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Tag: 2014

  • Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent representations he has received from HM Chief Inspector of Prisons about his plans to introduce secure colleges.

    Jeremy Wright

    In April 2013 Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) submitted a response to the Government’s Transforming Youth Custody consultation, which set out our proposals for Secure Colleges.

    The Government values the important role HMIP performs in inspecting custodial establishments. We are therefore legislating in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill for HMIP, along with Ofsted, to have a duty to inspect Secure Colleges.

    On 10 March 2014, I met with the Chief Inspector of Prisons and the Government’s proposals for Secure Colleges were discussed. In addition, my officials have had, and continue to have, discussions with the Chief Inspector’s staff in order to develop, in conjunction with Ofsted, arrangements for the inspection of Secure Colleges.

  • Ann McKechin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Ann McKechin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann McKechin on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Prime Minister, what criteria he used to select those who he has instructed to review any bid for AstraZeneca.

    Mr David Cameron

    We are committed to ensuring that the life sciences sector in this country continues to flourish and grow, with the UK at the forefront of life sciences R&D, and retaining our role as a leading manufacturing base. While ultimately the potential takeover bid is a matter for the respective boards and shareholders of the two companies, Ministers and officials across Government have engaged with both companies to ensure that the outcome is positive for the long-term future of this sector in the UK.

    I also refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave at Prime Minister’s Questions today.

  • Chris Williamson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Chris Williamson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Williamson on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy that a war widow’s pension is provided for life to those awarded such a pension between 31 March 1973 and 5 April 2005.

    Anna Soubry

    It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the profile of the electors who were not data matched on (a) national government data bases and (b) local government data bases for purposes of individual electoral registration.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that its report on the dry run of the confirmation process, through which electors will be matched against the Department for Work and Pensions database, provides a full analysis of the socio-demographic factors associated with low match rates. The report can be found here: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/163144/Confirmation-Dry-run-2013-Results-report.pdf

    The Commission also informs me that it was not possible to conduct a similar analysis on the results of local data matching as not all local authorities reported on their activities.

    “

  • Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-04-30.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with (a) representatives or organisations offering free debt advice, (b) representatives of fee charging debt management organisations, (c) creditors and (d) the Insolvency Service on the potential effect of his Department’s withdrawal from the Debt Management Plan Protocol guidance group.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government is committed to improving standards in the debt management industry to deliver a better deal for consumers and greater transparency for creditors. The Debt Management Plan Protocol played a crucial role in meeting this objective, working in complement with the OFT regulatory framework, and paved the way for more robust regulation of the sector by the FCA.

    From 1 April, responsibility for regulating debt management firms, along with all other consumer credit firms, transferred from the Office of Fair Trading to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

    Consumers will be better protected under the new regime – the FCA will:

    · police the gateway to the market more thoroughly;

    · proactively identify risks to consumers;

    · focus its supervisory resources on areas most likely to cause consumer harm;

    · approve individuals in influential roles in firms;

    · operate a flexible and responsive regime;

    · use its wide enforcement toolkit;

    · and ensure consumers have access to redress.

    The FCA will thoroughly assess every debt management firm’s fitness to trade as part of the authorisation process – debt management firms will be amongst the first to require authorisation.

    The FCA has also introduced new requirements for debt management firms, including:

    · Prudential requirements: Debt management firms often hold consumers’ money – the FCA is requiring large debt management firms to hold capital to ensure that consumers don’t risk losing their money if things go wrong.

    · Guidance added that debt management firms should not allocate more than half the money received from customers in debt management plans to meeting their fees and charges.

    With the new FCA regulatory regime in place which will greatly improve consumer protection in the debt management market, the Government decided following discussions with a range of stakeholders that it was the right time to step away from an active role in the Protocol.

    The Government hopes that the stakeholders involved in the Protocol will continue to work together to help the FCA monitor the market and drive best practice in the sector.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions Ministers of his Department have had with representatives of sixth form colleges on the effects of reductions in education funding for 18 year olds on students with severe or complex disabilities.

