Tag: 2015

  • Henry Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Henry Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plan to respond to the Accelerated Access Review: Interim Report, published in October 2015; and if he will make a statement.

    George Freeman

    The Interim Report of Sir Hugh Taylor’s Accelerated Access Review (AAR) is a deliberately high level document that indicates direction of travel; as such, government will be responding to the AAR’s conclusions when its final recommendations are published early in the spring of 2016.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the number of Christians who have left Iraq in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK Government continues to condemn in the strongest terms the atrocities committed by ISIL in Iraq against all communities, including Christians, throughout the areas under its control. The human rights situation for many living in ISIL-held areas remains of grave concern.

    We do not currently have estimates for the number of Christians who have fled Iraq due to the atrocities carried out by ISIL. We do, however, continue to encourage Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi to ensure all minorities are represented in Baghdad and their rights protected. We welcome the commitments he has made to inclusivity, to protecting Iraqi citizens, addressing human rights abuses and holding those responsible to account. We continue to engage with minority leaders in Iraq. On Monday 10 November, the Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Anelay of St Johns met with Father Pios, a Catholic priest sheltering Internally Displaced Persons in Iraq, and she discussed the situation of Christians in the country.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Charlotte Leslie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the integrated health and social care system in Northern Ireland in formulating policy on how to better integrate health and social care.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department regularly reviews international evidence in relation to integrated health and social care services. While Northern Ireland has had a structurally integrated health and social care system since 1973, and in more recent years has undergone a restructure in an effort to deliver more coordinated and integrated care, academic evaluation of integration in Northern Ireland has been relatively limited to date. Nonetheless, officials continue to monitor new publications on this subject.

    It is important to note that while there is a growing body of evidence from around the world about what works with regard to integration, no country has successfully delivered integration on a universal scale. Moreover, due to fundamental differences in the design of different health and care systems it is not straightforward to apply lessons learnt elsewhere to the English system.

    More generally, the Government recently reemphasised its ambition to integrate health and social care across England by 2020, and will continue to monitor international evidence as policy is formulated with respect to this programme.

  • Tom Elliott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Elliott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Elliott on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the Nigerian government combat (a) Boko Haram and (b) other terrorist groups.

    James Duddridge

    We are fully committed to help Nigeria combat Boko Haram and fight terrorism. The UK is providing a substantial and increasing package of UK military, intelligence and development support to Nigeria. This includes increased counter-terrorism cooperation and capacity building, training and advice to units deployed against Boko Haram, £5 million to support a regional taskforce for the North East, as well as humanitarian and development aid to support communities affected by the conflict.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Charlotte Leslie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether victims of crime are informed when foreign prisoners are (a) deported and (b) expected to be released.

    James Brokenshire

    A victim may contact the Home Office directly or make a request via their Victim Liaison Officer (VLO) for information on the progress of a foreign prisoner’s deportation. When a request is received the Home Office will respond to the victim or their VLO on whether deportation is being pursued or has been enforced.

  • Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Poulter on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the expected average frequency of evening and weekend work by junior doctors under the proposed changes to junior doctors’ contracts.

    Ben Gummer

    NHS Employers’ evidence to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration – “Reform of national contracts for consultant doctors and doctors and dentists in training”1 – published in December 2014 during the hon. Member’s tenure as a Minister, included a profile of how the hours worked by doctors in training were spread across the week.

    We have evidence that hospital leaders consider the junior doctors’ contract to be a significant barrier to delivering more seven-day services. NHS Providers’ written evidence to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration on contract reform for consultants and doctors and dentists in training2 stated that the junior doctor contract is still a significant source of barriers to seven day working and reform of the junior doctor contract is also required to support trusts to deliver more seven-day services. In particular, the pay banding system for junior doctors needs to be reviewed. There were concerns from employers that the banding system is too complicated, can create “perverse incentives” for junior doctors and hospital management, and means that providing more seven-day services is unfeasible, since more junior doctors would be working outside core hours and receive premiums under the current banding system. NHS Providers also believe that more hours in a day and more days of the week need to be defined as core hours, as the current arrangement does not support the delivery of more seven-day services or reflect the needs and expectations of today’s patients.

    Future working patterns are for individual employers to determine. The evidence on doctors’ working patterns has not altered since the hon. Member was a Minister for Health.

    1 http://www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/pay-and-reward/pay/medical-pay/ddrb-evidence—in-detail/consultants-and-junior-doctors-contract-reform-submission-of-evidence-to-the-ddrb

    2 http://www.nhsproviders.org/resource-library/written-evidence-ddrb-special-remit/

    “

  • Peter Bone – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Peter Bone – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2015 to Question 18626, what estimate he has made of the average cost of (a) the five new prisons planned to be open in the current Parliament and (b) the four new prisons planned to open after the current Parliament; and what estimate he has made of the average time that will be taken from application for planning permission to completion in each such set of such prisons.

    Andrew Selous

    I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to PQ 18626 on 8 December 2015.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to promote his Department’s strategies to prevent cancer.

    Jane Ellison

    One of the independent Cancer Taskforce report’s six strategic priorities is to “spearhead a radical upgrade in prevention and public health”. NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to determine how best to take forward the recommendations of the report.

    As part of putting in place a governance structure for delivery of the strategy, NHS England has appointed Cally Palmer as NHS National Cancer Director. She will lead the implementation of the strategy, as well as new cancer vanguards using outcomes-based commissioning to redesign care and patient experience. Ms Palmer is Chief Executive of the Royal Marsden Hospital.

    Public Health England (PHE) runs a number of successful campaigns relating to cancer prevention.

    The tobacco marketing programme runs a range of activity to highlight the health harms of smoking. This includes demonstrating the link between smoking and cancer, as well as encouraging smokers to make quit attempts and signposting them to proven NHS tools and services to help. These programmes have been shown to have a positive impact on reducing adult smoking prevalence.

    PHE’s flagship social marketing campaign, Change4Life, aims to help families and children in England to eat well, move more, and live longer. Some cancers are highlighted as a health consequence within the campaign messaging. The campaign has enjoyed considerable success and unparalleled levels of engagement. Since its launch in 2009, more than 2.7 million people have signed up to Change4Life and it now has more than 200 national partners. Its tools and resources incentivise and encourage behaviour change.

    These complement the Be Clear on Cancer campaigns (BCoC) that encourage symptom recognition and earlier general practitioner presentation. BCoC campaigns have been running since early 2011 and have covered a number of cancers nationally and regionally.

  • Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 2.88 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, whether any of the additional funding for cycling infrastructure announced will be allocated to Hull.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    In his Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced more than £300m was being made available for cycling. The Government will set out its investment plans in the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, to be published summer 2016.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to protect 16 and 17 year olds from child sexual exploitation.

    Karen Bradley

    Tackling child sexual exploitation is a top priority for this Government. We have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat in the Strategic Policing Requirement, setting a clear expectation on police forces to collaborate across force boundaries, to safeguard children, to share intelligence and to share best practice.

    Significant progress has been made since the launch of the “Tackling CSE” report in March 2015. We have delivered the vast majority of a £7 million funding programme to support non statutory organisations that have experienced a surge in demand on their services. This funding is to support the victims and survivors of sexual abuse, including children of all ages.

    Furthermore, £1.6 million has been provided over four years (April 2012 – March 2016) for 13 Young People’s Advocates providing direct and dedicated support to young people who have been victims, or are at risk of, sexual and domestic violence and/or sexual exploitation. Funding of £1.72 million per year has also been committed to part fund 87 Independent Sexual Violence Advisers posts until March 2016.