Tag: 2014

  • Mike Weatherley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mike Weatherley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Weatherley on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of missed GP appointments; and if he will make a statement.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    Information is not collected centrally on the number of missed general practitioner (GP) appointments. This is a matter for local organisations. However, NHS England estimates that each year around 12 million GP appointments are missed, at a cost to the system of £162 million.

    In order to reduce the number of missed GP appointments, the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund is supporting pilots to ensure appointments are as convenient as possible for the patient. The pilots will offer millions more patients evening and weekend GP appointments, as well as introducing initiatives, such as email and Skype consultations.

  • David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the statement of 24 June 2014, Official Report, column 206, on student visas, what due diligence tests her Department undertook on the Educational Testing Service prior to awarding the company a contract for delivering language tests for visa applications.

    James Brokenshire

    The licence with Secure English Language Testing providers is clear that
    providers must put measures in place to combat abuse and any concerns regarding
    fraud or abuse should be reported to the Home Office. All third-party service
    providers, whether they are employers, education establishments or test
    providers, must take their obligations seriously or face the removal of their
    licence to work with us.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Nicholas Soames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there have been in relation to offences under section 57 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Data for offences under Section 57 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 are not reported centrally to the Ministry of Justice. This information may be held by the individual courts in England and Wales and as such it can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Alex Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the value for money of current levels of service on each section of the (a) TransPennine Express and (b) Northern Rail franchises.

    Stephen Hammond

    At a Direct Award or franchise Re-let we carry out value for money assessments (in order to calculate Benefit-Cost Ratios) of changes to service levels but we do not undertake this assessment of the existing base service levels where they carry forward into the new Agreement.

    However, for any large procurement exercise such as a Direct Award or Franchise Re-let, we use externally produced comparators that cover the whole of the franchise to allow us to evaluate the price of any bid that we receive.

  • Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will place in the Library a copy of the Health and Safety Executive’s submission to the Inter-Departmental Group for the Valuation of Life and Health review and evidence submitted to the series of interviews with his Department’s staff conducted by researchers from the University of Leeds in 2008.

    Mike Penning

    The submission will be placed in the Library shortly.

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-06-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2014, Official Report, columns 600-601W, on the self-employed, what proportion of the working age population in each region are classed as individuals with self-employment sources.

    Mr David Gauke

    As provided in my answer on 17th June 2014, estimates of the numbers of individuals with self employment sources for each region of the UK in the year 2011-12 are provided in the table below.

    Region

    Number of Self-employed
    (thousands)

    North East

    158

    North West and Merseyside

    497

    Yorkshire and the Humber

    402

    East Midlands

    352

    West Midlands

    418

    East of England

    556

    London

    883

    South East

    844

    South West

    559

    Wales

    240

    Scotland

    368

    Northern Ireland

    177

    Address abroad

    34

    All UK

    5,490

    These estimates are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes for 2011-12 which is the latest year available.

    Estimates of the UK population by country, region and age are published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Information at country level is published at the following address:

    http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-318453

    Information for each region within England is published at the following address:

    http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-335242

    “

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will assess the potential changes in levels of marine animals and aquatic life on UK beaches and coasts as a result of climate change and a consequent effect on levels of tourism.

    George Eustice

    Defra has in place monitoring to inform our understanding of the conservation status of certain marine habitats and species, much of which is in response to EU legislation. We also continue to support the Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership which brings together scientists, government, its agencies and NGOs to provide co-ordinated advice on climate change impacts around our coast and in our seas. Further, we have recently consulted on proposals for monitoring the state of the marine environment, including marine animals, under the provisions of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. We will be publishing our response to that consultation shortly.

    Defra currently has no plans to specifically assess the impact of potential changes in populations of marine animals as a result of climate change on levels of tourism. However, where appropriate, Government impact assessments include consideration of the economic impacts of policies in the marine environment on tourism.

  • Liz Kendall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Liz Kendall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the number of people who received telehealth and telecare services in each of the last four years.

    Norman Lamb

    NHS England does not currently collect data about the number of people receiving telehealth or telecare services. The latest information held is from the Telehealth Services Association (TSA), which is the industry body for telehealth and telecare. In 2011 the TSA stated that in 2011 there were an estimated 1.37 million telehealth, telecare and telecoaching connections in England.

    NHS England is establishing a regular survey to gather data on the number of individuals who benefit from telehealth and telecare, and is also developing a set of consistent measures for commissioners which will be more meaningful and demonstrate the impact of these technologies on health outcomes.

    NHS England recognises the potential of these technologies to empower patients to take greater control over their conditions and provide care that is convenient, accessible and cost-effective. The ambition is to create the right commissioning environment that supports and encourages the use of technology that can improve care and outcomes for patients.

  • Stewart Jackson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Stewart Jackson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much funding will be designated for basic and applied research into respiratory disease in 2014-15; and if he will make a statement.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funds a range of applied clinical research, but does not fund fundamental laboratory-based research, which is funded by other organisations including the Medical Research Council (MRC) and medical research charities.

    The usual practice of the NIHR and of the MRC is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics: research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available.

    The Department’s NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including respiratory disease. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and the National Health Service, value for money and scientific quality. In all disease areas, the amount of NIHR funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity.

    Spend on research funded directly by the Department’s NIHR from 2010-11 to 2012-13 in respiratory disease is shown as follows. The complete information on NIHR spend in 2013-14 is not currently available. These figures do not take account of NIHR expenditure on research infrastructure and systems where spend cannot be attributed to health categories.

    Health category

    2010-11

    £

    2011-12

    £

    2012-13

    £

    Respiratory

    18,192,188

    20,234,850

    24,692,314
  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance her Department is offering countries in West Africa affected by the ebola virus to remedy the situation.

    Lynne Featherstone

    The UK government has contributed £683,601 to the Ebola Virus Disease in the West African Region. Through the UK’s global multilateral contributions we are supporting a regional containment strategy and in addition, strengthening the outbreak response in Sierra Leone and Liberia through bilateral assistance.

    In Sierra Leone, DFID funds will be used to support improved coordination at the national level; training and equipping of health workers to competently manage Ebola cases; improved EVD case detection and supporting appropriate radio messaging and community mobilisation activities on EVD prevention and control in affected districts. In Liberia, DFID has provided chlorine and other materials for hygiene and sanitising; and training in their appropriate use. DFID programmes are ready to respond to further requests from implementing partners as appropriate. We are closely monitoring the outbreak from Sierra Leone and Liberia and internationally through DFID headquarters. We are working with WHO and national government agencies to improve our understanding of the outbreak and help to guide the response in-country and regionally.