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Tag: 2014

  • Baroness Falkner of Margravine – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Falkner of Margravine – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Falkner of Margravine on 2014-06-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect to complete their inquiry into the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood; and whether they intend to publish their complete findings.

    Baroness Warsi

    The Prime Minister, my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), asked Sir John Jenkins to complete the review of the Muslim Brotherhood before Parliament rises and will make public its findings after the Government has considered them.

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2014-06-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to improve the diagnosis of atrial fibrillation.

    Earl Howe

    NHS England is taking a number of actions to improve the care and management of people with atrial fibrillation (AF). It has published Our Ambition to Reduce Premature Mortality: A resource to support commissioners in setting a level of ambition, which identifies improved management of AF as a priority for reducing premature mortality. The resource can be found at:

    www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/sop/red-prem-mort/

    National Health Service Improving Quality’s Living Longer Lives programme includes promoting the use of a simple but effective audit tool called Guidance on Risk Assessment and Stroke Prevention for Atrial Fibrillation (GRASP-AF) which simplifies the process of identifying patients with AF who are not receiving the right treatment. NHS Improving Quality is currently collaborating with partner organisations, including charities, to support the nationwide roll-out of GRASP-AF.

    This work will be supported by the publication of an economic analysis commissioned by NHS Improving Quality using GRASP data which demonstrates both the current and potential impact of atrial fibrillation management on the number of AF related strokes.

    Discussions are also underway to consider whether opportunistic testing for atrial fibrillation (AF) should be encouraged nationally as part of the NHS Health Check programme.

  • Lord Ahmed – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Ahmed – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ahmed on 2014-06-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Bodu Bala Sena Buddhist Power Force” in Sri Lanka.”

    Baroness Warsi

    In the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Human Rights and Democracy Report for 2013, we note that non-governmental organisations documented hundreds of attacks against minority religions, including violence, vandalism, and hate speech in Sri Lanka. We also note that statements by nationalist Buddhist groups, including the Bodu Bala Sena, fuelled concern over rising religious tensions.

    Our High Commissioner to Colombo has discussed these matters with members of the Government of Sri Lanka. We have encouraged early action to promote peaceful co-existence between all communities, noting the importance of ensuring any acts of violence, intimidation or threats are thoroughly investigated and those responsible brought to justice. Officials from our High Commission in Colombo also met with representatives of the Bodu Bala Sena last year in order to discuss the organisation’s activities and religious tensions in Sri Lanka. During the meeting, British officials expressed concern at attacks directed at Muslim and other minority religious communities.

  • Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many outstanding protective awards to be paid by the Insolvency Service’s Redundancy Payments Services are owed to firms in which less than 20 people are employed on one site.

    Jenny Willott

    Under legislation, a protective award can be made where it is determined that there was insufficient consultation in situations involving 20 or more redundancies in one establishment. The Redundancy Payments Service makes payments, to affected employees, where an employment tribunal has made an award and the employer is insolvent.

    The Employment Appeal Tribunal, in the Woolworths case (USDAW v WW Realisations 1 Ltd and others), decided that it should remove the European test of ‘establishment’ from UK law. The Department is appealing this judgment as we do not agree with this interpretation of the law.

    We think the right interpretation of the law is that employers must consult employee representatives if making 20 or more redundancies at one establishment. In a dispute, it is for the employment tribunals to decide what is an establishment on the facts of each individual case.

    Until the Woolworths appeal is determined, employment tribunals are staying (not deciding) claims from employees who worked on sites with fewer than 20 proposed redundancies and the RPS is unable to make payments to such employees.

    Information on the number of affected cases is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance he has issued to schools on the role of special educational needs coordinators in decisions on spending the pupil premium.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education has not issued guidance to schools on the role of the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) in decisions on how to spend the Pupil Premium. We expect that schools will want to involve the SENCO in determining how to use the Pupil Premium to fund support for those pupils with special educational needs who are economically deprived, looked after by the local authority or who have left care via adoption or other routes.

    It should also be noted that the draft 0-25 Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice states that the SENCO, headteacher and governing body or proprietor should consider their strategic approach to meeting special educational needs in the context of the total resources available to the school, including any resources targeted at particular groups, such as the Pupil Premium. The draft SEND Code of Practice was laid before Parliament on 11 June 2014 and must be approved by Parliament before it comes into force on 1 September 2014.

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cheryl Gillan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that regulations and guidance under the Care Act 2014 are compatible with the Autism Act 2009 and existing autism strategies and autism statutory guidance.

    Norman Lamb

    The core principles of the Care Act 2014 and the regulations and statutory guidance which supports its implementation are to maintain the wellbeing of people who have care and support needs; support them in living independent lives; and ensuring there is a vibrant market to offer choice on how their needs might be met. These enhance the areas of action set out in the 2010 Autism Strategy and reaffirmed recently in Think Autism.

    The Act will require local authorities to ensure all assessors are appropriately trained to carry out assessments. This builds on the statutory guidance Implementing Fulfilling and Rewarding Lives which followed the 2010 Adult Autism Strategy for England, and which required autism awareness training to be available to all staff working in health and social care and specialist training for those in key roles that have a direct impact on access to services for adults with autism.

    Due to the complexities of assessing people who are deafblind, regulations under the Act will require their assessments to be carried out by a specialist assessor. One of the questions in the consultation document is whether specialist assessors should be required to carry out the assessment of people with other conditions, such as autism, and to explain why this should be the case. Based on the evidence we receive through the consultation we will consider if this requirement should be extended to other conditions.

    The draft regulations and guidance were co-produced with stakeholders, and this included engaging with the National Autistic Society. The public consultation runs until 15 August 2014.

  • John Denham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    John Denham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Denham on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the longest period waited was on the receipt of the necessary medical evidence, to restore a driving licence for those drivers who have temporarily had their licence suspended for medical reasons in the latest period for which figures are available.

    Stephen Hammond

    The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency does not temporarily suspend driving licences. Drivers may have their licence revoked or choose to surrender their licence voluntarily if their medical condition affects their fitness to drive.

    Each case must be fully assessed before determining whether sufficient medical evidence has been supplied. More information is needed in some cases and may involve detailed consultation with medical professionals.

    Figures are not routinely kept of the amount of time an applicant may wait in these circumstances. An exercise in February 2014 suggested some customers may have waited up to 20 weeks. Once a decision has been made to re-issue the licence this is done immediately.

  • Emma Lewell-Buck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Emma Lewell-Buck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Lewell-Buck on 2014-06-24.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of (a) disabled and (b) all other staff employed by his Department received each level of performance rating in their end of year performance assessment for 2013-14.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The 2013-14 appraisal data is not available yet.

  • Ben Wallace – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Ben Wallace – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Wallace on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will amend paragraph 98 of the National Planning Policy Framework to require applicants for onshore wind energy developments to demonstrate an overall national need for renewable energy.

    Kris Hopkins

    Inappropriately sited wind turbines can cause significant harm to the local environment. Hence, last year, we changed planning guidance to strengthen the protection of landscape and heritage in relation to onshore wind.

    Looking forward, we are keeping planning policy on renewable energy under review and will consider whether any further steps are appropriate in the light of this monitoring. We are open to representations.

  • Nick Gibb – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nick Gibb – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Gibb on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what current contracts (a) his Department and (b) each of his Department’s executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies hold with the Educational Testing Service or any of that organisation’s subsidiaries.

    Anna Soubry

    The Ministry of Defence, including Executive Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies, does not currently have any contracts with the Educational Testing Service or its subsidiary companies.