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Tag: 2014

  • Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-05-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost is of redundancies made by NHS England since January 2013; and what proportion of total expenditure that figure represents.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The Secretary of State meets regularly with NHS England to discuss a wide variety of issues. The Department is clear on the need to ensure that redundancy payments are made only in circumstances where it is appropriate to do so and has been working with NHS England to ensure that payments are tightly controlled, whilst meeting contractual obligations.

    Redundancies are subject to rigorous scrutiny and challenge before being approved. Additionally, any individual redundancy compensation payment in excess of £100,000 also requires Departmental approval. Where redundancies do occur, NHS England ensures that these are formally subject to national NHS provisions to claw back any redundancy payment received where an individual then goes on to be re-employed within the National Health Service, further ensuring better value for the tax payer.

    NHS England takes seriously its responsibilities to ensure that redundancy is a last resort and has implemented a system to seek to re-deploy any staff affected by such change to retain knowledge, skills and capability within the organisation, where at all possible.

    NHS England has a responsibility for ensuring that maximum value for money for taxpayers is delivered, whilst seeking to improve health outcomes for patients through effective commissioning arrangements. As a direct employer of 6,000 people, NHS England has a responsibility to continually improve the way it delivers both commissioning and the provision of the services for which it is directly accountable, which includes the regular review of its workforce arrangements.

    NHS England has advised that its redundancy costs for 2012-13 were £54,000, which represented 0.1% of total expenditure. For 2013-14 the costs were £1,017,000, which represented 0.003% of total expenditure.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2014-05-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has further plans to expand the Public Defender Service beyond the first phase of recruits.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    We are still concluding the recruitment campaign from 20 January 2014 and expect some further appointments to the PDS to be confirmed as a result of that.

    In the current circumstances the Government will take the necessary steps to ensure availability of representation in Very High Cost Cases in which legally aided defendants are currently unrepresented. This could include increasing the capacity of the Public Defender Service. It remains open to the self-employed Bar to accept instructions on these cases, and we would welcome the maximum possible participation of the self-employed Bar in this regard.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-05-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many strategic clinical networks currently have a breast network site-specific group; and how many times each such group met in 2013-14.

    Jane Ellison

    The requirement for the provision of site-specific groups (SSGs), such as those for breast cancer, is written into national cancer peer review requirements. In consultation with strategic clinical networks (SCNs), NHS England has developed an SCN framework. The framework reiterates the role and importance of clinical networking groups as support for the commissioning process, but allows for local agreement to how those groups are supported.

    There are 12 SCNs and we would expect all to have a breast network SSG. This will be evidenced by the annual report published for the SCN and relevant area team. The National Peer Review Programme “Manual for Cancer Services; Breast Cancer Measures” states that network groups should meet regularly.

    The Review Programme further states that the network group should produce an annual work programme in discussion with the SCN and agreed with the director of the relevant Area Team. It should include details of any planned service developments and should specify the personnel responsible and the timescales for implantation. The SSGs also develop protocols for the treatment of patients within the SCN and agree audits and research projects that will be supported.

    The Review Programme also states that network groups should meet regularly. It gives guidance on the roles that should be represented on the group but not numbers.

    We do not hold information on how many breast network SSGs existed and how many times each group met prior to April 2013.

  • 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 2014-05-01.

    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 number and proportion of visually impaired voters who receive election communication in a format they can understand.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that Returning Officers (ROs) are responsible for issuing election-related communications such as poll cards and postal voting statements which must, by law, contain information telling the recipient what to do if they need the information provided in a different format. It is for ROs, in discharging their duties, to identify how best to meet the needs of individuals in their area who are visually impaired. The Commission has made no assessment of the numbers of voters who receive information from ROs in their preferred format.

    The Commission also informs me that it ensures that its public information campaigns are accessible to those with visual impairments, and that the voter registration and information materials it produces are available in a variety of formats including Braille and Easy Read. The Commission has written to the RNIB, following the evidence they gave to the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee on 1 May, to offer to meet to discuss what else could be done to help ensure that those with visual impairments can register and vote.

  • Gerald Kaufman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gerald Kaufman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 24 March 2014 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr M Barnes.

    Elizabeth Truss

    My Rt. hon Friend, the Secretary of State, replied to the Rt. hon Gentleman’s letter on 25 April 2014.

  • Harriet Harman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Harriet Harman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Harriet Harman on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of schools in England provide the minimum level of cultural education proposed in Appendix A of Cultural Education: a summary of programmes and opportunities, published in July 2013; and if he will make a statement.

    Elizabeth Truss

    The Department for Education does not collect data on the number or proportion of schools in England providing the minimum level of cultural education proposed in Appendix A of Cultural Education: a summary of programmes and opportunities. Nor does the Department collect data on what proportion of pupils, of any age, have received the minimum level of cultural education it proposes.

    The levels of cultural education the Appendix proposes are not mandatory, but are included as a point of reference for schools.

  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the total number of refugees and asylum seekers from Syria resident in the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    While published statistics provide data on the number of Syrian’s who have
    applied for asylum in the UK (4,714 between 2001-2013), how many have been
    granted refugee status (2,182) or refused (2,065) and how many have been
    removed (305 between 2004 and 2013), it is not possible to confirm the total
    number of refugees and asylum seekers from Syria resident in the UK.

  • Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will bring forward proposals to relocate (a) staff and (b) offices of her Department to Brighton; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Alan Duncan

    DFID currently has dual UK headquarters in London and Scotland. We have no plans to relocate staff to Brighton.

  • Jim Murphy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Murphy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Murphy on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to ensure that there is a renewed focus on the millennium development goals which have not yet been attained.

    Justine Greening

    Despite remarkable progress, some countries are off-track to meet MDG targets. In response, the Government has increased development assistance to fragile states, driven forward work to help unlock the potential of girls and women and focused more resources on creating the jobs, investment and growth that emerging and frontier markets need to escape poverty.

  • Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people are employed full-time solely on accident prevention in (a) his Department and (b) Public Health England.

    Jane Ellison

    A number of Departmental and Public Health England staff work on areas relevant to accident prevention, but they are employed within teams with wider public health and social care interests rather than being solely employed full-time on accident prevention.