    Matthew Hancock

    We are protecting the funding that sixth-form colleges receive for 18-year-old students with severe or complex disabilities. The funding reductions that apply generally to 18-year-old students do not apply to those assessed to have special educational needs, learning difficulties or disabilities.

  • Tessa Munt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tessa Munt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tessa Munt on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2014, Official Report, column 132W, on radiotherapy and with reference to section three of the guidance issued by Monitor on the Commissioning of Radiosurgery Services on 4 April 2014, for what reasons NHS England is not funding patients to be treated with the Gamma Knife at University College London Hospital.

    Jane Ellison

    The business case for the gamma-knife centre at Oxford was originally agreed with the primary care trust (PCT) prior to April 2013, with an assumption that the PCT would stop sending patients to other centres elsewhere, and start sending them to the new centre once it was completed.

    As of April 2013, commissioning of these services transferred to the specialist commissioning team in NHS England.

    NHS England is currently undertaking a review of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) (e.g. Gamma Knife) and stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR, e.g. Cyber-knife) for intracranial conditions to establish what the national demand is in line with its national clinical commissioning policies on SRS and SABR, and what the national capacity requirements are for this specialised treatment.

    Until the capacity requirements are clear, NHS England has said that it would be inappropriate to encourage new market entrants to provide this service as it cannot be clear what the potential consequential impacts on service quality, sustainability (financial and clinical) and potential unintended changes to patient pathways will be. Until the review is complete NHS England has said no substantive changes will be made to the current provision.

    As part of the transition of this service to NHS England, it developed, consulted upon and published a series of national clinical commissioning policies for intracranial SRS and SRT treatment.

    A report setting out the emerging findings of this review has been shared with clinical reference groups to seek their views and help NHS England develop a final draft. Once the views of stakeholders have been gathered, this will then go to Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group (SCOG) to agree a preferred option. Once the SCOG has a preferred option, NHS England will consult with patients and professionals and take account of those views when taking a final decision. If it is concluded there are to be significant changes in the provision of services, there will be a full public consultation before any changes are made.

    NHS England is expecting that the draft report will be ready for consideration at SCOG in June and then it would commence a public consultation on the draft report and preferred option during July to September. The report and recommendations will then be finalised after taking account of the views expressed during the consultation stage and a final decision taken by SCOG in September 2014.

    NHS England inherited the range of gamma knife providers currently in place, of which University College London Hospitals (UCLH) was not one. NHS England is currently undertaking a review of stereotactic radiosurgery provision and will consult widely with stakeholders and providers prior to making changes to service provision. There are two long established providers of gamma knife surgery commissioned by NHS England located in central London to whom patients from all six London specialist neurosurgical centres have been referred for gamma knife treatment for a number of years, including patients from UCLH.

    Finally, there was no contract in place with UCLH to provide gamma knife surgery for any PCT prior to 1 April 2013. Any activity that may have been undertaken there would have been done on an ad-hoc, non-contracted basis and NHS England does not hold this information.

  • Pete Wishart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Pete Wishart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pete Wishart on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many pregnant women in Scotland were granted section 4 support under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 for reasons including that they were deemed unfit to travel in each of the last five years.

    James Brokenshire

    The information requested is not routinely collected and could only be provided
    by examining individual case records, which would result in disproportionate
    cost.

  • Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2014, Official Report, column 540W, on pornography: internet, how many prosecutions there have been under section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 since 2005 in which a person has been charged in connection with the distribution of R18 equivalent material on a website which allowed under-18s to see such material.

    Oliver Heald

    The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service do not specify the type of material which is the subject of a charge under Section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 (publishing or having an obscene article for gain). To obtain details of individual cases would require a manual review, which could only be undertaken at disproportionate cost.

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Written Statement of 17 March 2014, Official Report, columns 53-4WS, on the Higgins Review, whether the review of connections from HS2 to the Continent announced in that statement will take account of potential demand for domestic services between HS2 and HS1; and what assessment he has made of the likely level of such demand.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Secretary of State has asked HS2 Ltd and Network Rail to consider how to improve connections between the rail network and the continent, in a way that could be implemented once the initial stages of HS2 are complete. The report will explore options that will stand the test of time and will be completed before the end of next year. The remit of the work is being considered and will be finalised shortly.