Tag: 2016

Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Efford on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with Greenwich Clinical Commissioning Group since the award of the contract to provide musculoskeletal services to Circle Holdings PLC on the Sustainability and Transformation Plans for elective orthopaedic surgery in Greenwich; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne

The provision of local health services is a matter for the local National Health Service.

There have been no meetings between Ministers at the Department of Health and Greenwich Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) about the award of the contract to provide musculoskeletal services to Circle Holdings PLC regarding the Sustainability and Transformation Plans for elective orthopaedic surgery in Greenwich.

Neither have there been meetings between Ministers at the Department and Greenwich CCG regarding the capacity of local health providers meeting the Getting it Right First Time requirements in Greenwich since the contract to provide musculoskeletal services was awarded to Circle Holdings PLC.

01/01/2023

Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for how many asylum applications did it take UK Visas and Immigration longer than 12 months to make an initial decision; how many such applicants submitted a request to be allowed to work in the UK; how many of those requests to work were rejected; and how long, on average, did it take for those accepted to be given documents confirming their right to work in each year since 2009-10.

James Brokenshire

The table below shows, for each year from 2009-10, the time taken to make an initial decision, including those made within 12 months of claiming asylum.

In the year ending 31 March 2015, UKVI completed a sigmificant exercise in clearing all straightforward asylum cases with a claim date preceding 1 April 2014.

Financial Year	Total Number of Decisions	No of Cases with a decision Over a Year	No of Cases with a decision Under a Year
2009/10	24,510	3,048	21,462
2010/11	19,818	4,010	15,808
2011/12	16,970	1,479	15,491
2012/13	17,561	1,208	16,353
2013/14	15,141	2,305	12,836
2014/15	25,992	8,281	17,711
2015/16 (Up to the 30 Sep 2015)	13,073	1,217	11,856

The Home Office holds reportable information on the number of asylum seekers who have not received a decision within twelve months. Permission to work requests are also recorded on the immigration casework database but this information is not readily reportable without interrogating thousands of individual cases. Therefore, the information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

01/01/2023

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 his policy is on the future of National Savings and Investments.

Harriett Baldwin

The core purpose of NS&I remains to raise cost-effective finance for the Government, using an operating framework that balances the interests of savers, taxpayers and the wider financial sector.

An indication of NS&I’s cost effectiveness in raising finance for the Government, as measured by the Value Indicator, is published annually. The Value Indicator is calculated by comparing the total cost of delivering Net Financing and servicing existing customers deposits with how much it would cost the Government to raise funds through the wholesale market via equivalent maturity gilts. Last year £330m was saved.

As an arms-length body, NS&I is responsible for its own brand strategy. In line with government Spend Controls, Cabinet Office approval is required for advertising, marketing and communications spend of £100,000 or above.

NS&I relocated its operations within Glasgow from the Cowglen site to the Capella building in the centre of Glasgow in May 2015. The closure of Cowglen facilitated the move to more modern and cost effective accommodation and released the surplus site for redevelopment for housing, together with a capital receipt for the Exchequer. NS&I’s mail processing and scanning operations previously located at Cowglen, moved to Orbital House in East Kilbride in October 2015. NS&I remains committed to its operations in Scotland.

01/01/2023
Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the UN Secretary General on the supply of arms and other military equipment sales to Saudi Arabia.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), has had no discussions with the UN Secretary General on the supply of arms and other military equipment sales to Saudi Arabia.

01/01/2023
Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many treatments for rare and infectious diseases have been approved for use on the NHS based on a foreign laboratory test analysis.

Jane Ellison

The information requested is not available. The most appropriate treatment for a rare and infectious disease is determined by the physician looking after the patient. Where laboratory tests have been conducted abroad, they may be repeated in the United Kingdom depending on the condition, particularly where laboratory practice or standards in the country of origin are in doubt.

01/01/2023
Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2016-04-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what provision they plan to make to meet the shortfall of residential care home places for elderly people in the light of home closures and increased demand for social care.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Adult social care is largely delivered by a market of independent providers. As in any market, there is inevitable change which will give rise to local fluctuations in capacity. We are not aware of any systemic shortfall of residential care home places.

Under the Care Act (2014), local authorities have duties to shape their local market to ensure there is adequate provision of good quality, appropriate services to meet the changing needs of their local population, including for people who do not get state-funding.

01/01/2023
Baroness Deech – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Deech on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Verma on 25 April (HL7413), whether the independent auditor of UK payments to the Palestinian Authority that are channelled through a trust fund administered by the World Bank is regulated by any British regulator.

Baroness Verma

Deloitte is a registered audit firm that employs certified public accountants who conduct their assignment in compliance with the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) standards.

01/01/2023
Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how much his Department has spent on consultancy and legal fees since it was established.

Mr David Jones

The Department has been billed for £12,711 in relation to legal fees since it was established. There has been no spend on consultancy fees during this period.

01/01/2023
Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled, Department of Health’s settlement at the Spending Review 2015, published on 25 November 2015, how the investment of up to £300 million per year on diagnostics will be spent in 2016-17.

David Mowat

The independent Cancer Taskforce’s implementation plan, published May 2016, included activity modelling that showed a 7% growth in overall diagnostic activity year on year to 2020/21. This was factored into overall clinical commissioning group (CCG) allocations and CCGs were advised to plan for appropriate diagnostic capacity as one of the nine ‘must dos’ in the 2016/17 Planning Guidance.

The Government and NHS England are also taking forward a number of diagnostic initiatives to support this through immediate investment in 2016-17. This includes a new National Diagnostics Capacity Fund to explore new and innovative ways to deliver diagnostic services; a new 28 Day Faster Diagnosis Standard, which will ensure that all patients are seen, and either diagnosed or have their cancer ruled out within 28 Days; and Wave 2 of the Accelerate, Coordinate, Evaluate (ACE) programme, testing a new, multi-disciplinary diagnostic centre approach to ensuring patients with vague but concerning symptoms receive a diagnosis as quickly as possible.

01/01/2023
Bernard Jenkin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bernard Jenkin on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff in his Department are working on matters related to (a) European policy, (b) the future of Europe, (c) reform of the EU, (d) the renegotiation of the UK’s relationship with the EU, (e) the EU referendum and (f) the consequences of the EU referendum; how many full-time equivalent staff are working on such matters; what the (i) staff and (ii) other cost of such work is; what proportion of that work is undertaken by such staff on (A) communications, (B) strategy and (C) policy; whether his Department has established any specific unit or units to deal with those matters; to whom such (1) staff and (2) units report; whether his Department has issued guidelines to staff on those matters; and if he will make a statement.

Dominic Raab

The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in Britain – so we get a better deal for Britain and secure our future. Departments are appropriately resourced to support the Government’s priorities in Europe, including the renegotiation and referendum.

01/01/2023