The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions his Department or its employment agency adviser had with Mr Paul Newby about actual and potential conflicts of interest prior to his appointment as the Pubs Code Adjudicator.
Anna Soubry
As is standard practice, Mr Newby was asked during the appointments process to declare any potential conflicts of interest.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Crispin Blunt on 2016-04-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average number of (a) seats available and (b) passengers is on train services running from Gatwick Airport to London Bridge during the 0700 to 1000 weekday peak period.
Claire Perry
While Govia Thameslink Railways provide us with information on capacities and passenger numbers arriving at London Bridge, it is not possible to provide numbers of passengers who boarded at Gatwick Airport railway station.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-05-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of Health Education England’s demand-led approach to the assessment of the number of consultant posts needed in highly specialist fields such as clinical pharmacology.
Lord Prior of Brampton
It is Health Education England’s responsibility to ensure that there is sufficient future supply of staff, including those needed in specialist fields, to meet the workforce requirements of the English health system.
The Workforce Plan is built upon the needs of local employers, providers, commissioners and other stakeholders who, as members of its Local Education Training Boards (LETBs), shape the thirteen local plans.
The Workforce Plan is predominately an aggregate of the local LETB plans, but the final national plan is only agreed with the advice and input of its clinical advisory groups and Patients’ Advisory Forum, as well as the Royal Colleges and other stakeholders.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-07-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will introduce a NHS strategy on supporting patients with chronic pain.
Jane Ellison
The routine assessment and management of pain is a required competency of all healthcare professionals. Many patients with chronic pain can be successfully supported and managed through routine primary and secondary care pain management services. Approaches to treatment are not all pharmacological and for some patients education in self-management approaches for their condition may be also be appropriate.
It is important that patients with the most serious pain management issues are able to access specialist care. A patient whose pain is particularly difficult to manage may be referred to a specialised pain management service. Under the care of an expert multidisciplinary team, patients may be offered specialised pain management programmes specifically and more complex drug treatments. Such services are commissioned nationally by NHS England as part of its remit to deliver specialised services.
To support clinicians in the management of pain, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published several clinical guidelines on the treatment and management of different types of pain, such as migraine and back pain, as well as technical guidance on specific treatments, such as the use of opiates in palliative care and deep brain stimulation for chronic pain.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Djanogly on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to hold discussions with his EU counterparts on the potential inclusion of companies and significant people who are involved in the construction of the bridge from Russia to Ukraine on the Russia sanctions list.
Sir Alan Duncan
The UK continues to strongly condemn Russia’s ongoing violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The EU has agreed a robust sanctions package against Russia, including specific measures targeting those responsible for infrastructure projects linking Crimea to Russia.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his official engagements were on (a) Monday 12 October and (b) Friday 20 November 2015.
Jane Ellison
On 12 October and 20 November my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State was fully focused on his priorities for the health service, which included securing a Spending Review settlement that backs the NHS’s own Five Year Forward View with an additional £10 billion a year above inflation by 2020.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-12-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations she has received on enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act in the last 12 months.
George Eustice
We have received several representations enquiring about various aspects of the enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 over the last 12 months. They include representations on local authority powers under the 2006 Act and the ability of the RSPCA to bring forward prosecutions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Caroline Spelman on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of hospitals in England that have at least one embedded specialist nurse dealing specifically with organ donation.
Jane Ellison
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) has a network of specialist nurses for organ donation throughout the United Kingdom who are an integral part of the donation process and provide support to potential donor families.
All hospitals in England with donation potential have input and support from specialist nurses for organ donation. There are currently 98 hospitals in England that have specialist nurses for organ donation embedded within them. In addition NHSBT is recruiting specialist nurses to a further seven hospitals, making a total of 105. The level of support and resource allocated varies according to the donation potential for the individual hospital and the number of hospitals in each acute trust. The larger trusts will have a larger team allocated to them. The specialist nurses work to provide support to all hospitals within the trust, adopting a hub and spoke approach.
These specialist nurses provide an on call service 24 hours, seven days a week, to ensure each donor referral is responded to in a timely manner and facilitated.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department’s policies on training teachers of the findings of the National Audit Office report, Training new teachers, published in February 2016.
Nick Gibb
We are considering the findings of the National Audit Office report on training new teachers. The Permanent Secretary and Sinead O’Sullivan, Director of Programme Delivery in the National College for Teaching and Leadership, will be appearing as witnesses before a Public Accounts Committee hearing on the report on Monday 7 March 2016. This will be an opportunity to discuss the content of the report.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-03-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the potential number of large employers who will require existing training expenditure as a result of the introduction of the apprenticeship levy.
Nick Boles
The Government is committed to significantly increasing the quantity and quality of apprenticeships in England to 3 million new starts by 2020.
Overall, there has been a steady decline in the amount and quality of training undertaken by employers over the last 20 years. This has been bad for productivity.
We need a step change to reverse these trends and secure a high quality, sustainable apprenticeship programme, which is why we are introducing a levy on larger employers.
The introduction of the apprenticeship levy will put employers in control of funding and incentivise them to train more apprentices. Large employers can potentially get out more than they put into the levy and will therefore have greater reward if they invest significantly in training their workforce.
We are working closely with employers on the details of the design of the apprenticeship levy in preparation for its launch in April 2017.