Tag: 2016

David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent representations he has received on the work of SSAFA, the armed forces charity.

Mark Lancaster

The Ministry of Defence has excellent relations with SSAFA and maintains regular contact with them; including through the Service Charities Partnership Board, which I will be attending on 18 October.

I have received SSAFA’s recent report on Veterans welfare and I am considering the recommendations provided.

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-10-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the statement by Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen on 20 October (HL Deb, col 2484–90), whether the Pharmacy Integration Fund is still planned to rise to a total of £300 million by 2020–21, and whether the planned expenditure of £42 million over two years means that previously planned support is being cut back.

Lord Prior of Brampton

In 2016/17, it was planned that £20 million would be available for the Pharmacy Integration Fund (PhIF), rising by £20 million per year to a total of £100 million per year by 2020/21, so that over the course of 5 years, £300 million would be distributed through the Fund.

The establishment of the Fund and associated work programme for 2016/17 is dependent on the overall financial pressures for NHS England, set out in the Five Year Forward View, and the priorities identified through the recently published National Health Service planning guidance.

This means through the business planning process, funding of £42 million has now been secured for 2016/17 and 2017/18.

There will be further business planning within NHS England for 2018 onwards which will determine the future provision within the Fund. However, the PhIF is a key priority for NHS England and is aligned with the Five Year Forward View priorities.

01/01/2023
Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many (a) homes and (b) businesses he expects to receive a rural satellite broadband voucher in the next 12 months.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Up to 300,000 premises are currently eligible for support under the Universal Service Commitment.

01/01/2023
Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on (a) overall levels of available compensation and (b) confidence in the NHS of fixed recoverable costs in clinical negligence cases for patients who are (i) over the age of 60 and (ii) female.

Ben Gummer

The Department has established a working group to look at the impact of the proposal on equalities, health inequalities and families. The consultation stage assessment for the introduction of fixed recoverable costs for clinical negligence is work in progress and we will seek views on the impact of the policy on equalities, health inequalities and families within the consultation. We can confirm that age and gender, along with the other protected characteristics named within the Equality Act 2010, will be considered. The policy is not seeking to reduce the amount of damages but to reduce the levels of recoverable legal costs and to make claimant legal costs more proportionate to damages and defence costs.

01/01/2023
Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2016 to Question 27898, whether the Association of Train Operating Companies objected to his Department releasing the average season ticket price.

Claire Perry

The information held by the Department on season tickets sales is derived from the rail industry’s central revenue and ticketing database. The Department is given access to this database for internal use only under licence by the Association of Train Operators (ATOC) who manage the database on behalf of the operators. This licence is subject to a number of conditions which restrict the Department from releasing information that has been derived from the revenue and ticketing data. ATOC’s contact details can be found on their website http://www.atoc.org/contact-us/.

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01/01/2023
Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information he holds on the number of civilians (a) killed and (b) injured in the Yemen conflict to date.

Mr Philip Hammond

The UN reports that between 26 March 2015 and 17 March 2016 there have been just under 9,000 casualties in Yemen including 3,218 civilians killed and a further 5,778 injured. The UK Government uses UN reports as one of its primary data sources.

01/01/2023

Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many claims the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) has settled within one week of the trial date in each of the last five years; and what the cost has been to the NHSLA of those claims in each such year.

Ben Gummer

The Department does not hold the information requested. This data has been supplied by the National Health Service Litigation Authority (NHS LA).

The NHS LA aims to resolve claims promptly and fairly without court proceedings or going to trial wherever possible. It does not record cases which resolve within one week of trial separately.

The table below shows the number of claims the NHS LA has defended where (a) the claim has been resolved in favour of the claimant and (b) judgement has been given in favour of the claimant in each of the last five years.

Year of trial	Number of claims resolved in favour of claimant	Number of claims resolved in favour of defendant
2011-12	11	22
2012-13	9	32
2013-14	9	34
2014-15	21	39
Total	50	127

Source: NHS LA

Date: May 2016

We understand that the hon. Member maybe asking for the number claims in which liability is admitted before trial.

The table below shows the number of cases in which liability is admitted before trial.

Year resolved for damages payment	Pre trial
2011-12	5,306
2012-13	5,262
2013-14	5,354
2014-15	5,801

Source: NHS LA

Date: May 2016

01/01/2023

Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with the Local Government Association on the effect of charges on local authorities of changes to funding over the next five years announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Mr Marcus Jones

The 2015 Spending Review confirmed a historic four year settlement for local government, including making councils responsible to local people for their financing, rather than central government. It delivers a long-held ambition for councils to be financed from locally raised resources. And it means that by the end of this Parliament, councils will benefit from 100 per cent business rates retention – something they have been calling for, for over a quarter of a century.

It is a settlement which has been subject to extensive consultation, including with the Local Government Association, which welcomed the offer of a four year planning horizon. A range of additional funding flexibilities were sought during the consultation, especially on fees for planning and licensing.

In February 2016, proposals were outlined to link future increases in councils’ fees for processing planning applications to performance in terms of speed and quality of decisions.

By the end of this Parliament, local government will be able to retain 100 per cent of local taxes, including up to £13 billion of revenue from business rates, to spend on local government services. In order to ensure that the reforms are fiscally neutral, these new powers must come with new responsibilities, as well as phasing out grants from Whitehall. The government is working closely with the Local Government Association to design the reforms.

01/01/2023
Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2016-09-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have received an evaluation of the Troubled Families programme from the consultancy firm Ecorys; when they received that evaluation; whether they plan to publish it; and if so when.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

I can confirm we have received a draft evaluation of the original Troubled Families Programme from Ecorys. The original draft report was received last autumn. The evaluation comprises several different strands. The evaluation is not yet ready to publish as there have been methodological issues with one of the strands. We expect the contractors to complete the reports shortly and in line with protocol, the Government will publish them soon after.

01/01/2023
Lord Rennard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-10-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the independent report commissioned by the Electoral Commission, Evaluation of Electoral Administration at the EU Referendum, published in August, which showed that almost half of Counting Officers responsible for the referendum considered that their teams had insufficient funds available to support the work required to compile the electoral register, whether they plan to review the electoral registration funding process.

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

It is the responsibility of Local Authorities, under the Representation of the People Act 1983, to appoint an Electoral Registration Officer who has a statutory duty to maintain registers of UK Parliamentary and local government electors for their area. To support Local Authorities with this process, and fund the transition to Individual Electoral Registration, the Cabinet Office has provided over £25 million of funding in 2014/2015 and over £15 million in 2015/2016. In addition, the Government has committed to cover the additional costs associated with the modernisation of electoral registration for at least the rest of this parliament.

01/01/2023