe, Volkswagen Group has developed a technical solution for the affected vehicles and is testing this with the relevant type approval authorities. For Skoda vehicles this is the UK’s Vehicle Certification Agency. We understand that the company is not in the same position in the USA as there is not yet an agreed technical solution. We are urging Volkswagen to complete swiftly the recall of the affected vehicles in the UK.
In his appearance before the Transport Select Committee on 25 January, Paul Willis, the CEO of Volkswagen UK, reconfirmed that Volkswagen do not intend to offer compensation in the UK as they do not believe that vehicle owners have suffered a loss. In the USA they have offered their customers up to $1,000 in gift vouchers. It is for Volkswagen to justify to their customers the different approaches that they are taking in different jurisdictions, however the Government expects Volkswagen to treat its UK customers fairly and the Secretary of State continues to press Volkswagen on the issue of this discrepancy in compensation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-03-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Prime Minister’s oral Answer of 16 March 2016, Official Report, what part of the text of the agreement on Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant provides that there will be no payment by the Government unless the power station goes ahead and is built efficiently by EDF.
Andrea Leadsom
My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State will make a final decision regarding Hinkley Point C once EDF have reached a Final Investment Decision. The terms of the contract will be published (with only the most commercially sensitive information removed) once it has been entered in to by the parties.
In October 2015, the Government laid a minute before Parliament setting out at a high level the terms of the agreement reached with EDF in respect of the Hinkley Point C power plant:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of people with autism who are in receipt of a personal health budget.
Alistair Burt
Data on recipients of personal health budgets is collected from clinical commissioning groups on a voluntary basis. Numbers are not currently collected for specific conditions so an estimate cannot be made on the number of people with autism who are in receipt of a personal health budget. NHS England is exploring options for formal data collection on personal health budgets and consideration is being given to the cohorts of recipients that will be included in this data collection.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will take steps to ensure that the medical exemption criteria for determining prescription charges is suitable to allow for the changing nature and improving prognosis of many medical conditions.
Alistair Burt
The process for determining entitlement to a medical exemption is suitable for purpose, and takes account of whether someone continues to meet the criteria. We do not have any plans to make any amendments to the list of medical conditions which provide exemption from the prescription charge.