Tag: 2016

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of enforcement of international humanitarian and human rights law in respect of children by the UN Human Rights Council in Yemen.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We worked hard with international partners to secure a strong resolution to help the situation on the ground in Yemen. The resolution includes a commitment to increase the number of international human rights experts in the Yemen Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) operation, making clear the independent mandate for OHCHR to conduct their own investigations. The resolution also maintains the technical cooperation programme for OHCHR to strengthen the National Commission in Yemen, which we believe will make a difference on the ground. We look forward to reports from the OHCHR next year.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    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 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the clinical and ethical justifications for setting the benchmark in the NHS Supply Chain generic project plans for a national formulary for wound care that 80 per cent of patients will be treated using clinically appropriate dressings.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The wide variety of choice in the current system is leading to duplication of wound care products. This can create more complexity for nurses and clinicians, making their clinical decisions more difficult and potentially leading to over specification and variation in standards of care. Of the 4,796 wound care products available through the NHS Supply Chain, 34% of lines have had no sales in the last 12 months.

    Providing an agreed set of National Health Service requirements for wound care products will start to reduce this duplication, complexity and therefore potential risk, helping to improve patient outcomes through less variation in care.

    This issue was also highlighted by 74% of respondents to a Royal College of Nursing survey run by Nursing Times (Dec 2014) seeing opportunities to reduce duplication on wound care products, (more than any other type of product).

    The project is part of a wider piece of work the Department is working with the NHS Supply Chain on to deliver £300 million of savings by October 2018. Central to this is reducing the number of specifications and variations by category so the NHS can leverage its scale and deliver clinically appropriate solutions that represent ‘value for money’. Such approaches are common in other countries and help drive savings, improve clinical standards and protect front line nursing.

  • Christina Rees – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Christina Rees – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to publish statistics on national food bank usage.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Government has no plans to collect or publish statistics on food bank usage.

  • Carolyn Harris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Carolyn Harris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the costs to the NHS of the treatment of people with addiction to fixed odds betting terminals.

    Alistair Burt

    No such estimate has been made.

    We have no current plans to make such an assessment. We know that gambling addiction can potentially have a harmful impact on both a person’s physical and mental wellbeing and problem gamblers can access services in primary care and secondary care including specialised mental health and addiction services.

    The Prime Minister recently announced £1 billion to start a revolution in mental health, including £247 million to make sure that every emergency department has mental health support (following £30 million invested in 2015/16).

    Also, over £400 million for crisis resolution home treatment teams will help to improve the management of admissions to acute psychiatric inpatient care, as well as ensure the routine availability of 24/7 intensive home treatment support as a safe and effective alternative to hospitals.

    Commissioners must continue to increase investment in mental health services each year at a level which at least matches their overall allocation increase.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of schools employ a mental health specialist as a permanent member of staff.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    This is a matter for schools to decide. We have recently commissioned an extensive survey which will provide nationally representative estimates of what provision schools and colleges offer for mental health and character education. The fieldwork will begin in the summer term.

    We are also contributing to a £3 million joint pilot with NHS England for training single points of contact in schools and specialist mental health services, to ensure that children and young people have timely access to specialist support where needed.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many enlisted soldiers gained A-levels while serving in the armed forces in each of the last five years; and in which subjects those A-levels were obtained.

    Mark Lancaster

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 18 April to Question 33691. Like GCSEs, individual soldiers are free to pursue A-levels as part of their elective personal development with the support of learning credits schemes, but the details of such A-level qualifications are not held centrally.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to make available to people without online access guidance on comparisons of energy prices among different energy providers.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Consumers without access to the internet can shop around to find a better deal for their energy by using a price comparison company, which is accredited to the Confidence Code operated by Ofgem and provides a free telephone price comparison service. In addition Citizen Advice offers advice and support on energy switching.

    The following companies offer such a service:

    Energyhelpline 0800 074 0745

    Moneysupermarket 0800 177 7087

    SimplySwitch 0800 011 1395

    UK Power.co.uk 0800 188 4906

    uSwitch 0800 051 5493

    Energylinx 0800 849 7077

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-07-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made to bring forward regulations to introduce electrical safety checks, as set out in the Housing and Planning Act 2016.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    The Government is committed to protecting tenants and, as part of this, introduced the enabling power into the Housing and Planning Act 2016, allowing regulations to protect private sector tenants from electrical hazards in the home to be set at a later date.

    This is a highly technical area and we need to explore appropriate options with relevant experts in the sector to test the most effective approach. My Department intends to set up a working group to identify what, if any, legislative requirements are needed and envisage this work being completed this year. This will ensure any introductions are beneficial and strike the right balance by protecting tenants while not over burdening the sector.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps NHS England is taking to encourage local communities to input into individual sustainability and transformation plans; and if he will publish contact details for lead officers co-ordinating proposals on the way maternity services are delivered in each NHS area.

    David Mowat

    NHS England, with other national health and care bodies, released guidance to the local areas developing Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STP) entitled ‘Engaging local people’ in September 2016 which can be found on their website. Local proposals for health and care transformation are not expected to have gone through formal local National Health Service or other organisations’ board approval and/or formal public engagement or consultation at this early stage. We expect that areas will publish a version of their Sustainability and Transformation Plans between late October and the end of the year. We would also expect that most areas will undertake public engagement during this period, building on the engagement they have already done to shape thinking. Every area will be working to a different timeframe, based on its own circumstances and how well-progressed its plan is.

    As with the current arrangements for planning and delivery, there are layers of plans which can sit below STPs, with shared links and dependencies. STPs act as an umbrella, holding underneath them a number of different specific plans to address key local issues. Clinical commissioning groups remain accountable for securing high-quality healthcare services for their local populations.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the difference between the public finance forecasts for 2015–16 and the actual financial figures available to date, and what assessment have they made of the reasons for the difference.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The Office for National Statistics (ONS) jointly with HM Treasury publish the public sector finances statistical bulletin on a monthly basis, which provides the latest available estimates for key aspects of Public Sector Finances.

    The latest release was published on 22 December covering the November 2015 public sector finances.[1]

    Borrowing for the 8 months to November is £6.6 bn less than the same period last year against an Autumn Statement forecast of a £15.7bn full year fall. It’s clear that there is no shortcut to fixing the public finances. That’s why the Chancellor used the Autumn Statement and Spending Review to set out our plan to finish the job and build a resilient economy.

    The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) are responsible for producing the forecasts of the public finances. They have published a detailed commentary on 22 December, which assesses the latest estimates included in the bulletin against their latest forecast[2].

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/public-sector-finances-bulletin

    [2] http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/wordpress/docs/Dec-2015-Commentary-on-the-Public-Sector-Finances-release.pdf

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