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Tag: 2015

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2015 to Question 15636, if he will make it his policy to collect data on which local areas are providing take-home naloxone for opioid overdose in people who use drugs; whether he plans to monitor the effects of provision of naloxone and instances of drug-related deaths; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    Local authorities are responsible for assessing local need and commissioning substance misuse services, using the public health grant, to meet that need. Public Health England (PHE) supports local authorities in this work and has provided advice on naloxone provision to commissioners and service providers for them to use in planning naloxone supply. PHE is providing support to areas with higher than average death rates.

    PHE is engaged in ongoing monitoring and analysis of drug-related deaths based on data collected by the Office for National Statistics, including matching with treatment data. PHE is investigating the use of this data to assess the impact of increased naloxone availability following the legislative change.

  • Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-12-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of why representatives of the cantons of Rojava were not invited to the recent conference of Syrian opposition groups in Riyadh, and whether they will call for their inclusion in any future meetings.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Kurds will play an important role in a political settlement for Syria. Members of all major communities of Syrian society participated in the Riyadh Opposition Conference. This included minorities such as the Kurds in the major political parties. Opposition representatives agreed to form a “High Negotiating Committee” to negotiate with the Syrian regime, under the auspices of the UN. The International Syria Support Group has agreed that protecting the rights of all Syrians regardless of ethnicity or religious domination is fundamental. The UK will continue to advocate this, as the political discussions continue.

  • Emma Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Emma Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what weighting has been applied (a) to the sparsity indicator within the children’s 0 to 5 services component relative to that for other components and (b) to address complex need within that component.

    Jane Ellison

    In the publication Public health grant: proposed target allocation formula for 2016/17, an engagement of behalf of the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA), ACRA proposed that there should be a sparsity adjustment to take account of the longer travel times to home visits by health visitors.

    The proposed sparsity adjustment is an index ranging between the values of 1.05 and 0.98 across local authorities, with an England average value of 1.00. The need weighted population for the 0-5 services component for each local authority is multiplied by this index to give the need and sparsity weighted populations.

    ACRA proposed in the engagement that the relative need weight per head for 0-5 children’s services should be based on the proportion of children in low income households. ACRA proposed that the weight per head should be four times higher for children in low income households than for other children. No further adjustment is prosed by ACRA.

    The engagement closed on 6 November and ACRA is currently considering the responses before providing its final advice to Ministers.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2015-12-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel about the treatment of Palestinian prisoners, and in particular of Wasim Marouf at Ofer prison.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Although we have not raised Wasim Marouf’s particular case, we remain concerned about Israel’s extensive use of administrative detention and also have concerns about mistreatment of Palestinian detainees. We have raised these concerns with the Israeli authorities on many occasions, including at Foreign Minister, Attorney General and National Security Adviser levels.

  • Julian Lewis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Julian Lewis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Lewis on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason callers to the International Enquiry Service of UK Visas and Immigration are charged £1.37 per minute.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office sets fees at a level that ensures it has sufficient resources to control migration for the benefit of the UK.

    Income from fees helps provide the resources necessary to operate the immigration system. The remainder is provided through general taxation. The Home Office aims to reduce the overall contribution of funding that comes from general taxation and increase the proportion of income generated from fees. We estimate that about 60 per cent of immigration system costs will be recovered through fees, a slight increase from last year. The remainder of the costs will be met by the UK taxpayer.

    To ensure that the system is fair and equitable, the government believes it is right that those who use and benefit directly from the UK immigration system make an appropriate contribution towards meeting the costs, thereby reducing the cost to the UK taxpayer. Customers can access a range of information on our application processes for free through our pages on gov.uk.

  • 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 2015-12-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 and the revised time and cost estimates to the Trident programme, when the next major orders will be placed for long lead items and hull fabrication.

    Earl Howe

    In 2016, we expect to approve the next stage of the programme to replace the Vanguard Class submarines and to commit to further investment to demonstrate the ability of the submarine enterprise to deliver the programme to time and cost. Long lead materials procurement continues within the on-going Assessment Phase.

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2015 to Question 15363, what assessments she has made of the capacity of traffic police to enforce fixed-penalty notices for the traffic offences relating to use of mobile telephones.

    Mike Penning

    Data on the number of fixed penalty notices issued by the police for using a handheld mobile phone while driving in England and Wales in the last five years is set out below.

    The enforcement of this offence is an operational matter for individual Chief Officers of police and decisions on the size and composition of a force’s workforce are for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners.

    Number of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) issued by police in England and Wales (1) for using a handheld mobile phone while driving, 2010 (2) to 2014:

    Number (thousands) England and Wales

    Offence

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    Use of handheld mobile phone while driving

    124.7

    123.1

    92.7

    52.4

    29.7

    Source: Police Powers and Procedures, year ending March 2015, Home Office

    Notes

    1. Excludes British Transport Police

    2. Data for 2010 is not directly comparable with data from 2011 onwards due to the introduction of the PentiP system which records FPNs in England and Wales. Data from 2011 onwards is slightly lower that comparative data from the previous system.
  • Richard Arkless – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Richard Arkless – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the potential change in numbers of Syrian refugees arriving in Europe as a result of the commencement of UK airstrikes in Syria.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We have not made any estimates of the potential increase in numbers of Syrian refugees arriving in Europe as a result of UK airstrikes. The majority of people who have been displaced in Syria have been fleeing regime and Daesh attacks. Unlike the Assad regime and its allies, who are bombing indiscriminately, Coalition military efforts in both Iraq and Syria are specifically designed to minimise civilian casualties. Targets are selected through rigorous protocol, based on the principles of proportionality, legality and military necessity. As the the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Philip Hammond) confirmed to the House on 16 December we are not aware of any civilian casualties as a result of the RAF airstrikes in Syria.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many sexual offences in which the offender was under the influence of alcohol were recorded in each of the last five years.

    Andrew Selous

    The information requested is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what mechanisms his Department has for quality assurance of the work of Solutions for Public Health.

    George Freeman

    It is the responsibility of NHS England to quality assure the work of Solutions for Public Health (SPM).

    NHS England has a service level agreement in place with SPM and this sets out the terms under which stand-alone clinical evidence reviews are conducted and completed. The agreed methodology is based on best practice within the health sector and the collective experience of experts in public health and clinical effectiveness.

    As additional assurance, draft evidence reviews are tested prior to their completion with members of NHS England’s clinical reference groups, which include clinical and patient experts relevant to the service or speciality concerned from across England. Evidence reviews are also now shared as part of both informal stakeholder testing and formal public consultation alongside the draft clinical commissioning policies that they have informed.