Tag: 2016

Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her plans are to tackle trends in stress-related illnesses among police officers in Lancashire.

Brandon Lewis

The Government recognises that policing can be a challenging job and it is the responsibility of chief officers – supported by the College of Policing – to ensure the welfare of all officers and staff. We welcome the work in forces, led nationally by Lancashire’s Deputy Chief Constable – to promote officer health and wellbeing. It is encouraging to see that all forces have signed up to the Workplace Wellbeing Charter.

As part of a commitment to police welfare in October 2014 the Government allocated £10m to help support emergency services personnel and volunteers, focused on mental health, physical recuperation and bereavement support for those who need it.

January 1, 2023
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 2016-10-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking in regard to those Clinical Commissioning Groups which plan to cut the proportion of their budget spent on mental health services for 2016–17.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England has set a clear requirement of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) that spending on mental health should increase year-on-year by an amount at least as great as the growth in their baseline allocations. CCGs are required through the NHS Operational Planning and Contracting Guidance 2017-2019 to increase their baseline spend on mental health. A copy of this guidance is attached. From this year, NHS England’s budget and financial reporting will be aligned to specific mental health priorities, increasing transparency and allowing additional resources to be tracked at CCG level.

January 1, 2023
Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure former aircraft carrier personnel do not become deskilled before the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers come into active service.

Penny Mordaunt

Comprehensive training programmes, including embedding personnel with the US and French Navies, ensure that skills are retained and developed in support of the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers coming into service.

January 1, 2023
Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that best practice on diagnosing atrial fibrillation and preventing atrial fibrillation-related stroke is shared between Strategic Clinical Networks.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England’s Sustainable Improvement Team, which has taken over the work of NHS Improving Quality, is taking action to promote the use of GRASP-AF (Guidance on Risk Assessment and Stroke Prevention for Atrial Fibrillation) within general practitioner (GP) practices in England. GRASP-AF is an audit tool developed by and trialled in the National Health Service, which greatly simplifies the process of identifying patients with AF who are not receiving the right management to help reduce their risk of stroke. The Sustainable Improvement Team is currently collaborating with partner organisations, including charities, to support the nationwide roll-out of GRASP-AF.

To support this work, an analysis of the costs and benefits of using the anticoagulant drug warfarin to help prevent stroke in people with AF was recently published. A copy of this analysis is attached.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence also published a Quality Standard on AF in July 2015, which sets out what a high quality AF service should look like and will help drive improvement locally. A copy of this Quality Standard is attached.

There is also a wealth of information available on the detection and management of people who have AF. The NHS Atlas of Variation includes such data and similarly Public Health England (working with stakeholders) has produced information for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to enable them to identify and encourage poorly performing areas to improve their detection and management of people with AF. The Atlas is an online tool and therefore it is not possible to attach a copy.

These resources are available to Strategic Clinical Networks to help them with their work to improve the prevention and diagnosis of AF locally.

AF related stroke prevention has been a significant area of focus for the East Midlands Cardiovascular Strategic Clinical Network in recent years. Actions include:

– providing individual advice to CCGs in the area, supporting CCGs to implement AF training for GPs;

– supporting CCGs to implement GRASP-AF;

– developing a non-valvular AF anticoagulation algorithm which has informed updates to local AF guidelines;

– developing an electronic clinical template for the diagnosis and management of AF; and

– promoting the use of the warfarin patient safety audit tool.

AF is also covered as in the National Cardiovascular Intelligence Network’s masterclass programme aimed at all NHS health professionals within CCGs, local authorities and clinical services with an interest in cardiovascular disease data tools and information.

January 1, 2023
Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-25.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed public sector exit payments cap on the flexibility of academy chains to restructure their workforce.

Greg Hands

Voluntary redundancy and workforce restructuring is not contingent upon access to six-figure exit payments. As such, we do not expect the cap to have a widespread impact on the take-up of voluntary redundancy, and believe the cap will enable public sector employers to retain the tools to effectively make organisational changes to their workforce whilst offering those made redundant generous provisions for loss of employment.

January 1, 2023
Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what contracts (a) have been agreed and (b) are still to be awarded by Highways England for (i) routine highway services and (ii) specialist goods and services.

Andrew Jones

For routine highways services and specialist goods and services, Highways England has awarded several contracts that cover the whole of England. One recently awarded contract was in the Area 7, for the East Midlands and Lincolnshire:
- Maintenance and Response Contract- this was awarded to Amey Highways Ltd on 14th March 2016 and is now in mobilisation.
- Design Contract – this was awarded to Kier Highways on 10th March.
Contracts still to be awarded include:
- Construction Works Framework – Award is scheduled for early May 2016.
- Salt Saturators – Award is programmed for 15th April 2016.
- Salt supply – Highways England intend to use the ESPO framework which is currently being tendered for the supply of salt. ESPO is a public sector owned professional buying organisation and Highways England are scheduled to award a task order for the supply of salt in mid May 2016
- Structural Inspections – award is scheduled for early June 2016.
- Technical Surveys and Testing – this is the non-OJEU process and Highways England has published a Prior Information Notice (PIN) in the Official Journal for the European Union detailing how firms are to register. Responses are currently being assessed and then assessed firms will be invited to tender for specific pieces of work.
- Weather forecasting – this is currently out to tender, with the award date scheduled for mid-June 2016
The Asset Led Delivery Model that is being adopted in Area 7 will also be rolled out in Areas 1 and 2 covering the South West of England and in Areas 13 covering Cumbria and Lancashire. These contracts will not be awarded until 2017.
January 1, 2023
Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government has taken to promote cycling to work.

Mr Robert Goodwill

We support the Cycle to Work scheme which allows employers to loan bicycle and bicycle safety equipment to employees free of any income tax liability. The Department has produced guidelines to encourage employers to take advantage of this exemption so that employees can loan affordable equipment enabling them to cycle to work.

The Department also helps people to cycle to work, for instance, by providing funding to local authorities through the Local Sustainable Transport Fund and Cycle Ambition Cities fund which can be used to improve local cycling provisions, provide safer cycle routes and increase cycle parking facilities.

January 1, 2023
Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-07.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many times he has visited Scotland in an official capacity since the 2015 General Election; and what meetings were held on each such visit.

Harriett Baldwin

Treasury Ministers regularly visit all parts of the United Kingdom as part of their official duties.

Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

“

January 1, 2023
Peter Bone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans she has to open new prisons.

Mr Sam Gyimah

We have a big issue with prisons that are out of date and not fit for purpose, which makes it more difficult for our excellent governors and officers to manage them well. We have a £1.3 billion building programme. I want new modern prisons to be built in which prisoners will get the education and work they need to succeed in outside life and to close down some of our most dilapidated and out of date prisons. HM Prison Berwyn, a modern 2,106 place prison in Wrexham will open in 2017.

January 1, 2023
Baroness Warsi – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Warsi on 2016-10-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 29 September (HL1969), whether they will place in the Library of the House a list of civil society organisations funded by the Home Office under the Prevent strategy for the years 2011 to 2016.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Home Office works with a broad range of community groups and civil society organisations who deliver community based projects and counter narrative campaigns to safeguard against radicalisation.

Headline statistics are reported annually through the CONTEST Annual Report. In 2015, 130 community based projects were delivered reaching over 25,300 participants and counter narrative products developed in partnership with groups generated over 15 million online viewings.

January 1, 2023