Tag: 2014

  • Meg Munn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Meg Munn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Meg Munn on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will introduce a fast track service for continous positive airways pressure therapy for people who drive for a living.

    Jane Ellison

    Local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for assessing the needs of their local populations and for commissioning services to meet those needs. For patients with obstructive sleep apnoea, NHS England expects CCGs to take into account the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines when deciding what services should be made available.

    NICE has published technology appraisal guidance which recommends the use of continuous positive airway pressure as a treatment option for adults with moderate or severe symptomatic obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome, where certain criteria are met.

    NICE has been commissioned to develop a quality standard on sleep disordered breathing and will in due course consider which conditions will be covered under the scope of the quality standard and the need for associated clinical guidance.

    There are currently no special provisions for people with sleep apnoea who drive for a living, but this will be considered as part of the guideline.

    Individuals diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnoea and who are waiting for continuous positive airways pressure therapy are prioritised according to clinical need.

    We do not collect information centrally on the time people wait between diagnosis and treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea. The Referral to Treatment operational standards state that 90% admitted and 95% of non-admitted patients should start consultant-led treatment within 18 weeks of referral. In order to sustain delivery of these standards, 92% of patients who have not yet started treatment should have been waiting no more than 18 weeks. Whilst individual National Health Service organisations are monitored on their performance in this area, obstructive sleep apnoea is not separately identified.

  • Mary Creagh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mary Creagh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much public expenditure was allocated from her Department to the London Stock Exchange Group in each financial year from 2009-10; and how much public expenditure is allocated to that Group 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.

    “

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-01-14.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of government financial support to business through grants and tax forgone.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government offers a wide range of financial support to business through different grants and tax reliefs. For example the Regional Growth Fund has so far committed £2.6 billion of support to over 400 awards which are expected to deliver £16 billion of private sector investment and 573,000 jobs.

    Overall Government grants and reliefs serve to support UK businesses to invest and grow, generating jobs and economic growth. Business investment has grown 26% since early 2010, there are more people in work now than ever before, and the IMF have forecast the UK as having the fastest growing economy in the G7 in 2014.

  • Mike Freer – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mike Freer – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Freer on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the military capability of Hamas.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We assess that Hamas maintains the ability to launch rocket attacks and armed attacks through tunnels on Israel from within Gaza.

    We call on Hamas to renounce violence, recognise Israel and accept previously signed agreements.

  • Julian Huppert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Julian Huppert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Huppert on 2015-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to ensure that students undertaking a level 6 diploma in professional dance are consistently regarded as being in higher or further education for the purpose of housing benefit and access to student loans and financial support.

    Nick Boles

    An Upper Tribunal of HM Courts and Tribunal Service affirmed in July 2013 that, for the purposes of Housing Benefit, all courses of Level 4 and above were courses of higher education, and students undertaking a Level 6 Diploma in professional dance are not eligible for Housing Benefit. This decision was to be disseminated to all Local Authorities to ensure any Housing Benefit payment discrepancies would cease.

    For the purposes of Higher Education student support, a course must be designated in accordance with the relevant Education (Student Support) Regulations. A key eligibility requirement is that a course should lead to an award granted by a body with UK degree awarding powers. These Level 6 Diplomas are not granted by such a body and therefore are not eligible for HE student funding.

    The Department continues to provide funding through the Dance and Drama Awards scheme for a small number of dance and drama higher vocational Diplomas.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Andy Slaughter – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department has spent on marketing for the Right to Buy scheme in (a) Hammersmith and Fulham and (b) Hammersmith constituency in each year since 2010.

    Brandon Lewis

    I refer the hon. Member to my answer today to Question UIN 219547. Identifiable spending in the local authority area was £9,986 in 2012-13 and £1,461 in 2013-14. Further information cannot be disaggregated . Figures are not available at a constituency level.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the turnover of head teachers has been in state-funded schools in each year since 2010.

    Mr David Laws

    The information requested is not available for teachers in specific grades.

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps in co-operation with major retailers to prevent unhealthy food being marketed more favourably than healthier foods.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department has been leading a programme of voluntary action by industry to rebalance their advertising and promotion, including by offering the healthier option as a default so that their customers can choose to follow a healthy, balanced diet.

    For example, major retailers such as Lidl and Tesco have committed to remove sweets and confectionery from all of their checkouts. The Department continues to encourage more partners to follow this example, and through programmes like Change4life promotes such action.

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the implementation of each of the recommendations in the report, Children in Military Custody, published in June 2012.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK has made repeated representations to Israel on their treatment of Palestinian prisoners, including child detainees. Since the Foreign and Commonwealth Office-funded independent report on Children in Military Custody, there has been some limited progress. This includes a pilot to use summons instead of night-time arrests, and steps to reduce the amount of time a child can be detained before seeing a judge. My predecessor wrote to the Israeli Attorney General on 31 March to welcome the steps taken to date and to call for further measures, including the mandatory use of audio-visual recording of interrogations, investigation into continued reports of single hand ties being used, and an end to solitary confinement for children. The British Government has been working with the delegation who compiled the Children in Military Custody report to make a return visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in the near future.

  • Grahame M. Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Grahame M. Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame M. Morris on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the revenue division is between the Hospital Corporation of America and St Bartholomew’s Hospital Trust London for fees charged to NHS England for treating NHS patients on the Gamma Knife housed in St Bartholomew’s Hospital.

    Jane Ellison

    We are advised that three senior neurosurgery consultants are responsible for the Gamma Knife operation at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, along with one neuro interventional radiologist and two clinical oncologists. All are employed by Barts Health NHS Trust, and are overseen by the Clinical Director for Neurosciences and the Group Director for Emergency Care and Acute Medicine, both of whom are clinicians.

    HCA employs one senior administrator, the Acting Chief Operating Officer for the Harley Street Clinic, along with the physicist and nursing staff and an administration co-ordinator who work in the Gamma Knife centre at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.

    We are advised that HCA owns the Gamma Knife based at St Bartholomew’s Hospital and that HCA pays a rental fee to Barts Health NHS Trust.

    We understand that, as the Gamma Knife was purchased by HCA, St Bartholomew’s Hospital (then part of Barts and The London NHS Trust) incurred minimal set up costs for the establishment of the service in 2009. This included costs for associated building work to accommodate the facility.

    Gamma Knife surgery is funded by NHS England as the commissioner for all specialist services. We are advised that Barts Health NHS Trust receives approximately £9,200 per patient from NHS England and that HCA charges Barts Health £7,310 per patient treated by the Gamma Knife facility at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.

    If the hon. Member wishes to obtain further information about the Gamma Knife facility at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, he may wish to contact Barts Health NHS Trust directly.