UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: 2015

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on the demolition of the Samra School in Khirbeit Samra on 20 August 2015.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Whilst we have not raised this particular demolition with Israel, our position is clear; demolitions cause unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians; are harmful to the peace process; and are, in all but the most exceptional of cases, contrary to international humanitarian law.

    We regularly raise the issue of demolitions with our Israeli counterparts. For example on 24 September, Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Israel raised demolitions with Israel’s Justice Minister Shaked and on 10 September the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (David Cameron), and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Runnymead and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) raised this issue with Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paul Blomfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the lack of statutory regulation of child psychotherapists on patient safety.

    Ben Gummer

    Whilst statutory regulation is sometimes necessary where significant risks to users of services cannot be mitigated in other ways, it is not always the most proportionate or effective means of assuring the safe and effective care of service users.

    For the overwhelming majority of occupational and professional groups which are not currently subject to statutory regulation, including those groups recommended by the Health and Care Professions Council for statutory regulation in the past, the accreditation of voluntary registers by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) is the preferred option.

    The voluntary register held by the Association of Child Psychotherapists, which is a professional body for psychoanalytic child and adolescent psychotherapists in the United Kingdom, is subject to independent annual accreditation by the PSA. Accredited registers meet demanding standards set by the PSA including those relevant to governance, the setting of standards for registrants, education and training, and managing the register. This provides the public with assurance that is appropriate and proportionate.

  • Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which 50 areas have the highest incidence of the misuse of alcohol; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    We do not have any reliable data centrally for how areas are broadly affected by alcohol misuse.

    We do have data from the public health outcomes framework indicator for hospital admissions where the main reason for admission was alcohol-related. Data for 2013-14 for each local authority is attached.

  • 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 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many medical students are currently studying in medical schools in London.

    Ben Gummer

    The Medical and Dental Students Survey records the total intake for medical schools for the 2014/15 academic year for London as1,616.Data is not held centrally on numbers of medical students studying in London for their final year of study or current totals of medical students in medical schools in London.

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Bridget Phillipson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what measures his Department is taking to improve social care quality.

    Alistair Burt

    I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 13 October 2015 to Question 10428.

    “

  • Dr Tania Mathias – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Dr Tania Mathias – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dr Tania Mathias on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much central government funding was provided for (a) adult and (b) children’s hospices in the last year for which figures are available.

    Ben Gummer

    Adult hospices in England receive National Health Service funding locally for services commissioned by clinical commissioning groups. Central Government funding of £570,951 was provided as part of the Nursing Technology Fund Grant in 2015/16 to three adult hospices in England.

    In addition to NHS funding for locally commissioned services, children’s hospices received £11 million in 2015/16 through the Children’s Hospice and Hospice-at-Home Grant, which is administered by NHS England.

  • Helen Goodman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Helen Goodman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps (a) his Department and (b) NHS England are taking to ensure that autism diagnosis waiting times for (i) children and (ii) adults meet National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department has discussed with NHS England the difficulties that people on the autistic spectrum can have in getting an appropriate diagnosis in a timely manner. With support from the Department, NHS England and the Association of Directors of Social Services will undertake a series of visits to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to gather information that can be shared between areas that have arrangements in place to meet National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard 51 Autism: support for commissioning, and those that do not, with the aim of supporting more consistent provision. These NICE guidelines already recommend that there should be a maximum of three months between a referral and a first appointment for a diagnostic assessment for autism. We expect the National Health Service to be working towards meeting the recommendations.

    NHS England has also been working with the Health and Social Care Information Centre to develop the Mental Health Minimum Data Set. This will include provision for the diagnosis of autism to be recorded. This mandatory data set will, for the first time, provide data about diagnosis rates. The data will be published and available for everyone to use to support and develop services. NHS England has a commitment, over the next five years, to improve waiting times and this data will be invaluable for this. Information on average waiting times for autistic diagnosis in each clinical commissioning group area is not collected centrally.

    The Department issued new statutory guidance in March this year for local authorities and NHS organisations to support the continued implementation of the 2010 Autism Strategy, as refreshed by its 2014 Think Autism update. This guidance sets out what people seeking an autism diagnosis can expect from local authorities and NHS bodies including general practitioners.

    We are due to consult on how we set the mandate to NHS England prior to publication of the mandate itself. The mandate will be published following the Government’s Spending Review which is due to complete on 25 November.

  • David Amess – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department was consulted by the Home Office on the impact assessment for the proposals that Tier 2 visa immigrants from outside the European Economic Area must be earning £35,000 or more to qualify for indefinite leave to remain in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

    Ben Gummer

    The Secretary of State for Health and the Home Secretary have discussed the Government’s policy on immigration when it has been raised at internal government meetings.

    The Home Secretary asked the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to review the operation of the Tier 2 route of entry into the United Kingdom and they held a public consultation, which closed on 25 September 2015.

    However, on 15 October 2015 the Home Secretary announced that the Tier 2 restrictions will be temporarily changed for nurses so that they can be recruited from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) to ensure safe staffing levels across the National Health Service.

    Nurses will be added to the Government’s Shortage Occupation List (SoL) on an interim basis. The temporary rule change, which will apply to applications considered from December, will mean that nurses from outside the EEA who apply to work in the UK will have their applications for nursing posts prioritised.

    While nurses remain on the SoL they will be exempt from the requirement to earn £35,000. The exemption will continue to apply whilst the role is on the SoL.

    The Home Secretary has also asked the MAC to carry out a review of the evidence about whether nurses should remain on the SoL and to report back to the Home Office by 15 February 2016.

  • Stephen McPartland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Stephen McPartland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to amend section 62 f the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 to apply additionally to the possession of pornographic written material; and if he will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    The Coalition Government created a new criminal offence criminalising the possession of material that contains advice or guidance about abusing children sexually in the Serious Crime Act 2015. The offence is subject to a 3 year maximum prison sentence.

  • Mark Prisk – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mark Prisk – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Prisk on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the additional cost of policing the Ecuadorian Embassy due to the presence of Mr Julian Assange there in each of the last three years.

    Mike Penning

    This is a matter for the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service.