Category: Speeches

Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were infected with bacillus cereus in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison

The numbers of reported patient infection episodes of Bacillus cereus, isolated from blood samples from all age-groups between 2009 and 2013 in England, are shown in the following table.

Year	Number of patient infection episodes	Organism name	Specimen type	Country
2009	50	Bacillus Cereus	Blood	England
2010	46	Bacillus Cereus	Blood	England
2011	39	Bacillus Cereus	Blood	England
2012	37	Bacillus Cereus	Blood	England
2013	56	Bacillus Cereus	Blood	England

These data were extracted from Public Health England’s centralised microbiology database (LabBase2), which collects voluntarily reported microbiology data from participating laboratories across England. Although only clinically significant isolates should be reported to LabBase2, some of the reports may be contaminants that occurred either during collection or during processing of samples as B. cereus is a ubiquitous environmental organism.

01/11/2022

Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 April 2014, Official Report, columns 218-9W, on social security benefits, when he expects to make available the requested data.

Mike Penning

In the production of new statistics the Department works to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we are able to publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity.

All releases will be preannounced via the UK National Statistics publication hub at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/hub/index.html

“

01/11/2022
Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will bring forward proposals to financially assist nurses employed by the NHS to pay the increased fee for the Nursing and Midwifery Council when they come into force later in 2014.

Dr Daniel Poulter

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is an independent body and it is therefore for the NMC Council to determine the level of the annual fee it charges for registration. On 26 March 2014, the NMC Council reviewed the level of this fee and agreed a proposal to increase it from £100 per annum to £120 in March 2015. The NMC is running a public consultation between 8 May and 31 July 2014, where its proposal is open to scrutiny. No decision on the proposed fee increase has been made at present.

Ministers keep the issue of professional regulation under regular review and the Department has frequent contact with professional regulators, including the NMC. On 12 March 2014, I met with representatives of the NMC for a regular update meeting. This meeting was not specifically set up to discuss the NMC registration fee, but during this meeting the NMC provided information about its fee review process.

01/11/2022
Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-04-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the potential cost of buying out the lease for the Hull Official Receiver’s office.

Jenny Willott

No assessment of the costs of buying out the lease have been made. The financial information considered when the decision to close the office was made assumed that the Insolvency Service would be responsible for lease payments until the lease end in September 2016.

01/11/2022
Justin Tomlinson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department is taking to help end domestic abuse and violence against women.

Norman Baker

Domestic violence is a dreadful form of abuse and is not acceptable within our
society. The Coalition Government’s approach to tackling domestic violence and
abuse is set out in its Violence against Women and Girls Action Plan, updated in March
2014.

In 2013, the Home Secretary commissioned Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of
Constabulary to undertake a comprehensive review on how the police deal with
domestic violence and abuse. HMIC’s report exposed significant failings. In response
to the Review, the Home Secretary has established a National Oversight Group, which
she is chairing, and on which I sit, to ensure HMIC’s recommendations are acted upon.
The Group met for the first time on 10 June. The Home Secretary has also written to chief constables making it clear that every police force must have an action plan in place by September 2014, to improve their response to domestic violence and abuse.

The Government is committed to ensuring that the police and other agencies have
the tools necessary to tackle domestic violence, to bring offenders to justice
and to ensure victims have the support they need to rebuild their lives. On 8
March 2014, the Government announced the national roll-out of Domestic Violence
Protection Orders following the successful conclusion of a one-year
pilot in three police force areas including Wiltshire, as well as the Domestic
Violence Disclosure Scheme following the successful conclusion in
September 2013 of a one-year pilot in four police force areas – once again
including Wiltshire.

01/11/2022
Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-04-10.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, in what circumstances he uses a calculation of the (a) value of preventing a fatality, (b) willingness to pay and (c) cost-per-quality adjusted life year approach to quantify the value of a policy intervention; what other tools he uses to quantify the benefit of a policy intervention; and if he will make a statement.

Danny Alexander

The Green Book and associated supplementary guidance is publicly available on the Treasury web site. It sets out a range of approaches and methods that may be appropriate in a number of different appraisal circumstances. The valuation of preventing fatalities makes a contribution to the calculation of risk reduction in many situations and is used extensively by the Department for Transport among others. Department of Health policies are likely to impact on health and longevity. For the majority of these policies, the impacts will be quantified in terms of quality adjusted life years. The cost of producing a quality adjusted life year is used as part of the appraisal and evaluation of alternative health investments.

