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Tag: 2015

  • Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the relative safety, sustainability and threats to the environment of the various types of nuclear reactors used in nuclear power stations, including liquid fluoride thorium reactors.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The UK’s independent nuclear regulators assess individual nuclear reactor designs proposed for development in the UK. In doing so, their aim is to ensure the safety, security and high environmental standards of nuclear installations in the UK, rather than to compare proposed designs with each other. As yet, no liquid fluoride thorium based designs have been submitted to the UK regulators for such an assessment.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with her counterpart in Malta on the chairing of the environment sessions when Malta takes up European Presidency in 2017.

    Rory Stewart

    There have not, as yet, been any discussions at ministerial level with Malta on the chairing of environment sessions during the Maltese Presidency of the European Union in 2017.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Palestinian Authority on introducing legislation to abolish the death penalty.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Government opposes all use of the death penalty as a matter of principle, including sentences imposed by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. I have asked that my officials in Jerusalem raise the issue of the death penalty with the Palestinian Authority in due course.

  • Peter Grant – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Peter Grant – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Grant on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which other EU member states have stated that they are prepared to support proposals to amend the EU treaties.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Prime Minister. my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) has spoken to his counterparts in all other EU Member States, setting out the case for substantive reforms. He has been very clear that these reforms must be legally binding and irreversible and that in some areas that will mean treaty change. Technical talks are currently ongoing.

  • Mark Durkan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Durkan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Colombian counterpart on the recent assassination of three members of the Zenu indigenous peoples.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    Our officials in Bogota meet regularly with indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities in Bogota, and met the Zenu community of Córdoba in May 2015 in a joint visit with ABColombia. We have raised their demands for protection of their rights with the Colombian government, most recently through meetings with the Ministry of Interior on 5 August and 17 September.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations he has received on the provision of Group B strep tests for new-born babies.

    Ben Gummer

    Routine testing of babies for Group B Streptococcus (GBS) infection is not recommended. Therefore, no cost benefit assessment has been made by the Department on providing GBS tests to newborn babies.

    A search of the Department’s Ministerial correspondence database has identified 41 items of correspondence received since 1 January 2015 on GBS. This correspondence relates mainly to offering testing for GBS carriage in pregnancy.

    If a woman has previously had a baby with GBS, her maternity team will either monitor the health of her newborn baby closely for at least 12 hours after birth, or treat them with antibiotics until blood tests confirm whether or not GBS is present. The Department’s policy is not to offer antenatal screening for GBS carriage. This is based on advice from the UK National Screening Committee the body responsible for advising Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy, and their advice is because there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that the benefits to be gained from screening would outweigh the harms.

  • Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of alcoholics in each local authority area.

    Jane Ellison

    Data on numbers of alcohol-dependent people is not currently available by local authority.

    The Department has commissioned the University of Sheffield to produce local authority estimates and their report is expected to be published in spring 2016.

  • John Glen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    John Glen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if NHS England will develop a clinical commissioning policy on the use of extended half-life blood clotting factor products in people with haemophilia.

    George Freeman

    The Department plans to tender for extended half-life Clotting Factor VIII and Factor IX for use in the National Health Service once the products are granted European Union licences and are commercially available.

    NHS England has made no decision at this time to whether it will develop a clinical commissioning policy for extended half-life productsbut, through the Clinical Reference Group and discussion with the Department’s Commercial Medicines Unit, will continue to review commissioning of these extended half-life products in the future.

  • Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the article entitled GP practices offered questionable incentives to cut urgent cancer referrals, published in Pulse on 1 October 2015, what discussions he (a) has had and (b) plans to have with (i) those clinical commissioning groups referred to and (ii) the General Medical Council on such incentives.

    Jane Ellison

    The number of patients referred to hospital for urgent cancer checks has increased by more than 600,000 over the past five years, and we want it to go up even more to diagnose suspected cancers earlier. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has set out evidence based guidelines for when patients should be referred, and no clinical commissioning group (CCG) incentive scheme should cut across that. NHS England has contacted each of the CCGs mentioned to ensure that this is very clearly communicated to all practices.

    NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to determine how best to take forward the recommendations of the independent Cancer Taskforce Report and put in place a governance structure for delivery.

  • Stuart Andrew – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Stuart Andrew – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart Andrew on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much funding has been allocated to each region for providing congenital heart disease services.

    Jane Ellison

    Information on the amount of funding allocated to each region for providing congenital heart disease services and to each National Health Service trust for children’s congenital heart disease services is not collected centrally.