UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: 2015

  • Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-10-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many admissions there were to psychiatric inpatient wards for psychosis in each year from 2010 to 2015.

    Alistair Burt

    Data for admissions to psychiatric inpatient wards for psychosis in England is provided in the following table:

    Count of finished admission episodes (FAEs) with a primary diagnosis of psychosis in England, 2010-11 to 2014-15

    Year

    FAEs

    2010-11

    12,852

    2011-12

    13,150

    2012-13

    14,221

    2013-14

    14,658

    2014-15

    14,856

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

    Notes: Data for 2014/15 is provisional.

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

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons the cost estimates of the Successor class of submarines in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 differs from his Department’s previous cost estimates for those submarines.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Designing and building submarines is one of the largest programmes and one of the most complex activities that the Ministry of Defence and UK Industry has ever undertaken. It is the purpose of a design phase to improve our understanding of costs and timescales, which we have now done. The current estimates reflect what we have learned since the design phase began.

    As stated in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) 2015 (Cm9161), our latest estimate of the total cost to manufacture the four Successor submarines reflects greater maturity of the design and understanding of the supply chain, amounts to £31 billion; we will also set a contingency of £10 billion. This level of contingency represents about 35% of the costs to completion and is a prudent estimate based on past experience of large, complex projects.

  • Robert Neill – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Robert Neill – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Neill on 2015-10-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to page 21 of the Pharmaceutical Price Regulations Scheme, what steps he is taking to encourage academic health science networks to translate research into practice.

    George Freeman

    Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) have been set up to support local health economies to improve health outcomes in their communities, and maximise the National Health Service’s contribution to economic growth by enabling change through collaboration, and the spread of innovation and best practice. To do this, they bring together local NHS partners, academia and industry by acting as catalysts, brokers, coordinators, sponsors and knowledge-sharers.

    Speeding up adoption of innovation into practice to improve clinical outcomes and patient experience has been one of the four core contractual objectives for AHSN since their establishment in 2013. As well as directly supporting partners to diffuse specific innovations and best practice, AHSNs also work to create an infrastructure and environment that enables the development, identification and adoption of innovation. This work encompasses the establishment of partnerships and networking opportunities, as well as investment in infrastructure.

    AHSNs are supporting over 150 active programmes and projects across a range of clinical and cross-cutting themes. These have been selected in response to the priorities of their local populations and health economies. In addition to their individual programmes, AHSNs also work collectively to support national priorities which include a Medicine’s Optimisation programme. AHSNs are working with NHS England and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry among others to promote best practice that ensures patients, the public and society more broadly get the best outcomes from medicines. This includes programmes to encourage access to innovative medicines and to ensure safer use of medicines.

    AHSNs have taken a range of approaches in delivering their objectives. Case studies and exemplars of some their work can be found in the resources section of the AHSNs Network website: www.ahsnnetwork.com

    “

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department plans to spend on contributions to NATO training exercises in each year from 2016 to 2020.

    Michael Fallon

    The estimated UK contribution to NATO Common Funded training exercises in each year from 2016 to 2020 is:

    € million

    £ million

    2016

    6.441

    4.634

    2017

    5.939

    4.272

    2018

    6.411

    4.612

    2019

    5.840

    4.202

    2020

    5.840

    4.202

    These figures are based on the latest proposed ceiling for the NATO Command Structure and Entities Programme within the 2016 NATO Resource Plan, which has yet to be finalised and is still under discussion in NATO Headquarters.

  • Helen Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Helen Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2015-10-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the contribution that the Hoo Green to Bamfurlong spur of High Speed 2 is likely to make to reducing capacity constraints on the West Coast Main Line; and what account that estimate takes of (a) rail freight and (b) passenger services to Warrington Bank Quay and elsewhere.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Network Rail has identified[1] that crowding issues on the West Coast Main Line (WCML) mean that, whilst there is the potential to run a small number of additional services, the WCML will be effectively full by 2024. The lack of capacity will become even more acute beyond 2024 as demand continues to grow. This will negatively affect both freight and passenger services. The western leg of HS2 Phase Two alleviates these capacity constraints in the Warrington area.

    [1] Network Rail: West Coast Main Line Route Utilisation Strategy

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

    Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve the retention rate of newly qualified teachers; and if she will make a statement.

    Nick Gibb

    Teacher retention rates have remained stable for over a decade. Approximately 90 per cent of teachers are in service in the year after they qualify, and 72 per cent of those who qualified in 2009 were still teaching 5 years later. Over the longer term, over 60 per cent of teachers remain in service 10 years after qualifying.

