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Tag: 2014

  • Clive Betts – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Clive Betts – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Betts on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to prevent unnecessary delays in the prescription of Duodopa for people with Parkinson’s.

    Norman Lamb

    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. 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 found at the following link:

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

    NHS England has advised that its individual funding request process is monitored against the standard operating procedure to ensure that referring clinicians are informed of outcomes in a timely manner.

    Treatments for Parkinson’s are largely drug based and there is a choice of therapies available. Parkinson’s disease: Diagnosis and management in primary and secondary care, published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in 2006, makes it clear that communication with people with Parkinson’s disease should be aimed towards empowering them to participate in the judgements and choices about their own care. With regard to decisions about the drugs available for treatment of the disease in its later stages, the guidance states that the patient preference should be taken into account, once they have been informed of the short- and long-term benefits and drawbacks of the different types of drugs available.

    To reduce avoidable harm, through the Mandate we have asked NHS England to make measurable progress by 2015 to embed a culture of patient safety in the NHS including through improved reporting of incidents. The NHS Outcomes Framework contains a range of indicators designed to measure progress in this area of care which will be relevant to patients with all conditions, including, Parkinson’s disease.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2014-03-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Prime Minister discussed with Chancellor Merkel during her recent visit to the United Kingdom the proposal by the European People’s Party that students should be given a European Union education”.”

    Lord Nash

    The Prime Minister did not discuss the proposal by the European People’s Party that students should be given a ‘European Union education’ with Chancellor Merkel during her recent visit.

  • Aidan Burley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Aidan Burley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Aidan Burley on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to address any growth of a compensation culture in the UK.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Government is committed to turning the tide on fraudulent personal injury claims, and we have introduced a raft of measures to discourage unnecessary or frivolous claims and tackle inflated costs. Most recently, I announced on 9 June (Column 27WS)a number of steps that the Government intends to take to reduce the volume of fraudulent claims. These include the power for courts to dismiss fundamentally dishonest claims and a ban on lawyers offering inducements to bring personal injury claims.

  • Mr Nicholas Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Mr Nicholas Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Nicholas Brown on 2014-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on devolution of the Affordable Homes programme to (a) combined authorities and (b) local enterprise partnerships.

    Kris Hopkins

    Housing policy and the provision of affordable housing is not a function of combined authorities or Local Enterprise Partnerships.

    Elected local councils act as both the local housing authorities and local planning authorities, and we should be cautious about any intervention which effectively transferred power upwards.

    Notwithstanding, in the recent Affordable Homes Programme prospectus, we have stated that local authorities will want to engage in strategic dialogue with their Local Enterprise Partnerships when identifying key areas for economic growth.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gareth Thomas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much income health trusts in each region or nation of the UK received for the cost of treating European Economic Area nationals in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    The following information is not held by the Department:

    – income health trusts in each region or nation of the United Kingdom received for the cost of treating European Economic Area (EEA) nationals;

    – income each NHS trust in each region of England claimed back for the cost of treating EEA nationals;

    – the number of EEA nationals who received NHS treatment;

    – the cost of treating EEA nationals who received NHS treatment in each region of the UK.

    Claims to and from EEA countries are managed centrally by the Department on behalf of the whole of the UK. Income claimed from EEA countries is based on both data collected from trusts and arrangements in place with other EEA countries under bilateral agreements.

    The Department does hold information on claims to the UK from other EEA countries for healthcare costs. However, claims to the UK from other EEA countries are not based on nationality – they are based on whether the UK is judged to be responsible for someone’s healthcare costs, for example due to residency in the UK or, for state pensioners, someone with a UK state pension who has retired to a different EEA country. It is therefore not possible to provide a breakdown of costs based on UK nationality.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average cost was of a (a) jury trial at the Crown Court for (i) either way offences sent by magistrates where their sentencing powers were not deemed sufficient, (ii) either way offences where the defendant has chosen to elect jury trial and (iii) indictable only offences and (b) trial in a magistrates’ court for (i) summary only offences and (ii) either way offences in the latest period for which figures are available.

    Shailesh Vara

    The information requested is not currently available in full. An analysis of criminal court costs is based on average timings from Activity Based Costing allocations models. Some of the timings in the models are based on a timing survey, conducted in a representative sample of courts. Undertaking a new survey to support an analysis of costs in a different way to that currently available could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.

