Tag: 2016

  • Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-01-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of functional areas of the existing HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) IT Aspire contract for which any HMRC plan to create a GoCo capability would not require TUPE transfers of staff.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has reviewed a number of options when considering the transition from Aspire. Due to commercial confidentiality, the Department is not in a position to give more details of its plans at this stage. HMRC’s ultimate aim is an operating model that has the right mix of technology, processes and skills, delivered in a multi-sourced model.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the government of Romania about the activities of (a) Central Media Enterprise, (b) Adrian Sârbu and (c) Ronald Lauder in (i) 1995 to 1999, (ii) 2000 to 2010 and (iii) 2011 to 2015.

    Mr David Lidington

    I refer the hon. Member to my previous answers of 14 December 2015 (PQ 18601) and 17 December 2015 (PQ 19436). The information requested in the years prior to 2011 is not held centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

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

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to introduce new initiatives to increase the uptake of new technologies on the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

    George Freeman

    The Government is actively supporting a number of initiatives to accelerate access to innovative treatments. These include the Early Access to Medicines Schemes which supports access in the United Kingdom to unlicensed or off-label medicines and represents a significant advance in treatment in areas of unmet medical need and the Accelerated Access Review, which aims to speed up access to innovative drugs, devices, diagnostics and digital products for National Health Service patients, and to make the UK the best place to develop these innovations.

    NHS England supports the invention and adoption of transformative healthcare technologies. This includes existing technologies, where the benefits are already proven but wider adoption is critical to benefit all patients, and new technologies, which require larger scale trials to test out their impact individually and in combination. Current initiatives include the sponsorship of 15 Academic Health Science Networks (£48 million core funding in 2015-16), the Small Business Research Initiative (£20 million in 2015-16), and the Test Bed programme which is providing funding for frontline health and care workers to evaluate the use of novel combinations of interconnected devices such as wearable monitors, data analysis and new ways of working.

    NHS England has been tasked under section 7.1 of the NHS Mandate to “Implement the agreed recommendations of the Accelerated Access Review including developing ambition and trajectory on NHS uptake of affordable and cost-effective new innovations”.

  • 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 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the General Dental Council’s (GDC) response to the British Dental Association’s Freedom of Information request of 18 March, whether they will ask the National Audit Office to carry out a value-for-money examination of GDC’s financial management.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The General Dental Council (GDC) is an independent statutory body. Ministers take a keen interest in the performance of the GDC and its plans for improvement, particularly in light of the Professional Standards Authority’s (PSA) performance review and publication of its investigation into concerns raised by a whistleblower. A copy of the PSA’s report, A report on the investigation into the General Dental Council’s handling of a whistleblower’s disclosure about the Investigating Committee, is attached.

    The GDC is required under the Dentist Act 1984 to prepare a statement of accounts and for those accounts to be audited. These accounts would cover all expenditure including that during the PSA investigation. The statement of accounts and auditor’s report are then published and properly scrutinised, including being certified and reported on by the Controller and Auditor General and being laid before Parliament and the Scottish Parliament by the Privy Council.

    The Department has no plans to ask the National Audit Office to carry out a value for money examination of the GDC’s financial management.

  • Baroness Burt of Solihull – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Burt of Solihull – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Burt of Solihull on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the amount paid in levies to the Pension Protection Fund in each of the three years to 2012–13 due to companies using a contingent asset to replace the Pension Protection Fund’s Failure Score for the company with that of a different company, compared to what these companies paid in (1) 2012–13, (2) 2013–14 and (3) 2014–15.

    Baroness Altmann

    The Pension Protection Fund has not made a comparison of the amounts paid by schemes with a contingent asset prior to 2012/13 with later years, as substantial changes in the way that levies are calculated from year to year do not allow for robust comparison.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his policy is on future British involvement in the European Organization for Nuclear Research and the CERN research facility.

    Joseph Johnson

    The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the European Space Agency (ESA) are separate organisations from the European Union and thus the UK’s memberships of CERN or ESA are not dependent on its EU membership. The UK will continue to play a leading role in major non-EU research collaborations, including CERN and ESA. In July we confirmed the UK’s application to become a full member of a major new particle accelerator, the European Spallation Source in Sweden.

  • George Howarth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    George Howarth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Howarth on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in the Liverpool City Region are currently on a waiting list for an outpatient hospital appointment.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The number of patients reported at the end of August 2016 who were on a referral to treatment pathway and were waiting to start consultant-led treatment for each clinical commissioning group (CCG) within the Liverpool City region are shown in the table below. These patients will be at various points along the pathway including, for example, waiting for an outpatient appointment or a diagnostic test. It is therefore not possible to separately identify how many of these patients were waiting for elective surgery or for an outpatient hospital appointment.

    Referral to treatment waiting times for incomplete pathways August 2016

    CCG

    August 2016

    Halton CCG

    9,777

    Knowsley CCG

    10,673

    Liverpool CCG

    31,529

    South Sefton CCG

    11,052

    Southport and Formby CCG

    8,252

    St Helens CCG

    11,840

    Wirral CCG

    21,880

    Total

    105,003

    Source: Consultant-led referral to treatment waiting times, NHS England

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many days were added in each prison establishment as a result of adjudications in each year since 2010.

    Andrew Selous

    The information on the number of additional days awarded to prisoners in each prison establishment as a result of adjudications in each year since 2010 can be found in the attached table although figures for 2015 are not yet available.

    Discipline procedures are central to the maintenance of a safe custodial environment. They are provided for by the Prison and Young Offender Institution Rules which require adjudications to be conducted lawfully, fairly and justly, and for prisoners and young people (aged 15-17) to have a full opportunity to hear what is alleged against them and to present their case. Independent Adjudicators are District Judges or Deputy District Judges who attend prisons and Young Offender Institutions when necessary to hear adjudication cases which are deemed sufficiently serious. These cases may merit a punishment of additional days to a prisoner’s time spent in custody if the prisoner or young person is found guilty. Only Independent Adjudicators can make an award of additional days as a punishment.

    A range of safeguarding measures are in place to make sure that a prisoner or young person is physically and mentally fit to face an adjudication hearing and any subsequent punishment.

  • Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2016-01-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the postponement of the introduction of the one per cent rent reduction for supported housing requires the postponement of the introduction of the local housing allowance cap for residents living in supported housing.

    Justin Tomlinson

    We value the work of the supported housing sector extremely highly and are working closely with them to ensure they are supported as effectively as possible.

    As part of this we have commissioned an evidence review of supported housing.

    The results of this research will determine our future policy development and any appropriate exemptions.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received on the proposals contained in the report, Surrogacy in the UK: Myth Busting and Reform, published in November 2015.

    Jane Ellison

    A search of the Department’s central correspondence system shows that the Department received 22 representations that made direct or indirect reference to the report `Surrogacy in the UK: Myth Busting and Reform’ since it was published in November 2015.

    The Government has no current plans to change the legislation in respect of surrogacy arrangements.