    But we recognise that it is vital for schools to be able to retain good teachers – that is why we have made significant policy interventions in the areas that teachers tell us matter most such as improving pupil behaviour and reducing unnecessary workload. We have appointed behaviour expert Tom Bennett to lead a review to ensure new teachers are fully trained in dealing with disruptive children, and to consider all of the challenges of managing behaviour in 21st century schools.

    We have established three groups to address the biggest concerns that teachers raised in the workload challenge – marking, planning and data management. The groups will create principles for practice and make specific recommendations for action. All three groups are due to report to Ministers in spring 2016.

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

    Lord Bradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradley on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people serving (1) life sentences, and (2) imprisonment for public protection sentences, were authorised by the Parole Board for transfer to open prison conditions in each month since January 2013.

    Lord Faulks

    The table below gives a breakdown of the number of indeterminate sentence prisoners who were recommended by the Parole Board for transfer to open conditions.

    The data covers the period from 1 January 2013 to 31 October 2015, broken down by month, and distinguish between those serving a life sentence and those serving an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection.

    These figures have been drawn from a live administrative IT system which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

    Jan

    Feb

    Mar

    April

    May

    June

    July

    Aug

    Sept

    Oct

    Nov

    Dec

    Totals

    2013

    Open Recommendations made by PB:

    IPP

    57

    62

    66

    73

    69

    78

    61

    68

    67

    60

    64

    54

    779

    Lifer

    59

    48

    40

    48

    51

    51

    46

    43

    37

    47

    41

    27

    538

    Approved for Transfer:

    IPP

    52

    58

    59

    60

    70

    65

    77

    76

    63

    74

    47

    80

    781

    Lifer

    38

    63

    44

    40

    53

    38

    58

    48

    38

    50

    33

    47

    550

    2014

    Open Recommendations made by PB:

    IPP

    62

    68

    41

    74

    54

    49

    69

    48

    35

    44

    50

    48

    642

    Lifer

    44

    31

    31

    28

    36

    33

    40

    28

    17

    24

    38

    24

    374

    Approved for Transfer:

    IPP

    65

    46

    74

    45

    38

    26

    54

    43

    41

    64

    48

    46

    590

    Lifer

    30

    34

    39

    21

    15

    20

    23

    23

    28

    31

    20

    29

    313

    2015

    Open Recommendations made by PB:

    IPP

    61

    47

    49

    48

    46

    56

    38

    32

    33

    32

    N/A

    N/A

    442

    Lifer

    39

    28

    28

    25

    25

    38

    22

    23

    24

    33

    N/A

    N/A

    285

    Approved for Transfer:

    IPP

    57

    41

    54

    40

    42

    63

    55

    34

    35

    35

    N/A

    N/A

    456

    Lifer

    31

    16

    36

    26

    16

    33

    35

    24

    22

    22

    N/A

    N/A

    261
  • Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the Government will require the parts and equipment used in the construction of the Hinckley Point C nuclear power station to be manufactured in the UK.

    Andrea Leadsom

    As my rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State set out to the Energy and Climate Change Committee, EDF predict over 60% of the HPC project’s construction value will go to UK companies. The Government is working with EDF and other developers to maximise the opportunities for UK businesses linked to Hinkley and proposed future new nuclear projects. We have put in place a number of initiatives to help UK suppliers’ bid for new nuclear contracts.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many contracts between the National Health Service and the private sector have been subject to (1) contract query notes, (2) termination of contracts, and (3) financial sanctions, since the Health and Social Care Act 2012 came into force.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    As part of the transformation of commercial and procurement functions, NHS England and the clinical commissioning groups will be developing a centralised view of the contract data as recommended in the Centre for Health and Public Interest independent body report. Information in accordance with that report will be available in the future.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government is doing to encourage Saudi Arabia and other parties to the conflict in Yemen to refrain from using explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas in Yemen.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    International Humanitarian Law (IHL) provides that no weapon should be used indiscriminately, disproportionately, or to deliberately target civilians and civilian objects. These rules are applicable to situations where explosive weapons are used in populated areas.

    We take all reports of alleged violations of IHL in Yemen very seriously. We have raised our concerns with the Saudi Arabian-led coalition and received assurances that they are complying with IHL. We continue to engage with them on those assurances and urge all parties to the conflict to act in compliance with IHL.