Tag: 2016

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Rapid Review Panel process can be extended to medical device technology, and if not, why not.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Rapid Review Panel’s (RRP) primary remit is the evaluation of products for potential use in the National Health Service, to support claims of improved efficiency or efficacy of infection prevention and control interventions i.e. products that could reduce healthcare associated infections. The RRP, however, does not have the remit to regulate the safety of therapeutic products such as medical devices.

    Due to the requirements of safety assurance and regulation of therapeutic products, which are verified through Notified Bodies applying a Conformité Européenne (CE) marking, medical device technology falls within the remit of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The MHRA’s Innovation Office is set up to assist companies in the regulation of novel medical devices.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to support children with Kawasaki disease.

    George Freeman

    The Government published the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases in November 2013. The strategy contains over 50 commitments to ensure people living with a rare disease, such as Kawasaki disease, have access to the best evidence-based care and treatment that health and social services, working with charities, researchers and industry can provide.

    It is the responsibility of the professional regulators to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricular to ensure newly qualified healthcare professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. This includes training in both scarlet fever and Kawasaki disease.

    Health Education England works with bodies that set curricula such as the General Medical Council and the Royal Colleges to seek to ensure training meets the needs of patients.

    The Department and its arm’s length bodies have not published any specific guidance on the similarities between Kawasaki disease and scarlet fever.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guideline on the assessment and initial management of fever in under 5s sets out the circumstances in which a diagnosis of Kawasaki disease should be considered, and Public Health England (PHE) has endeavoured to keep healthcare professionals, schools and the general public informed of the increased incidence of scarlet fever through timely information, news stories and updates on the PHE website and by using social and other media. These awareness raising measures assist general practitioners and other frontline healthcare professionals in reaching a correct diagnosis more quickly and encourage patients to seek medical advice early so that suspected cases receive prompt antibiotic treatment to reduce the risk of complications and limit further transmission.

  • Phillip Lee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Phillip Lee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phillip Lee on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what measures she has put in place to improve ministerial oversight of aid programmes.

    Justine Greening

    I have introduced more stringent ministerial sign off controls and this is backed up by thorough monitoring and evaluation processes and management information to better identify underperforming programmes so they can be dealt with.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport of 11 May 2016, Official Report, HC Deb, column 692, when officials began working on the proposals to implement the 15-minute threshold for rail journey compensation; from what date he expects that customers will be able claim compensation under that threshold; and if he will make a statement.

    Claire Perry

    We are committed to improving compensation arrangements for passengers. The Chancellor announced in his Autumn 2015 Spending Review that passengers will soon have access to compensation when trains are over 15 minutes late. We expect to make an announcement on this in the next few months.

    We will work with the rail industry to agree the best possible deal for passengers in implementing this improvement and will set out the details of when the new arrangements will be in place shortly.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) reservists, (b) Cadet Forces adult volunteers and (c) cadets of the three services there are in West Sussex.

    Mark Lancaster

    As at 1 July 2016 there were an estimated 100 personnel in the Future Reserves 2020 stationed in West Sussex.

    The MOD publishes annual information on Cadets and Cadet Force Adult Volunteers (CFVA) through the MOD Sponsored Cadets Statistics. The latest publication was as at 1 April 2016 and can be accessed at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/526131/MOD_sponsored_cadet_forces__statistics_2016.pdf

    This data is not broken down by region so information on the number of Cadets and CFAV in West Sussex is not held in the format requested.

    “

  • Khalid Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Khalid Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the total amount of capital spending per capita by Highways England was in (a) Birmingham, (b) the West Midlands Metropolitan County and (c) each region of England from 2009-10 to the most recent financial year for which information is available.

    Mr John Hayes

    The majority of the capital investment made by Highways England (and the Highways Agency prior to April 2015) is in large schemes that cross city, county and regional boundaries. Data cannot be meaningfully collected on this basis.

    However, for the purpose of national transport statistics, spend is apportioned between regions using an established estimation process and is published up to the financial year 2013/14 at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/transport-statistics-great-britain in the series of tables TSGB0717 / RDE0101.

    “

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions his Department has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the transition to the equalised state pension for women affected by those changes.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland are in regular contact on the range of pensions issues. Additionally, DWP Ministers meet from time to time with the Northern Ireland Minister for Social Development to discuss matters of common interest. Indeed, the Minister for Pensions is scheduled to meet the Minister for Social Development next month to discuss a number of pension matters.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any future plans to make all secondary schools academies.

    Lord Nash

    The government’s ambition is for every school to have the opportunity to become an academy. Over 60 per cent of secondary schools have already become academies and we want to encourage more schools to do this. The Education and Adoption Bill, currently going through Parliament, will enable us to intervene more quickly to turn underperforming schools into academies.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the 20,000 refugees promised to be accepted in the UK will have arrived by May.

    Lord Bates

    The Government is working closely with local authorities, international delivery partners and the voluntary sector, putting in place the plans and structures to deliver this and ensuring the system is scaled up in a way that protects the interests of all concerned. The number resettled in a particular period will depend on a range of factors. This includes the number of referrals we have received from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the number of confirmed places we have received from local authorities that are suitable for the specific needs of those who have been accepted for resettlement. Progress on resettlement will be indicated in quarterly immigration statistics – the last set were published in February 2016 and showed 1,085 people resettled between October and December 2015.

    The Government remains on track to resettle 20,000 refugees by the end of the Parliament.

  • Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2016 on Question 30222, what further work in the collection and publication of data on secondary breast cancer by hospital trusts in England is being scoped.

    Jane Ellison

    Data on breast cancer recurrence has been mandated in the Cancer Services and Outcomes Dataset (COSD) for diagnoses from 1 January 2013. The National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS) in Public Health England (PHE) estimates about one-quarter of recurrences are currently submitted. NCRAS will support trusts to improve their submission of data by producing reports on the number of recurrences submitted by each National Health Service trust. These will enable the identification of best practise to be shared, and enable us to engage with trusts that are not submitting data.

    Data on all cancer recurrence has been mandated in COSD since 31 July 2015.

    In addition further work is being scoped by NHS England and PHE based on the recommendation in the recent Independent Cancer Taskforce report to establish robust surveillance systems to collect relapse and recurrence data on all cancers.