Tag: 2014

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2014-03-31.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to take into account the Global Principles on National Security and the Right to Information in reviewing legislation and practice concerning access to information, as recommended by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe resolution of 2 October 2013.

    Lord Faulks

    The UK Government notes that the recommendation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will be considered by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers in the near future. The UK Government is considering how to respond to the recommendation.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library a copy of the final investment approval for Project Teutates.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    I am unable to place a copy of the business case that sought investment approval for project Teutates in the library as the document contains classified information.

  • Baroness King of Bow – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness King of Bow – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2014-03-31.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Stowell of Beeston 21 October 2013 (WA 120–1), what estimate they have made of (1) fraud, (2) claimant error, and (3) departmental error, in the payment of Council Tax Benefit in 2012–13.

    Lord Freud

    The information requested can be found in the latest national statistics on Fraud and Error in the Benefit System: 2012 to 2013 Estimates. This report was published on 16 January 2014. The link to the report can be found here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/271654/fraud-and-error-in-the-benefit-system-2012-13_estimates-160114.pdf

    “

  • Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department plans to publish the terms of reference for its review of the resolution of disagreements for people with education, health and care needs under the Children and Families Act 2014.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education, in consultation with the Ministry of Justice and others, is in the process of developing proposals for the review of redress and complaint arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. The review will consider:

    1. Whether the amended mediation arrangements set out in the Act provide parents and young people with a way of having their complaints considered in a holistic way and whether they reduce the number of appeals to tribunals.
    2. How successful the new assessment and EHC planning process itself is at resolving disagreements.
    3. If health and social care complaint arrangements are working for parents and young people.
    4. What role the Tribunal might play in hearing appeals and complaints across education, health and social care.

    Running parallel to the review will be pilots to test an expansion of the powers of the first tier tribunal to make recommendations about the health and social care elements of EHC Plans. We estimate that the pilots will begin in the spring of 2015 as the first appeals about the new Education, Health and Care Plans begin to be heard and that the pilots will last for two years as they build up the evidence on which to base any recommendations.

    The Secretary of State for Education and the Lord Chancellor must lay a report on the outcome of the review before Parliament within three years of any of the provisions of Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 coming into force in September 2014. Interim findings from the pilots could be published before the final report on the review.

  • Adrian Sanders – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Adrian Sanders – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adrian Sanders on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the standardised mortality rate from diabetes was in each parliamentary constituency in the latest year for which figures are available; and what the average standardised mortality rate from diabetes in England was in each of the last 15 years.

    Mr Nick Hurd

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

  • Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the progress made by the President of Iran towards granting greater civil rights to religious minorities; and if he will make a statement.

    Hugh Robertson

    The UK welcomed President Rouhani’s comments in 2013 that all Iranians, including religious minorities, should “feel justice.” Unfortunately, there has been little noticeable change in the approach taken by Iran’s security and judicial authorities.

    The UK has repeatedly called on the Iranian government to end all persecution of individuals on the basis of their faith, and to guarantee the human rights of all Iranians.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times a day the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier will be able to enter Portsmouth Harbour during spring tides.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Queen Elizabeth class carriers would be able to enter Portsmouth Harbour twice a day, on each of two daily high tides, as could the Invincible class carriers.

  • Tracey Crouch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tracey Crouch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tracey Crouch on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of how many non-clinical dementia specialist professionals are currently working across the health and care sector.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    People with dementia receive care and support from many groups of professionals across the health and social care sector. By October 2013, 108,000 National Health Service staff had received Tier 1 training on dementia, enabling them to spot the early symptoms of dementia, know how to interact with people with dementia and ensure that patients receive the most appropriate care. The Government’s refreshed Mandate to Health Education England, published on 1 May 2014, builds on this by setting an ambition for a further 250,000 NHS staff to receive Tier 1 training on dementia by March 2015, with the tools and training opportunities being made available to all staff by the end of 2018.

    The size of the adult social care workforce is 1.5 million people and research in 2010 indicated that over 40% of this workforce is involved in supporting people with dementia. Skills for Care estimate that over the past year over 100,000 social care workers have received some form of dementia awareness training through workforce development funding from local authorities and care providers.

  • Adrian Sanders – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Adrian Sanders – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adrian Sanders on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to increase freedoms for special schools to design their own curriculum.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The new national curriculum, to be taught from September 2014, sets out only the essential knowledge that all children should acquire, and leaves teachers to decide how to teach this most effectively and to design a wider school curriculum that best meets the needs of their pupils.

    For all pupils with special educational needs (SEN), including those who attend special schools, lessons should be planned to ensure that there are no barriers to achievement. In many cases, such planning will mean that these pupils will be able to study the full national curriculum.

    The SEN Code of Practice includes statutory guidance on identifying and supporting pupils with SEN and adapting teaching approaches to ensure they have access to the same opportunities as their peers.

  • 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 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that ambulance crews and dispatch staff are able to access meaningful supervision; and if he will assess the merits of introducing rapid response units similar to those operating in Northern Ireland.

    Jane Ellison

    Decisions about workforce issues, such as the supervision of ambulance staff, are a local matter and it remains up to ambulance trusts to decide how this is managed.

    However, the Department expects trusts to ensure all their staff are supported in their roles and for there to be effective management arrangements.

    Ambulance services, including emergency response services, are commissioned by clinical commissioning groups, which have a responsibility to ensure that appropriate services are provided to their populations.

    It is the decision of individual ambulance trusts as to how resources are used to meet local demand.

    The Department recognises that having a rapid response vehicle (RRV) to carry clinical equipment and get a clinician to the patient as quickly as possible is beneficial to the care of a patient.

    In addition, clinicians using RRVs to arrive first on the scene are able to conduct an assessment of the patient to determine how they should be managed or may be in advance of an ambulance to begin treatment and stabilisation prior to transport.

    We are aware that most ambulance trusts utilise RRVs daily as part of their emergency response.

    As part of the Urgent and Emergency Care Review, being led by Sir Bruce Keogh, an Ambulance Task Group has been established to look at new models of delivery of care. The first phase of the Review was published last November; and we expect NHS England to be publishing further reports later this year.