The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-10-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of funding special guide dogs for children with autism.
Alistair Burt
There has been no assessment made centrally of this; it would be for individual charities to explore the potential for assistance dogs to support children and young people with autism.
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 spent on contributions to NATO training exercises in each year since 2010.
Penny Mordaunt
The amount contributed by the UK to NATO Common Funded training exercises in each year since 2010 is:
|
€ million |
£ million |
|
|
2010 |
5.197 |
4.480 |
|
2011 |
6.167 |
5.362 |
|
2012 |
5.405 |
4.394 |
|
2013 |
6.153 |
5.215 |
|
2014 |
5.093 |
4.107 |
|
2015 |
2.578 |
1.882 |
The figures for 2010-14 are actuals; the figures for 2015 are the current estimates.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsty Blackman on 2015-10-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, for what reason his Department’s three most recently published quarterly returns were all published on the same day.
David Mundell
Transparency information for the period July 2014-March 2015 was published on 15 October as the information was ready for publication.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the most recent review of the emergency response arrangements for a radiation emergency involving the nuclear warhead convoy was completed.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Ministry of Defence emergency response arrangements are subject to a continuous process of review through a regular series of exercises which test the effectiveness of the response. The most recent exercise took place on 12 November 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-10-29.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the security implications of the various options for disposal of plutonium.
Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
We expect the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) to submit a report to DECC to support us in our considerations on the policy options in due course. Informed by the advice from NDA, ministers will then make an assessment of the options, and decide on the appropriate next steps. Only when the Government is confident that its preferred option could be implemented safely and securely, in way that is affordable, deliverable, and offers value for money, will it be in a position to proceed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicola Blackwood on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much of her Department’s funding allocated in the Spending Review 2015 will be for research and development expenditure up to 2020.
Mr Sam Gyimah
It remains the Government’s belief that effective use of evidence and research has enormous potential to help schools and teachers improve educational standards and outcomes for pupils. It offers a way to make more informed decisions, to understand the impact of changes and improve professional development of teachers and other professionals. We are committed to ensuring that evidence-informed approaches to practice are a growing feature of education and children’s services.
The Spending Review set out settlements for departments and showed how the government will deliver on its priorities, eliminate the deficit, and deliver security and opportunity for working people.
Final decisions on internal departmental funding allocations for future years, including for research and development, have not yet been made.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-10-29.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government who are the members of, and what are the terms of reference for, the Department of Health’s Appraisal Alignment Working Group.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The current membership of the Appraisal Alignment Working Group is as follows:
Department of Health
Keith Derbyshire (Chair) Chief Analyst and Chief Economist
Danny Palnoch Senior Economic Adviser
Peter Bennett Senior Operational Research Scientist
Dr Mark Bale Deputy Chief Medical Officer
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
Leeza Osipenko Associate Director
Meindert Boysen Associate Director
Public Health England
Prof Brian Ferguson Director for Knowledge & Intelligence
Dr Anne Mackie Director of Screening
Monitor
John Curnow Economics Project Director
Zephan Trent Impact Assessment Lead
NHS England
Dr Donald Franklin Senior Economic Adviser NHS England
Amy Lee Economic Advisor
Brunel University
Prof Martin Buxton Emeritus Professor of Health Economics
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Representing Joint Committee for Vaccines and Immunisations and Safety of Blood Tissues and Organs
Prof John Cairns Professor of Health Economics
The current Terms of Reference (agreed with ministers in February 2014) is replicated below:
Appraisal Alignment Working Group [AAWG] Terms of Reference & Objectives
The Appraisal Alignment Working Group (AAWG) is comprised of policy and analytic staff who work in, or give advice to, DH and its ALBs on the cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness of programmes, technologies and policies.
The purpose of the group is to share knowledge on the various techniques employed across the Health and Care sector, to discuss and debate the pros and cons of different approaches employed, to consider ways of rendering results comparable, and to understand the reasons for differences in approaches.
The working group is not a decision making body. Rather it is advisory. Individual members representing different organisations will take back recommendations and questions to their parent bodies for consideration.
It is proposed to have meetings every six to eight weeks to achieve the ‘Must Do’ (e.g. primary) objective described below.
The ‘Must Do’
Before the next Spending Review, (pencilled in for June to October 2015), it is essential the Department of Health (DH) and its Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs) can present a consistent approach o HM Treasury (HMT) on the cost benefit of different programmes (e.g. vaccinations, screening new technologies). The cost benefit case for spending presented to HMT should follow public sector best practice as set out by HMT, in its Green Book. Therefore results of appraisals need to be capable of being expressed in HMT Green Book methodology terms (ie using the Green Book methodology as a “reference case”).
Having successfully achieved that, the Working Group will take stock and decide if the group (or some other forum) should continue and progress on three desiderata:
This work would be less time critical and could be pursued by meetings every eight to twelve weeks.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the size of his Department’s Rapid Deployment Teams in terms of personnel was in each year since 2010.
James Duddridge
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office Rapid Deployment Teams are a volunteer cadre of Foreign & Commonwealth Office staff trained to be deployed to augment crisis response overseas. Since 2010 we have had Rapid Deployment Teams based in London, Asia Pacific and the Americas. A fourth Rapid Deployment Team covering the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA) was introduced in 2012. In total, we have 185 active members of the Rapid Deployment Team globally consisting of 64 in London, 36 in Asia Pacific, 48 in the Americas and 37 in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia area. On call each week we have 12 London-based staff, 8 Middle East, North Africa and South Asia based staff, 10 Asia Pacific based staff and 11 Americas-based staff. These can be supplemented by additional specialists from the military, Police or British Red Cross. Around 72 new Rapid Deployment Team volunteers are trained each year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2015-10-29.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish their response to the report of the coroner David Hinchcliff, Inquests Touching the deaths of Christianne Shepherd and Robert Shepherd(Deceased), published on 18 September.
Lord Faulks
The decision whether or not to publish any responses is a matter for the Chief Coroner.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the applicability of new care models in the Five Year Forward view to inflammatory arthritis services.
Jane Ellison
NHS England is working to support and stimulate the creation of a number of major new care models, led by the vanguard sites, which can be deployed in different combinations locally across England. These models are designed to overcome the traditional divide between primary care, community services and hospitals, as well as social and mental health care, which is increasingly a barrier to the personalised, coordinated and integrated services patients need.
Improving continuity of care in this way is particularly relevant for patients with long term conditions (LTCs), such as inflammatory arthritis. A number of the vanguard sites (such as those introducing multispecialty community provider models and integrated primary and acute care system models) are focusing on the care of patients with LTCs. More information can be found at the following link:
www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/futurenhs/new-care-models/
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