01/11/2022
Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2014-06-17.

To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, what the cost to date has been of the contract for the Independent Assessment of Options to Take Forward a Restoration and Renewal Programme for the Palace of Westminster awarded to Deloitte Real Estate and AECOM together with HOK in December 2013.

John Thurso

The full cost of the Independent Options Appraisal is expected to be £2,423K, including VAT. The cost incurred to 18 June 2014 was £2,213K, including VAT and a sum accrued but not yet invoiced. The cost is shared 60:40 between the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

01/11/2022
Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-04-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to give local authorities greater powers to deal with the consumption of legal highs in a public place; and what support he is providing to councils who wish to put by-laws in place to prevent such consumption.

Norman Baker

As stated in my answer to the Honourable Member of 7 April 2014, Official
Report, column 112W, on 12 December 2013 I announced a review by an expert panel to look
at how the UK’s response to new psychoactive substances, sometimes inaccurately
called ‘legal highs’, can be enhanced beyond the existing measures. The expert panel includes
a senior policy adviser from the Local Government Association to inform the
work of the panel from a local government perspective, including whether
existing by-laws may be used to tackle this damaging trade. This work is
ongoing, and the panel is due to report its recommendations by the end of
spring 2014.

To support local authorities, the Home Office published guidance in December
2013 setting out the range of legislative tools local authorities can use to
tackle the ‘head shops’ where these substances are often sold. This was developed in
collaboration with the Department for Communities and Local Government, the
Local Government Association and the Trading Standards Institute and can be
found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/action-against-head-shops

The guidance covers offences head shops may be committing under the Misuse of
Drugs Act 1971, the Intoxicating Substances (Supply) Act 1985, and various
consumer protection regulations.

The Home Office has also provided targeted support to local authorities with
testing of new psychoactive substances through the Forensic Early Warning
System, to help them take action against the sale of these products by
identifying the contents.

01/11/2022
Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) chief executives, (b) deputy chief executives and (c) assistant chief officers of probation trusts who left their posts since 1 January 2014 had non-disclosure or compromise agreements as part of their departure packages.

Jeremy Wright

There have been no non-disclosure or compromise agreements included as part of the departure packages of the Trust Chief Executives who have taken early retirement. The terms of departure for other former Trust staff were agreed through their own local arrangements.

01/11/2022
Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2014-04-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many equal opportunities investigation officers there are in each branch of the armed forces; what their qualifications are; what training is provided to them; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry

The Ministry Of Defence maintains a cadre of Harassment Investigation Officers who investigate complaints raised within the Services and by MOD civilians concerning bullying and harassment, and who are not permanent employees of the Department; Appendix six to the 2013 Annual Report of the Service Complaints Commissioner provides further details. Beyond this centrally-managed team, the three Services maintain teams of investigators, many of whom are drawn from their own Service police force, who can investigate complex complaints.

The Royal Navy has one Complaint Investigation and Mediation Team (CIMT), comprising two members of the Royal Navy Police with many years of investigative experience. In addition to their extensive police investigative training, they are Equality and Diversity Advisers, and have undertaken the MOD Harassment Investigation Course and professional Mediation Training (through an external training provider).

The Army currently has six permanent members and three temporary assigned (12 months) soldiers in its Service Complaints Investigation Team (SCIT), which replaced the Equal Opportunities Investigation Team. All members of the SCIT are serving Senior Non-Commissioned Officers from the Royal Military Police, and hold the following qualifications:

Initial Military Police Investigation Course

Volume Crime Investigation Course

Management Investigation Course

Police and Criminal Evidence Act Interviewing Course

Disclosure Officers Course

Equality & Diversity Advisor Course

On arrival in the SCIT, investigators receive work place training and are allocated a supervising investigator for a period of three months or as necessary.

The RAF has a Service Complaints Team, and an Equal Opportunities Investigation Team (EOIT), which investigates complex equality and diversity complaints. The latter team comprises a Warrant Officer and a Flight Sergeant, both members of the RAF Police, and an administrator. The investigators complete the following courses as part of their role training:

Equality and Diversity Advisor

Harassment Investigation Officer

Fundamentals of Employment Law (through CIPD)

Preparing for Employment Tribunal (through CIPD)

Certificate in Bullying and Harassment Investigation – City and Guilds

Level 4

01/11/2022