Category: Speeches

  • Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to implement the changes to funding for community pharmacies, announced in December 2015.

    David Mowat

    We have consulted on these proposals and are continuing to engage with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee. The responses received have, and will continue to be, considered very carefully so we make sure we get it right for patients, the public, the National Health Service and pharmacy.

    We are aiming to implement the package from December 2016.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to encourage higher donor registration among (a) all people and (b) mixed ethnicity donors to the UK stem cell and bone marrow register.

    Jane Ellison

    Since 2012, the Department has provided nearly £19 million to improve the provision of stem cells in the United Kingdom for all people. This funding has enabled the recruitment of over 75,000 young male donors who are more likely to be able to donate bone marrow and we continue to expand the pool of young male donors.

    The stem cell improvement programme has directly addressed the difficulty faced by patients from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community and those with mixed ethnicity through targeted recruitment. The Department also continues to support the work of the National BAME Transplant Alliance. The programme has also funded the collection of umbilical cord blood samples, which has a specific target to achieve 40% of samples come from BAME and mixed ethnicity births.

  • Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what (a) investment, (b) infrastructure and (c) measurement of implantation will be put in place to enforce (i) the recent NHS England Commissioning Guidance entitled Commissioning excellent nutrition and hydration and (ii) the existing NICE quality standards on nutrition.

    Jane Ellison

    The work being undertaken by NHS England to support the Excellent Nutrition and Hydration guidance is done from within existing patient experience and safety teams.

    NHS England staff have met with Care Quality Commission hospital inspectors to discuss how the guidance can be used to incorporate assessment of nutrition and hydration through the inspection process. NHS England is also working with the Malnutrition Task Force, other National Health Service organisations, professional groups, charities and industry to support implementation.

    An evaluation is being undertaken through Kings College London with three clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to gain a baseline of CCG activity and how the guidance has been implemented. We are not currently undertaking work to specifically enforce these National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) quality standards, although CCGs should commission services in line with NICE guidance.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many teachers have left the profession within five years of qualifying in each year since 2009.

    Lord Nash

    Of the full and part-time teachers who gained qualified teacher status in 2009 (and were in service by March 2010), 72% were still in service in a state funded school in England five years after qualification. The rate of retention five years after qualification has remained broadly stable since 1996.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what general steps they plan to take to ensure that all schools change their admission arrangements in line with recommendations by the Office of the Schools Adjudicator.

    Lord Nash

    Where the Schools Adjudicator determines that a school’s admission arrangements do not comply with the School Admissions Code, the admission authority has a statutory duty to revise its admission arrangements. The school must comply with the Adjudicator’s decision within two months of the decision or by 28 February following the decision, whichever is sooner, unless an alternative timescale is specified by the Adjudicator.

    An Adjudicator’s decision is binding and enforceable by the Secretary of State.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much funding the Government allocated to incentivising installation of (a) solar panels and (b) home insulation in each year since 2010.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Solar panels have primarily been incentivised to date through two schemes: the Renewables Obligation, which typically supports larger installations, and the Feed-in Tariff, which supports smaller projects.

    The value of the Renewables Obligation for solar PV in each year since 2010 is show in the following table:

    Financial Year

    Renewables Obligation PV scheme value, £m (nominal)

    2010-11

    £0.2

    2011-12

    £0.1

    2012-13

    £0.9

    2013-14

    £34.9

    2014-15

    £133.9

    A proxy for the total spend each year on all eligible technologies is given by the size of the Levelisation fund. The size of this fund and solar PV’s share of total FiTs capacity is shown in the following table:

    Financial Year

    Levelisation fund (nominal)

    % solar PV share of total FIT capacity

    2010-11

    £14,435,325

    69.7

    2011-12

    £150,756,064

    90.0

    2012-13

    £506,328,139

    86.4

    2013-14

    £690,991,283

    84.3

    2014-15

    £865,553,975

    81.6

    It should be noted that the percentage share of capacity does not necessarily equate to the percentage share of total spend under the scheme.

    No payments have yet been made to solar PV generating stations under Contracts for Difference (CfDs), although three solar PV projects signed CfDs following the first allocation round.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that people leaving sixth form are fully aware of all further education options open to them.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    We are taking a number of steps to ensure that the full range of education and training options are widely understood by young people. Schools are legally required to secure independent careers guidance for pupils up to the age of 18. This must include information on the full range of education and training options, including apprenticeships.

    Destination measures are a key tool to assess how well schools and colleges prepare their students to make a successful transition into the next stage of education or training, or employment. The key stage 5 measure looks at activity in the year after the young person took A level or other level 3 qualifications. Destination measures will be one of the headline performance measures in the 2016 performance tables if the data are robust enough. They are taken into account by Ofsted during school inspections.

    However, the range of information that young people receive remains too narrow and we want to ensure that young people hear much more consistently about the merits of alternatives to academic routes and are aware of all the routes to higher skills and into the workplace. The government intends to bring forward legislation at the earliest opportunity that will require schools to allow other education and training providers the opportunity to talk to students about their offer on school premises.

  • Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting time on the organ waiting list for a kidney transplant was for people in Teesside in each year from 2010; and what that average such waiting time was for people from BAME backgrounds in that area in each of those years.

    Jane Ellison

    Information on waiting times is provided by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT). This is provided by transplant centre rather than area.

    Patients in Teesside who require a kidney transplant are likely to be referred to the Newcastle Transplant Centre, where the average waiting time for a kidney transplant is 583 days. This is lower than the national average of 979 days. These averages are based on patients registered from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2012.

    NHSBT does not hold waiting time figures broken down by ethnicity for each transplant unit.

    Note:

    The average is drawn from a median formula.

  • Lord Empey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Empey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-07-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what changes to government procurement rules they envisage as a result of the referendum on 23 June to leave the EU.

    Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

    Until we leave, the UK remains a full member of the EU, with all of the rights and obligations. T​here will be no immediate change to the way our goods can move or the way our services can be sold.

    The Prime Minister has established a Department for Exiting the European Union for overseeing negotiations to leave the EU and establishing the future relationship between the UK and EU.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2016 to Question 44481, for what reasons the 26 clinical commissioning groups referred to were rated as inadequate for 2015-16.

    David Mowat

    This information is publicly available in the Year-end CCG Assurance Annual Assessment for 2015/16, on NHS England’s website:

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2016/07/annual-assessment-rep-2015-16-upd.pdf

    Further detail can be found in the legal directions issued by NHS England to all clinical commissioning groups rated as inadequate. These are published on NHS England’s website:

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/ccg-auth/directions/

    “