Tag: 2016

  • Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 3 May 2016 to Question 35113, what powers his Department can exercise if the Social Housing Regulator is failing to protect tenants from serious detriment by registered providers.

    Gavin Barwell

    The Social Housing Regulator may use its enforcement powers if a Registered Provider of Social Housing has failed to meet a regulatory standard. This includes ensuring that thier stock is adequately maintained and there is no serious detriment to their tenants.

    However, if tenants of Registered Providers are not satisfied with the way the Regulator has handled their case, they will have to access the Regulator’s complaint process. This involves complaining directly to the Regulator, the Regulator will reply within 20 working days. If the tenants are unhappy with the way their complaint was handled at the first stage, they can escalate their complaint to the Regulator’s legal service team as an independent review of the original complaint. If they are still unhappy with the response, then they can refer their complaint to the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, who will carry out an independent review.

    If following the Regulator’s complaint procedure they are still unhappy, they can ask their MP to take their complaints to the independent Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to review the handling of their complaint. Full details of how to make a complaint against the Regulator can be found on the Homes and Communities Agency’s website.

  • Lisa Nandy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lisa Nandy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Nandy on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what correspondence she has received from legal counsel for the independent investigation into child sexual abuse relating to the conduct of (a) Dame Lowell Goddard and (b) Ben Emmerson QC between the date of their appointment to the inquiry and the dates of their departure.

    Sarah Newton

    The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse was established under the Inquiries Act 2005 on 12 March 2015. Dame Lowell resigned as chair of the Inquiry on 4 August 2016. Ben Emmerson QC resigned as counsel to the Inquiry on 29 September 2016.

    The Home Secretary has received no correspondence from Counsel to the Inquiry relating to the conduct of either Dame Lowell or Mr Emmerson between the dates of their appointment to the Inquiry and the dates of their departure.

  • Ms Gisela Stuart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ms Gisela Stuart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Gisela Stuart on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken, subsequent to its accepting recommendation 274 of the Francis report on the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Enquiry, published on 6 February 2013, to (a) issue guidance to NHS Trusts and their legal advisers and (b) monitor implementation of that guidance on disclosure of information to coroners, patients and families.

    Ben Gummer

    Recommendation 274 was in line with the government’s commitment to greater openness and transparency across the National Health Service, particularly when things go wrong.

    The Coroners and Justice Act 2009 gives coroners powers to require a person or organisation in England and Wales to provide evidence and to require a witness in England and Wales to give evidence at an inquest. The 2009 Act makes it, “an offence for a person to do anything that is intended to have the effect of (a) distorting or otherwise altering any evidence, document or other things that is given, produced or provided for the purpose of an investigation…. (b) preventing any evidence, document or other thing from being given produced or provided for the purposes of such an investigation or to do anything that the person knows or believes is likely to have that effect.” This offence is limited to actions where there is “intention” to distort or alter evidence, and is punishable by a fine and / or imprisonment. The Ministry of Justice is currently conducting a post-implementation review of the 2013 coroner reforms in the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, which includes the reforms’ provisions on disclosure of information. The call for evidence and survey element of the review finished at the end of 2015, and the Ministry of Justice is now considering the responses received. The Department of Health understands that it hopes to publish a response document in the spring.

    In response to the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry the Government introduced a statutory duty of candour which came into force on 27 November 2014 for NHS Trusts, Foundation Trusts and some special health authorities that provide care and treatment to people that is regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and for all other providers registered with CQC on 1 April 2015. The statutory duty of candour applies to organisations, rather than to individual members of staff. However, it is designed to foster an open culture throughout the organisation, and providers are accountable to CQC for meeting the duty of candour. CQC are able to take enforcement action against the provider, and in certain circumstances its board and senior management, where breaches of the duty of candour have been found. Providers of care will therefore be expected to implement the new duty of candour through staff across their organisations – including educating, training and, if needs be, disciplining their staff appropriately.

    In addition, The NHS Serious Incident Framework published in 2015 provides advice on provision of information regarding serious incidents to coroners, patients and their families. It is available at

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/patientsafety/serious-incident/

    CQC will look at how safe care is for patients as part of the inspection of NHS Trusts.

    “

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2016 to Question 24002, how many steering group meetings of the area reviews of post-16 education and training have taken place in (a) Birmingham and Solihull, (b) Greater Manchester, (c) Sheffield City Region, (d) Tees Valley, (e) Sussex, (f) Solent and (g) West Yorkshire since September 2015; and which such steering group meetings regional schools commissioners attended.

    Nick Boles

    All Wave 1 Area Reviews have held a number of local steering group meetings, of which RSCs are members. Dates of some of the steering group meetings are in the public domain, as are details of membership of the steering groups.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people who were admitted for treatment by mental health trusts in London since 2010 had no previous contact with mental health services.

    Alistair Burt

    The attached table shows the number of people admitted to mental health services providers not previously known to mental health services between 2011-2012 and 2014-2015.

    Figures prior to 2011-2012 are not available because of a change to the dataset which is the source for these figures.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether it is his policy for the House to be given an opportunity to debate in advance any decision to use his Department’s cyber strike capability.

    Penny Mordaunt

    We continue to develop the ability of our Armed Forces to deploy a broad range of offensive cyber capabilities as an integrated part of military operations. As with other sensitive defence capabilities, we do not reveal specific details in order to safeguard national security. As we have previously made clear in the context of the war powers convention, we do not propose to define the circumstances in which we would consult Parliament about the use of particular military capabilities.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many of his Department’s laptop computers have been lost in the last year.

