Tag: 2016

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much additional funding is being made available by his Department to meet the target of a 50 per cent reduction in prescription of antimicrobial drugs.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The Government’s ambition to reduce inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics by half by 2020 will be achieved through financial incentives within the Commissioning for Quality and Innovation and Quality Premiums schemes. These schemes reward healthcare providers for improvements in the quality of the services that they commission or provide, that contribute to better patient outcomes.

    The National Health Service has already made good progress in reducing inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics. Between April and December 2015, two million fewer prescriptions were dispensed compared to the same period in 2014. Overall, the NHS’ new programme to reduce prescribing went live in April 2016 and will offer hospitals incentive funding worth up to £150 million to support expert pharmacists and clinicians review and reduce inappropriate prescribing.

  • 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 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 9 July 2015 to Question 5695, on Defence Fire and Rescue Service pensions, what progress has been made in discussions with the trade unions.

    Mark Lancaster

    Her Majesty’s Treasury is reviewing the Enhanced Effective Pension Age and Effective Pension Age for Ministry of Defence Police Officers. We have since been advised that this review extends to Defence Fire and Rescue Service personnel. We are anticipating a decision by 30 November 2016. This means that discussions with the trade unions are on hold until the review concludes.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the government of Bahrain on the release of Dr Abduljalil Al-Singace in the last 12 months.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We have raised Dr Al-Singace’s case with the Government of Bahrain, including at the highest levels, and continue to do so on a regular basis. We regularly discuss human rights issues with the Government of Bahrain – including at the biannual UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group meeting, which was recently held in November 2015. I am aware that the Ombudsman’s Office met Dr. Al Singace when he was in Qalaa Hospital and subsequently opened an investigation. We will continue to monitor Dr. Abduljalil Al Singace’s case closely.

  • Huw Irranca-Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Huw Irranca-Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Huw Irranca-Davies on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2016 to Question 22432, how the Director of the Serious Fraud Office measures the undermining of UK PLC commercial or financial interests in the (a) City of London and (b) UK.

    Robert Buckland

    The Criminal Justice Act 1987 provides that “The Director may investigate any suspected offence which appears to him on reasonable grounds to involve serious or complex fraud.”

    Each case is assessed on its own facts and merits.

    The Statement of Principle sets out some of the factors that the Director will take into account when considering the matter for investigation. All of these will be considered, and there is no minimum requirement or measure in respect of the different factors.

    Each on its own or taken in combination can establish sufficient grounds for the Director to decide that the case is sufficiently large, complex or of wide public interest that it should be dealt with by the Serious Fraud Office.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for the policies of the Cabinet Office of the recommendations of the Mental Health Taskforce report, published in February 2016.

    Alistair Burt

    We welcome the recommendations for government in the report and will be considering how best to integrate them into our work programme. There will be an impact on policies across Government in this period and, more importantly, a positive impact on people using mental health services.

    The Mental Health Five Year Forward View Taskforce Report proposes, and we accept, investing over £1 billion of additional funding by 2020/21 to reach one million more people. There are a number of recommendations in the report which will have an impact on crisis care services, accident and emergency departments, mothers suffering from mental health problems, suicide prevention, children and young people’s mental health services, access to psychological therapies and the physical health of people with mental health problems. The £1 billion announced with the Taskforce report is the total annual cost for all areas in 2020/21.

    Announcements on the development of policies, including those with reference to implementing the Mental Health Taskforce will be made in due course.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government’s review of the Davies Commission on Aviation capacity in the South East includes an assessment of the costs and benefits of government investment in aviation biofuel.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government continues to consider the large amount of very detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report, including on reducing carbon emissions from an expanded airport, before taking any decisions on next steps. Separate to the work on airport capacity, the Government is also assessing the benefits of making aviation biofuels eligible for the incentives which currently apply to biofuels used in road transport through the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO). We aim to publish a consultation on legislative amendments to this scheme later this year including proposals for aviation biofuel.

  • 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 2016-04-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the comments by the President of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists that hundreds of patients are going blind because hospitals cannot meet the demand for appointments.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Given the size of England, and the diversity of the health needs of different communities, we believe commissioning needs to be owned and managed locally.

    Therefore, there are no plans to develop a national strategy for eye care.

    Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for commissioning hospital eye services and for holding their providers to account in terms of contract performance. CCGs are also able to commission eye care services from community optometrists where they judge them to be needed in their areas over and above the sight tests commissioned by NHS England. Such services could include post cataract surgery reviews, glaucoma monitoring and low vision services which may reduce pressure on hospital eye departments, reduce waiting times and make patient care pathways more accessible in the community.

    There is scope for further work to be done by community optometrists and the Clinical Council for eye health commissioning is working with commissioners to develop commissioning guidelines in this area.

    CCGs have the ability to develop alternatives to hospital care. We would expect patients who require further planned stages of treatment in line with their agreed care plan, to receive this treatment without undue delay and in line with when it is clinically appropriate.

  • Greg Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Greg Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to allow postal voting ballot papers to be counted separately in order to more easily detect fraud.

    John Penrose

    The law provides for the checking of the integrity of completed postal ballots prior to them being included in the count. Returning Officers are required to check 100% of postal vote identifiers (signatures and dates of birth) returned with completed postal votes against those supplied by the elector when they applied for a postal vote. Any that do not match will not be counted in order to prevent any attempt at electoral fraud. The law requires that postal ballot papers are mixed with ballot papers from a ballot box before they can be counted as a necessary step in order to help protect the secrecy of the ballot.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what timetable she has set for resettling 20,000 Syrian refugees in the UK; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Work continues with local authorities and international partners to deliver the Government’s commitment to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees over the lifetime of this Parliament and we are on track to do this.

  • Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what financial support the Government has made available for local authorities to commission new nursery places in the event of current providers withdrawing or reducing their delivery of subsidised places.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Government is committed to extending the free entitlement to childcare from 15 to 30 hours a week for working parents. We are clear that we need to get the funding right to ensure that providers are funded on a fair and sustainable basis. Our recent consultation set out our proposals to allocate our record level of funding fairly and transparently, with the maximum amount reaching providers. We will publish our response this autumn.

    We have recently made a substantial capital investment to support the creation of new 30 hours childcare places and our recently closed capital bid round made £40million available to local authorities working in partnership with providers in their area. We intend to announce successful project bids in mid-December 2016. We will also shortly be announcing the outcome of a competition to appoint a delivery contractor, who will provide support to ensure that all local authorities are ready to deliver the required number of free places in September 2017.