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Tag: 2014

  • Mark Williams – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Williams – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Williams on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department takes to ensure that people do not face delayed discharge from hospital because there is no suitable housing for them to be discharged; and if he will make a statement.

    Norman Lamb

    The Government is committed to supporting the availability of suitable accommodation for those who are being discharged from hospital. It has already taken steps to demonstrate this commitment and is in the process of establishing new opportunities and mechanisms by which this can be done. Examples of these include:

    – The recently passed Care Act consolidates duties on local authorities in relation to wellbeing, which specifically include consideration of “suitable living accommodation” as a component of that duty.

    – Housing has also been classified as a “health related service” so that housing and suitability of accommodation should be considered in any assessment (including on discharge from hospital).

    – The Better Care Fund (BCF), which this Government has established with £3.8 billion funding provides a vehicle to enhance and increase the pace of effective integration between health and social care. Clearly where suitable housing is identified as a barrier to the achievement of key measures within the BCF localities can choose to use funding within the BCF to address this. The opportunity to do this is the inclusion within the BCF of the Disabled Facilities Grant with £220 million being made available within 2015-16.

    – The Disabled Facilities Grant is for the provision of adaptations to the homes of disabled people to help them to live independently. Disabled Facilities Grant adaptations include things like stair-lifts, level access showers, winches and ramps. Many people apply for a Disabled Facilities Grant upon exit from hospital because their home is no longer suitable to meet their needs.

    – In terms of the Disabled Facilities Grant and the period of the last Spending Review, £785 million was made available by the Department for Communities and Local Government. They funded an organisation called Foundations, which is the national body for Home Improvement Agencies (HIAs) which help older, disabled and vulnerable people to live independently in their own homes for longer. HIAs deliver around 50% of all Disabled Facilities Grants in England.

    – HIAs also provide additional services for older and vulnerable people such as handyperson services, to carry out small jobs around the home also known as minor adaptations, which are things like grab rails, ramps and moving furniture eg; moving a bed downstairs. Many HIAs provide a bespoke service called “home from hospital” or “hospital discharge” services which adapt people’s homes allowing them to be discharged from hospital more quickly and freeing up hospital beds. £50 million was also made available for handyperson services during the period 2011 to 2015.

    – Under the homelessness legislation a household will be considered homeless if a local housing authority determines that it would no longer be reasonable for them to continue to occupy their accommodation. This can clearly apply to an individual’s change in circumstances following a stay in hospital. If a local housing authority has reason to believe that an applicant may be homeless or threatened with homelessness then they must make enquiries in order to establish if they are owed a duty.

    – If a person is homeless through no fault of their own, eligible for assistance and in priority need then the local housing authority will have a duty to secure suitable accommodation for the household’s occupation. Priority need is defined in legislation to include applicants with children and households that include someone who is vulnerable, for example because of old age, or physical or mental disability, have a priority need for accommodation.

    – The Department of Health has supported the resource "Hospital to Home" pathway which we know many areas consider in terms of supporting an individual’s recovery and preventing readmission. The resource contains information, suggestions for action, case studies and checklists for considering older patients’ housing situations in hospital discharge and transfer of care.

    – The Shared Commitment for integrated care and support, published in May 2013 and which the Department of Health, the NHS, local government and the voluntary sector were involved in signing up to specifically highlighted the importance of suitable housing being available as part of safe and effective discharge from hospitals.

  • David Simpson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    David Simpson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment she has made of the Giro D’Italia in Northern Ireland; and what plans she has to ensure a positive legacy from the event.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    The Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) estimates that the Giro d’Italia “Grande Partenza” was viewed by 775 million people in 165 countries across the world giving this huge audience the opportunity to enjoy the wonderful scenery of Northern Ireland. NITB has estimated that the event should generate 140,000 tourist visits to Northern Ireland.

    Building on the legacy of the Giro d’Italia is, of course, for the Northern Ireland Executive to take forward and I understand that the Assembly has discussed the issue.

  • David T. C. Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    David T. C. Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Government’s policy is on beak trimming of chickens; and if he will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    The Mutilations (Permitted Procedures) (England) Regulations 2010 restricts the method used for the routine beak trimming of laying hens to infra-red technology only. The Government is also working with the Beak Trimming Action Group, which includes representatives from industry, welfare groups and scientists, to find ways to manage flocks of birds without the need to beak trim. Defra is currently funding a peer reviewed research study to assess the effectiveness of management strategies in reducing injurious pecking in non-beak trimmed laying hens. The results of this pilot study and all other available evidence will feed into a review in 2015.

  • David Crausby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Crausby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the reasons for the reduction in businesses fined for employing illegal immigrants since 2010.

    James Brokenshire

    Since 2010 there has been a 13% increase in the number of civil penalties issued to businesses employing illegal migrant workers with 2,149 penalties issued in 2013/14 compared with 1,899 in 2010/11.An assessment of enforcement activity and operating procedures in relation to illegal working visits led to increased deployment and a renewed focus on illegal working in 2013. This resulted in 8,573 illegal working visits in 2013/14 compared with 5,441 in 2012/13. Additionally the target of issuing 2,500 Notices of Potential Liability (NOPL) for a civil penalty was exceeded with 3,562 NOPLs being issued in 2013/14 compared with 1,659 in 2012/13 equating to a 70% increase.We are committed to tackling illegal working and we are increasing our multi-agency operations to step up enforcement action against businesses. Through the Immigration Act and secondary legislations, we are getting tougher with non-compliant employers by increasing the maximum financial penalty from £10,000 to £20,000 per illegal worker; making it easier to enforce payment in the civil courts; and simplifying right-to-work checks for legitimate employers.

