Tag: 2015

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2015 to Question 18370, on criminal proceedings, how many (a) men and (b) women make up the 9,578 figure; and what the sex of the lead defendant was in each case.

    Mike Penning

    Of the 9,578 cases where there were one or more defendants, there were 24,619 defendants in total. Of these, 20,877 were male and 3,603 were female. The remaining defendants were recorded as companies or unknown. To identify the lead defendant would not be possible without incurring disproportionate costs.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Saudi Arabian counterpart on (a) support given by nationals of Saudi Arabia to ISIS and (b) ways to stop such assistance.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Saudi Arabia has suffered first hand with a series of attacks on mosques by ISIL in recent months. Saudi Arabia has also been at the forefront of international efforts to defeat ISIL. Saudi Arabia was one of the first countries to participate in air strikes against ISIL in Syria, and the King and religious establishment continue to publicly condemn ISIL, and to emphasise that ISIL do not in any way represent the teachings of Islamic faith.

    The Saudi Arabian Government is working to reduce the threat that religious extremists pose in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, and has a comprehensive set of laws in place to prevent terrorist financing, which it enforces vigorously. The Foreign Secretary discussed UK–Saudi cooperation in tackling ISIL during his visit to the Kingdom on 28 October.

  • Ian C. Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Ian C. Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of passengers using Manchester Airport in (a) 2015, (b) 2020 and (c) 2025.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The last aviation forecasts made by the Department for Transport were produced in January 2013. These gave the following forecasts of passengers using Manchester Airport for the central demand case:

    (a) 2015 : 19.5 million

    (b) 2020 : 22.1 million

    (c) 2025 : 25.0 million

  • Seema Malhotra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Seema Malhotra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2015-11-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the increased tax revenue from extending the National Living Wage to those aged 18 to 25.

    Damian Hinds

    Younger workers tend to have less experience than older workers in the labour market, and so there is a risk that too high a wage rate may make them relatively less attractive to employers. So, to minimise any negative impact on employment of younger workers, the National Living Wage is limited to those 25 and over. The Government has not therefore made an estimate of what the fiscal impact of this policy change would be.

    The Office for Budgetary Responsibility estimate that, by 2020-21, the National Living Wage will increase income tax and NICs receipts by around £0.1bn, as set out in Table B.3 in of their July 2015 Economic and Fiscal Outlook. They assume that, by 2020-21, the overall impact of the policy on the public finances is to reduce public sector net borrowing by £0.2bn.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of changes to the severe disability premium on young carers.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Government has no plans to make changes to the existing Severe Disability Premium which is available in means-tested benefits such as Income Support. It is not a qualifying condition for an award of Carer’s Allowance that the person being cared for is entitled to the Severe Disability Premium. Neither Carer’s Allowance nor Universal Credit (which also contains an additional amount for carers) are available to claimants aged under 16.

  • 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 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve the assessment of medicines for rarer cancers with small patient populations.

    George Freeman

    NHS England has advised that it intends to jointly consult with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on proposals for a new Cancer Drugs Fund operating model. This will include the future arrangements for the evaluation of cancer drugs, including drugs for rarer cancers with small patient populations. Members of the public and any interested parties will have the opportunity to consider and comment on these proposals.

  • Lord Storey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether governors of maintained schools are allowed to agree a budget deficit.

    Lord Nash

    Governors are responsible for agreeing the budget of a school under the arrangements set out in their Local Authority’s Scheme for Financing Schools, which may preclude any planning for deficits; or it may allow schools to plan for deficits only in certain approved circumstances.

  • Wayne David – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Wayne David – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wayne David on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what representations she has made to energy companies to ensure they pass on reductions in the wholesale price of gas and electricity to the consumer.

    Andrea Leadsom

    DECC ministers and officials meet with energy companies on a regular basis to discuss a range of issues.

    The government expects suppliers to make sure any reductions in the costs of supplying energy are passed to consumers.

  • The Marquess of Lothian – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The Marquess of Lothian – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of concerns about the increase in antibiotic resistance, what assessment they have made of the recent study by researchers at King’s College London, published in the British Journal of General Practice, reporting a link between patient satisfaction and the prescription of antibiotics, in particular given that patient satisfaction is a contributory factor to GPs’ performance-related pay.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Government is aware of the research from King’s College, which shows the pressures that general practitioners face to prescribe antibiotics, even when they are not clinically appropriate.

    We have already taken steps to address this issue, in particular, through measures to educate the public on the value of antibiotics and when the use of these drugs is inappropriate. For example, the Public Health England (PHE) is undertaking work to reduce antibiotic prescribing in general practice through low cost and scalable interventions designed by behavioural scientists. In addition, PHE has developed the Antibiotic Guardian campaign to improve prescribing behaviours amongst healthcare professionals and to encourage the public to use antibiotics responsibly. Furthermore, all prescribers are encouraged to support antimicrobial stewardship by following guidance from the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence on antimicrobial stewardship, published in August 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 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have had (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful laser eye surgery in each of the last five years.

    Alistair Burt

    Corrective laser eye surgery (surgery to correct a refractive error) is not routinely carried out on the National Health Service other than for exceptional clinical reasons. Refractive errors can be successful corrected with glasses or contact lenses. Data is not collected on the number of corrective laser eye surgery procedures carried out in the independent sector or on the number of successful or unsuccessful procedures.

    The following table, provided by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, shows a count of Finished Admission Episodes (FAEs) for those diagnosed with disorders of refraction and accommodation who underwent corrective laser eye surgery between 2009-10 to 2013-14. This data includes a range of laser eye surgery procedures and is therefore not exclusive to corrective laser eye surgery.

    Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector

    Year

    FAEs

    2009-10

    318

    2010-11

    241

    2011-12

    276

    2012-13

    176

    2013-14

    195

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