    Some of the information is available. There are a number of different ways costs of cases can be estimated, depending on how indirect costs are apportioned. Estimates below are based on 2012/13 costs (up-rated to 2013/14 prices).

    Costs at the Crown Court are analysed by offence type (criminal damage, burglary, drug offences etc) rather than by how the offence has come to be heard in the Crown Court. Estimates are based on average trial lengths – individual trials for any given case may be longer or shorter. The lower and upper trial cost estimates shown below are the weighted average of upper and lower estimates for all either way or indictable offence types.

    Summary offences in the magistrates’ court have been split into motoring and non-motoring offence types.

    Estimated Average Costs

    Lower

    Higher

    In the Crown Court (Either way or indictable trial in the Crown Court)

    Committed for trial

    £5,500

    £6,400

    Sent for trail

    £9,500

    £10,500

    In the Magistrates Court

    Lower

    Higher

    Summary motoring trial

    £500

    £600

    Summary non-motoring trial

    £1,000

    £1,300

    Either way trial in the magistrates’ court

    £1,300

    £1,700

    These figures do not include legal aid costs.

    Costs shown to the nearest £100.

  • Frank Dobson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Frank Dobson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Dobson on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which members of his Department’s assessment panel which interviewed representatives of the Institute of Education of London University in January 2014 about the proposals to establish a University Training School in Holborn and St Pancras had served in the previous three years as head teacher, deputy or assistant head of a secondary school.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The panel that considered the Holborn University Training School proposal and conducted the interview with the Institute of Education possessed a collective experience in school headship of over 32 years, covering secondary and primary phases. No member of the panel has served in such a role within the last three years.

    Free school interview panels consist of a range of education and independent experts.

  • Mr Dave Watts – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electorial Commission

    Mr Dave Watts – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electorial Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Dave Watts on 2014-03-10.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the electoral registration figures were in each ward in the recent confirmation dry run conducted in (a) St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council area and (b) St Helens North constituency.

    Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that the confirmation dry run involved matching all entries on the electoral registers against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Customer Information System database. Entries would be marked as green if they matched with DWP, amber if they were a partial match or red if there was no match.

    The ward results for St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council were as follows:

    Ward

    Green matches

    Amber matches

    Red matches

    Billinge & Seneley Green

    87.5%

    1.3%

    11.1%

    Blackbrook

    87.6%

    0.8%

    11.6%

    Bold

    82.8%

    1.6%

    15.6%

    Earlestown

    82.0%

    1.4%

    16.6%

    Eccleston

    87.9%

    1.1%

    11.0%

    Haydock

    86.2%

    1.1%

    12.6%

    Moss Bank

    86.5%

    0.9%

    12.7%

    Newton

    81.9%

    1.2%

    16.9%

    Parr

    80.7%

    1.3%

    18.0%

    Rainford

    86.7%

    1.9%

    11.4%

    Rainhill

    87.3%

    1.0%

    11.6%

    Sutton

    85.0%

    1.1%

    13.9%

    Thatto Heath

    82.1%

    1.5%

    16.4%

    Town Centre

    76.8%

    1.5%

    21.7%

    West Park

    82.1%

    1.0%

    16.9%

    Windle

    84.0%

    0.9%

    15.1%

    The ward results for the St Helens North constituency were as follows:

    Ward

    Green matches

    Amber matches

    Red matches

    Billinge & Seneley Green

    87.5%

    1.3%

    11.1%

    Blackbrook

    87.6%

    0.8%

    11.6%

    Earlestown

    82.0%

    1.4%

    16.6%

    Haydock

    86.2%

    1.1%

    12.6%

    Moss Bank

    86.5%

    0.9%

    12.7%

    Newton

    81.9%

    1.2%

    16.9%

    Parr

    80.7%

    1.3%

    18.0%

    Rainford

    86.7%

    1.9%

    11.4%

    Windle

    84.0%

    0.9%

    15.1%

    Results for all wards are available on the Commission’s website here: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/excel_doc/0003/163146/Confirmation-dry-run-2013-Results-Wards.xls

    “

  • Jim Sheridan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jim Sheridan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Sheridan on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of changes to the time taken to review applications for deaf people during the three month suspension of the 30 hour rule in the access to work grant.

    Mike Penning

    The 30 hour guidance will not be applied to new applicants during this suspension. Existing customers whose support has been changed as a result of the guidance can request a full review of their situation.

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-03-07.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what change there has been in median gross weekly earnings for (a) men and (b) women in Wrexham constituency since 2010.

    Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.