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Tag: 2015

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) visits to the affected area and (b) meetings with United Utilities management Ministers of her Department held respectively during the cryoptosporidium outbreak in Lancashire in summer 2015.

    Rory Stewart

    The Secretary of State spoke with United Utilities (UU) Chief Executive, Steve Mogford, regularly throughout the incident, both over the phone and in person. Defra officials and Drinking Water Inspectors (DWIs) participated in regular meetings (several per day) convened by Defra and the Local Resilience Forum, all of which were attended by senior level representatives of UU. Defra Ministers were briefed similarly frequently.

    The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) team in the area attended the relevant UU sites to liaise with company officials and to carry out their monitoring and inspection duties on behalf of the Department.

  • 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 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for the security of sensitive nuclear information of the agreement announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 21 September 2015 on commercial nuclear co-operation with China.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    Security in the civil nuclear industry is of paramount importance to the Government. The UK has in place, robust security regulations which are enforced by an independent regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation. These regulations cover sensitive nuclear information as well as holdings of nuclear material and nuclear sites. The Government keeps the regulatory framework for security in the civil nuclear industry under continuous review. The Government welcomes Chinese investment to the UK, including in the nuclear energy sector.

  • Andrew Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what advice or guidance the Government provides on the potential risks associated with investing in or conducting business with Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    In December 2013, we placed advice online to raise awareness of the key security and political risks which UK businesses may face when operating abroad, including in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This includes guidance on Israeli settlements (www.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/overseas-business-risk-palestinian-territories)

    We advise British businesses to bear in mind the British Government’s view on the illegality of settlements under international law when considering investments and activities in the region. This is voluntary guidance to British businesses. It is the decision of an individual or company whether to operate in settlements in the Occupied Territories, but the British Government would neither encourage nor support such activity.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of (a) the total NHS staff budget, (b) spending on doctors and (c) spending on nurses was spent on agency staff in each of the last five years.

    Alistair Burt

    The information requested is not held centrally. The annual National Health Service budget does not specifically identify for a budget for staff costs. While the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts record the total amounts spent on agency staff from 2013-14, these data do not permit the proportion spent on doctors or nurses to be calculated.

    2013-14 was the first year for which the Department collected financial data from NHS trusts and foundation trusts in respect of net temporary and agency staffing costs.

  • 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, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of children who are the children of alcoholics who go on to misuse alcohol.

    Jane Ellison

    This data is not available centrally.

  • 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 studying in London medical schools are in their first year of study.

    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.

  • Iain Wright – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Iain Wright – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to introduce a target of a maximum of three months between being referred for a diagnostic assessment for autism and a first appointment.

    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.

  • Rosie Cooper – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rosie Cooper – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much Professor Patricia Hart was paid in total as Chief Executive of South Tees Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; and how many days in total she worked in that post.

    Alistair Burt

    These are matters for the South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. We have written to Deborah Jenkins, Chair of South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, informing her of the hon. Member’s enquiry. She will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the update on the current Cancer Drugs Fund list, published on 4 September 2015, what estimate he has made of the number of patients who would have been expected to receive the treatments which are being removed from that list in each of the next three years.

    George Freeman

    NHS England has advised that negotiations are continuing which may result in some drugs remaining in the Cancer Drugs Fund making it difficult to provide a meaningful estimate at this time.

    NHS England also advises that the planned removal of these drugs from the Fund will have no or minimal impact on survival rates for the cancers listed.

  • Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of eligible people took up Healthy Start vouchers in (a) Birkenhead, (b) the Liverpool, city region and (c) the UK in the last period for which figures are available.

    Jane Ellison

    The following table outlines the proportion of eligible people who applied for and received Healthy Start vouchers in Wirral (including Birkenhead), Liverpool, Liverpool City Region areas and the United Kingdom using the latest data covering a four week period. The take up rate is therefore a snapshot rather than an average of all four week cycles during an annual period.

    Cycle No. 161 Covering Period: 24 August – 20 September 2015

    Area

    Recipients

    Eligible

    Take Up

    Liverpool

    5,250

    6,557

    80%

    Halton

    1,141

    1,544

    72%

    Knowsley

    1,859

    2,287

    80%

    Sefton

    1,755

    2,344

    75%

    St Helens

    1,585

    2,003

    79%

    Wirral (Birkenhead included)

    2,834

    3,509

    80%

    UK

    430,620

    585,990

    72%

    Birkenhead Postcodes

    Beneficiaries (by Postal Sector)

    Under One

    Over One

    Pregnant

    Beneficiary Child with Pregnant Mother

    CH41

    555

    127

    387

    41

    67

    CH42

    607

    135

    432

    40

    51

    The numbers of families eligible and the take up rate for Healthy Start are not available below local authority level, so the figures for Birkenhead are included as part of the overall figures for Wirral. Numbers of beneficiaries for Birkenhead using postcode data are provided. All eligible people are contacted by the Healthy Start Issuing Unit and are invited to apply. The Department also publicises the scheme via the Healthy Start website and helpline.