Tag: 2016

Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department is taking steps to set a national standard for a maximum number of patients that GPs, nurses and other primary care professionals can reasonably deal with during any working day.

Alistair Burt

It is important that practices are free to meet the needs of individual patients according to clinical need. Therefore there is no requirement for general practitioner practices to offer appointments of a specific length or a specific mix of workforce to meet population need.

However, in recognition of the increased demands being placed on general practice, NHS England has:

1. Placed a requirement on clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in the NHS Planning Guidance for 2016/17 to develop and implement a local plan to address the sustainability and quality of general practice, including workforce and workload issues. This is the first time specific requirements have been placed on local commissioners to support and develop general practice.

2. Provided advice about specific ways to invest in general practice for National Health Service leaders as they prepare Sustainability and Transformation Plans for the future. In both of these, there is a dual focus on maintaining quality and access to care in existing services, while also supporting the introduction of new ways of working. Areas where support is required include increased funding, growth and diversification in the workforce, development of premises and information technology, and specific help to develop networks and federations with patient benefit at their heart.

The ‘General Practice Forward View’ released in April 2016, announced a major new programme of development and improvement support for practices over the next three years. This will help groups of practices to redesign care in order to simultaneously release staff time and improve care for patients. As part of the development programme, support and advice will be provided to federations and CCGs on ways to engage patients and voluntary and community sector groups as partners. This will help local people shape priorities, contribute to the co-design of improved services and build assets in the community.

01/01/2023
Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the causes of the increase in homelessness in 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones

Homelessness is rarely a housing issue alone. The causes are varied and driven by issues such as health, education, justice, welfare, and employment.

That is why the work we have undertaken supports action across these. For example, we invested £5 million in the world’s first homelessness Social Impact Bond, run by the Greater London Authority to turn round the lives around of 830 of London’s most entrenched rough sleepers. Over half have achieved accommodation, employment or reconnection outcomes.

In addition we have invested £15 million to improve outcomes for young people through the Fair Chance Fund. This funding is turning around the lives of around 1,900 18 to 25 year olds with complex and overlapping needs, by supporting them into accommodation, education, training and employment.

Since 2010 we have invested over £500 million to enable local authorities and the voluntary sector to support those vulnerable and at risk of homelessness.

We have protected the homelessness prevention funding local authorities receive, totalling £315 million by 2019-20. This builds on our Spending Review commitment to increase central government funding to £139 million over the next four years. We are working with homelessness organisations to consider all options, including legislation, to ensure those at risk of homelessness get earlier and more effective support.

01/01/2023

Jeff Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeff Smith on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of applications to the Disclosure and Barring Service were not resolved within 60 days in (a) the UK, (b) Manchester and (c) Manchester Withington constituency in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Sarah Newton

In the last 12 months (1 October 2015 – 30 September 2016), the proportion of disclosure applications which took longer than 60 days was as follows: (a) the UK – 5.4%, (b) Manchester – 3.9%, (c) Manchester Withington – 2.8%. The Disclosure and Barring Service is reliant on police forces completing their checks in a timely manner and is working closely with those forces whose performance does not meet turnaround time targets. The average time taken in days to process disclosures checks in the last three years is as follows:

Time Period	Average waiting time – United Kingdom	Average waiting time – Manchester Withington
Oct-13 to Sep-14	13.4	12.0
Oct-14 to Sep-15	14.4	12.1
Oct-15 to Sep-16	15.5	12.6

The average processing time for applications to the DBS for each police force area in England from 1 October 2015 to 30 September 2016 is set out in the table below. This shows the average number of days each application took from the point at which the application form was received to the date the certificate was issued, broken down by the applicant’s geographical police force area. This information reflects all applications sent to the DBS, of which a proportion are sent to police forces for consideration for disclosure.

Police Force Area in which applicant lives	Average time taken in calendar days
Metropolitan	28.1
Cumbria	11.5
Lancashire	11.6
Merseyside	12.1
Greater Manchester	14.1
Cheshire	11.1
Northumbria	13.9
Durham	11.9
North Yorkshire	14.1
West Yorkshire	12.7
South Yorkshire	19.8
Humberside	12.2
Cleveland	13.5
West Midlands	10.3
Staffordshire	9.6
West Mercia	11.9
Warwickshire	9.4
Derbyshire	14.1
Nottinghamshire	11.7
Lincolnshire	10.5
Leicestershire	9.4
Northamptonshire	17.9
Cambridgeshire	10.1
Norfolk	9.1
Suffolk	9.9
Bedfordshire	11.6
Hertfordshire	14.8
Essex	14.2
Thames Valley	16.1
Hampshire	14.2
Surrey	14.1
Kent	15.8
Sussex	11.9
City of London	11.9
Devon & Cornwall	11.3
Avon And Somerset	10.7
Gloucester	10.7
Wiltshire	10.2
Dorset	26.8

For a breakdown of how long police forces take to process applications they receive; this information is regularly published on the DBS website and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dbs-performance

01/01/2023

Emma Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to ensure that medical nutrition is integrated into end of life care pathways in clinical commissioning groups.