    Mark Lancaster

    Between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2016, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has reported that 39 laptops were lost.

    The MOD treats all losses of assets seriously. All reported losses are subjected to an initial security risk assessment, with further action taken on a proportionate basis.

    It is MOD policy that its laptops are to be encrypted to minimise the impact if a loss were to occur.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, who the senior leaders and board members are of the 44 Sustainability and Transformation Plan footprints.

    George Freeman

    The Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STP) leads for the footprints are as provided below. The names of other members of the footprints are held locally.

    Footprint

    STP footprint lead

    Northumberland, Tyne and Wear

    Mark Adams (Chief Officer, Newcastle Gateshead Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG))

    West, North and East Cumbria

    Stephen Eames (Chief Executive, North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust)

    Durham, Darlington and Tees, Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby

    Alan Foster (Chief Executive, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust)

    Lancashire and South Cumbria

    Dr Amanda Doyle OBE (Chief Clinical Officer, Blackpool CCG)

    West Yorkshire

    Rob Webster (Chief Executive designate, South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust)

    Coast, Humber and Vale

    TBC

    Greater Manchester

    Sir Howard Bernstein (Chief Executive, Manchester City Council)

    Cheshire and Merseyside

    Louise Shepherd (Chief Executive, Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust)

    South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw

    Sir Andrew Cash OBE (Chief Executive, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust)

    Kent & Medway

    Glenn Douglas (Chief Executive, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust)

    Sussex and East Surrey

    Michael Wilson (Chief Executive, Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust)

    Frimley Health

    Sir Andrew Morris (Chief Executive, Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust)

    Surrey Heartlands

    Julia Ross (Chief Executive, North West Surrey CCG)

    Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly

    TBC

    Devon

    Angela Pedder OBE (Chief Executive, Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust)

    Somerset

    Dr Matthew Dolman (Chair, Somerset CCG)

    Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire

    Robert Woolley (Chief Executive, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust)

    Bath, Swindon and Wiltshire

    James Scott (Chief Executive, Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust)

    Dorset

    Tim Goodson (Chief Officer, Dorset CCG)

    Hampshire and the Isle of Wight

    Richard Samuel (Chief Officer, Fareham and Gosport CCG, South Eastern Hampshire CCG)

    Gloucestershire

    Mary Hutton (Accountable Officer, Gloucestershire CCG)

    Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West

    David Smith (Chief Executive, Oxfordshire CCG)

    Staffordshire

    John MacDonald (Chair, University Hospitals North Midlands NHS Trust)

    Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin

    Simon Wright (Chief Executive, Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust)

    Derbyshire

    Gary Thompson (Chief Officer, Southern Derbyshire CCG)

    Lincolnshire

    Allan Kitt (Chief Officer, South West Lincolnshire CCG)

    Nottinghamshire

    David Pearson (Director, Adult Social Care, Nottinghamshire County Council)

    Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland

    Toby Sanders (Accountable Officer, West Leicestershire CCG)

    The Black Country

    Andy Williams (Accountable Officer, Sandwell West Birmingham CCG)

    Birmingham and Solihull

    Mark Rogers (Chief Executive, Birmingham City Council)

    Coventry and Warwickshire

    Andy Hardy (Chief Executive, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust)

    Herefordshire and Worcestershire

    Sarah Dugan (Chief Executive, Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust)

    Northamptonshire

    John Wardell (Accountable Officer, Nene CCG)

    Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

    Dr Neil Modha (Chief Clinical Officer, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG)

    Norfolk and Waveney

    TBC

    Suffolk and North East Essex

    Nick Hulme (Chief Executive, Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust)

    Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire and Luton

    Pauline Philip (Chief Executive, Luton & Dunstable University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust)

    Hertfordshire and West Essex

    Beverley Flowers (Accountable Officer, East and North Hertfordshire CCG)

    Mid and South Essex

    Dr Anita Donley (Independent Chair for Mid and South Essex Success Regime from 1st April)

    North West London

    Dr Mohini Parmar (Chair, Ealing CCG)

    North Central London

    David Sloman (Chief Executive, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust)

    North East London

    Jane Milligan (Chief Officer, Tower Hamlets CCG)

    South East London

    Amanda Pritchard (Chief Executive, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust)

    South West London

    Kathryn Magson (Chief Officer, Richmond CCG)

    Note: Entries that are TBC mean that no one is as of yet confirmed in position.

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what arrangements will be made to provide submarine operational cover while HMS Ambush in undergoing repairs; and what risks have been identified as a result of those arrangements.

    Harriett Baldwin

    It is UK policy that we do not comment on matters relating to submarine activity or operations as this would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

    HMS AMBUSH is undergoing repairs at Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde, the duration of which is under review.

    On 28 July 2016, the Director General of the Defence Safety Authority convened an independent Service Inquiry to investigate the circumstances of this incident. It would be inappropriate to comment further while this investigation is on-going.

  • Lisa Nandy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lisa Nandy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Nandy on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many meetings took place between Liz Sanderson and members of the panel of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse; on what dates those meetings took place; and who was present at each such meeting.

    Sarah Newton

    Liz Sanderson was the then Home Secretary’s special adviser. The Department holds no records of separate meetings or conversations between Ms Sanderson and Dame Lowell Goddard, panel members or the statutory officers. However, she routinely attended the Home Secretary’s meetings, including with Dame Lowell Goddard and panel members during the appointment processes. She also had occasional conversations with the Secretary to the Inquiry.