The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the former Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, is a diplomat at Minister-Counsellor rank in the Qatari embassy to the UK; and if he will make a statement.
James Duddridge
According to our records Hamad bin Khalifa Bin Hamad Al-Thani holds the rank of Minister-Counsellor at the Embassy of Qatar in London.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many 16 to 19 year olds are being educated in elite sports academies provided in conjunction with existing sports clubs in each (a) sport and (b) local authority area; how many such academies have received Ofsted inspections; and how many such inspections are planned for 2016.
Nick Gibb
The Department for Education does not hold information on elite sports academies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Baron on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, in what way his Department will hold clinical commissioning groups responsible for making improvements along the cancer pathway including (a) early diagnosis and (b) supporting people beyond treatment.
Jane Ellison
NHS England is committed to reworking the clinical commission group (CCG) assurance framework for 2016-17 to reflect the triple aim of closing the gap on health inequalities, improving the quality of care and achieving financial sustainability, in addition to the themes of the Five Year Forward View: prevention; patient and community engagement; clinical priorities; and development of new care models.
Cancer has been identified as one of these clinical priorities, and metrics will be selected which reflect the strategic priorities laid out by the independent Cancer Taskforce, including early diagnosis and supporting people to live well, with, and, beyond cancer.
The assessment framework brings together the assurance framework and key metrics, and will incorporate future transformation as well as current performance. It will drive improvement rather than just assure and assess.
CCGs will receive an overall annual rating and, within the framework, will be rated for six clinical priorities of: cancer, dementia, diabetes, mental health, maternity, and learning difficulties.
CCGs will be rated on the same four point scale used by the Care Quality Commission: outstanding, good, requires improvement, or inadequate. The ratings for the clinical priority areas will be made by independent expert committees.
The metrics are currently in development and NHS England expects to publish a set for consultation in December 2015, at around the same time as the planning guidance, with a final version in March 2016. The assessment framework will come in to operational effect from 1 April 2016 and initial ratings in the six clinical priority areas will be published in June 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure a level transition for people moving from tax credits to universal credit in terms of the amount of benefits received; and if he will make a statement.
Priti Patel
We have put transitional protections in place to ensure that people on existing tax credits whose circumstances remain the same do not lose out in cash terms when they are transferred on to Universal Credit.
We will introduce regulations to give effect to these provisions in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Tier 4 visas have been issued to students entering the UK to study English as a foreign language as their principal area of study in each of the last five years.
James Brokenshire
Acquiring this information would involve examining each individual case record held by UKVI for the category. To do so would incur a disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people aged 65 and over suffered a hip fracture as a result of a fall in each year since 2009-10.
Alistair Burt
The information is not available in the request format.
Data within the Hospital Episode Statistics database is not recorded at patient level i.e. we are unable to provide a count of how many people suffered a hip fracture as required as the data relates to admissions. It is possible for a single person to have more than one admission in any given time period.
Admissions data with a primary diagnosis of hip fracture, and where there was an external cause of fall, for patients aged 65 and over is below:
|
Year |
Finished admission episodes |
|
2009-10 |
36,006 |
|
2010-11 |
35,734 |
|
2011-12 |
35,826 |
|
2012-13 |
35,669 |
|
2013-14 |
37,310 |
|
2014-15 |
36,993 |
Source: The Health and Social Care Information Centre, Hospital Episode Statistics
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to improve the reliability and collection of data on nutrition in countries in Asia and Africa.
Mr Desmond Swayne
DFID has been taking a range of steps to improve the reliability and collection of data on nutrition. These include organising an informal expert consultation on nutrition data gaps in June this year; working with the European Commission to establish National Information Platforms for Nutrition; developing innovative metrics and methods for agriculture for nutrition; continuing to fund the Global Nutrition Report, which gives particular focus to data quality and availability and continues to undertake analysis to identify priority areas for investment; funding the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) programme; and continuing to work with other donors to coordinate our funding on nutrition.
In addition, the UK and US jointly announced that they will partner with the GODAN Secretariat to organise a 2016 GODAN Summit. We will also commission research in early 2016 to test innovative and feasible approaches to collect data, with sufficient frequency in more fragile settings, which should enable better management of malnutrition when shocks and disasters arise.
The UK will continue to provide strong leadership to maintain global momentum on nutrition and will continue to work hard to deliver its promises to scale up its work on nutrition between now and 2020.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Sharp of Guildford on 2015-12-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are their estimates for the extra cost of supply teachers of HMRC’s proposals on not allowing staff engaged through agencies to claim tax relief on their travel and subsistence expenses.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
No estimates have been made for the extra cost of supply teachers following restrictions to tax relief on travel and subsistence expenses for those working through employment intermediaries. The planned changes will put supply teachers employed through an intermediary on the same terms as other supply teachers, either contracted directly, or through an agency contract.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the total number of passengers travelling independently through flight-only sales or independent bookings that have been affected by recent restrictions on UK-bound flights from Sharm el-Sheikh airport; and what steps the Government has taken to support those passengers.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Department for Transport has been in constant contact with tour companies and airlines operating in Sharm-el-Sheikh. All have been working in collaboration to ensure that information on flights to the UK has been provided to UK nationals on a timely basis, supported by travel advice issued through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, who have also been providing consular assistance on the ground. Since flights restarted on Friday 6 November 2015, over 16,000 passengers have returned to the UK. This includes those that travelled independently, for example on a flight only basis. Flights on 17 November saw the return of all UK nationals that wished to do so.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burgon on 2015-12-11.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department’s announcement on Government shares in Lloyds Banking Group, published on 18 December 2014, whether he had set a target for the (a) number of shares to be sold and (b) price per share for Lloyds Banking Group at the time of that announcement.
Harriett Baldwin
In December 2014 the Chancellor launched a trading plan to sell the Government’s stake in Lloyds Banking Group, which has since been extended twice; in June and December 2015. The number of shares sold over the course of the trading plan is subject to an overall volume limit of up to but no more than 15% of the aggregate total trading volume in the LBG over the duration of the trading plan.
The final amount sold will depend on market conditions, among other factors. Shares will not be sold below the average price the previous government paid for them, which was 73.6p.
As outlined to the House at the time of the trading plan’s launch, a statement with further details will be laid before Parliament when the plan concludes.