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  • Chuka Umunna – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chuka Umunna – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding for investigations into cases of historical child sexual abuse in (a) the London Borough of Lambeth, (b) London and (c) England and Wales.

    Karen Bradley

    No case of child abuse is ‘historical’ for victims and survivors. They must live with the consequences of their abuse each and every day of their lives. The allocation of resources on investigations into cases of child sexual abuse, including abuse that has taken place in the past, is an operational matter for the police and law enforcement.

    We have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat which means that police forces and Police and Crime Commissioners must have in place the capabilities they need to protect children from sexual abuse. In 2015/16 we provided an additional £10 million to the National Crime Agency for the creation of more specialist teams to tackle online child sexual exploitation. We have also made available £1.7 million to fund Operation Hydrant, which coordinates the handling of multiple historical child sexual abuse investigations specifically concerning institutions or persons of public prominence, and up to £1.5 million to support regional coordinators and analysts to oversee the implementation of the National Policing Plan for tackling Child Sexual Exploitation.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of German policy on working with the Turkish government to tackle migration on her Department’s objective to reduce net migration to the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    The Government supports Turkey’s efforts to manage the flow of illegal migration, and maintain an effective border between Turkey and the EU. Any progress made on these areas, with the support of individual Member States or the EU as a whole, is welcomed.

    In line with the Government’s commitment, any nations who aspire to accede to the EU in future, including Turkey, should not gain free movement rights until that accession state’s economy has converged more closely with existing Member States.

  • Chuka Umunna – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chuka Umunna – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ensure that adequate financial resources were allocated to investigations into cases of historical child sexual abuse in (a) the London Borough of Lambeth, (b) London and (c) England and Wales.

    Karen Bradley

    No case of child abuse is ‘historical’ for victims and survivors. They must live with the consequences of their abuse each and every day of their lives. The allocation of resources on investigations into cases of child sexual abuse, including abuse that has taken place in the past, is an operational matter for the police and law enforcement.

    We have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat which means that police forces and Police and Crime Commissioners must have in place the capabilities they need to protect children from sexual abuse. In 2015/16 we provided an additional £10 million to the National Crime Agency for the creation of more specialist teams to tackle online child sexual exploitation. We have also made available £1.7 million to fund Operation Hydrant, which coordinates the handling of multiple historical child sexual abuse investigations specifically concerning institutions or persons of public prominence, and up to £1.5 million to support regional coordinators and analysts to oversee the implementation of the National Policing Plan for tackling Child Sexual Exploitation.

  • Stephen Hammond – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Hammond – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Hammond on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to prepare for the implementation of the proposed General Data Protection Regulation; which non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) and agencies overseen by her Department will be affected by that regulation; and what estimate she has made of the potential liability of her Department, its agencies and NDPBs in connection with that proposed regulation.

    Karen Bradley

    Negotiations on the proposed General Data Protection Regulation are still continuing and we have taken into account the likely impact on Government Departments, NDPBs and agencies. Once the outcome of trilogue negotiations between the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament and the Commission are complete, and the Regulation has been adopted, the liabilities will be further assessed. There will then follow a minimum implementation period of 2 years. Between now and then, Government departments who will be affected by the Regulation are closely involved in work led by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to consider the implications of the text as it develops through the negotiating process.

  • Christian Matheson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Christian Matheson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 19 October 2015 to Question 11221, how many prosecutions or fixed penalty notifications have occurred for non emergency vehicles displaying static blue lighting in the last three years for which figures are available.

    Mike Penning

    This information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Stephen Hammond – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Stephen Hammond – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Hammond on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to prepare for the implementation of the proposed General Data Protection Regulation; which non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) and agencies overseen by his Department will be affected by that regulation; and what estimate he has made of the potential liability of his Department, its agencies and NDPBs in connection with that proposed regulation.

    George Freeman

    Officials from the Department of Health are working closely with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, which leads on the negotiations with the European Union on the United Kingdom’s behalf, ensuring that stakeholders are engaged on the key issues.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what public information campaigns his Department funds on perinatal mental illness; and how much such campaigns cost.

    Alistair Burt

    Perinatal mental illness is an important topic area covered by the Start4life NHS Information Service for Parents (ISP) which is led by Public Health England. The service includes information about health and wellbeing and includes short videos on how to spot the signs of perinatal mental illness and how to seek further help.

    Advice is also included in emails at key stages of pregnancy and post birth for both parents.

    The Start4Life ISP was developed as a universal NHS-branded resource to help provide support and advice for expectant and new parents. The service provides regular emails and text messages during pregnancy and for the first three years of a child’s life.

    The total Start4life ISP programme budget in 2014/15 was £2 million and in 2015/16 it is £2.3 million. This is used to promote a range of relevant health messages for new parents and parents to be through the Information Service for Parents, the Start4Life website and other channels including materials for healthcare professionals to use with families, online advertising and social media.

    Information is also available online via NHS Choices and can be found here:

    http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/feeling-depressed-after-birth.aspx

    “

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions (a) he and (b) officials in his Department have had with the Department for Work and Pensions on the time taken to discharge patients from mental health inpatient care due to delays in the payment of benefits.

    Alistair Burt

    There have been no discussions between the Department and the Department for Work and Pensions at either ministerial or official level about the time taken to discharge patients from mental health inpatient care due to delays in the payment of benefits.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS (a) doctors and (b) nurses have been signed off work due to (i) stress and (ii) other mental illness in each of the last five years.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department does not collect centrally data on how many doctors and nurses have been signed off work due to stress and other mental illness.

    Employers across the National Health Service are responsible for reducing staff absences due to stress and mental illness through local sickness absence policies.

    NHS England recently launched "A healthy NHS workforce"[1], a commitment in its Five Year Forward View[2] "to ensure the NHS as an employer sets a national example in the support it offers its own staff to stay healthy".

    Working with Public Health England and NHS Employers, NHS England aims to improve NHS staff health spearheaded by a group of provider and commissioner organisations. Work will include ensuring board level leadership and engagement as well as line manager training to increase awareness of mental health issues, helping them manage staff in a way which is supportive to health and wellbeing.

    The Department continues to commission NHS Employers to help trusts improve staff mental health and wellbeing through advice, guidance and good practice[3].

    The launch in July of NHS Employers’ How are you feeling NHS? Toolkit[4] enables staff to talk more openly about their emotional health, helps trusts improve the assessment of the impact emotional wellbeing has on staff and patients and supports action planning to improve staff emotional health and wellbeing.

    [1] https://www.england.nhs.uk/2015/09/02/nhs-workplace/

    [2] https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/5yfv-web.pdf

    [3] http://www.nhsemployers.org/search-results?q=supporting+staff+who+are+experiencing+mental+health+issues

    [4] http://www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/retain-and-improve/staff-experience/health-work-and-wellbeing/protecting-staff-and-preventing-ill-health/how-are-you-feeling-nhs-toolkit

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Sure Start children’s centres offer perinatal mental health support for new and expectant mothers.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Department for Education does not routinely collect the information requested. While perinatal mental health is important to the government, we believe that children’s centres are best placed to decide which services to offer, based on an assessment of local needs.