  • David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Prime Minister, what discussions he has had with the (a) Chairman and (b) Secretary of the Chilcot Inquiry on the publication of its report since March 2013; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Cameron

    The Iraq Inquiry is independent of government, and should be allowed to complete its work without interference.

    Neither I nor Ministers have had any discussions with or made any representations to the Inquiry. Nor have I discussed the Inquiry with President Obama.

    The Inquiry has sought the declassification of material for inclusion in its report from many thousands of documents, some of which have been or will be published. Government does not, as a rule, comment on any discussions between officials and the Inquiry.

    The Maxwellisation process is a matter for the Inquiry.

    The Government remains committed to ensuring that the Inquiry’s final report will be able to disclose all but the most sensitive information which will be determined in accordance with the protocol governing the disclosure of documentary evidence which is available through the Inquiry website.

    Timing of the delivery of the report to me is a matter for the Inquiry, but it is my hope that the Inquiry can complete its work before the end of the year. Upon publication, copies of the report will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

  • Marcus Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Marcus Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Marcus Jones on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department allocated to projects relating to cycling between (a) 2005 and 2010 and (b) 2010 to 2014.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    During the five financial years 2005/6 to 2009/10, the Department for Transport (DfT) provided funding for cycling through Cycling England, an arm’s length organisation set up in 2005; in that period, Cycling England received £105m from the DfT.

    During the five financial years 2010/11 to 2014/15, the DfT allocated a final £63m to Cycling England, and has allocated direct funding of £224m for cycling projects, comprising: the £94m Cycling Cities and National Parks fund, £28.5m for Links to Schools / Linking Communities, the £35m cycle safety fund, £14.5m for Cycle Rail, £4.8m to the Highways Agency and £46.8m for Bikeability. In addition, the DfT’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund is providing £540m for local authorities to prioritise sustainable transport projects, of which 28% or £151m is being allocated to cycling projects. So total investment by this government in cycling in the five financial years 2010/11 to 2014/15 is £438m.

    DfT funding for the LSTF and its Cycling Ambition, Cycle-Rail, and Linking Communities funds is often used to lever matching local contributions. When these other sources are included, spend on cycling in England is equal to £5 per person a year, whilst spend in the eight cycling ambition cities is around £10 per person a year. From 2015/16, the LSTF forms part of the Local Growth Fund, a long-term funding commitment of £2bn a year.

  • Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 15 January 2014, Official Report, column 578W, on unmanned air vehicles, whether his Department maintains munitions records from the UK Reaper fleet on a sortie-by-sortie basis or for each operation carried out.

    Mr Mark Francois

    After each UK Reaper sortie a mission report is written detailing the aircraft used and events of the flight. This includes weapon releases on a sortie-by-sortie basis.

    “

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions have been held with HM Treasury about changes in costs of administering the personal independence payment assessment process; what the outcomes of those discussions have been; and how they affect the current Spending Review benefits savings target and the proposed cap on benefit expenditure.

    Mike Penning

    The costs of administering the PIP assessment process were published in the NAO report in February 2014 and quote the current PIP business case (2013-2014)

    http://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Personal-independence-payment-early-progress.pdf

    Forecast expenditure on PIP will be updated at Autumn Statement. The most recent forecasts were published by the Office for Budget Responsibility following Budget 2014.

    http://cdn.budgetresponsibility.org.uk/37839-OBR-Cm-8820-accessible-web-v2.pdf

    The Department meets regularly with HM Treasury to discuss progress on all programmes.

    “

  • Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how High Speed 2 improve reliability and reduce overcrowding on regional links between towns and cities in the North West.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    By moving long distance passengers off the existing network, HS2 will release capacity for more regional services, reducing overcrowding and improving reliability, as well as improving connectivity. Nationally, the Economic Case for HS2 found that HS2 will deliver reliability benefits worth £5.5bn, and reduced crowding benefits of £7.5bn, which includes benefits to regional services in the North West.

    In response to recommendations made by Sir David Higgins, HS2 Ltd and Network Rail have been commissioned to consider what further improvements can be made to centre to city centre connectivity, east-west links and local connectivity in the Midlands and the North, with a final report on options in 2015.

  • Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s capacity to discharge its statutory duties to survey and inspect (a) domestic and (b) international shipping.

    Stephen Hammond

    The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA)’s current business plan has an operational priority (OP) entitled: “OP2 – Ensuring our ship survey, inspection and certification capability, and the parallel work in relation to seafarers, meets our domestic and international obligations”. Progress against this operational priority is monitored on a monthly basis by the MCA Executive Board using a balanced score card system. By this method the MCA is able to assess its capacity to discharge its statutory Survey and Inspection duties.

    The MCA monitors its capacity to discharge its statutory duties to survey and inspect (a) domestic (Flag State responsibility) and (b) international (Port State responsibility) shipping through a system of activity monitoring. Performance against these Survey and Inspection activities feed into the Balanced Score Card for OP2.