The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2015-01-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what budget was allocated by her Department to the International Trade Centre in each financial year from 2009-10; and what budget is allocated to that organisation for 2015-16.
Justine Greening
Information on previous budget allocations is available at http://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/. 2015-16 allocations remain subject to ministerial approval.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame M. Morris on 2015-01-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had on improving access to advanced stereotactic radiotherapy for patients in the North East of England.
Jane Ellison
My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State meets NHS England regularly to discuss a wide range of issues, including access to cancer treatment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Bellingham on 2015-01-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he next plans to discuss co-operation on security issues with his counterpart in the Pakistan government; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We discuss co-operation on security issues with the Pakistan government and military regularly at the highest level, and will continue to do so. I will be seeing the Pakistani PM next week to continue these discussions in the wake of the Peshawar attack.
We have made clear that the UK stands shoulder to shoulder with Pakistan following the horrific terrorist attack on a school in Peshawar.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2015-01-13.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he last met the Chief Executive of Invest NI.
Mr David Gauke
Treasury Ministers have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-01-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to ensure members of the armed forces helping with the Ebola outbreak have adequate protection against the disease.
Mr Mark Francois
We take the protection of military personnel exceptionally seriously: it is our highest priority.
The key element of this protection is the training and briefing which is conducted prior to deployment, and which is tailored to their role in Sierra Leone, including the use/operation of the personal protective equipment issued. This training is supplemented on arrival in Sierra Leone and updated thereafter in line with the prevailing situation.
All personnel returning from Sierra Leone will be screened for Ebola in line with current guidance from Public Health England. This is part of a much wider monitoring and screening process, which will run throughout an individual’s deployment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-07-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which free school projects pre-approved to open in September 2014 have since been (a) cancelled or withdrawn and (b) delayed; and what the pre-opening expenditure was for each such project.
Mr Edward Timpson
Since 2011, 174 new free schools have opened across the country and around a further 80 are on course to open in September 2014. While free school proposers will have a preferred date for opening their school, the Department for Education does not approve projects to open in any specific year.
The projects aiming to open in September 2014 or beyond that have been withdrawn are:
1. Inspirar Academy
2. Marco Polo Academy
3. Oasis Community School Walthamstow
4. On Track Chiltern
5. Phoenix Free School of Oldham
6. The Advance School
7. Transforming Lives for Good
No project was specifically approved to open in September 2014.
Once the costs are finalised, the Department publishes the pre-opening expenditure for each free school project on the Departmental website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-07-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Ugandan government and (b) his EU counterparts on the Anti-Homosexuality Act in Uganda; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect on Uganda of the sanctions against that country announced by the US administration on 19 June 2014 in response to the Anti-Homosexuality Act.
Mark Simmonds
We have consistently raised our concerns about the Act with the Ugandan Government. Most recently, the Secretary of State for International Development and the Minister for Africa, Mark Simmonds MP, raised the issue with the Ugandan President on 6 May. The UK is working closely with international partners to register its concerns and to seek assurances about the protection of individuals. With our support, EU Heads of Mission in Kampala initiated strengthened political dialogue with Uganda under Article 8 of the Cotonou Agreement.
The UK shares the concerns of the US and notes the US’s recent decision to apply existing visa mechanisms, redirect some healthcare support, end support for a community policy project, and cancel a military aviation exercise in response. The UK is engaging closely with civil society groups in Uganda to consult with them about the most appropriate next steps.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2014-07-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the degree to which the Cayman Turtle Farm is a humane captive breeding facility.
Mark Simmonds
The elected government of the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory, has devolved constitutional responsibility for animal welfare and conservation including for legislation and policies governing the Cayman Turtle Farm. The UK is responsible for the international relations of the Cayman Islands and for their compliance with obligations arising under international law. The UK has extended the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to the Cayman Islands. The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is providing technical support and advice to support the Cayman Islands in fully meeting its international environmental and conservation obligations. The UK CITES Management Authority has not made a recent assessment of whether the Cayman Turtle Farm is a humane facility, but did commission an independent investigation in 2002 in support of an application for registration as a captive-breeding operation under CITES, which found it was a humane facility.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John McDonnell on 2014-07-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reason the NHS logo appears on the Optical Express website; what the relationship between Optical Express and the NHS is; whether NHS funding (a) is and (b) has been provided to Optical Express in order to carry out procedures on NHS patients; and how many NHS patients were referred to Optical Express by the NHS in each of the last 10 years.
Dr Daniel Poulter
The current NHS identity guidelines only allow opticians to use the NHS logo on a poster in their premises. The guidelines are available at:
www.nhsidentity.nhs.uk/all-guidelines/guidelines/opticians/introduction
NHS England is due to take over responsibility for managing the NHS identity from the Department shortly, and we will be carrying out a thorough review of NHS identity guidelines during 2014-15.
Optical Express receives NHS funding from NHS England for providing NHS sight tests and optical vouchers to qualifying patients. The choice of optician is a matter for individual patients who are able to use any optician offering NHS sight tests and they can also choose where they have their glasses dispensed.
Other eye health services, over and above the NHS sight test, are commissioned by clinical commissioning groups, formerly primary care trusts. Neither the Department nor NHS England holds data on the number of patients who have received such services from Optical Express.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yvonne Fovargue on 2014-07-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have suffered complications following knee and hip operations related to osteoarthritis in the last five years.
Norman Lamb
This information is not available. Although some information on post-operative complications experienced by osteoporosis patients following surgery of the hip and knee is available via the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) data collection, this only covers hip and knee replacement, and not the full range of surgical interventions. In addition to this, as PROMs is a voluntary reporting system the data published does not reflect the total number of osteoporosis patients having complications for all hip and knee replacements. More information on PROMS data can be found at the following link:
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