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Tag: 2015

  • Helen Goodman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Helen Goodman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2015-09-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if a disabled young person will be able to make a claim under the Access to Work scheme if required to undergo a traineeship or unpaid work experience under the Earn or Learn policy.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Access to Work is available to individuals aged 16 or over whose disability or health condition affects the way they undertake employment or some pre-employment related activities. This would include a supported traineeship or a Jobcentre Plus Work Trial.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions his Department has had with the US embassy in London on plans by that embassy to open a reading room to allow parliamentarians to read classified documents on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership; and if he will make representations to his US counterpart to enable such documents to be (a) placed in the Library and (b) made publicly available; and if he will make a statement.

    Anna Soubry

    A large number of documents related to these negotiations are available on the European Commission’s website on the page ‘EU negotiating texts in TTIP’. We are working with our counterparts in the European Commission and the US to both declassify as many documents as practicable and to give UK parliamentarians equivalent access to classified documents related to this agreement as that afforded to Members of the European Parliament.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2015-09-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the Cayman Islands government’s progress towards implementing a central register of beneficial ownership; and what steps he is taking to ensure that that government publishes a timetable for that implementation by November 2015.

    Mr David Gauke

    The international standards on anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing, including transparency of legal persons, are set by the Financial Action Task Force. The British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands are members of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force and are subject to mutual evaluations of their AML/CTF regime through this body.

    At the December 2014 Joint Ministerial Council, the UK and the Overseas Territories committed to continue to work together in raising international standards to tackle money laundering, tax evasion, illicit finance and corruption, leading by example given the importance of our financial centres to the international financial system. In March, the Minister for the Overseas Territories and I wrote to the Premiers of the BVI and Cayman Islands asking them to set out plans and a timetable for the implementation of central registers of company beneficial ownership, or similarly effective systems, by the November Joint Ministerial Council.

    Any system should meet the following three criteria: UK and domestic law enforcement and tax authorities must be able to access company beneficial ownership information without restriction, subject to relevant safeguards; these competent authorities should be able to quickly identify all companies that a particular beneficial owner has a stake in, without needing to submit multiple and repeated requests; and companies or their beneficial owners must not be alerted to the fact that an investigation is under way.

    The UK Government continues to engage actively with the BVI and Cayman Islands to emphasize the importance of this agenda and to offer any technical support that might be required.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits to the UK economy of blockchain technology.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government Office for Science is conducting a review of distributed ledger technology, which encompasses Blockchain technology, to highlight the potential benefits of distributed ledgers to the delivery of public services, and to help government identify and remove roadblocks to their safe and effective use.

    The review is being conducted by a panel of experts drawn from academia, business and government under the direction of the Government Chief Scientific Adviser. Their findings and recommendations will be published in a report this autumn.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many police officers, at each rank, of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary are deployed at Dounreay nuclear power station; and whether she plans to increase the number of such officers.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Security at Dounreay nuclear site is a high priority for the Government. However, the Government does not comment on security at nuclear sites. Allocation of officers at Dounreay nuclear site is subject to the same processes and rules as other civil nuclear sites in the United Kingdom as regulated by the Office of Nuclear Regulation.

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

    Andrew Stephenson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cases of sepsis there were in (a) East Lancashire, (b) the North West and (c) England in each of the last three years.

    Ben Gummer

    Data for finished discharge episodes (FDEs) with a primary or secondary diagnosis of sepsis for East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) of Residence, North West Government Office Region of Residence, and England for years 2011-12 to 2013-14 are provided below.

    These figures refer only to hospital admissions and are not a count of patients as a patient may have had more than one episode of care within the same year.

    Count of FDEs1 with a primary or secondary diagnosis2 of sepsis3 for East Lancashire CCG of Residence4, North West Government Office Region of Residence5 and England for 2011-12 to 2013 -14. Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    NHS East Lancashire CCG of residence

    449

    547

    837

    North West England government office region of residence

    13,109

    14,708

    17,221

    England

    101,015

    114,285

    122,822

    Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

    Notes:

    Note that HES include activity ending in the year in question and run from April to March, eg 2012-13 includes activity ending between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013.

    1. FDE – A discharge episode is the last episode during a hospital stay (a spell), where the patient is discharged from the hospital or transferred to another hospital. Discharges do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one discharge from hospital within the period.

