Tag: 2014

  • Lord Eames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Eames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to encourage the devolved administrations of Wales and Northern Ireland to consider the effect on them of an affirmative vote in the forthcoming referendum on Scottish independence.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    The Government has no such plans. The Government has been clear that it is the Government for all of the United Kingdom including Scotland. It continues to act in the interests of all of the people of the UK, including people in Scotland.

  • 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, in the light of the publication of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence clinical guideline 180, what action they are taking to ensure appropriate risk stratification and uptake of anti-thrombotic therapy among patients with 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 whether they have made any representations to the government of Sri Lanka regarding the murder of Muslims and the destruction of commercial property in Colombo.

    Baroness Warsi

    I refer my noble Lord to the reply I gave on 25 June 2014, Official Report, columns WA171-172.

  • Jonathan Edwards – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jonathan Edwards – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of the US-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership on the cost of medicine procurement for the NHS.

    Michael Fallon

    Previous trade agreements outline a number of high-level principles in relation to arrangements for controlling the prices of medicines. We do not expect the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership to include any additional obligations in this area.

  • Graham Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Graham Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure Ofsted is able to undertake the proposed increase in inspections of apprenticeship providers.

    Matthew Hancock

    Our apprenticeship reforms will improve quality by involving employers in defining the new standards and assessment and by controlling the funding of apprenticeships. Ofsted will continue to play an important role in ensuring the quality of teaching and learning in registered training providers. We are discussing the arrangements with Ofsted as part of the Trailblazer project.

  • 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 his Department is taking to ensure that the Care Act 2014 Part I regulations are compatible with the revised Adult Autism Strategy (a) in general and (b) in relation to autism training for community care assessors.

    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.

  • Emma Lewell-Buck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Emma Lewell-Buck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

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

    To ask the Attorney General, what proportion of (a) disabled and (b) all other staff employed by the Law Officers’ Departments received each level of performance rating in their end of year performance assessment for 2013-14.

    Oliver Heald

    It is not possible to provide figures for all the Law Officers’ Departments as their staff performance appraisal processes for 2013-14 have yet to be completed. Figures should be available in the autumn.

  • Nick Gibb – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Nick Gibb – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

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

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, 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.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Since January 2011, central government departments have been required to publish on Contracts Finder information on the contracts they award (www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/). In addition, departments publish details of spend in excess of £25,000.

    HM Treasury and its executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies do not hold any current contracts with the Educational Testing Service or any of that organisation’s subsidiaries.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has for the issuing of further licences for local television.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    As part of our Local TV licencing programme, Ofcom advertised the following locations with a deadline of 7 January 2014: Barnstaple, Basingstoke, Derry/Londonderry, Gloucester, Guildford, Limavady, Luton, Maidstone, Plymouth, Reading and Salisbury and Ofcom is in the process of considering the resulting applications. Out of these locations, Ofcom only received applications for five: Reading, Basingstoke, Guildford, Salisbury and Maidstone. The licences for Reading, Salisbury and Guildford have been awarded by Ofcom (on 3 June 2014) and Ofcom expects to be able to make a decision on the remaining two locations, namely Basingstoke and Maidstone shortly.

    Ofcom plans to invite applications for further areas later this year.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Stephen Doughty – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many British armed forces personnel were operationally deployed to Northern Ireland in each year from April 1984 to April 2010; and how many such personnel were accompanied by a (a) spouse or (b) civil partner in each such year.

    Mr Mark Francois

    The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

    “