Tag: 2014

  • David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment his Department has made of the (a) prevalence of additional health problems experienced by people with Parkinson’s Disease due to delays in receiving Duodopa and (b) costs incurred by the NHS as a result of such delays; and if he will make a statement.

    Norman Lamb

    We have made no such assessment.

    From April 2013, NHS England assumed responsibility for commissioning adult specialist neurosciences services, including the majority of services for patients with Parkinson’s disease, with some being the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups.

    NHS England has advised that it does not routinely fund Duodopa (co-careldopa) for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and is currently considering its clinical policy.

    Clinicians can submit individual funding requests for this treatment on behalf of their patients as per NHS England’s individual funding requests standard operating procedure, which is at:

    www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/cp-04.pdf

    This process is monitored against the standard operating procedure to ensure that referring clinicians are informed of outcomes in a timely manner.

    Once the commissioning position relating to this service area is agreed and service access criteria published, NHS England has advised that the number of individual funding requests from clinicians may reduce.

  • Lindsay Roy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Lindsay Roy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lindsay Roy on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs in Scotland that depend on the UK’s membership of the EU.

    David Mundell

    The Single Market gives UK businesses access to the world’s largest trading bloc with 500 million people and 21 million companies generating £11 trillion in economic activity.

    Since 1992, the UK’s bilateral trade with EU member states has more than trebled and trade with Europe accounts for roughly 3.5 million jobs in the UK, around 11% of the workforce.

    In 2012, Scottish exports to the EU are estimated to have amounted to approximately 45% of Scotland’s total international exports (excluding oil and gas). The Government does not collate figures for the number of jobs in Scotland that depend on UK membership of the EU. However, independent analysis published by the Centre for Economics and Business Research in March 2014 suggested that, in 2011, approximately 335,000 jobs in Scotland were associated with Scottish exports to the EU.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisons operated on half regime during (a) January, (b) February, (c) March, (d) April and (e) May 2014.

    Jeremy Wright

    The information regarding how many prisons operated on half regime during (a) January, (b) February, (c) March, (d) April and (e) May 2014, is not collated centrally. The term ‘half regime’ is not used in prison establishments, and is unlikely to be interpreted consistently. The processes required to collect this data would incur disproportionate costs.

  • Sheila Gilmore – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Sheila Gilmore – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sheila Gilmore on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the (a) 20 highest and (b) 20 lowest value contracts awarded by his Department were in each financial year since 2009-10.

    Brandon Lewis

    Under this Government’s transparency programme contracts are published on Contracts Finder, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder

    “

  • Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure claimants experiencing delays in their personal independence payments assessments are kept better informed of the status of their applications.

    Mike Penning

    We have taken immediate action to ensure that claimants receive all the information they need.

    This includes a number of actions:

    – SMS updates acknowledging receipt of the ”How your disability affects you” form.

    – Updated Gov.uk to include clear information.

    – Detailed information on estimated journey times.

  • 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 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which local authorities are currently in discussions with her Department on the vulnerable persons relocation scheme for Syrian nationals.

    James Brokenshire

    A number of local authorities have indicated that they would like to participate in the Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme, and discussions are ongoing with other local authorities who have expressed an interest. However, as the scheme is based on vulnerability, including women and children at risk, people with medical needs and survivors of torture and violence, it would not be appropriate for us to release details of where individuals are being placed, as this may undermine their privacy and recovery.

    The first beneficiaries of the scheme arrived in the UK on 25 March. This is the result of excellent cooperation with UNHCR, the International Organisation for Migration and local authority services, which has allowed us to identify vulnerable individuals in need of evacuation and ensure that the support they need is in place in the UK.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many hospital beds per head of the population there were in (1) England, (2) London and (3) Lewisham, in each year from 2008–09 to 2013–14.

    Earl Howe

    Hospital beds data per head of population are not collected centrally.

    Hospital beds data are collected for each National Health Service trust and NHS foundation trust.

    Population estimates and projections are available for local NHS commissioning bodies; primary care trusts (PCTs) up to 2011 and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) from 2012. These data can be aggregated up to larger areas such as strategic health authorities (SHAs) up to 2011 and local area teams from 2012.

    A table has been placed in the Library which shows the estimated hospital beds per 1,000 population in England and London each year from 2008-09 to 2013-14.

    It is not possible to show the hospital beds per head of population in a local commissioning body such as Lewisham, because this would be based on the assumptions that the beds in a trust are available only for the population of the local commissioning body and that this population only uses these beds. These assumptions will not reflect reality as trusts serve populations from outside their commissioning areas and patients will access services in hospitals outside their local commissioning area.

  • Gordon Henderson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gordon Henderson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Henderson on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to improve rail infrastructure between Sittingbourne and London stations.

    Stephen Hammond

    The new Network Rail Control Period includes investment to improve stations on the route between Sittingbourne and London including, in some cases, longer platforms to accommodate longer trains.

  • Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what projects other than refuges for women who are the victims of sexual violence will be set up by the Home Office with the £28 million for the spending review period allocated by the Home Office for specialist domestic and sexual violence services.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    Over the spending review period the Home Office funding of £28million provides for:

    144 Independent Domestic Violence Advisers and 75 funded IDVA training places; 87 dedicated Independent Sexual Violence Advisers; 54
    Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference co-ordinators and funding to Co-ordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse to provide support and advice to MARACs, as well as running a programme of quality assurance; and £1.2 million for 3 years from 2012 to improve services for young people suffering sexual violence in major urban areas.

    The Home Office also provides over £900,000 per year to support the following free phone national helplines: the National Stalking Helpline which offers information and advice to stalking victims; the National Domestic Violence Helpline which offers support for victims of domestic violence and is run jointly by Women’s Aid and Respect; Broken Rainbow which offers help to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender victims; the Male Advice (and Enquiry) Line which offers help to male victims of domestic violence and advice to perpetrators; and RESPECT which offers information and advice to people who are abusive towards their partners and want help to stop.

    Decisions about the provision of refuge accommodation for victims of domestic abuse are a local matter and it is the responsibility of the individual local authority to identify any gaps in service provision and put in place appropriate solutions to address this. We would expect local authorities to build services based on the needs of their communities, taking account of locally available data sources.

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much income the Environment Agency expects to raise from fracking firms to pay for the regulation of the industry; and if he will make a statement.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Environment Agency does not separately record the income it expects to raise from fracking firms. However, it does hold estimates of the charges it expects to raise from environmental permits and licences for the onshore oil and gas industry as a whole.

    Over the next year, with the current charging scheme, the Environment Agency estimates income of between £300,000 and £350,000. This includes fees from permit applications and annual subsistence, for mining waste, groundwater, radioactive substances and water resources permits. It does not include any site surrender fees as no sites are expected to surrender their permits over the next year. As the onshore shale gas part of the industry grows over time, we would expect the income from permitting charges to change.