Ben Gummer

Information on annual National Health Service spend on medically assisted nutrition in end of life care is not held centrally.

It is for clinicians with responsibility for the care of people at the end of life to ensure their patients receive care and treatment appropriate to their needs. Similarly, local commissioners are responsible for ensuring the services they commission meet the needs of their local populations.

In 2014 we set out five priorities for care of the dying person which should underpin the care being delivered to all dying people. Alongside the priorities, we set out the duties and responsibilities for all staff with responsibility for looking after dying people and implementation guidance for all providers and commissioners of care. The priorities for care state that an individual plan of care, which includes food and drink, symptom control and psychological, social and spiritual support, is agreed, co-ordinated and delivered with compassion.

In December 2015, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published guidance on the care of dying adults in the last days of life, including guidance on medical nutrition and hydration. Clinicians and commissioners should have regard to this guidance when making decisions about care for people at the end of life.

01/01/2023
Ian Mearns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how accurate prior actuarial analysis of the Risk Protection Arrangement was in forecasting the scheme’s overall loss as a result of flooding.

Edward Timpson

The Risk Protection Arrangement provision includes an allowance within its benchmarks for large storm or flood events, based on the actuarial work undertaken, which last took place on data as at 31 August 2015. Actuarial analysis is not intended to provide forecasts for individual events, so it would not be meaningful to compare the analysis with recent events.

01/01/2023
Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential effect on the number of people employed in Scotland who are from non-EU countries of the salary threshold increase for Tier 2 visa applications to £35,000.

James Brokenshire

The Government announced in 2012 that from 6 April 2016 Tier 2 visa holders who apply for settlement in the UK will be required to meet a minimum annual salary requirement of £35,000. PhD level roles and those in recognised shortage will be exempt from the £35,000 threshold.

Data of the number of people employed in specific regions of the United Kingdom is not available. The Home Office holds individual records showing the working location of Tier 2 (General) migrants, but centralised records show the registered address of the Tier 2 Sponsor, which is normally that organisation’s Head Office.

The Home Office published a full impact assessment on the changes to Tier 2 settlement rules when they were laid before Parliament on 15 March 2012. This includes the impact on the top ten occupations and is available on the gov.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/117957/impact-assessment-tier2.pdf

01/01/2023
Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to ring-fence special educational needs funding as part of her Department’s new national funding formula.

Mr Sam Gyimah

We are currently consulting on arrangements for new national formulae for schools and high needs funding (funding for pupils with high cost Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)). Both funding streams, along with early years funding, make up the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), which is ring-fenced so that local authorities can only spend it on specified elements of education. The DSG will continue to be ring-fenced when the national funding formulae are in place. We have also protected the high needs budget in this Parliament and the previous one. We recently added £92.5 million to the 2016-17 allocations.

01/01/2023
Naz Shah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Naz Shah on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department spent on raising the profile of forced marriage as a criminal offence in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.

Karen Bradley

We made forced marriage a criminal offence in 2014 to better protect victims and send a clear message that this abhorrent practice will not be tolerated in the UK.

The Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) (a joint FCO and Home Office Unit) leads the Government’s forced marriage policy, outreach and casework. It carries out a range of awareness raising work, including a comprehensive programme of outreach, new e-learning for professionals, and the launch of short film aimed at deterring potential perpetrators. For the financial years 2014-16, the Home Office has allocated £200,000 to the FMU.

Statistics on the number of cases of forced marriage investigated by the police are not collected centrally. The Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) most recent violence against women and girls report shows that the volume of referrals from the police to the CPS with a forced marriage element is going up: from 67 in 2013-14, to 82 in 2014-15. In addition, to date over 1,000 Forced Marriage Protection Orders have been issued to prevent marriages from taking place and to assist in repatriating victims.

We are encouraged by the first conviction secured in June last year, but there is still work to be done. We want to see more victims having the confidence to come forward and being identified by the police. As part of the wider work to improve the police response to so-called ‘honour’ based violence, we will continue to work with the partners to review the implementation of the new legislation and lead efforts to tackle this barbaric crime.

01/01/2023
Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of Sustainability and Transformation Plans have been submitted to his Department; and what the deadline is for such plans to be submitted.

George Freeman

No Sustainability and Transformation Plans have been submitted yet. Draft submissions will be made to the national arm’s length bodies and are due on 30 June 2016. These documents will be discussed with footprints in July 2016.

Plans will have no status until they are agreed. Footprints are at different starting points, and so the degree of detail that will be provided by 30 June 2016 will vary. Therefore, rather than expecting to have one ‘sign-off’ moment for all 44 plans, it is anticipated that this will occur in a series of waves over the coming weeks and months, with those areas who are more advanced achieving earlier sign off than those who will require more work.

01/01/2023
Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the rationale was for his Department’s decision to allow soldiers who have completed only Phase One training to be called up to perform frontline tasks.

Mark Lancaster

The rationale behind the decision to plan to use Army Phase 1 trained Regular and Reserve personnel in response to crises within the UK was set out in the Written Ministerial Statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Michael Fallon) on 29 June 2016 (HCWS49).

01/01/2023