The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Reaper drones have been used in operations in Syria.
Penny Mordaunt
I am withholding operational information on the number of RAF Reaper aircraft deployed as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will commission an independent assessment of the cumulative effect of all tobacco control measures on small businesses introduced since 1 January 2006.
Jane Ellison
The Department assesses the impact of all proposed measures before laying legislation using standard government methodology. These assessments are set out in Impact Assessments which are scrutinised by the Regulatory Policy Committee before publication alongside the Statutory Instrument. Impact Assessments specifically look at the impacts on small and micro businesses. A number of the tobacco measures contain commitments to further review the impact of the legislation within five years of them coming into force.
The Department assesses the impact of tobacco control measures on an ongoing basis as it develops policy and considers new measures. In September 2013, the Department published An Audit of the impact of the Department of Health’s Regulations upon business. A copy of the report is attached. The Audit report covered all regulations for which the Department has responsibility believed to have a potential cost to business, including those relating to tobacco control. As advised in the report, there is a robust cost-benefit case for the tobacco control regulations considered and experience shows that initiatives to reduce smoking prevalence work best in combination, with cumulative effects over time.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Maynard on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what programmes are in place to reduce the number of babies born with a low Apgar score.
Ben Gummer
Apgar is a quick test performed on a baby at one and five minutes after birth. The one-minute score determines how well the baby tolerated the birthing process. The five-minute score tells the doctor how well the baby is doing outside the mother’s womb.
In rare cases, the test will be done 10 minutes after birth. The Apgar test is done by a doctor, midwife, or nurse. Who examines the baby’s breathing effort, heart rate, muscle tone, reflexes and skin colour. Most of the time, a low score at one minute is near-normal by five minutes.
Any score lower than 7 is a sign that the baby needs medical attention. The lower the score, the more help the baby needs to adjust outside the mother’s womb. A lower Apgar score does not mean a child will have serious or long-term health problems. The Apgar score is not designed to predict the future health of the child.
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. In support of this ambition more than 90 applications have received additional funding as part of a £2.24 million trusts safety equipment. Over £1 million is being invested to roll out training programmes to make sure staff have the skills and confidence they need to deliver world-leading safe care. We have also allocated £500,000 to develop, a new online system that can be used consistently across the National Health Service 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. On 7 March we launched Sign up to Safety – ‘Spotlight on Maternity,’ a guidance document that asks all trusts with maternity services to commit publically to contributing towards achieving the Government’s national ambition.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-05-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the Government plans to introduce a Sharia-compliant Takaful alternative finance product for students unable to access 24+ Advanced Learning Loans as well as for students undertaking higher education courses.
Joseph Johnson
The November 2015 Higher Education Green Paper (Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice) confirms the Government’s intention to introduce, for the first time, a new system of alternative student finance. Work on the new system is ongoing, and includes careful consideration of where and how alternative student finance can deliver the most benefit for students. Subject to Parliament, the Government plans to introduce the system through new primary legislation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-06-29.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of Public Health England’s Strategic plan for the next four years: better outcomes by 2020, what plans they have to consider investment in sexual health and contraception as a component of any economic tool to support local and national investment decisions.
Lord Prior of Brampton
Public Health England (PHE) and the Department provide a variety of tools and support in the form of guidance, data and direct advice to local PHE Centre staff. For example PHE supports local decision making by including data on sexual health spend and outcomes in the Spend and Outcomes Tool (SPOT) provided to local authorities. SPOT gives organisations in England an overview of spend and outcomes across key areas of business. The profile supports understanding of the overall relationship between spend and outcomes, by identifying areas of significant variance which are likely to require more in-depth analysis.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hamwee on 2016-09-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure that the role Barnardo’s has played at Cedars family accommodation centre is replicated in Tinsley House by a similar organisation.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
The Home Office has now launched a tender exercise in line with Government procurement policy to provide welfare services to families while they are accommodated at the new pre-departure accommodation.
The services to be provided through the new contract will replicate those currently carried out by Barnardo’s at Cedars. The contract will focus on maintaining the current high quality of provision. The tender process will assess the experience and capability of bidding organisations to ensure that the most suitable organisation is selected.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Jones on 2016-01-18.
To ask the Attorney General, what discussions he has had with the CPS about the findings of the Flynn Report on the neglect of older people living in care homes in Wales.
Robert Buckland
The evidence in relation to Operation Jasmine has been carefully considered by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and they have concluded that there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect in accordance with the Code for Prosecutors.
The Director of Public Prosecutions noted the findings of the Flynn report. She has previously considered and responded to the specific recommendation that the CPS refer the case to the Special Crime Division but considered that to be neither necessary or appropriate given that the Special Crime Division was involved in the original decision making.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will publish in full the responses to Question 3 of the Government’s consultation, Devolving Sunday trading rules, published on 5 August 2015, before Report Stage of the Enterprise Bill [Lords].
Anna Soubry
The Government published its response to the consultation on 9 February, in which it sets out its proposals to devolve Sunday trading rules to a local level. The Government has no plans to publish in full the responses at this time.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will list the organisations that applied to the Healthy New Towns programme.
Jane Ellison
The Department does not hold information on the applications to the Healthy New Towns programme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the proportion of people receiving social care in (a) Dartford and (b) Kent who are entitled to public funding to support that care.
Alistair Burt
The Department does not hold this information in the format requested.
Data collected by the Health and Social Care Information Centre indicates that in 2014/15 there were 4,175 local authority supported long term residential and nursing care users aged 65 years and over supported by Kent County Council. This data is not available for the individual district councils in Kent, of which Dartford is one.
The data can be found at:
http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB18663
An internal estimate carried out by the Department in 2012/13 estimated that 48% of people aged 65 and over in residential and nursing care in Kent were receiving local authority support at that time.
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