The technical report issued by Norfolk County Council on 1 June 2016.
Technical Report (in .pdf format)
Tag: 2016
-
Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much G4S was paid for (a) bedding, (b) children’s birthdays, (c) Christmas allowances, (d) children’s sports and PE costs, (e) educational materials, (f) electricity, (g) staff uniforms, (h) staff training materials and (i) stationery at Medway Secure Training Centre for Young People in each year since 2009.
Andrew Selous
The Youth Justice Board does not hold this information.
-
Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-02-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action is under way to implement UN Security Council Resolution 2254 and previous resolutions on Syria.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
On 11 February, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), took part in the latest round of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) meeting in Munich to discuss with his counterparts how to best support the political process and necessary supporting steps, including a ceasefire and confidence building measures, called for in UN Security Council resolution 2254.
The ISSG agreed the need to implement a cessation of hostilities within a week, to delivering humanitarian assistance to named besieged communities by this weekend and to facilitate rapid progress in negotiations aimed at political transition. If implemented fully and properly by every ISSG member this will be an important step towards relieving the killing and suffering in Syria. But it will only succeed if there is a major change of behaviour by the Syrian regime and its supporters. Russia, in particular, claims to be attacking terrorist groups and yet consistently bombs non-extremist groups including civilians. If this agreement is to work, this bombing will have to stop: no cessation of hostilities will last if moderate opposition groups continue to be targeted.
-
Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-03-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations were made by the Minister of State for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise at the Pre Competitiveness Council on 29 February 2016, on the EC Circular Economy package.
Anna Soubry
My noble Friend Baroness Neville-Rolfe represented the UK at the meeting of the Competitiveness Council on 29th February 2016.
In the discussions on the Circular Economy Package, the UK supported the ambition behind the Circular Economy Action Plan and stressed that action should be prioritised to ensure ambitious use of voluntary approaches and measures to improve the coherence between existing EU legislation and initiatives.
-
Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-04-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the associated health benefits of some sweetened fruit juices, and of the impact of the sugar levy on sweetened fruit juices with such associated health benefits.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
The new soft drinks industry levy does not target pure fruit juices where no sugar is added. Fruit juices are part of the 5-a-day message as they have intrinsic nutrients and other health benefits.
Juice drinks with added sugar are in the scope of the levy because they can be reformulated and/or sweetened with less caloric sweeteners providing the same vitamins and health benefits without the added sugar.
-
Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-05-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to monitor the effectiveness of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency toolkit on the risks of valproate medicines in female patients in ensuring that female patients are better informed about the risks of taking valproate medicines during pregnancy.
George Freeman
Valproate is an effective treatment for epilepsy and bipolar disorder but should only be used in girls and women of childbearing potential if other treatments are ineffective or not tolerated. For some women there may be no other treatment option. Since it was authorised, valproate was known to have risks in pregnancy. Because of ongoing concerns about women’s awareness of the risks, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has worked with professional bodies, voluntary organisations and patient groups to develop a set of materials to aid communication between health professionals and women and girls.
The valproate toolkit comprises booklets for healthcare professionals, a reminder card and a guide for women, a checklist for prescribers and clear package labelling carrying a prominent warning about use in pregnancy. It was widely disseminated on 8 February 2016 through a Central Alerting System (a web based cascade system for issuing alerts to the National Health Service) and the MHRA’s Drug Safety Update bulletin. Electronic copies of the toolkit are hosted on several websites including the Electronic Medicines Compendium. Letters and hard copies of the toolkit were sent by the marketing authorisation holder directly to general practitioners (GPs), pharmacists and relevant specialists. This included 400,000 patient cards, 81,000 patient guides and 22,000 healthcare professional booklets.
In order to monitor the effectiveness of the valproate toolkit, the MHRA has sought feedback from all stakeholders and will continue to work with the Royal Colleges, professional bodies including the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, patient groups and relevant charities to increase awareness of the toolkit among GPs, pharmacists and patients.This work will include exploring how clinical commissioning groups can help ensure the toolkit materials are being used.
