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Tag: 2015

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many and what proportion of clinical commissioning groups have (a) had their transformation plans approved by NHS England and received funding and (b) been told their transformation plans need further work.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England have received and successfully assured Local Transformation Plans for children and young people’s mental health that cover every clinical commissioning group (CCG) in England. All CCGs will receive the funding allocation agreed through the assurance process by the end of December.

  • 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 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the call by the European Commission as part of the EU enlargement strategy for Turkey to lift media restrictions to improve respect for human rights and the rule of law, and to re-start comprehensive peace negotiations with Kurdish militants and constitutional nationalists.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We welcome the Commission’s EU enlargement strategy, which commends Turkey’s considerable efforts on refugees and recognises the progress Turkey has made in recent years. The strategy also highlights where Turkey needs to do more to meet EU standards through continuing reform, particularly in the areas of fundamental rights, including freedom of expression, and rule of law. As we have made clear, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) needs to cease its attacks and we fully support a resumption of peace talks. The UK stands ready to help in any way it can.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what basis Action Fraud determines which reported frauds to pursue for investigation; and whether the amount defrauded influences such decisions.

    Mike Penning

    Action Fraud is the national reporting point for fraud and also cyber crime. Crime reports received by Action Fraud are considered by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB), both of which are operated by the City of London Police. Neither Action Fraud nor the NFIB are investigatory agencies. Crime reports are evaluated to assess the information available which could assist an investigation, and to identify links between seemingly unconnected incidents. Where there is enough evidence available and a viable lead, actionable intelligence packages are created by the NFIB and are sent to the appropriate police force to consider whether enforcement activity should take place. All crime reports are assessed against a number of variables, which may alter according to demand. It would be improper to comment on the procedure on which these decisions are made in the public domain.

    Action Fraud was rolled out to all police forces in April 2013; the data below includes crime reports and disseminations in England and Wales only. For the 12 months to 31 March 2015, Action Fraud received 230,399 reports of crime. Of these, 14,509 were cyber dependent crimes, namely, crimes which can only be committed using computers, computer networks or other forms of information communication technology – for example, hacking or malware offences. These crimes fall under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. For this period, the NFIB disseminated a total of 61,682 crimes to Forces and partner agencies to consider investigation. For the period April 2013 – March 2014 Action Fraud received 211,221 crime reports and of these, 21,686 were cyber dependent. For this period, the NFIB disseminated a total of 39,138 crimes to Forces and partner agencies to consider investigation.

    Historically the Action Fraud capability came into life in 2009 and was funded by the National Fraud Authority (NFA), which has since been closed, a proportion of the NFA’s total budget was used to fund the Action Fraud Capability and is as follows:

    • 2009/10 £5.7 million including a £1.4 million uplift to set up the service

    • 2010/11 £4.9 million

    • 2011/12 £6.68 million

    • 2012/13 £9.4 million

    Since the closure of the NFA in March 2014 Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau have been funded by Home Office funding, Cabinet Office funding for Cyber Security and funding from the City of London Police core grant, and is as follows:

    • 2013/14 £11.11 million

    • 2014/15 £10.62 million

    • 2015/16 £11.03 million

  • Baroness Kennedy of Cradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Kennedy of Cradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to avoid bed shortages due to delayed discharges from hospital.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Since April, local projects across the country have been using the Government’s £5.3 billion Better Care Fund in an effort to reduce non-elective admissions and move people out of hospital more quickly, as part of on-going work to bring health and social care services together.

    In addition, the Government has made £400 million available to the National Health Service specifically to help with winter pressures in 2015/16. This money has been made available from the start of the financial year, enabling the health and care system to prepare more effectively than in previous years.

    The Department of Health is also working closely with NHS England and local government to develop a package of support to help local areas reduce delays in hospital discharge. This includes tailored support from the new Emergency Care Improvement Programme to help make improvement in the systems under the most pressure, and local government’s Sector Led Improvement Plan to drive improvement in social care.

  • 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.