The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to publish a draft agenda for the Anti-Corruption Summit to be held in May 2016.
Matthew Hancock
Information about the London Anti-Corruption Summit can be found on the summit web pages of the GOV.UK website. Further details about the summit will be announced in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, under what circumstances the Government can take ships up from trade which are registered with flags of British Overseas Territories.
James Duddridge
Any vessel registered in the UK, an Overseas Territory or a Crown Dependency, is a ‘British ship’ and is entitled to fly the British Merchant Shipping flag (the ‘Red Ensign’). The UK remains the flag State for all ships flying the Red Ensign and is ultimately responsible under international law for these ships. The UK has general superintendence over the ship registers in the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. This general superintendence derives from the UK’s obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea regarding ships flying its flag; these obligations have been implemented in domestic legislation.
Under prerogative powers all British flagged vessels (including those on UK Overseas Territories and Crown Dependency registers) can be requisitioned where there is deemed to be a threat to the realm. Conscription of all British flagged vessels is done by Government Order. Such Order is enacted only during national crisis, such as war. The decision to use such Order is decided on a case by case basis by the Government of the day. For example, this Order was enacted during the Falklands War.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-06-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to increase cervical screening rates among (a) women with learning disabilities and (b) women in deprived communities.
Jane Ellison
There is a range of work going on to understand the reasons for the decline in cervical screening uptake amongst women aged 25 to 29 and to try to address them. They include:
a) Data and information – access to data, cleansing, benchmarking for providers, timely and useful information for commissioners;
b) Behavioural insight – communication with commissioners, providers, patients and public;
c) Commissioning levers – commissioning contracts in public health (S7a) and primary care;
d) Partnership work – relationships with commissioners and providers; and
e) Sharing best practice – what works well, evaluation and how to embed quality improvement
Public Health England (PHE) is working with colleagues in NHS England and Health and Social Care Information Centre to implement the Accessible Information Standard which is intended to improve access to services for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. Through the re-development of cervical Information Technology systems opportunities will arise to review how to help improve uptake.
PHE supports providers to help meet the Accessible Information Standard through the provision of high quality information for people with learning disabilities or sensory loss. A national group of experts and service users has been set up to oversee this work and will be updating the existing easy read leaflets and developing new materials over the next 18 months.
PHE is aware that there are a range of factors which may act as barriers in hindering women from attending cervical screening. It is hoped that through the STRATEGIC (Strategies to Increase Cervical screening uptake at first invitation) interventions will be identified to help minimise barriers and assist women to attend screening whilst increasing uptake across all quintiles. The STRATEGIC trial was completed in 2015 and researchers are expected to publish findings later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-09-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the relative viability of securing an investigation into alleged acts of genocide by Daesh by means of establishing an independent panel through the UN rather than the International Criminal Court.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We continue to look at every available option to bring Daesh to justice, and to work closely with our international partners and the UN on what can be done to assist the victims and to bring those responsible to justice.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the diplomatic and trade opportunities presented for the UK by the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
Qatar has an ambitious infrastructure programme for the 2022 World Cup worth over £140billion, offering significant opportunities for UK companies. UK Government officials are in regular contact with the Qatari World Cup’s organising body, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy. As part of their discussions they highlight British companies’ expertise in fields such as security, hospitality, stadium management in staging global sports events.
The UK wants Qatar’s 2022 World Cup to be a success and to be Qatar’s key delivery partner. As the UK showed during London 2012, international sporting events help to build stronger friendships between people of different countries. This is the first time that the Gulf has hosted this tournament and the UK has lots of experience it can share. This means opportunities for even stronger cooperation and engagement across all aspects of our bilateral relationship.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the requirement laid down by the NHS Commissioning Board for Commissioning Support Units to become autonomous by the end of 2016 is to be removed.
Lord Prior of Brampton
No decision has been made. The proposed change was at the request of Clinical Support Units’ (CSU) Managing Directors – to give greaterflexibility to apply to become autonomous when they are ready, rather than having to work to a fixed timetable. A decision will be taken once NHS England’sCommissioning Committee has met.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-02-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2016 to Question 22396, on park homes and the Warm Homes Discount, when that pilot scheme started; when that pilot scheme is expected to end; and what she plans the terms of eligibility for park home residents to apply to that pilot scheme will be.
