Tag: 2016

  • Crispin Blunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Crispin Blunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Crispin Blunt on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans NICE has to consult on its methodology for carrying out evidence reviews and impact analyses to support NHS England’s specialised commissioning process.

    George Freeman

    As yet, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) does not have any plans to consult on changes to its methods and processes to support NHS England’s specialised commissioning process, but will carry out a full consultation if any such changes are considered necessary.

    Following NHS England’s review of its specialised commissioning processes and the publication in the summer of the final report from the Accelerated Access Review, we anticipate NICE will want to look at its processes and methods for the assessment of drugs and treatments used in specialised commissioning.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions he has had with the government of Japan on increasing trade links with that country.

    Mark Garnier

    My Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade met with the Japanese Ambassador to the United Kingdom on 6 September. A range of topics were discussed including the opportunities presented by the United Kingdom exiting the European Union to strengthen its role as a global leader for free trade, including its trade links with Japan.

  • Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2016-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what contingency plans his Department has for the decommissioning of nuclear-powered submarines if a suitable geological disposal facility is not identified.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Intermediate Level Waste (ILW) is the only type of waste from submarines that will require the use of a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF). A facility for the interim storage of ILW has been arranged at Capenhurst in Cheshire until the proposed GDF is available from 2040. In line with Government guidance, the interim ILW store will have a design life of at least 100 years – considerably longer than it is anticipated will be required.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-01-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what safeguards are in place to prevent students using paid-for commercial essay-writing services advertised on the internet.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    The Government strongly condemns any form of cheating. All publicly funded providers of higher education courses are expected to comply with the UK Quality Code for Higher Education, published by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA). One of the requirements of the Code is to ensure that students do not obtain awards through any form of unacceptable academic practice relating to assessment, including plagiarism. There is no centrally held set of data on the number of recorded plagiarism cases in UK Higher Education – responsibility for tackling plagiarism lies with the HE providers themselves, as autonomous organisations. Institutions have a variety of mechanisms to address cheating by both international and EEA/UK students, including strong policies and specialist software. Between 2012 and 2015, the QAA carried out approximately 650 reviews of institutions. Of these, it only had to make recommendations to 30 individual universities and colleges on the need to improve systems and information related to plagiarism. The QAA are discussing the legality of essay mills with the Consumer and Markets Authority.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the performance of the Education Funding Agency on the case of Harperbury Free School; and what the cost to the public purse of that school has been to date.

    Edward Timpson

    I have every confidence in the performance of the Education Funding Agency on this project.

    The combined capital and revenue cost of the project to date is £1,919,000.

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

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the minimum number of hours off-duty is that his Department uses to define a day off for a junior doctor.

    Ben Gummer

    Neither the current contract nor the new contract define a day off. Both define a minimum rest period between shifts of 11 hours and a minimum break between defined periods of prolonged work of 48 hours. Further minimum rest periods, as set out in the existing Working Time Regulations, will also apply. The new contract will reduce the number of consecutive night shifts after which a 48 hour break must be taken from seven to four, the number of consecutive long day shifts from seven to five, the number of consecutive late evening shifts from 12 to four and the number of consecutive shorter shifts from 12 to eight. The improvements are part of the around 90% of the new contract that was agreed with the British Medical Association and that make the new contract much safer than the current one.

  • Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department plans to take to support recommendation 17 of the Mental Health Taskforce report of February 2016, on 24/7 access to mental health services by 2020-21.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department welcomed the publication of the independent Mental Health Taskforce report and we are working with our delivery partners to develop a programme of work to embed its recommendations in our policies. We will provide further details in the summer.

    To support this programme, we announced in January that an additional £1 billion investment will help to transform mental health services by 2020. This investment includes over £400 million for crisis resolution and home treatment teams to deliver 24/7 treatment in communities and homes as a safe and effective alternative to hospitals and £247 million for liaison mental health services in every hospital emergency department.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-05-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people accessed personal pensions between (a) April 2015 and April 2016 and (b) April 2014 and April 2015.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government does not have information on all payments from personal pensions taken since April 2014.

    Information on the taxable element of pension flexibility lump sums taken since April 2015 is collated and published quarterly by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). However, this includes other types of private pensions such as occupational pensions, not just personal pensions. This also provides details of the number of people who have taken these payments. The publication can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/flexible-payments-from-pensions.

    Equivalent information for the period April 2014 to April 2015 is not held, as HMRC only began to collect this information after the introduction of pensions freedom and choice.

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to NHS England’s announcement, NHS England backs general practice with a multi-billion transformation plan, published on 21 April 2016, how much of the £2.4 billion a year funding will be allocated to GPs in (a) Tottenham constituency and (b) the London Borough of Haringey.

    Alistair Burt

    Primary care, dental, optometry and pharmacy services are commissioned by NHS England on a London-wide basis, therefore there is no figure available for borough-level funding.

    Primary care medical (general practitioner (GP) services) allocations have been published for the next five years on a clinical commissioning group (CCG) -basis, the uplifts for Haringey are in the attached table.

    The practice-level budgets for the GPs located within the Tottenham constituency total £18.4 million in 2016/17. These budgets are not set for future years but will be based on the practice-specific services and registered populations, as well as the national contract terms agreed in future years. They will benefit from the growth within the Haringey allocation as indicated in the table.

    There is a development under way for a new practice at Tottenham Hale for which the capital cost is £558,000 which will expand capacity within Tottenham. CCGs also commission additional medical services from GP practices from their own resources.

  • Baroness Altmann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Altmann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Altmann on 2016-09-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of workers who earn under £11,000 a year and are contributing to net-pay pension schemes.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The Government does not collect data on the number of workers earning less than the personal allowance who are also members of pension schemes that operate a net pay system. The Government does not hold employee level data on employees enrolled in net pay pension schemes, as such schemes are not obliged to report pension contributions to HM Revenue and Customs. The Government does not therefore hold information on the value of tax reliefs paid out to employees in net pay schemes.

    However, the Pensions Regulator provides guidance to employers on choosing a pension scheme for their staff in order to discharge their statutory obligations under automatic enrolment. This guidance covers the choice between net pay and relief at source schemes, and the implications of net pay schemes for employees who do not pay tax.