Tag: 2016

Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what development and humanitarian support the Government has provided (a) bilaterally and (b) multilaterally to Burkina Faso in each of the last six years.

Mr Nick Hurd

Since 2010 DFID has provided over £16m of bilateral humanitarian and development funding to Burkina Faso. This includes humanitarian assistance to prevent and treat malnutrition and provide support to refugees from Mali, work with communities to end female genital mutilation, and support to improve regional trade in West Africa.

Whilst DFID does not require multilateral organisations to give a breakdown of where they spent core funding from DFID, the imputed share of DFID’s core funding to multilaterals that went to Burkina Faso between 2010 and 2014 (the latest year for which we have data) was £159m in total, ranging from between £34m to £47m each year. This was spent by multilaterals including the EU, the UN organisations, and the World Bank on providing a range of humanitarian and development support to meet priority needs in Burkina Faso.

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps he has taken to reduce stillbirths.

Ben Gummer

We are committed making sure every baby receives consistently high quality care, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

In November 2015, the Government announced a national ambition to halve by 2030 the rates of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries occurring during or soon after birth.

To support the National Health Service in achieving this ambition we also announced:

― a £2.24 million capital fund for equipment to improve safety;

― over £1 million to roll out training programmes to make sure staff have the skills and confidence they need to deliver world-leading safe care; and

― £500,000 to develop a new system that can be used consistently across the NHS to enable staff to review and learn from every stillbirth and neonatal death.

The announcement also committed to publishing an annual report to update the public, health professionals, providers and commissioners on the progress we are making towards achieving the ambition.

The National Maternity Review, chaired by Baroness Cumberlege, will include proposals for the future shape of modern, high quality and sustainable maternity services across England. We anticipate that its report will have an important role in shaping the system to achieve our ambition.

For those babies who are born sick or premature, NHS England commissions Neonatal Care from 165 neonatal units. These units are organised and supported by 13 Operational Delivery Networks. The organisation of networks has brought tangible benefits in the delivery of babies in the right place to receive specialist care when it is needed.

NHS England’s Neonatal Critical Care Service Specification states that providers should ensure that expert and experienced staff treat sufficient numbers of cases to maintain a safe high quality service and move towards national standards.

It is for local hospital trusts and specialised commissioners to decide how best to use the guidance and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence quality standard for specialist neonatal care to improve babies’ chances of survival and minimise mortality associated with being born either premature or unwell. We know that that there is still more to do to ensure these services are consistent across the country and that is why the Neonatal Clinical Reference Group at NHS England has committed to review the findings of the Bliss report, (published in October 2015 which can be found here http://www.bliss.org.uk/babyreport), and will work with all of its key partners to make recommendations for further improvement.

Unless we invest in research we cannot understand how to best improve services for mothers and their babies. Significant sums have been invested over recent years in support of research looking at important questions regarding premature birth. The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funds a range of research relating to causes, risk factors and prevention of stillbirth and neonatal death. The NIHR Health Technology Assessment is funding a £6.0 million trial of an intelligent system to support decision making in the management of labour using the cardiotocogram – due to report in 2017. The NIHR is also funding a £1.2 million study on preventing adverse pregnancy outcome in women at increased risk of stillbirth by detecting placental dysfunction– due to report in 2019.

To help achieve the best outcomes, women are also offered a comprehensive programme of scans, screening tests and development examinations during pregnancy and following birth babies will receive the checks in the NHS newborn and infant physical examination screening programme and the NHS newborn blood spot screening programme .

01/01/2023

Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-03-01.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many officials of his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in each of the last five years; and what proportion of (a) his Department’s staff and (b) total sick leave the sick leave of such officials represented in each such year.

Harriett Baldwin

The Treasury’s sickness absence data for ‘Mental and Behavioural Disorders’ includes stress related conditions.

Details relating to Mental and Behavioural Disorders for the four financial years to March 2015 and the most current information to September 2015 is as follows:

Year/period	Number of officials	Proportion of staff	Proportion of total sick leave of the department
October 2014 to September 2015	38	3.1%	26%
April 2014 to March 2015	36	3.2%	25%
April 2013 to March 2014	33	3.0%	25%
April 2012 to March 2013	32	2.8%	19%
April 2011 to March 2012	28	2.4%	18%

01/01/2023

Ben Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Bradshaw on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the administrative costs as a proportion of spending were of (a) the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital and (b) every other acute hospital in England in 2014-15.

Alistair Burt

As a provider of front line services, costs incurred by acute hospitals do not contribute to the Administration budget allocated to the Department. Therefore, for the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, and all other acute hospitals in England, none of the total expenditure incurred in 2014-15 was considered to be administrative cost.

01/01/2023
Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish a list of people who attended the Anti-Corruption Summit on 12 May 2016.

Matthew Hancock

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

01/01/2023
Baroness Gould of Potternewton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-06-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the (1) number, and (2) proportion, of healthcare professionals who have received training in each year since 2005 to fit intra-uterine methods of contraception.

Lord Prior of Brampton

No such assessment has been made.

The continuing professional development of doctors and nurses is the responsibility of individual employers. Health Education England has a role in ensuring employers remain committed to continuing professional development and in developing the overall strategy for workforce skills and development in their areas.

01/01/2023
Baroness Hamwee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hamwee on 2016-09-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether pre-departure accommodation at Tinsley House will be equipped for families with children and will provide facilities for children to a similar level as those at Cedars family accommodation centre; and when Tinsley House will be ready for use.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

Tinsley House is currently under going refurbishment. This includes the facilities identified for the new pre-departure accommodation. The apartment based facilities will be similar to those provided at Cedars family accommodation centre.

These facilities will include a children’s play area in the family reception area; a domestic kitchen to allow families to cook for themselves; and improvements to the outside courtyard and the separate entrance to the proposed pre departure accommodation.

The important assistance to families preparing to return to their home country, provided at Cedars, will remain in place at the new pre-departure accommodation. Cedars will remain open to enable a managed transition to the new location to take place, and Barnardo’s will continue to provide welfare support at Cedars. The timetable for the opening of pre-departure accommodation at Tinsley House is still being finalised.

01/01/2023
Conor McGinn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that insurers cannot under-settle claims made in person following an increase in the small claims limit.

Dominic Raab

The Government will consult on the detail of the new reforms in due course, including any necessary safeguards. The consultation will be accompanied by an impact assessment.

01/01/2023
Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support the provision of rural bus services in West Yorkshire.

Andrew Jones

Decisions about the provision of bus services requiring local government subsidy are a matter for individual English local authorities, in the light of their other spending priorities.

The majority of public funding for local bus services is via block grant provided to local authorities in England from the Department for Communities and Local Government. However, my Department also provides around £40m of Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) funding directly to English local authorities to help deliver bus services, of which over £2 million goes to West Yorkshire.

01/01/2023
Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2016 to Question 26719, what change programmes are underway which are expected to reduce the number of his Department’s civilian employees.

Mark Lancaster

The main change programmes which are in progress and expected to deliver significant civilian workforce reductions are Army re-basing, the US Visiting Forces restructuring, and transformation of Information Systems and Services.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is also considering further programmes which are intended to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the delivery of defence outputs and the support provided to the Armed Forces. These include plans to reduce the overall Defence Estate; provision of Defence Fire and Emergency services; transforming the provision of hard and soft facility management, arrangements for infrastructure policing, options for the delivery of the MOD Guard Service and for the provision of shared corporate services. Each of these further programmes may impact on civilian staff. As I stated in my previous answer of 22 February 2016 to Question 26719, the timing and reductions associated with individual programmes are still to be determined.

01/01/2023