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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Harrington on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure that (a) enhanced frequency and (b) restoration of late night trains are mandatory requirements in the specification for the tendering process of Abbey Line between Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey station.

Stephen Hammond

The Department for Transport intends to negotiate a Direct Award for the West Midlands franchise to run from April 2016 to June 2017. We will work with the incumbent train operator, London Midland, to consider service enhancements and we will include the Watford Junction – St Albans route in our discussions. Any improvements will have to demonstrate both a positive business case and that they are affordable within the budget provided for the franchise.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Harrington on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support, advice, guidance and funding his Department makes available for children and adults diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

Jane Ellison

Our overall aim is for all people with diabetes to have the right support to manage their condition, with access to specialist care when they need it. To help deliver this, NHS England has set out in “Action for Diabetes” how it will support improvements in outcomes for people with diabetes, focussing on earlier diagnosis of all diabetes, and support for people to manage their diabetes and so improve their quality of life.

In addition, NHS England has recently piloted a sample service specification for the management of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes based on the NICE Quality Standard for Diabetes with a number of clinical commissioning groups. This is a tool that commissioners can choose to use to deliver high quality care and offers a model for commissioning integrated care for those with diabetes. It highlights the specific care needs for those with Type 1 diabetes where they differ from those with Type 2 diabetes.

Also, the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) makes a significant contribution to global research on Type 1 diabetes, in particular through its world-class research infrastructure. The NIHR Clinical Research Network is currently recruiting to 32 studies in Type 1 diabetes, in addition to 58 studies relevant to both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Expenditure by the NIHR on research on Type 1 diabetes through research programmes, research centres and units, and research training awards rose from £1.8 million in 2011-12 to an estimated £2.8 million in 2013-14.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Harrington on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve support for carers.

Norman Lamb

Carers are central to the Government’s reform of social care and support, with significant improvements in the Care Act which extends carers rights to an assessment which will be based on the appearance of a need for support. For the first time, local authorities will be required to meet carers’ eligible needs for support.

We have provided £400 million to the National Health Service over four years from 2011 for carers to have breaks from their caring responsibilities. For 2015-16, the carers’ breaks funding will be in the Better Care Fund.

We have also provided more than £2 million in recent years to the professional bodies such as the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal College of Nursing, Carers UK and the Carers Trust to develop initiatives to raise early awareness of carers among healthcare professionals and to help identify and support carers. We have committed more than £1 million in 2014–15 to enable these organisations to build on this work and to develop new initiatives.

We set out our vision for transforming primary care in Transforming Primary Care: Safe, proactive, personalised care for those who need it most. It recognises the importance of involving and supporting carers and sets out a clear expectation for general practitioners to identify carers as a matter of course.

Carers are also central to the work that NHS England is leading to improve the quality of life of people with long term conditions. Their action plan, NHS England’s Commitment to Carers includes a series of commitments around eight priorities, including raising the profile of carers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Harrington on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional support she is providing to the Passport Office to ensure it continues to meet the deadlines for applications to be processed and returned during the holiday period.

James Brokenshire

Her Majesty’s Passport Office looks to ensure that adequate resources are in place to meet demand whilst ensuring that resources are proportionate to that demand. Contingencies are in place to coincide with peak periods of demand e.g. school breaks and summer holidays.

This primarily involves staff working overtime but also includes, as required, the redeployment of resources to support passport application examination staff and to assist in the handling of customer contact.