So far, the MHRA has worked with voluntary organisations and patient groups to produce online patient surveys to measure awareness of the risks among patients. Furthermore, MHRA is conducting a study using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink to track changes in prescribing of valproate to women and girls following the communications to healthcare professionals and patients on the risks of valproate in pregnancy. The marketing authorisation holder is conducting Europe-wide studies to measure the changes in patterns of prescribing and awareness of the healthcare professionals of the risks. The available data will be brought together in a regularly updated dashboard that will be used to track the impact of the communications on patient and professional awareness over time.
The Government has great sympathy for those families who have been affected by the use of valproate in pregnancy. There is support available for families with children born with a disability. For many people this will involve an early intervention programme from health visitors and midwives, to help a child develop, as well as provide support to the family. This might include: speech and language therapy – to help with any problems communicating or feeding; physiotherapy – to help with any muscle weakness or movement difficulties, and individual home teaching programmes.
Where a child has a special educational need the local authority must make support available to ensure the child had access to the same educational opportunities as a child without such a need. The Children and Families Act 2014 introduced a new statutory framework for local authorities and to work together to secure services for children and young people – up to the age of 25 – who have special educational needs or disability, across education, health and social care.
The MHRA’s current priority is to work to ensure that women taking valproate are fully aware of the risks in pregnancy. Once this is achieved we will look into the history of the episode and see what lessons have been or could be usefully learnt by examining events.
-
Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-06-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the potential costs of compliance with measures contained in the Investigatory Powers Bill to (a) the public purse and (b) private companies.
Mr John Hayes
The majority of the powers in the Investigatory Powers Bill already exist and will not incur additional costs. The Bill makes a new provision for the retention of additional data, known as internet connection records, by domestic Communications Service Providers who are under a data retention notice, to ensure that law enforcement continue to have the powers they need to acquire communications data as threats change and technology develops.
The Government’s overall published estimate of the costs associated with the Investigatory Powers Bill is £247 million. This includes costs associated with increased compliance and authorisation of warrantry and costs to the justice system for offences and changes to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal. These are set out in the Overarching Impact Assessment published on 4 November.
-
Lord Mawhinney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mawhinney on 2016-09-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they envisage any form of public consultation before they decide their negotiating position, once Article 50 has been invoked, on those relationships with Ireland that fall outside EU competence.
Lord Bridges of Headley
The Department for Exiting the EU will be conducting the UK’s negotiations to leave the European Union in support of the Prime Minister. We will be working closely with Parliament, devolved administrations, and a wide range of other interested parties.
Our relationship with Ireland is unique and we have already engaged extensively with Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The Prime Minister and the Taoiseach met in London on 26 July and the Secretary of State for Exiting the EU visited both Belfast and Dublin in early September to engage with government and business stakeholders.
We look forward to working closely with the Irish Government and other key stakeholders as we develop our approach, and to make the most of the opportunities for both countries.
-
Simon Hart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Hart on 2016-01-20.
To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker’s Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what information the Committee holds on steps being taken by IPSA to prevent errors in P11D forms for hon. Members occurring in future financial years.
Mr Charles Walker
I have received confirmation from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority that in 2014-15, an error with the mail merge used to create P11Ds resulted in incorrect forms being sent to Members.
I understand from IPSA that they have taken steps to improve the quality checking process, and that staff will receive additional training in the production of P11Ds. In the longer term, IPSA is planning improvements to its information management systems which should reduce the likelihood of data discrepancies, like the one that led to this incident, occurring.
-
Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-02-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether their strategy for rolling stock specifies the need for new diesel rolling stock to serve the rail lines not specified for electrification, and if so, how will they ensure that an adequate supply of new diesel rolling stock is manufactured and procured.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The success of the railways today, with additional services, greater passenger demand and significant Government investment, means that there will be a need for the future deployment of new or cascaded diesel units.
We believe that the franchising programme delivers the best solution for bidders to specify rolling stock to meet the required outputs. A proportion of the available quality points from the franchise evaluation are dedicated to plans for rolling stock. This means that bidders have every incentive to look for solutions, including new, when providing trains for a franchise.