    2. Number of episodes in which the patient had a primary or secondary diagnosis – The number of episodes where this diagnosis was recorded in any of the 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and 7 prior to 2002-03) primary and secondary diagnosis fields in a HES record. Each episode is only counted once, even if the diagnosis is recorded in more than one diagnosis field of the record.

    3. ICD – 10 codes for Sepsis – A02.1 Salmonella sepsis, A20.7 Septicaemic plague. A21.7 Generalized tularaemia, A22.7 Anthrax sepsis. A26.7 Erysipelothrix sepsis, A28.0 Pasteurellosis, A28.2 Extraintestinal yersiniosis

    A32.7 Listerial sepsis, A39.2 Acute meningococcaemia, A39.3 Chronic meningococcaemia, A39.4 Meningococcaemia, unspecified, A40.- Streptococcal sepsis, A41.- Other sepsis, A42.7 Actinomycotic sepsis, B37.7 Candidal sepsis, O85.X Puerperal sepsis, P36.- Bacterial sepsis of newborn

    The following pair of codes is a dagger/asterisk code pair (D and A) which must be present together: A39.1 Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome

    E35.1 Disorders of adrenal glands in diseases classified elsewhere

    4. CCG of Residence – The CCG containing the patient’s normal home address. This does not necessarily reflect where the patient was treated as they may have travelled to another area for treatment.

    5. Government Office Region of Residence – The Government Office Region of residence of the patient. It is derived from the patient’s postcode.

    6. Assessing growth through time (Admitted patient care).

    HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, apparent reductions in activity may be due to a number of procedures which may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and so no longer include in admitted patient HES data. Conversely, apparent increases in activity may be due to improved recording of diagnosis or procedure information.

  • Craig Mackinlay – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Craig Mackinlay – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Mackinlay on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will undertake an urgent review into the increased use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) on people considered incapacitated without their consent; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a ban on the forced use of ECT.

    Alistair Burt

    The use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for patients who are detained for treatment under the Mental Health Act 1983 (the Act) and for all patients under 18 years is governed by section 58A of the Act. If a patient lacks the capacity to consent a second opinion appointed doctor (SOAD) must certify that the patient lacks the capacity to consent and that:

    – the treatment is appropriate;

    – no valid and applicable advance decision has been made by the patient under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) refusing the treatment in question;

    – no suitably authorised attorney or deputy objects to the treatment on the patients behalf; and

    – the treatment would not conflict with a decision of the Court of Protection which prevents the treatment being given.

    The numbers of these second opinions involving ECT have been declining for the past decade though there has been an increase since 2012/13. It is not clear whether this is a change in overall trend.

    The requirements of section 58A can only be overridden in emergency if the treatment is necessary to save the patient’s life and to prevent a serious deterioration of the patient’s condition, and the treatment does not have unfavourable physical or psychological consequences which cannot be reversed.

  • David Burrowes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Burrowes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the contribution of the Minister for Policing, Crime and Criminal Justice in the Second Delegated Legislation Committee on the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Temporary Class Drug) (No. 2) Order 2015 on 14 September 2015, whether the family impact test will be included in all future impact assessments.

    Mr John Hayes

    As part of the policy development process Home Office officials are expected to consider the published Family Test guidance when assessing the impacts of the Department’s policies. In accordance with this guidance, the Family Test will be applied for all future orders seeking to control drugs that are dangerous or otherwise harmful when misused, where there are tangible impacts on families and it is proportionate to do so.

  • Edward Garnier – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Edward Garnier – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Garnier on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what representations he has received on the continuance of the criminal courts; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Selous

    I have received clarification that the Honourable and Learned member was referring to the Criminal Courts Charge

    To date my department has received representations from the magistracy, defence practitioners, the Law Society and the Bar Council

    It is important that this change, which has been approved by Parliament to make sure our justice system is fair and that those who offend pay their way, is given time to bed in. This will allow us to form an appropriate view. The government will be reviewing the provisions in due course.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many nuclear attack submarines were employed in the hunt for a suspected Russian submarine to the west of the United Kingdom this year.

    Lord Astor of Hever

    We do not discuss the detail of maritime operations as this would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.