Tag: 2016

Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many affordable rent-to-buy houses are being constructed.

Brandon Lewis

Through the Autumn Statement 2015, the Government has committed to investing £8 billion to deliver over 400,000 affordable housing starts by 2020/21. This includes £1.7 billion to deliver around 100,000 homes for affordable or intermediate rent, of which 10,000 are to be affordable rent to buy homes that enable tenants to have the opportunity to save for a deposit while renting.

Bids into the Rent to Buy 2015-2017 programme are currently being considered. The prospectus for the new Affordable Homes Programme 2016-21 will be launched shortly.

01/01/2023
Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2015 to Question 902477, when he expects the Independent Commission on Freedom of Information to publish its review of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Matthew Hancock

It is for the independent Commission to determine the timing for submitting its response to Government.

01/01/2023
Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effects of proposed changes to the way in which drugs are assessed for inclusion in the Cancer Drugs Fund on cancer drug patients.

George Freeman

NHS England has advised that it envisages, under the new arrangements for the Cancer Drugs Fund, that a greater number of cancer drugs will be funded from baseline commissioning. This will be as a consequence of more appropriate pricing arrangements proposed by pharmaceutical manufacturers and better evidence being available through the Fund as to longer term patient outcomes.

01/01/2023
Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that community pharmacies are not adversely affected by the localising of clinical pharmacists in GP surgeries.

Alistair Burt

Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service and can play an even greater role. In the Spending Review, the Government re-affirmed the need for the NHS to deliver £22 billion in efficiency savings by 2020/21 as set out in the NHS’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy is a core part of NHS primary care and has an important contribution to make as the NHS rises to these challenges. The Government believes efficiencies can be made without compromising the quality of services or public access to them. Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive and so we are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

The Government’s vision is for a more efficient, modern system that will free up pharmacists to spend more time delivering clinical and public health services to the benefit of patients and the public.

We have been in detailed discussions with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) since December 2015 regarding the Government’s proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond, including the proposal for a Pharmacy Access Scheme. In parallel, we also want to hear views on our proposals from across the sector and from patient groups. We published our open letter to the PSNC on 17 December 2015 and on 27 January 2016 we published a set of slides setting out the proposals with a foreword by the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer.

We announced on 16 March 2016 that the consultation period was to be extended to allow more time to develop the proposed changes with the PSNC and others. It will now close on 24 May 2016.

Once we have carefully considered the outcomes from the consultation, we are looking to communicate final decisions as soon as possible, so that pharmacy contractors are fully informed some months before the funding reduction starts from October 2016.

The role of the general practice pharmacist is distinct from the role of the pharmacist in a community setting. However, they are synergistic. Pharmacists working in general practice will, in the main, work with patients who have long term conditions to support them with their medicines and self-management of their condition by helping with the development and review of individual care plans. These patients will not generally be those with minor illnesses which can be treated by seeing a pharmacist in a community setting and for whom community pharmacy will remain the first, and most appropriate, option.

01/01/2023
Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-04-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the DVLA plans to implement the European Commission’s advice on lifting that authority’s prohibition on driving for people who experience night-time hypoglycaemia.

Andrew Jones

The Department and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) led a campaign to change European legislation to exclude hypoglycaemic attacks while sleeping or “night-time hypoglycaemia” as a bar to driving. A proposal for a Commission Directive was submitted through the European Commission’s Regulatory Fitness Programme and is awaiting approval by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.

Member States will be required to apply the provisions from 1 January 2018.

01/01/2023
Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much was spent on non-payroll staff in his Department in 2015-16.

Mr Mark Francois

My Department spent the following amounts on non-payroll staff in 2015-16, as will be reported in our Annual Report and Accounts:

Cost of contingent labour (agency staff and contractors) – £2,858,046

Cost of consultants/consultancy – £511,460

01/01/2023
Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many convictions there have been for offences relating to cases of immigration marriage fraud in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The table below gives the number of individuals who were successfully prosecuted by Home Office Immigration Enforcement for offences relating to immigration marriage fraud.

Year

Successfully prosecuted

2014/15

121

2015/16

37

Prior to 2014, the records were not held centrally.

The decrease in the number of referrals to the Home Office can be aligned to the introduction of the Immigration Act 2014.

This legislation extends the notification period for those seeking to marry up to 70 days and provides time for the Home Office to investigate whether the marriage is sham. The effect of this is that those marriages deemed to be sham can be prevented from taking place.

01/01/2023
Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-10-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the effect of the United States’ North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016 (H.R. 757) on UK-owned businesses and UK nationals which conduct business with the government of North Korea or its state-owned companies.

Lord Price

The Government has made no such assessment.

01/01/2023

Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on purchasing bearskins and other associated headgear containing real fur in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not buy bear pelts; it buys ceremonial caps direct from suppliers who source pelts from animals culled as part of a programme to manage the wild population licensed by the Canadian government. Animal welfare standards relating to the bear cull are a matter for the Canadian government.

The MOD also purchases coney skin (rabbit fur) for the Royal Engineers’ and Royal Signals’ busby and fox fur for the Royal Horse Artillery, Kings Troop Officers’ busby. The current contract requires a commitment to sustainable procurement.

Depending on usage and maintenance, bearskin busbys can last for up to 50 years. The coney skin and fox fur busbys have indefinite lifespans if properly maintained.

Calendar Year	Cost of Bearskin Busby Headgear (£)	Financial Year	Cost of Coney Skin Busby Headgear (£)	Cost of Fox Fur Busby Headgear(£)
2005	Not held	2005-06	1,532	0
2006	Not held	2006-07	0	1,472
2007	Not held	2007-08	0	0
2008	31,319	2008-09	9,173	406
2009	148,891	2009-10	0	0
2010	131,886	2010-11	0	0
2011	90,822	2011-12	0	861
2012	126,087	2012-13	1,779	861
2013	65,108	2013-14	0	0
2014	136,671	2014-15	10,257	1,899
2015	149,379	2015-16	2,558	0

All figures are rounded to the nearest pound.

Calendar Year	Number of Bearskin Busby Headgear	Financial Year	Number of Coney Skin Busby Headgear	Number of Busby Headgear made of Fox Fur
2005	Not held	2005-06	4	0
2006	Not held	2006-07	0	2
2007	Not held	2007-08	0	0
2008	35	2008-09	22	1
2009	195	2009-10	0	0
2010	158	2010-11	0	0
2011	99	2011-12	0	1
2012	126	2012-13	4	1
2013	63	2013-14	0	0
2014	127	2014-15	20	2
2015	122	2015-16	5	0

Historically the MOD has undertaken a number of trials on synthetic alternatives to bear skin but none of these matched the properties of the natural material. No trialling has taken place since 2007. Information about costs of these trials is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. In 2012 the Ministry of Defence loaned a sample bearskin to the animal rights organisation, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, to aid its research and development programme on a synthetic alternative.

There has been no research and development carried out to find a synthetic alternative to coney skin or fox fur.

01/01/2023

Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-01-28.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment the Financial Conduct Authority has made of the implications for its policies of the statement made by the financial service messaging platform Symphony that they offer Guaranteed Data Deletion; and whether this statement complies with financial regulations on record keeping.

Harriett Baldwin

This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent from Government.

The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the Rt Hon Joan Ryan MP by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

01/01/2023

Year	Successfully prosecuted
2014/15	121
2015/16	37