The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michelle Donelan on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have had their initial assessments for personal independence payments assessments payments upheld on appeal in (a) the UK, (b) Wiltshire and (c) the Chippenham constituency in each of the last 12 months.
Andrew Selous
The information requested is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-04-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to develop a national strategy for eye care.
Lord Prior of Brampton
Given the size of England, and the diversity of the health needs of different communities, we believe commissioning needs to be owned and managed locally.
Therefore, there are no plans to develop a national strategy for eye care.
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for commissioning hospital eye services and for holding their providers to account in terms of contract performance. CCGs are also able to commission eye care services from community optometrists where they judge them to be needed in their areas over and above the sight tests commissioned by NHS England. Such services could include post cataract surgery reviews, glaucoma monitoring and low vision services which may reduce pressure on hospital eye departments, reduce waiting times and make patient care pathways more accessible in the community.
There is scope for further work to be done by community optometrists and the Clinical Council for eye health commissioning is working with commissioners to develop commissioning guidelines in this area.
CCGs have the ability to develop alternatives to hospital care. We would expect patients who require further planned stages of treatment in line with their agreed care plan, to receive this treatment without undue delay and in line with when it is clinically appropriate.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2016-05-25.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to allow postal voting ballot papers to be counted separately in order to more easily detect fraud.
John Penrose
The law provides for the checking of the integrity of completed postal ballots prior to them being included in the count. Returning Officers are required to check 100% of postal vote identifiers (signatures and dates of birth) returned with completed postal votes against those supplied by the elector when they applied for a postal vote. Any that do not match will not be counted in order to prevent any attempt at electoral fraud. The law requires that postal ballot papers are mixed with ballot papers from a ballot box before they can be counted as a necessary step in order to help protect the secrecy of the ballot.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-07-21.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people with type 1 diabetes are not disproportionately affected by the introduction of the soft drinks industry levy.
Jane Ellison
There will continue to be a range of drinks containing natural sugars which will not be subject to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy. These include fruit juices and smoothies. The NHS recommends drinking pure fruit juice as a way to combat low sugar levels that can affect type 1 diabetics.
On 18th August, the Government published a consultation on the Soft Drinks Industry Levy and we will carefully consider all the points raised.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether his Department plans to begin the formal negotiation process for trade deals with (a) EU and (b) non-EU countries after the (i) initiation and (ii) conclusion of the Article 50 process; and if he will make a statement.
Greg Hands
The Prime Minister has been clear, we are not going to provide a running commentary on the negotiations. We recognise the need for a smooth transition as the UK leaves the EU, which minimises disruption to our trading relationships. Ministers and officials in the Department for International Trade are working closely with counterparts across a wide range of markets, in order to promote the UK as a great place to do business and with which to trade. We are taking advantage of all the opportunities available to us to ensure that Britain becomes the global leader in free trade once we leave the EU.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many times the National Grid has used the demand side balancing reserve in each of the last 10 years.
Andrea Leadsom
The Demand Side Balancing Reserve (DSBR) was introduced by National Grid ahead of winter 14/15 to help manage electricity margins ahead of the introduction of the Capacity Market in 2018/19. Since its introduction, the DSBR has only been despatched on one occasion.
Both last year and this year, National Grid will have instructed units within the DSBR as part of testing their capability to ensure they are able to achieve the level and speed of turn-down for which they are contracted.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many press and public relations staff are employed by (a) his Department, (b) HM Courts and Tribunal Service, (c) HM Prison Service, (d) the Legal Aid Agency and (e) the National Offender Management Service; how many of those employees are paid more than (i) £50,000 and (ii) £100,000; and what the total expenditure was on press and public relations by each of those organisations in the most recent year for which figures are available.
Mike Penning
The Ministry of Justice including the National Offender Management Service employs a total of 42 staff within the external communications division. Of those, eight are paid more than £50,000. The total spend on external communications during 2014/15 was £1,914,806.
The total number of staff is less than that in 2009/2010 even though the function has additional responsibilities such as strategic communications, campaigns, stakeholder communications and a wider spread of digital communications activities.
The Legal Aid Agency shares services with the Ministry of Justice, and consequently has no separate spend on press and public relations. HM Courts and Tribunals Service operate a separate press office function employing a total of 3 staff, one of which is paid more than £50,000. The total HMCTS spend 2014/15 was £161,331.
Spend on external communications continues to fall and we will look for further savings where possible. As one of the biggest departments responsible for prisons, courts and other issues of national importance such as human rights we have a duty to explain our work to the public.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what meetings Ministers and officials in his Department have had with the Premier League on investment in grassroots sport since 2010.
David Evennett
Details of Ministers’ and Senior Civil Servants’ meetings with external organisations, including senior media figures, are published routinely and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications on Gov.uk. Through our most recent discussions we are pleased to have secured a commitment from the League to at least double what they currently invest in grassroots football over the next three years. That equates to over £100million per annum.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the proportion of starter homes that will be wheelchair accessible.
Brandon Lewis
Starter Homes like all new homes, will ahve to meet Building Regulations’ access requirements which ensure reasonable provision for people to gain access to and use, the dwelling and its facilities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2016-03-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 15 March (HL6737) about the Community Engagement Forum, why they were unable or unwilling to provide a definition of the word community”.”
Baroness Williams of Trafford
The Oxford English Dictionary defines community as ‘a body of people who live in the same place, usually sharing a common cultural or ethnic identity’.