Tag: 2016

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have had unplanned post-operative treatment related to an organ transplant in each of the last five years.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department does not hold information on how many people had unplanned post-operative treatment related to an organ transplant in each of the last five years. NHS England works with NHS Blood and Transplant to jointly commission an audit on each solid organ transplant group from each service, so that detailed outcome data can be recorded and reported. These reports can be found at:

    http://www.odt.nhs.uk/uk-transplant-registry/organ-specific-reports/

    “

  • Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jon Trickett on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the proportion of local government procurements that have been spent on small and medium-sized businesses in each of the last five years.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Government is committed to ensuring there is a simple and consistent approach to procurement across the public sector so that small businesses can gain better and more access to public sector contracts – either directly or as sub-contractors.

    The Government produced guidance as part of the reforms included in the Public Contract Regulations 2015 which aim to make public contracts more accessible to businesses and in particular to small and medium enterprises. The reforms included the abolition of pre-qualification questionnaire for low value tenders; simplification of the pre-qualification questionnaire for high value tenders; advertising all local authority contracts of £25,000 or over (or the authority’s standing order limit if higher) on Contracts Finder; and paying down the supplier chain in 30 days.

    The Local Government Transparency Code 2015 requires all local authorities to publish details of contracts exceeding £5,000 including information on whether or not the supplier is a small or medium sized enterprise and/or a voluntary or community sector organisation.

    However, the Department has made no assessment of the amount or proportion of local government procurement spend going to small and medium sized businesses.

  • Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when the Government plans to publish its response to the December 2015 HM Revenue and Customs’ consultation on increasing VAT for domestic solar.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The UK has applied a reduced rate on 11 different types of energy saving materials since 2001. That remains in place and remains unchanged.

    HMRC are currently considering the responses to their consultation on energy saving materials and they will respond in due course.

  • Calum Kerr – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Calum Kerr – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Calum Kerr on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will ensure the UK’s participation in the Digital Single Market during negotiations for UK withdrawal from the EU.

    Mr David Davis

    While the UK remains a member of the EU it will continue to play an active role in the development of the Digital Single Market.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 12 September 2016 to Questions 45151 and 45154, on Iraq: Genocide, whether the character and scope of the campaign to hold Daesh to account for its crimes have been established; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    ​Over the next few months, we will be working with our international partners, in particular the Government of Iraq, to bring forward a proposal at the UN to put the campaign into action. Our intention is that this campaign will be UN-led with survivors, and groups that work with them, at its heart. This must be about justice for all Daesh’s victims, the Sunni and Shia Muslims in Iraq and Syria, minority groups they have targeted, and the victims of its terrorist attacks around the world. One area we already agree needs urgent attention is gathering and preserving evidence. The campaign will focus exclusively on Daesh. The question of accountability for other actors in Syria, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere should continue to be pursued through other efforts. Success will require patience and resolve. But, together, we must see justice done and ensure that our values of unity, compassion and tolerance triumph over Daesh’s remorseless efforts to stoke division and hate.

  • 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 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to monitor the impact of the introduction of the NHS Supply Chain generic project plans for a national formulary for wound care.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The NHS Supply Chain can provide data analysis on the usage of products procured through their route.

    Incidents raised through the use of the products would be monitored by individual NHS trust clinical staff and appropriate investigations would be instigated.

  • Christina Rees – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Christina Rees – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of back-to-work programmes for people with mental health problems; and if he will take steps to change programmes judged to be ineffective.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Our ambition to halve the disability employment gap has been a key driver in establishing the Work and Health unit with the Department for Health. At least £115m of funding will go to the Work and Health Unit, including an innovation fund to test new ways to join up health and employment to help people with disabilities and health conditions to return to and stay in work.

    Our wider employment programmes provide those with mental health conditions with the appropriate support to find work. Work Choice is an employment programme is specifically for those with a disability or health condition. Of the 14,290 starters who declared either a Severe or Mild to Moderate Mental Health condition as their Primary Disability, 6,650 (over 46%) have achieved a job outcome.

    The Department conducts a monthly review of a sample of claimants from each employment contract, to assess the effectiveness of those programmes and requires providers to rectify any issues identified.

    Further support is available through the Access to Work Mental Health Support Scheme. Last year, it supported 1630 people who declared a Mental Health condition as their Primary Medical Condition – a 15% increase on 2013/14 and a record number for the scheme.

    Over the next three years, we are investing £43 million to develop an evidence base, via a range of voluntary trials, for what works to support people with mental health conditions into employment. Each of the voluntary trials will test a different approach of combined health and employment support.

  • Siobhain McDonagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Siobhain McDonagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Siobhain McDonagh on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many outpatient paediatric ophthalmology appointments were (a) cancelled and (b) missed because the patient did not attend in 2014-15.

    Alistair Burt

    The information is shown in the following table.

    Information on outpatient paediatric ophthalmology appointments in 2014-15

    Median waiting time in days for a first appointment1

    53 days

    Number of appointments that were cancelled by the hospital

    36,533

    Number of appointments that were cancelled by the patient

    33,448

    Number of appointments that the patient did not attend

    65,436

    National average unit cost of a first appointment2

    £118

    Sources:

    Hospital episode statistics, Health and Social Care Information Centre

    Reference costs, Department of Health

    Notes:

    1Waiting time is defined as the time in days between the date the referral request was received and the date of the first appointment, whether it was attended or not.

    2Defined as a consultant-led single-professional first appointment. Separate data are collected are collected on non-consultant-led, multi-professional, and follow-up appointments.

  • Kate Hollern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Kate Hollern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of provision of double rooms for married couples in care homes (a) in the North West and (b) UK; and if he will make a statement.

    Alistair Burt

    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) collects data on numbers of registered care and nursing homes in England, together with numbers of registered places within those homes, as part of its registration and regulation activity.

    We are informed by the CQC that it does not collect data on whether places in homes are provided in single or shared rooms.

    Neither the CQC nor the Department collects data on care and nursing homes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This is a matter for the devolved administrations.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33689, how many teachers of GCSE (a) English and (b) mathematics were employed by the armed forces in each of the last five years.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not hold figures on the number of teachers employed to teach GCSE English and Mathematics. The Ministry of Defence provides Service personnel with a range of educational, learning, development and resettlement opportunities through a number of training centres and apprenticeship programmes. The main learning centres have English and Mathematics tutors who are employed to teach functional skills in numeracy and literacy and can also support GCSEs. However, teachers are not employed specifically to teach GCSEs.

    Over 95% of recruits are enrolled into an Apprenticeship Programme each year, regardless of their age, which ensures that Service personnel gain a Level 2 in numeracy and literacy. This is the equivalent of a GCSE. In addition, there are Functional Skills Deliverers who work as part of apprenticeship delivery in the training establishments and can support learning for GCSEs. However, they are more focused on providing functional skills.