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Tag: 2014

  • James Cartlidge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    James Cartlidge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cartlidge on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on tackling Crohn’s disease.

    George Freeman

    Information is not collected centrally on the number of people prescribed medicines or the medical condition being treated.

    Some data is available for the administration of vedolizumab however this data does not correspond to patient numbers nor can it be linked to the treatment of specific diseases. Some information on cost is also available but this is the cost of the medicines at NHS list price and not necessarily the price that hospitals paid.

    In guidance published in August 2015, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) advised that vedolizumab is the recommended treatment for adults with moderate to severe Crohn’s disease if a type of treatment called a tumour necrosis factor alpha inhibitor is not suitable or has not worked well enough. NICE also recommend vedolizumab as a possible treatment for adults with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis in separate guidance published on 5 June 2015.

    In both cases, people should be able to have vedolizumab until it stops working, or surgery is needed, or for 12 months after starting it, whichever is shorter. Their condition should be assessed 12 months after they started taking vedolizumab. If they still have symptoms but it is clear that the treatment is helping, they can continue to have the drug. If they no longer have symptoms, treatment can be stopped, and later restarted if their symptoms return. Drugs recommended by NICE should be available on the NHS within three months of the technology appraisal guidance being issued.

    NICE has set out best practice in the diagnosis, treatment care and support of patients with Crohn’s diseases and ulcerative colitis in its guidance Crohn’s Disease Management in Adults, Children and Young People in October 2012, and Ulcerative Colitis Management in Adults, Children and Young People , published in June 2013. Treatment for both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis is largely directed at symptom relief to improve quality of life, rather than cure. Management options include drug therapy, dietary and lifestyle advice and, in severe or chronic active disease, surgery.

  • Antoinette Sandbach – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Antoinette Sandbach – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to impose restrictions on the free movement of camelids in the UK to prevent the spread of bovine tuberculosis.

    George Eustice

    The Tuberculosis (Deer and Camelid) (England) Order 2014 provides powers to restrict the movement of a camelid that shows clinical signs of bovine TB, tests positive to the disease or has been exposed to the infection. These powers may require the keeper to take reasonable steps to prevent the affected animal from coming into contact with any other farmed animal on the same premises or on adjoining premises and prevent the movement of camelids on to or off such premises except under a licence issued by an inspector. In addition, my Department has worked with the British Alpaca and Llama Societies on the design and promotion of a TB testing regime that includes voluntary routine surveillance. A call for views on control of bovine TB in non-bovine farmed animals, including camelids, is currently in progress and will run until 20 November.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to promote commemoration of the 600th anniversary of the battle of Agincourt; and what plans his Department has to ensure that similar anniversaries are appropriately commemorated in the future.

    Tracey Crouch

    In the March 2015 budget, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that £1millionmwould be allocated for the commemoration of the 600th anniversary of the battle of Agincourt.The fund is administered by the Agincourt 600 charity,providing grants for events and Agincourt related educational projects. DCMS officials have been working closely with Agincourt 600 in the run up to this important anniversary.

    TheGovernment and the Heritage Lottery Fundmade the decision towilldeliver a £10million mcontestable fund to ensure that similarhistoricanniversaries are appropriately commemorated.

  • Tom Brake – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tom Brake – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he made of the potential effect of the (a) provisions in the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 on reducing costs associated with clinical negligence and (b) possibility of the NHS and NHS Litigation Authority causing unnecessary costs in clinical negligence cases before he made his decision to take forward proposals for a fixed-costs regime in clinical negligence.

    Ben Gummer

    We are planning to consult on the introduction of the fixed cost regime for clinical negligence claims where the damages awarded to claimants are less than £250,000. This forms part of our over-arching objective to minimise adverse incidents and provide an efficient, cost-effective approach to litigation. In doing this we are seeking to improve patient care by reducing the incidence of clinical negligence, improve customer care by ensuring the National Health Service is responsive to users; and ensure there is an appropriate and cost effective legal process in place for claimants and defendants.

