Tag: 2016

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

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

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

    Sarah Newton

    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.

    More broadly, the Government will be consulting in due course on how we work with business to ensure that workers in this country have the skills that they need to get a job. But there are no proposals to publish lists of the number or proportion of foreign workers.

  • 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 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she expects A-Levels in (a) French, (b) German, (c) Spanish, (d) Religious Studies and (e) Geography to be approved by awarding bodies for teaching from September 2016; and if she will make a statement.

    Nick Gibb

    This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have therefore asked its Chief Regulator, Glenys Stacey, to write directly to the Honourable Member. A copy of her reply will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

  • Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why it was decided to use an 18-month period for patient reported outcomes in the next Prostate Cancer Audit rather than a six-month period, as used in Germany.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The proportion of men diagnosed with locally advanced prostate cancer between 2010 and 2013 (the Audit period) who had radical treatment, and the proportion who had a hospital length of stay over three days and who required an emergency readmission within 90 days following an operation, are presented by health region in the attached headed Table 1.

    It should be noted that the results presented are based on an analysis of data from the English Cancer Registry linked to the Hospital Episode Statistics. These data were collected before the start of the National Prostate Cancer Audit (NPCA) in April 2013.

    The number of radical prostatectomies undertaken in men diagnosed between 2010 and 2013, and the proportion of men who had a hospital length of stay over three days and who had an emergency readmission within 90 days following an operation, are presented in the attached headed Table 2. The results of 56 men included in the data set used to generate Figure 8 in the NPCA Annual Report 2015 could not be included in Table 2. Of these men, 37 were treated in National Health Service trusts that treated fewer than five patients during the Audit period; and for 19 patients it was not possible to identify the NHS trust where they had undergone treatment without incurring disproportionate cost.

    The first results for the patient-reported outcomes of men who were diagnosed with prostate cancer between 1 April 2014 and 30 September 2014, and who underwent radical treatment (prostatectomy, external beam radiation, brachytherapy, cryotherapy, and high-intensity focused ultrasound), will be included in the NPCA’s Annual Report 2016, which is due to be published in the last quarter of 2016. These results will include incontinence rates.

    Men who had radical prostate cancer treatment were invited to complete a questionnaire about their experiences of care as well as about treatment outcomes, 18 months after the date of diagnosis. It was decided that questionnaires should be sent out at this time after diagnosis because it can take more than one year for men who have radiotherapy, in combination with androgen deprivation therapy, to complete their treatment. Subsequently, it will take at least three months for men to fully recover from the transient side effects of the radiotherapy. In order to include all men and to measure the final treatment outcome – rather than outcomes still affected by the transient side effects – an 18-month period was chosen.

  • Gordon Henderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gordon Henderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Henderson on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that absent parents financially support their children.

    Priti Patel

    Child Maintenance Options provide free and impartial information and support to help separated parents make decisions about their child maintenance arrangements. For parents who are unable to make a family-based arrangement the government has introduced a new statutory Child Maintenance Service, which will bring speedier processing of applications, simpler calculations and faster enforcement action, where necessary.

    Where parents fail to fulfil their financial responsibilities towards their children we have a range of strong enforcement powers at our disposal. These powers include deducting maintenance directly from earnings, instructing bailiffs to collect arrears or seize goods, forcing the sale of property, disqualification from driving and commitment to prison.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what fees the Land Registry has charged for each of the (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory functions it fulfils in each financial year since 2009-10; and how much was raised in fees (i) nationally, (ii) from registrations in London and (iii) from registrations in Hampstead and Kilburn constituency in the latest financial year for which figures are available.

    Anna Soubry

    The information will take time to collate. I will place this in the Libraries of the House as soon as the information is available.

  • Neil Gray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Neil Gray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Gray on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his oral evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee of 11 May 2016, when his Department plans to publish its Green Paper on the proposed new Work and Health programme.

    Priti Patel

    As the Secretary of State has said, we will be publishing a Work and Health Green Paper later in the year. Separately, it was announced in the 2015 Spending Review that the Department for Work and Pensions would introduce a new Work and Health Programme, following the end of referrals to both the current Work Programme and Work Choice. This programme will be implemented in 2017 and will help to achieve the Government’s ambition of halving the disability employment gap.

  • Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he has taken to encourage research into myalgic encephalomyelitis.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government supports research into Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) through the Medical Research Council (MRC), which receives funding from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy; and through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), which is funded by the Department of Health.

    Together the MRC and the NIHR welcome high quality applications for research into all aspects of CFS/ME which would include studies to investigate the biological causes of the condition, improve our understanding of it and to evaluate treatments.

    CFS/ME research is a current MRC priority area and has funded such research to the tune of £2.1 million. Research proposals are particularly encouraged that address the mechanisms underlying chronic changes related to CFS/ME and which aim to increase research capacity by bringing new researchers into the field, building partnerships and supporting multidisciplinary teams to tackle research challenges.

  • Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to assist Medicins Sans Frontieres in offering medical assistance in Yemen.

    Rory Stewart

    The Department for International Development has helped humanitarian organisations, including Médécins Sans Frontières, engage with the Government of Saudi Arabia on the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. However, we do not fund MSF’s activities inside Yemen. We do fund medical assistance in Yemen through UNICEF and the United Nations Humanitarian Pooled Fund.

  • Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Bahrain.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We regularly discuss human rights and reform with the Government of Bahrain including at the biannual UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group meeting which was most recently held in November 2015. The UK continues to encourage the Government of Bahrain to meet its human rights obligations and to honour all conventions to which it is a party. We welcome the progress made by Bahrain on their reform programme particularly in the areas of youth justice, the establishment and increasing effectiveness of the Ombudsman’s office, the Prisoner and Detainees’ Rights Commission and the reformed National Institute of Human Rights. We continue to work with the Government of Bahrain to ensure momentum and progress on its reforms, for the benefit of all Bahrainis.

  • Lord Mawson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Mawson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mawson on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for healthcare services provided within police custody being considered healthcare facilities, and being funded, inspected, and regulated accordingly, in the light of the number of vulnerable individuals with complex health-related issues who are brought into police custody.

    Lord Bates

    The primary function of a police custody suite is to provide safe detention whilst investigating officers gather evidence, statements and conduct necessary interviews relating to any alleged offence. The provision of custody facilities, including healthcare services within police custody suites is the responsibility of individual police forces, and Police and Crime Commissioners have flexibility to prioritise resources according to local need.

    Both College of Policing and NHS guidance is available to Police and Crime Commissioners to inform their commissioning of healthcare services. Regulation and inspection of police custody including healthcare provision is performed jointly by the three appropriate inspectorate bodies; Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation, and the Care Quality Commission.