The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mawson on 2016-01-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the proportion of the rail network in England and Wales that has a reliable wireless internet signal.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Our current assessment forecasts that between 68% and 85% of the UK rail network will have mobile network coverage by the end of 2017.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-01-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans for pharmacists who support general practitioners and Accident and Emergency departments to be trained as healthcare professionals, rather than solely as scientists.
Lord Prior of Brampton
It is the responsibility of the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPC) to set the standards and outcomes for the education and training of pharmacists and to approve training curricula to ensure newly qualified pharmacists are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality care.
New roles for pharmacists are being pursued as part of the NHS Five Year Forward View, most notably the employment of clinical pharmacists in general practitioner practices.
In partnership with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, NHS England has launched a pilot programme to support general practices to recruit and employ clinical pharmacists. This is supported by Health Education England (HEE) through the delivery of a comprehensive education and training programme. This is a new role unlike acute hospital pharmacists or community pharmacists. They will consult with patients, be able to prescribe, where necessary, in particular for those with long term conditions and multiple medication, developing individual pharmaceutical care plans.
HEEare considering the potential development of an enhanced programme of clinical training for pharmacists in accident and emergency following research undertaken in 2015 in partnership with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, GPC and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
While there are a range of (often) locally-isolated examples of good practice in the Emergency Department (ED) workforce, there exists little published evidence to support the role of pharmacists in the ED or, specifically, to support pharmacists in undertaking “hands-on” clinical work in the ED. As a result, HEE commenced nation leading project development and research, in partnership with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, GPC and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, with the following aims:
– To test and justify development of clinical pharmacist roles within the ED; and
– To provide an evidence base for further project work and national scaling.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-01-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have for preventing destitution, in particular as it affects some migrants and asylum applicants.
Lord Bates
Asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute are provided with support by the Home Office. This generally consists of free accommodation and a weekly cash allowance to cover other essential living needs. Failed asylum seekers and other migrants without immigration status are generally expected to leave the UK, but may be eligible for support in certain circumstances. The Immigration Bill restricts the support provided by the Home Office to failed asylum seekers to those who are destitute and face a genuine obstacle to their departure at the point their appeal rights are exhausted. The Bill also clarifies the circumstances in which local authorities may need to provide support to destitute migrants without immigration status, pending resolution of their status or their departure from the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Foulkes of Cumnock on 2016-01-14.
To ask the Chairman of Committees how many Peers have taken the Oath of Allegiance in the current Session.
Lord Laming
826 Members have taken the oath of allegiance or made the solemn affirmation in the current session. This includes 799 Peers and 27 Lords Spiritual. The figure includes Members who have subsequently died, taken leave of absence or retired during the session.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Foulkes of Cumnock on 2016-01-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many writs of summons were sent to Peers in 2015, and how many were returned undelivered.
Lord Faulks
704 812 Writs of Summons were sent out to peers at the Dissolution of Parliament on 30 March 2015. Information on the number of Writs that were returned is not held centrally.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2016-01-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 30 November 2015 (HL3832), what assessment they have made of Eurostat’s figures for comparative police numbers in EU countries; whether they accept that police numbers in England and Wales per head of population are at 64 percent of the average of France, Germany, Italy, and Spain; and whether they consider police numbers in England and Wales to be at an appropriate level.
Lord Bates
Comparisons of police numbers between different EU countries should be made with extreme caution. This is because different countries have different legal systems, police responsibilities vary considerably, and there are differences in definitions used.
Decisions on the size and composition of the police workforce are operational matters for Chief Officers working with their Police and Crime Commissioners and taking into account local priorities. What matters is how officers are deployed, not how many of them there are. All forces need to look at the way frontline services are delivered to ensure that the quality of service provided is maintained or improved.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2016-01-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of vehicles operated by central Government, or the wider public sector, are wholly electrically powered.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We do not have detailed numbers on the information requested.
According to Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) statistics some 133 public transport buses, coaches and minibuses are wholly electrically powered. There are no purpose built electric taxis recorded on the DVLA records, although electric cars are used as minicabs and private hire vehicles, and a number of plug-in hybrid purpose built taxis are in development.
This Government has a comprehensive £600 million package of measures over the course of this parliament to keep Britain at the forefront of the ultra-low emission vehicle technology. This includes grants encouraging low emission buses and taxis.
The proportion of wholly electric vehicles operated by central Government is not recorded by the DVLA. However, the total number of central government electric vehicles that have been purchased via the Crown Commercial Service framework is 20. Just over 300 ultra-low emission vehicles are being integrated into public sector fleets under the ULEV readiness project; with over 70% being fully electric.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2016-01-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of buses, taxis, and other public transport road vehicles are wholly electrically powered.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We do not have detailed numbers on the information requested.
According to Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) statistics some 133 public transport buses, coaches and minibuses are wholly electrically powered. There are no purpose built electric taxis recorded on the DVLA records, although electric cars are used as minicabs and private hire vehicles, and a number of plug-in hybrid purpose built taxis are in development.
This Government has a comprehensive £600 million package of measures over the course of this parliament to keep Britain at the forefront of the ultra-low emission vehicle technology. This includes grants encouraging low emission buses and taxis.
The proportion of wholly electric vehicles operated by central Government is not recorded by the DVLA. However, the total number of central government electric vehicles that have been purchased via the Crown Commercial Service framework is 20. Just over 300 ultra-low emission vehicles are being integrated into public sector fleets under the ULEV readiness project; with over 70% being fully electric.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recommendations the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has made to the Department of Health in the light of recently published claims that about 800 babies have already been fathered by a 41-year old man in the UK who has been an unlicensed sperm donor for 16 years.
Lord Prior of Brampton
A private arrangement between a man and a woman for him to provide sperm to her for insemination at home is not covered by the legislative controls set out in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, as amended. Unlike regulated sperm donation, where donors are screened for inheritable genetic conditions and tested for the presence of serious infections such as HIV, women making a private arrangement have no such protection and risk themselves and any resulting child contracting a serious, potentially life threatening, disease.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority advises that the safest and most reliable way of obtaining sperm from a donor is via a clinic that is licensed, inspected and regulated by the Authority.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority can confirm that a stated aim of the proposed research to perform genome editing in human embryos by researchers at the Francis Crick Institute has been to better understand why miscarriages occur in some pregnancies; if so, whether they can disclose which specific assay the researchers concerned have proposed using to determine whether embryos subjected to gene editing might be either able or unable to implant in a womb; and if not, why not.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, as amended, permits the editing of genes in human embryos for research purposes only. It is illegal under the Act to place such embryos in a woman. There are no plans to change this.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that its licence committee considered an application to use CRISPR-Cas9 (a genome editing technique) in one of their licensed research projects on 14 January 2016. The outcome of the committee’s consideration and a description of the research will be made public as soon as the minutes have been agreed and the applicant has been informed.