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Tag: 2016

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the implementation of universal credit on the level of rent arrears in council homes.

    Justin Tomlinson

    This information is not collected centrally.

    Statistics are published annually on the total value of local authority social housing rent arrears, broken down by Local Authority area. They were most recently published on the Government’s website for 2014-15:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-housing-data#2014-to-2015

    “

  • 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 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department’s policy is on junior doctors who whistleblow about safety concerns in the NHS.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department supports National Health Service staff who wish to raise concerns and is implementing a range of measures to support the development of a culture in which staff are able to raise concerns without fear of repercussion or reprisal. The Department has made clear to NHS organisations that they should have policies and procedures to support and encourage staff to raise concerns, and that those concerns should be acted upon.

    Junior doctors are protected by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, as they are employees of the NHS trusts at which they are based.

    Junior doctors along with other NHS staff will benefit from a national network of Freedom to Speak Up ‘local guardians,’ led by the National Guardian Dame Eileen Sills, who was appointed on 7 January 2016.

    The National Guardian will lead, advise, and support the ‘local guardians’ in carrying out investigations on how concerns are being handled, share good practice, report on national or common themes, and identify any barriers that are preventing the NHS from having a truly safe and open culture.

    In addition we are also introducing a new Guardian of safe working appointed jointly with junior doctors.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV is on the list of drugs being referred to NHS England’s Clinical Priorities Advisory Group for decision.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England does not now consider pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV is suitable for prioritisation of specialised commissioning spend as it is a preventative measure. However given the potential benefits in this area, NHS England wants to build on the work to date and will be making available up to £2 million over the next two years to run a number of early implementer test sites. These will be undertaken in conjunction with Public Health England and will seek to answer the remaining questions around how PrEP could be commissioned in the most cost effective and integrated way to reduce HIV and sexually transmitted infections in those at highest risk.

  • Naz Shah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Naz Shah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Naz Shah on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how she plans for the £10 million increase in funding to expand breakfast clubs in schools announced in paragraph 1.95 of Budget 2016 to be distributed; and how her Department plans to monitor the spending of that funding.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Chancellor announced in the recent budget that funding from the new sugar levy would be used in part to expand breakfast clubs in up to 1,600 schools from September 2017. We are currently refining the details of how this scheme will operate and further details will be announced in due course.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to educate consumers about the welfare risks of certain breed characteristics in cats so that consumers can make informed decisions when considering a purchase.

    George Eustice

    The Government would be happy to work with key stakeholders to discuss health problems associated with pedigree cats

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-07-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much of England is covered by Local Welfare Assistance Schemes; and what assessment they have made of whether those schemes have the necessary resources to make known the emergency financial support that is available to benefit claimants suffering from delays or other problems connected with Universal Credit.

    Lord Freud

    From April 2013, non-ring fenced funding was passed to local authorities in England and to the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales, who all now administer Welfare Assistance Schemes on a devolved and localised basis. How those local authorities administer this support is for them to decide and outside of my Department’s remit.

    In 2014 the Department undertook a review of this change and confirmed that local authorities were delivering targeted support more effectively than was the case with the previous provision under the Social Fund. This confirmed the Government’s wider view that local authorities are best placed to deliver help and support at a local level, ensuring effective provision for those who need it most, and coherent links with wider social care.

    Further support is available from Universal Credit and Universal Support for claimants who are in financial difficulty or who are awaiting a Universal Credit payment. This includes advance payments, Alternative Payment Arrangements (more frequent payments, split payments within a household and the payment of rent direct to landlords) and Personal Budgeting support.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations he has (a) received and (b) made on eye health services at Birmingham City Hospital.

    David Mowat

    A search of the Department’s Ministerial correspondence database has identified one written representation received between 1 April 2016 and 11 October 2016 about eye health services at Birmingham City Hospital.

    The Department has made no representations on this matter.

  • The Earl of Dundee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The Earl of Dundee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Dundee on 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of studies which conclude that there is a correlation between early direct maternal care and adult stability.

    Lord Nash

    Research, such as the Early Years Learning and Development Literature Review 2009, and the January 2013 WAVE Trust report on early years, suggests that children need secure attachments with adults in order to feel safe and happy. Good home care can provide this support, which is a real benefit to children as they learn and develop.

    The Department has extensively assessed the impact of formal early education compared to home care, through its longitudinal research programme Effective Pre-School, Primary & Secondary Education Project (EPPSE). EPPSE followed both groups of children through preschool and school ages, examining their cognitive and social behavioural development up to their AS and A Level exam results in 2015. The EPPSE results show that young children benefit from formal childcare, go on to have better GCSE results and, as a result, are more likely to enter A Level exams.

    In recognition of the crucial role that parents and carers play in children’s development, the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) requires childcare settings to form strong partnerships with parents. The EYFS also requires settings to allocate each child a key worker to help ensure that every child’s learning and care is tailored to meet their individual needs.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-01-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the action they and their allies can take to enable the UN agencies in Syria to carry out their mandates fully and freely.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK has played, and will continue to play, a leading role in ensuring that UN agencies are able to carry out their mandates in Syria. Through our membership of the UN Security Council and as part of the International Syria Support Group we helped generate a mandate for the UN Special Envoy for Syria to launch intra-Syrian peace negotiations this month. We have also co-sponsored a series of UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR) on humanitarian issues, including most recently UNSCR 2258 on cross-border humanitarian access. These resolutions provide a mandate for the delivery of aid into Syria.

    We are deeply concerned about the restrictions placed on UN agencies to deliver these mandates, particularly the obstructionism and lack of response from the Syrian Regime to repeated requests from the UN for humanitarian access to towns and regions across Syria. We regularly raise these issues in the UN Security Council.

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people with dependants who have been granted leave to remain in the UK had a no recourse to public funds condition attached to their leave in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13, (c) 2013-14 and (d) 2014-15.

    James Brokenshire

    Home Office systems cannot be interrogated in a way that will provide any meaningful response to the question. A manual review of all applications submitted within the stipulated timeframe would be needed in order to provide an accurate response and this would incur a disproportionate cost to the public purse.