Tag: 2016

  • Shabana Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Shabana Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of (a) the extent of differential treatment of Palestinian and Israeli child detainees by Israel and (b) whether that differential is consistent with Israelis international human rights obligations.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We remain concerned about the use of a dual court system whereby Palestinians, except East Jerusalem residents, are subject to the Israeli military court system, irrespective of the charge, whereas Israeli citizens are dealt with by the Israeli civil justice system. We are clear that Israel has legal obligations as an Occupying Power with respect to the Occupied Palestinian Territories under applicable international law. We regularly discuss with the Government of Israel implementation of those obligations and raise our serious concerns regarding such issues as the treatment of Palestinian children detained in Israeli prisons.

  • Roger Mullin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Roger Mullin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Mullin on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the performance of NHS emergency medicine services.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS staff in England continue to provide quality services in the face of increasingly high-levels of demand throughout the emergency healthcare system. Front-line services are treating record numbers of patients with more than nine out of 10 patients seen within four hours in A&E departments. Ambulance services are delivering over 2800 more emergency journeys every day compared to 2010 and responding to the majority of life-threatening cases in under 8 minutes.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many times the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has met officials of the Cabinet Office to discuss improving diversity in the Senior Civil Service in the last six months.

    Matthew Hancock

    Promoting diversity in the Senior Civil Service is a ministerial responsibility of the Minister for the Cabinet Office. Details of my Ministers meetings with external organisations are published routinely and can be found on Gov.uk. Details of internal meetings are not disclosed.

  • Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to introduce lifetime awards for people assessed as requiring the upper personal independence payment allowance mobility component who have been diagnosed with muscle degenerative diseases or conditions.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Personal Independence Payment is specifically designed to ensure that the benefit is awarded to those with the greatest need and the award review process is integral to ensuring this happens. Under Disability Living Allowance over 70% of all claims had no review built-in, meaning that claimants could have been receiving too much or too little in benefit.

    We take a personalised approach to setting the length of awards, varying the frequency and format of awards and reviews depending on the individual’s needs and the likelihood of their health condition or impairment changing.

    Where the claimant has high levels of functional impairment which are only likely to increase or not improve, it is likely that the claimant will receive an enhanced rate of benefit and a longer term award.

    We recognise that it is important to ensure that the review process is applied sensitively and appropriately. As such, it is likely that the awards of such claimants would also go through a less intensive review process which may not, if all the necessary information is held, include a face-to-face assessment.

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average time taken is for an academy school to be re-brokered to another academy sponsor.

    Edward Timpson

    Where an academy is not meeting the required standard or needs a change of sponsor, the Regional Schools Commissioner strives to ensure that this change happens as quickly as possible, with minimum impact to the school. The Department does not hold a central record of the time taken for re-brokerage.

    The Education and Adoption Act 2016 gives Regional Schools Commissioners powers to tackle underperformance in academies more quickly, by allowing them to terminate their funding agreement and re-broker an academy as soon as it is judged inadequate by Ofsted or identified as coasting.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department takes to vet directors of multi-academy trusts; and if she will make a statement.

    Edward Timpson

    Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) are responsible for appointing trustees with the right skills to deliver their functions effectively. Our model articles require MATs to ensure that both trustees and those serving on any local governing bodies at individual academies within the MAT have an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check. MATs’ Articles of Association also set out the circumstances by which someone is disqualified from being a trustee, including conviction of a criminal offence or bankruptcy. A trustee can be removed by the board under the Companies Act 2006.

    Regional Schools Commissioners check that the trustees of a MAT have the necessary skills and expertise before the funding agreement of an academy or free school joining the MAT is signed. We may also conduct checks to make an assessment of a MAT trustee’s suitability, where deemed necessary. The Secretary of State can bar a person from taking part in the management of a MAT under the Education Act 2008.

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, to what extent NICE has involved external stakeholders and charities in reviewing how well the incremental cost effectiveness ratio is working in making new cancer medicines available to patients on the NHS.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has advised that it has not been asked to review how well the application of the cost effectiveness methodology is working in making new cancer medicines available to patients on the National Health Service.

    NICE periodically reviews its methods and processes for the development of guidance to ensure that they remain appropriate. NICE most recently consulted on changes to its methods for the appraisal of new cancer medicines in November 2015 as part of the consultation on the new operating model for the Cancer Drugs Fund.

  • Lord Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Lord Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jones on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the £530 million loan to Airbus in 2000 to support production of the A380 aircraft, how many of those aircraft have been purchased by UK airlines.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The repayable investment to support the development of the A380 wing and fuel system in the UK has secured over 2,000 UK jobs since the aircraft entered service in 2007.

    Airbus has received 319 orders for the A380 from airline customers world-wide and have made 195 deliveries, 12 of which have been made to British Airways (part of IAG).

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on research being undertaken to assist those severely affected by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

    George Freeman

    The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funds a wide range of research relating to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

    Major investments include a £2.2 million programme of research with an overall aim to set up a primary care COPD cohort including the full range of disease severity, as a platform for testing novel health service interventions.

    The NIHR Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit at Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College London has a £0.8 million research area in COPD, including severe COPD. Details of this research are available on the unit’s website at:

    www.rbht.nhs.uk/research/our-research/brus/research-areas/chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease/

    Current studies relating to severe COPD delivered by the NIHR Clinical Research Network include:

    – a study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of two doses of benralizumab in patients with severe to very severe COPD with a history of COPD exacerbations;

    – a study to evaluate the effect of 52 weeks of once daily treatment of orally inhaled tiotropium and olodaterol fixed dose combination compared with tiotropium on COPD exacerbation in patients with severe to very severe COPD; and

    – a study to optimise dose selection and evaluate safety after treatment with the Holaira™ Lung Denervation System in patients with moderate to severe COPD.

    “

  • Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-02-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Department of Health has begun to carry out a survey of pregnant women where either partner has been to Brazil or other neighbouring countries where there has been a significant outbreak of the Zika virus.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Public Health England (PHE) is actively exploring the feasibility of working with other parts of the United Kingdom to undertake the systematic collection of data on pregnant women presenting to National Health Service maternity services where they have travelled to a country with active Zika virus transmission during pregnancy or within four weeks of conception. The aim of such work would be to measure the impact of Zika virus on obstetric services and on pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes for women.

    PHE has been working with appropriate Royal Colleges to provide updated guidance for healthcare professionals, including midwives, on the management of any symptomatic patients (particularly pregnant women) returning from affected countries. A copy of this guidance is attached.