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  • Baroness Falkner of Margravine – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Falkner of Margravine – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Falkner of Margravine on 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what response they made to the October 2014 findings by the International Council on Clean Transportation that some vehicles were producing emissions at seven times the legal limit.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government did not respond to the findings of the ICCT. This research confirmed the importance of ongoing work by Department for Transport officials on the development of a new European regulation to address issues around real world driving emissions.

  • Baroness Falkner of Margravine – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Falkner of Margravine – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Falkner of Margravine on 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the failure of London, Leeds, and Birmingham to maintain nitrogen dioxide levels within legal limits over the past five years, what assessment they have made of whether relaxing emissions standards for cars is compatible with public health and legal requirements to control urban pollution.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government is committed to taking action on vehicle emissions testing that restores consumer confidence and delivers our wider air quality and climate objectives. We strongly support the current Real Driving Emissions agreement, which is expected to significantly reduce average real world NOx emissions from new diesel cars from 2017. It makes type approval requirements for diesel vehicles significantly more stringent by requiring manufacturers to ensure real-world emissions are maintained below 2.1 times the laboratory-testing limit in 2017 and at or below the laboratory-testing limit by 2020 (with a margin for measurement uncertainty). Issues relating to vehicle emissions are considered in the context of the UK Government’s plans for air quality. More detail is set out in the air quality plans published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the 17th December.

  • Baroness Falkner of Margravine – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Falkner of Margravine – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Falkner of Margravine on 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in making their decision about how to vote on the implementation of real driving emissions tests at the 28 October meeting of the Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles, whether they took into account (1) estimates from DEFRA and Public Health England that pollution from mono-nitrogen oxides is responsible for 23,500 premature deaths in the UK per annum, (2) the 2010 estimates from the WHO suggesting that air-pollution related deaths cost the UK $83,069 per annum, (3) the failure of London, Leeds, and Birmingham to maintain nitrogen dioxide levels within legal limits over the past five years, and (4) the Supreme Court’s ruling in R (on the application of ClientEarth) v Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [2015] UKSC 28 on 29 April that they should take immediate action to tackle air pollution.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government is committed to taking action on vehicle emissions testing that restores consumer confidence and delivers our wider air quality and climate objectives. We strongly support the current Real Driving Emissions agreement, which is expected to significantly reduce average real world NOx emissions from new diesel cars from 2017. It makes type approval requirements for diesel vehicles significantly more stringent by requiring manufacturers to ensure real-world emissions are maintained below 2.1 times the laboratory-testing limit in 2017 and at or below the laboratory-testing limit by 2020 (with a margin for measurement uncertainty). Issues relating to vehicle emissions are considered in the context of the UK Government’s plans for air quality. More detail is set out in the air quality plans published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the 17th December.

  • Baroness Brinton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Brinton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Brinton on 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which organisation has responsibility for ensuring compliance with EU legislation on pharmacovigilance.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has the responsibility for ensuring compliance with European Union legislation on pharmacovigilance.

  • Baroness Brinton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Brinton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Brinton on 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which organisation has responsibility for ensuring implementation and compliance with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency guidance, which states that biologic medicines should be prescribed by brand name and tracked by batch number.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    In 2008, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued best practice guidance on the prescribing of biological products. This advised:

    “All biosimilar products are prescription only medicines (POM). When prescribing biological products, it is good practice to use the brand name. This will ensure that automatic substitution of a biosimilar product does not occur when the medicine is dispensed by the pharmacist. Products (biosimilar and reference) that have the same international non-proprietary name (INN) are not to be presumed identical for the reasons given above.”

    The MHRA does not have responsibility for monitoring the compliance of healthcare professionals with its prescribing guidance. The responsibility for prescribing rests with the practitioner who has clinical responsibility for their patient’s care and we would expect practitioners to take any relevant guidance into account when making their prescribing decisions. Practitioner professional bodies also have a role in setting out best practice to their members.

  • Baroness Wolf of Dulwich – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Wolf of Dulwich – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Wolf of Dulwich on 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 14 December (HL4061), what checks are in place to ensure that Regulation 6 of the Local Authorities’ Traffic Orders (Procedure) (England and Wales) Regulations 1996 is complied with; who is entitled to complain if that Regulation is not complied with, and to whom; and what penalties are incurred by local authorities or London boroughs for failing to comply with that regulation.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    There are no checks in place to ensure that local authorities comply with the Local Authorities’ Traffic Orders (Procedure) (England and Wales) Regulations 1996, including the duty concerning consultation. Anyone can complain if they consider that the authority has failed to comply with their duty. Complaints should initially be raised with the authority concerned, and if they are not satisfactorily addressed, they can be raised with the Local Government Ombudsman. Alternatively, failure to comply with the consultation requirements in regulation 6 would be grounds for bringing a legal challenge against an order under paragraph 35 of Schedule 9 to the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.

  • Lord Trefgarne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Trefgarne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Trefgarne on 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Faulks on 17 December (HL4250), whether they now have any additional information about the number of women responsible for one or more young children who are currently serving prison sentences in England and Wales.

    Lord Faulks

    Whilst the specific information requested is not held, the Ministry of Justice recently published statistics on child dependents of female offenders, which can be found at gov.uk on the Statistics at MOJ pages under the topic Ad-hoc justice statistics. A copy of the report is attached here.

  • Lord Trefgarne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Trefgarne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Trefgarne on 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will clarify whether they intend to reissue the 65+ Guarantee of Growth Bonds as and when they mature.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    65+ GGB “Pensioner” Bonds were a special issue aimed at helping pensioners who rely on their savings in retirement. There are currently no plans for a further issue.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total cost of clinical negligence in hospitals in each of the last 10 years.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The information requested is in the following table, provided by the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA).

    All payments made by the NHSLA in respect of clinical negligence claims against the NHS in hospitals in each of the last ten years.

    Year of Payment

    Total Paid £’000

    2005/06

    560,308

    2006/07

    579,390

    2007/08

    633,325

    2008/09

    769,226

    2009/10

    786,991

    2010/11

    863,398

    2011/12

    1,277,372

    2012/13

    1,258,880

    2013/14

    1,192,540

    2014/15

    1,169,587

    Notes:

    1. December 2015

    2. These figures cover England only.

    3. They represent payments under the various NHS LA Clinical negligence schemes:

    ‒ Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts;

    ‒ Existing Liabilities Scheme; and

    ‒ Ex-Regional Health Authorities Scheme.

    4. It excludes private insurance cases.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why their representatives at the Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles voted on 28 October to weaken and delay the introduction of real driving emissions tests for air pollution emissions by diesel light duty vehicles.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Government officials voted to secure the best possible outcome on the 28th October. This meant ensuring that real driving emissions tests will be introduced as early as possible and so make a significant contribution towards lowering emissions of nitrogen oxides from light duty diesel vehicles.