    In advance of this work a pre-consultation exercise was undertaken with a wide range of bodies representing the views of patients, lawyers, bar organisations, professional bodies, NHS organisations, private healthcare providers and Welsh interests. Issues raised by these organisations included: access to justice, impact of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012; patient safety; and the avoidance of unnecessary costs in clinical negligence cases. These views will be rehearsed in the proposed consultation document and will inform decisions that are made following the consultation exercise. Respondents will have the opportunity to provide comments on the proposals, which we have been developing with the Civil Procedure Rules Committee.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many case workers in her Department received Keeping Children Safe Tier 3 training in 2014.

    Karen Bradley

    In 2014, 1,329 officials from Borders and Immigration casework and operational roles received Keeping Children Safe Tier 3 training.

  • Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what non-financial aid her Department has provided to the African Union in the last five years.

    Grant Shapps

    In the last five years DFID’s non-financial support to the African Union has included the following projects at the cost of some £7m: two independent audits of international funding for the AU’s “Shared Values” Joint Programme Arrangement; technical advice to the AU Commission on developing a results based Logical Framework approach; support for the AUC Leadership Assessment Centre; technical advice on setting up the AU Institute for Statistics; technical support for AU work on Regional Trade Facilitation; capacity support to the AU Department of Political Affairs; and technical support for AU election observation missions which has received the bulk of DFID funding.

  • Stewart Jackson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stewart Jackson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) maximum and (b) average recorded waiting time was for an EU passport holder at customs at London Stansted airport on each day of September 2015; and if she will make a statement.

    James Brokenshire

    The maximum and average queuing times for EU passport holders at Stansted during the month of September 2015 are given in the attached table. Passenger waiting times at passport control are influenced by a number of factors. These include so called ‘flight bunching’, where a large number of flights arrive within a short period of time, and passengers using non-machine readable documents, which inevitably take longer for Border Force Officers to process. Such documents, which do not have a biometric reader and have a long history of being abused by imposters, need to be manually checked by Border Force Officers.

    Border Force and Stansted Airport have jointly invested in 15 new generation E-Gates which are helping to reduce passenger waiting times. Both organisations continue to work together to further improve the passenger experience at Stansted.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of people on whom the police used tasers were (a) BAME, (b) women and (c) under the age of 18 in each London borough in each of the last five years.

    Mike Penning

    Accurate, consistent data on police use of force is essential to improve transparency around how the police are using their sensitive powers. That is why the Home Secretary asked Chief Constable David Shaw to carry out an in depth review of Taser data and other use of force, and present options for collecting, collating and publishing data on how force including Taser is being used, who it is being used on and what the outcomes are.

    Data is not recorded centrally on how many and what proportion of incidents in which Tasers were used by the police in London in each of the last five years resulted in an arrest, a charge and a conviction.

    Existing data on the police use of Taser by sex, age and ethnicity from 2010 to 2014, including that released under Freedom of Information, is not of a quality standard suitable for publication as Official or National statistics, and this data is not broken down by London borough.

  • Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many pregnant women are detained at Yarl’s Wood.

    James Brokenshire

    Although we are now recording management information on the number of women who have disclosed their pregnancy to the Home Office, collection of data about the detention of pregnant women will be limited.

    We will not necessarily be aware that a woman is pregnant unless she chooses to make this known to us and a woman may not know herself that she is pregnant when she enters detention. It may not always be appropriate for healthcare professionals to disclose information that the patient has asked not to be disclosed.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has carried out of the ability of road infrastructure to meet future demand; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Jones

    The Road Investment Strategy (RIS) published in December 2014 sets out how £15.2 billion is being invested between 2015 and 2021 to improve the Strategic Road Network (SRN) – motorways and major ‘A’ roads in England. The RIS takes into account a range of possible outcomes for the future, underpinned by broad evidence which the Department will continue to build on and review. This includes an assessment of the trends that are likely to have a significant impact on road use and what these trends mean for traffic volumes on the SRN.

    On the local road network it is for local highway authorities to make assessments of need and consider improvements.