Tag: 2016

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce premature death among people (a) with autism and a learning disability and (b) with autism and no learning disability.

    Alistair Burt

    Information is not collected centrally on how many clinical commissioning groups collect prevalence and standardised mortality data on autistic people as part of their joint strategic needs assessments.

    The National Health Service is taking action to reduce premature death among people with autism and a learning disability, and with autism by increasing annual health checks for people with learning disabilities, including for those who also have autism. The NHS is working to reduce variation and improve care for physical health conditions that disproportionately impact on people with learning disabilities who also may have autism, including epilepsy and cancer. NHS England has commissioned the world’s first Learning Disability Mortality Review Programme to support local areas to review deaths of people with learning disabilities and to use the information to improve service provision. This review programme for people with learning disabilities includes those who also have autism.

    Think Autism set out a clear, cross Government programme of action, developed alongside people with autism, their families and carers to improve their lives and reduce premature mortality through better access to healthcare by making adjustments to services. This includes supporting the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGPs) Autism Initiative to improve understanding of autism amongst GPs.

  • Edward Leigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Edward Leigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Leigh on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what further plans the Government has to devolve tax powers to Northern Ireland.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    The Government remains committed to devolving corporation tax rate setting powers subject to the Executive delivering sustainable finances, as set out in the Stormont House Agreement.

    We also recognise the potential for further fiscal powers going to the Executive.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish the review on supported housing.

    Gavin Barwell

    DCLG and DWP have jointly commissioned an evidence review of the supported housing sector, which is currently being finalised. The Government is committed to making an announcement in the autumn, setting out its plans for future funding arrangements for the supported housing sector.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of staff employed by his Department are non-UK nationals.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    All government departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

    Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose.

  • Vernon Coaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Vernon Coaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vernon Coaker on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent estimate he has made of the investment rate in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.

    Anna Soubry

    The ONS only publishes investment data at a country level, for which the latest published data was in the 23rd December Business Investment release, available on the ONS website. Investment data is unavailable on a regional basis.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of how many full time police officers will work in the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2018-19 and (d) 2019-20.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit is funded by the Intellectual Property Office, but is considered operationally independent, and is fully managed by the City of London Police. Future staffing levels will be a matter for the City of London Police to determine in the light of the unit’s workload and requirements.

  • Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting times are for access to talking therapies in (a) the UK, (b) Yorkshire and (c) Halifax.

    Alistair Burt

    We do not hold the data in the format requested. What data we do hold is provided in the following table:

    The number of referrals entering treatment1 in the year, with mean and median waiting times to first treatment (days), for Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services in 2014/15. Data shown for NHS Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and all Yorkshire CCGs combined2.

    Organisation code

    Organisation name

    Total number of referrals entering treatment3

    Average (mean) waiting time to first treatment appointment (days)4

    Median5 waiting time to first treatment appointment (days)

    All England

    815,665

    32

    17

    All Yorkshire CCGs combined

    71,690

    39

    21

    02E

    NHS Calderdale CCG

    4,200

    14

    6

    1In order to enter treatment a referral must have a first treatment appointment (an appointment with a therapy type recorded) in the year.

    2CCG is based on general practitioner (GP) Practice. Where GP Practice is not recorded, or cannot be assigned to a CCG, the referral is categorised as ‘Unknown’.

    3In order to enter treatment a referral must have a first treatment appointment in the year.

    4The mean was used as the average.

    5Means and medians have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

    Notes:

    Waiting time is measured by counting the number of days between a referral being received and the first treatment appointment. For 2014/15, the presence of a valid therapy type is used as an indicator of whether treatment was provided in the course of the appointment.

    Entering treatment figures are rounded to the nearest 5.

    It is generally advised that the median is used as the more reliable measure of average waiting time, as this accounts better for any outliers in the data.

    Source: IAPT

  • Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what additional revenues were achieved for developing countries as a result of the pilot scheme for Tax Inspectors Without Borders; and how much such revenue derived from improved tax settlements with clients of the so-called big four accounting firms.

    Justine Greening

    The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has recently reported that Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TWIB) deployments have assisted countries to increase their tax collected by over $185 million.

    DFID does not have access to information about which professional services companies are used under the TIWB programme.

  • Derek Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Derek Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Twigg on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the provision of urgent care centres on levels of attendance at A&E departments.

    Jane Ellison

    The location and structure of urgent and emergency care services is a matter for local commissioners, taking account of guidance issued by NHS England. This guidance includes Safer, faster better: good practice in delivering urgent and emergency care, which was published in August 2015, to support frontline providers and commissioners in re-designing urgent and emergency care services.

    The guidance states that urgent care centres co-located with emergency departments provide an opportunity to stream patients with less serious illnesses and injuries to a service that is resourced to meet their needs, while reducing crowding in emergency departments.

  • Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is permissible for the ballot papers sent to postal voters to be a different colour to the ballot papers issued in a corresponding polling station.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Ballot papers for any given poll have a consistent appearance in order to reduce the risk of completed votes being identifiable as having been submitted by a particular voter or voters when they are verified and counted. That could happen if, for example, coloured ballot papers were used for postal voting (but not voting in person) and there was low use of them. Different coloured ballot papers are already used to help voters distinguish between different polls where polls are combined, and further use of different colours could lead to confusion.