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  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2016 to Question 22835, in what months the biometric passport chip reading facilities were deactivated in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015.

    James Brokenshire

    For the period for which figures are available, biometric chip reading facilities were deactivated 7 times in 2013 and these occurred during the months of February, March, May & June. In 2014 chip reading facilities were deactivated 3 times and these occurred during the months of September, October and December. In 2015, chip reading facilities were deactivated 3 times and occurred during the months of February, April, and June.

    These figures should be considered against the background of the overall volume of transactions which are currently running at over 100 million per year and each of the instances has been thoroughly investigated and we are satisfied that there has been no risk to the border as a result.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents there have been of usage of illegal highs in prisons in each of the last five years.

    Andrew Selous

    We do not tolerate drugs in prison. Prisoners are tested for a range of controlled drugs through our mandatory drug testing (MDT) system, which randomly tests up to 10% of the population in each prison, each month. In addition, prisoners can be subject to testing in response to specific threats. Any prisoner found through MDT to have used controlled drugs will face an internal adjudication and could receive a range of sanctions including days added to their time in custody.

    We have begun a pilot to expand this testing to include new psychoactive substances and in April we plan to introduce this across the prison estate. We have also introduced new legislation to counter the smuggling of NPS into prisons and are training 300 sniffer dogs to detect NPS.

    The table below shows the number of positive MDT tests for illegal drugs over the past five financial years.

    Year

    Number of positive MDT tests

    2010/11

    10324

    2011/12

    10268

    2012/13

    9956

    2013/14

    8659

    2014/15

    6742

    Notes:

    • Table shows instances where a prisoner has tested positive for a controlled drug, one of amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepine, cannabis, cocaine, heroin, opiates, methadone and buprenorphine.

    • Where a prisoner is found to have used more than one substance, a separate positive will be reported for each substance found to have been used.

    • Includes MDT tests arising from all prison MDT programmes including random, suspicion, at risk, frequent and reception testing

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of policing operations for sporting events across the UK in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office does not routinely collect the cost of policing operations in England and Wales. It is an operational decision for Chief Officers, working with their Police and Crime Commissioner, to determine how their available resources are used according to local priorities.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with clinical bodies on the link between diabetes and heart disease.

    Jane Ellison

    There have been no such recent discussions.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with clinical bodies on potential links between the levels of dentistry and cancer.

    Jane Ellison

    There have been no formal discussions with clinical bodies on this matter.

  • John Mc Nally – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    John Mc Nally – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mc Nally on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the provision of specialist respiratory care for people with muscle-wasting conditions; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    With regards to the National Health Service in Scotland, as healthcare is a devolved issue, the Department cannot comment.

    NHS England commissions specialised neurological services at a national level, including those with muscle-wasting conditions. The neurosciences service specification sets out what designated specialised providers must have in place to offer evidence-based, safe and effective care. Patients should have access to a multidisciplinary team (MDT) to assess, diagnose and provide support. The MDT will include neuromuscular consultants, neuromuscular physiotherapists, psychologists, specialist nurses, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and other health professionals.

    The specification further sets out that neuromuscular clinics need to identify those at risk of respiratory problems and refer for specialist respiratory assessment and monitoring.

    The specification can be found at the following link:

    www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/d04-neurosci-spec-neuro.pdf

    A separate specification covers services for children.

    www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/e09-paedi-neurology.pdf

    “

  • John Mc Nally – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    John Mc Nally – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mc Nally on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve access to specialist psychology support for people with muscle-wasting conditions.

    Jane Ellison

    With regards to the National Health Service in Scotland, as healthcare is a devolved issue, the Department cannot comment.

    NHS England commissions specialised neurological services at a national level, including those with muscle-wasting conditions. The neurosciences service specification sets out what designated specialised providers must have in place to offer evidence-based, safe and effective care. Patients should have access to a multidisciplinary team (MDT) to assess, diagnose and provide support. The MDT will include neuromuscular consultants, neuromuscular physiotherapists, psychologists, specialist nurses, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and other health professionals.

    The specification further sets out that neuromuscular clinics need to identify those at risk of respiratory problems and refer for specialist respiratory assessment and monitoring.

    The specification can be found at the following link:

    www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/d04-neurosci-spec-neuro.pdf

    A separate specification covers services for children.

    www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/e09-paedi-neurology.pdf

    “

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what risk assessment he has conducted on the proposed rollout of wifi in NHS buildings.

    George Freeman

    Free wi-fi throughout National Health Service premises is an independent recommendation from Baroness Lane Fox to the National Information Board.

    As part of the implementation of Baroness Lane Fox’s recommendations, NHS England will be carrying out a more comprehensive review of current provision, benefits and barriers to wi-fi throughout the NHS estate. This will include assessment of any risks.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost was of residential training for officials in his Department in each of the last five years.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department is committed to developing its staff and equipping them with the skills and knowledge to carry out their work.

    In 2011, the Department became a full subscriber to Civil Service Learning (CSL). CSL is responsible for providing a managed service for all learning and development across the Civil Service.

    Learning and development activity is typically arranged by individual teams or individuals in the Department.

    Therefore, no central records of these events are kept. To collect this information from the Department’s directorates and match this with CSL data would incur disproportionate costs.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times debt repayments to his Department have been written off in each year since 2010; and what the value of such debts were in each such year.

    Alistair Burt

    The number and value of debt repayments written-off in each year since 2010* is outlined in the table below.

    Year debt written-off

    Value of Debt written-off

    Number of cases written-off

    2014/15

    £682,428

    9

    2013/14

    £47,909

    4

    2012/13

    £155,615

    8

    2011/12

    £344,897

    3

    2010/11

    £1,806,698

    8

    *2015/16 data is still being audited and will be available when the final accounts are published later this year.

    Debt repayments written off occur when income due was not collected and deemed not recoverable.The value of debt written-off can vary year on year as they relate to largely external factors. There can be a variety of reasons, but mainly where companies enter liquidation and are unable to pay. This is known in the Departmental Annual Report and Resource Account publication as claims waived or abandoned. Some of the detail of significant claims waived and abandoned (above the reporting threshold of £250,000) are reported separately in the Annual Report and Resource Account Publication and further details are shown below.