Andrea Leadsom
Energy suppliers participating in the Warm Home Discount this year (2015/16) have been given the voluntary option to provide a rebate to mobile home residents who meet the qualifying benefit as part of the Industry Initiatives section of the scheme. This scheme called the Park Homes Warm Home Discount pilot scheme is funded by obligated energy suppliers in the scheme and is open to permanent park home residents in England, Scotland or Wales. Residents on a Park Home site who pay for their electricity through their park site owner and meet one of the qualifying eligibility criteria can apply. If successful, residents will receive a one-off rebate of £140 towards their electricity bill.
The pilot scheme opened in November and is only open for a limited period and once a certain number of applications have been received and are successful, the pilot scheme will close. The pilot is currently expected to deliver just over 1000 rebates. This translates to just over £140,000 of support being delivered before the 31st March 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Northover on 2016-03-01.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that their work supporting humanitarian emergency responses delivers long-term change that empowers women from affected communities.
Baroness Verma
Through meaningful participation and inclusion during humanitarian preparedness and response, women and girls can be included in long-term change and recovery efforts following natural disasters, conflicts, and other crises. The Women, Peace, and Security agenda offers an opportunity to link women’s participation in immediate crises response to wider political, social, and economic participation, including their inclusion in peace processes. Along with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence, DFID is a partner in delivering the National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security.
The World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016 offers an opportunity to ensure that women are empowered during the delivery of humanitarian assistance, which has been demonstrated to accelerate the transition from response to recovery and lead to longer-term efforts to promote and achieve gender equality. One the Government’s priorities for the Summit is to push for it to deliver outcomes for women and girls.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-04-08.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.15 of Budget 2016, what criteria were or will be applied in the selection of organisations to participate in the National Mesothelioma Centre.
Greg Hands
The National Mesothelioma Centre will be a collaboration between four leading institutions who have a major interest in the treatment of mesothelioma: National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI) at Imperial College; Royal Brompton Hospital; Institute of Cancer Research (ICR); and Royal Marsden Hospital. This collaboration will form the hub of the Centre which will engage with all other hospitals in the UK to which mesotheliomas are referred and treated.
Professor Sir Anthony Newton Taylor, Head of Research & Development at the National Heart & Lung Institute, who made the application for support from LIBOR fines, is working closely with the British Lung Foundation and other charities in order to ensure that experts from across the lung and cancer research community are able to contribute to this important enterprise.
The £5 million grant, which is intended as seed funding, has been profiled over 4 years and will be paid to the National Mesothelioma Centre, once established. The funding will be subjected to standard Grant Terms and Conditions, including a feedback and reporting mechanism, and audit.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-05-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the effect of proposed reforms to the Cancer Drugs Fund on the provision in the NHS of (a) Avastin and (b) other drugs currently approved for off-licence use.
George Freeman
NHS England has advised that Avastin is currently funded through the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) for three indications, all of which are off-label. It is also in the process of reviewing and setting up a system for assessing off-label drug indications. Each of the three off-label indications for Avastin will remain funded within the CDF until they have been assessed through the new process.
Clinicians can prescribe any treatment, including an unlicensed product or a product not licensed for a particular indication, which they consider the best available medicine to meet the individual clinical needs of their patient, subject to their primary care organisation agreeing to fund this treatment.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) produces Evidence Summaries which critically review the best available evidence for significant uses of unlicensed or off-label medicines. They help commissioners and clinicians to make evidence-based prioritisation, treatment and funding decisions where there are no clinically-appropriate licensed alternatives.
Ensuring that patients get timely access to any new treatment, including off-label medicines in new indications, is complex and the Department is committed to working with stakeholders including NICE, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the General Medical Council, patient and professional groups, and charities to co-ordinate activities and set plans in place that will make this easier. This includes work to look at more systematic inclusion of off-label uses of drugs in the British National Formulary and development of case studies looking at re-purposed medicines and their pathways from research results into clinical practice.
Alongside these, the Access to Medical Treatments (Innovation) Act will, in due course, provide the National Health Service with a newly created database which will provide a mechanism for collecting and sharing information on innovative treatments including off-label drugs and medicines in development. Now that the Act has received Royal Assent the work to implement its provisions can begin.