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Tag: 2015

  • Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what is being done to raise awareness of diabetes and to encourage people to seek medical advice for this condition.

    Jane Ellison

    The NHS Health Check programme is one of the mandatory public health functions of local authorities in England. It aims to prevent some of the biggest causes of premature death and disability in people aged 40-74.A routine part of NHS Health Check involves assessing a person’s risk of Type 2 diabetes and, for those at risk, a diagnostic test to confirm whether they have the condition. This then informs a discussion on, and agreement of, the lifestyle and medical approaches best suited to managing the person’s risk of developing cardiovascular diseases such as Type 2 diabetes.

    As the National Diabetes Prevention Programme (NDPP) begins phased national roll out in 2016/17, the programme will be providing information that helps raise awareness of the risk factors associated with developing Type 2 Diabetes and the lifestyle changes that they can make to reduce their risk – including, if eligible attending the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme. This activity is already underway in our seven demonstrator sites that the programme is working with. Within Yorkshire and the Humber, Bradford is one of these demonstrator sites.

    Building on the NDPP, the Department is developing its plans to improve outcomes for those with and at risk of diabetes. These will be announced in due course.

  • Lord Beecham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Beecham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2015-12-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the breakdown of the lay magistracy according to the occupational groups with which applicants are required to identify themselves.

    Lord Faulks

    The requested information is no longer recorded.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason it is her policy that scores attained through the Reception Assessment baseline will not be scaled for age; if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policy of the findings of research published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies in October 2013 on the academic performance in school of pupils born later in the academic year; and if she will make a statement.

    Nick Gibb

    The reception baseline provides a score for each child, at the start of reception, which reflects their actual attainment at that point in time. The reception baseline outcome will be used as the basis for an accountability measure of the relative progress of the school’s cohort throughout primary school. If the results were to be scaled to a pupil’s age it would not be a true reflection of the pupil’s attainment at the start of school. For pupils born later in the academic year, scaling the score by age would disadvantage the school as it would result in a higher baseline from which the pupil’s progress would be measured.

    Reception baseline criteria is published online at: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/415142/Baseline_criteria.pdf

    “

  • Lord MacKenzie of Culkein – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord MacKenzie of Culkein – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord MacKenzie of Culkein on 2015-12-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have considered training nurses in England according to the approach used for trainee paramedics who receive a salary for the work they do while studying for their degree, and if not, why not.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department has no plans to move to the system proposed. Under the current system student nurses are supernumerary in the workforce during their clinical placements. This was introduced in the 1990s following criticisms, led by the Royal College of Nursing, that the employment model used student nurses as a major part of the workforce which did not effectively contribute to their learning, education and development to become competent registered nurses.

  • Ian C. Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Ian C. Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how the Government plans to implement Lord Leveson’s recommendation that regulatory authorities should be able to impose structural remedies and remedies which will change behaviour which can relate, if appropriate, to editorial independence and journalistic standards.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    In response to Lord Leveson’s recommendations on media plurality we asked Ofcom to consider how we measure media plurality in the UK. Ofcom published a framework for measurement on the 5th November. We will need to consider that framework and how we make a baseline assessment before we consider any further work in this area.

  • Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2015-12-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Dunlop on 25 November (HL3646), on what dates over the last 24 months the government of the Republic of Ireland attended in any capacity meetings held under section 1 of the 1998 Belfast Agreement; where the meetings were held; and what was discussed.

    Lord Dunlop

    The Government has held regular meetings with the Irish Government over the last two years. The Irish Government has not been in any negotiations or been involved in discussions about Strand one issues under the Belfast Agreement. As the Government set out in its Northern Ireland manifesto at the election, we are committed to upholding the well-established three-stranded approach.

  • Rehman Chishti – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rehman Chishti – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Chief Executive of Monitor on spending on mental health services during 2015-16.

    Alistair Burt

    In total, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have set plans for 2015/16 which reflect an increase in mental health care expenditure in excess of their increase in allocation for the year. NHS England is tracking actual expenditure against those plans and it will report to the Secretary of State at the end of the year on whether those plans have been met.

    Departmental Ministers meet the Chief Executives of NHS England and Monitor regularly and discuss a wide range of issues, including funding for mental health services.

    NHS England was formally established on 1 April 2013.Expenditure by NHS England on Specialist Mental Health Services for 2013/14 was £1.780 billion and £1.795 billion in 2014/15. NHS England’s planned expenditure on Specialist Mental Health Services for 2015/16 is £1.859 billion.

    NHS England has published CCG level expenditure on mental health for 2013/14, which was estimated to be £8.1 billion. CCGs are currently in the process of preparing estimates of expenditure for mental health services in 2014/15. Estimates for 2015/16 are not available.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gregory Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-12-01.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on the conclusion of its thematic review of the annuities market as to whether consumers are being treated fairly in the current financial climate.

    Damian Hinds

    The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) places a duty on the firms that they regulate to treat their customers fairly, and the FCA have wide-ranging powers of enforcement in pursuit of this objective.

    The FCA’s Retirement Income Market Study, which followed on from the work of the Thematic Review of Annuities and was published in March 2015, recommended greater use of annuity comparisons to encourage greater shopping around by consumers. The FCA are currently conducting behavioural tests on options for presenting these comparisons in the most effective way, and expect to report on these findings and any proposed rule changes in 2016. In addition, the FCA’s Retirement Outcomes Review, which will be published early next year, will assess issues from the Thematic Review – including the issue of eligible consumers not purchasing enhanced annuity products.

    The FCA also plan to consider consumers’ wider information needs in light of market developments following the pension freedoms.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the effect on the competitive parity of the Northern Ireland energy sector with that sector in other countries of the UK of the decision not to introduce a small-scale feed-in tariff scheme.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Energy policy is devolved in Northern Ireland and it is for Ministers in Northern Ireland to decide on what support mechanisms they deem appropriate and to assess what impact their decisions have on the competitive parity of the Northern Ireland energy sector.

    The primary focus of the current review of the Feed-in Tariffs is to ensure generators are incentivised appropriately whilst seeking views on how to control future costs. We therefore do not consider it appropriate at this moment to extend the scope of the scheme.

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Sarah Wollaston – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to provide additional practice guidance on applying planning policy and legislation in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

    James Wharton

    The National Planning Policy Framework provides strong protection for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is for decision makers to apply that policy and related legislation. The local planning authorities have responsibility for determining planning applications and developing local plan policies in the first instance.

    The strong protection for these valued areas is supported by planning guidance. We keep this guidance under review to ensure it reflects up-to-date planning policy.