Category: Uncategorized

  • David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when (a) she, (b) Ministers in her Department and (c) the Chief Executive of HM Passport Office (HMPO) last met staff representatives of HMPO.

    James Brokenshire

    The views of staff representatives are communicated to Ministers through the HM
    Passport Office Chief Executive.
    The Chief Executive holds regular fora and other meetings with staff at HM
    Passport Office premises.
    Events were held in:
    Durham on 12 February 2014;
    Liverpool on 14 March;
    Southport on 30 April;
    Belfast on 9 May; and
    Newport on 16 May.

    The Chief Executive also met local Public and Commercial Services union
    representatives in those offices on those dates.

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people are employed in the arms industry in the UK.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Ministry of Defence no longer compiles national or regional defence industry employment statistics as they do not directly support policy-making or operations.

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have had varicose veins surgery in each of the last five years.

    Jane Ellison

    This information is not available in the format requested.

    In the following table, we have provided information concerning the number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs)1 with a primary or secondary procedure2 of varicose vein treatment3 for the years 2008-09 to 2012-134. It should be noted that this is not a count of people as the same person may have had more than one episode of care within the same time period. This data also includes non-surgical treatment such as radio-frequency ablation and other treatments.

    Year

    FCEs

    2008-09

    36,997

    2009-10

    36,366

    2010-11

    33,620

    2011-12

    27,731

    2012-13

    24,767

    Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector

    Notes:

    1A finished consultant episode is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year.

    2The number of episodes where the procedure (or intervention) was recorded in any of the 24 procedure fields in a Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) record. A record is only included once in each count, even if the procedure is recorded in more than one procedure field of the record. Note that more procedures are carried out than episodes with a main or secondary procedure.

    3Codes used to identify varicose vein treatment include combined operations on varicose vein of leg, ligation of varicose vein of leg, injection into varicose vein of leg, other operations on varicose vein of leg, and transluminal operations on varicose vein of leg.

    4HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care.

    Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

  • Emily Thornberry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Emily Thornberry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Attorney General, what recent amendments have been made to Crown Prosecution Service guidance on (a) when to disclose the defence medical records and counselling notes of victims and (b) what action to take if victims do not consent to disclosure.

    Oliver Heald

    The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) revised its Rape and Sexual Offence legal guidance in relation to disclosure of medical records and counselling notes on 12 December 2013. The revised guidance included guidance on both a) when to disclose to the defence medical records and counselling notes of victims and (b) what action to take if victims do not consent to disclosure. The revised legal guidance is published on the CPS website at: http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/p_to_r/rape_and_sexual_offences/disclosure_and_third_party_material/

    “

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of current tools available to enforcement officers to take swift action in tackling food fraud.

    Jane Ellison

    The Food Standards Agency (FSA) works with local authority enforcement officers to ensure that food law is applied across the entire food chain. Direction and guidance on the approach that local authority food law regulatory services should take is given in the statutory Food Law Code of Practice (the Code). The FSA regularly assesses the effectiveness of tools available to these enforcement officers through undertaking audit of local authorities’ enforcement services, reviewing the Code and ensuring lessons are learnt from major incidents.

    The Code sets out instructions and criteria to which the authorities must have regard and is periodically reviewed to ensure that it reflects current enforcement practices and supports local authorities’ delivery of their official control obligations and that enforcement is consistent, effective and proportionate.

    The FSA provides specific tools to support local authorities with investigations relating to potential food fraud. The FSA operates the Food Fraud Database, which utilises specialist intelligence management software to record intelligence reports and identify links, and uses this to assist local investigations. The FSA also provides local authorities with financial support through its Fighting Fund, expert advice through its Food Fraud Advisory Unit and holds dedicated training courses for enforcement officers.

    In addition, the FSA is building an enhanced intelligence gathering network to increase the opportunity to capture and act on intelligence which may be indicative of future risks relating to food fraud, as well as producing strategic and tactical assessments to share with relevant enforcement agencies.