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Tag: 2016

  • Nick Clegg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nick Clegg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Clegg on 2016-05-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of planned budget reductions for community pharmacy on patient and health services in (a) Sheffield and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber.

    Alistair Burt

    We are consulting the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, other pharmacy bodies and patient and public representatives on our proposals. An impact assessment will be completed to inform final decisions and published in due course.

    NHS England has a statutory duty to ensure the adequate provision of National Health Service pharmaceutical services across England and will ensure that duty continues to be met in Sheffield.

    Community pharmacy is a vital part of the NHS and can play an even greater role. In the Spending Review, the Government re-affirmed the need for the NHS to deliver £22 billion in efficiency savings by 2020-21 as set out in the NHS’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy is a core part of NHS primary care and has an important contribution to make as the NHS rises to these challenges. The Government believes efficiencies can be made without compromising the quality of services or public access to them. Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive and so we are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

    The Government’s vision is for a more efficient, modern system that will free up pharmacists to spend more time delivering clinical and public health services to the benefit of patients and the public.

  • Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-07-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what they are doing to preserve and enhance the international character and international standing of British universities and their research.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government is determined to ensure that the UK continues to play a leading role in European and international research and innovation. It is promoting the international success of UK universities through bilateral engagement with overseas partners, the Britain is GREAT marketing campaign which has education and science pillars, and through the Chevening and Commonwealth scholarship schemes.

    For example, in November 2015, the Indian and UK Prime Ministers jointly announced the ‘2016 UK-India Year of Education, Research and Innovation’. This was immediately followed by a major education visit to India, including 28 vice-chancellors to increase higher education partnerships.

    Programmes such as the UK China Partners in Education programme and the UK India Education Research Initiative bring long term international collaboration.

    Our international research is being enhanced through the Government’s Newton Fund, a £735 million UK investment matched by partner countries, linking our universities with researchers in 16 major emerging economies. Our Global Challenge Research Fund, £1.5 billion and Ross Fund, £1bn., support universities engaging in global challenges including health, agritech and water research.

    British universities have a world-class reputation for both education and research. Globally the UK has four universities in the top ten and ten in the top fifty in the QS rankings, a 10% share of the international student recruitment market, and 15.9% per cent of the world’s most highly-cited research articles.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Brimstone missiles have been used in Syria and Iraq to date as part of Operation SHADER; and what the cost of the use of those weapons has been to the public purse.

    Mike Penning

    Between November 2014 and 16 September 2016 there have been 230 Brimstone missiles used in Iraq and Syria as part of Operation SHADER. The estimated cost of the use of these missiles is £18.7million.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information the Government holds on whether blueprints of (a) UK Magnox reactor designs and (b) URENCO uranium enrichment plant designs have been used by North Korea to manufacture plutonium and highly enriched uranium as fissile materials for use in its nuclear warhead programme.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We remain deeply concerned by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) development of a nuclear programme. We do not know whether the DPRK, in the development of its reactor, drew upon UK Magnox reactor designs which were made public in the 1950s and 60s. While the DPRK has made frequent public statements regarding its nuclear capabilities and WMD development, it provides little substantive information on the precise nature of those capabilities. UN Security Council Resolutions prohibit the provision of technical training, advice, services or assistance related to the manufacture of the DPRK’s nuclear-related programmes; the UK strongly supports international efforts to uphold this provision to prevent the proliferation of WMD.

  • Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures are in place to ensure that no school is asked to admit a disproportionate number of children who have been excluded from other schools.

    Nick Gibb

    Each local authority is required to have a Fair Access Protocol in place, to ensure that unplaced children, especially the most vulnerable, are offered a place at a suitable school as quickly as possible. The protocol also ensures that no school is asked to take a disproportionate number of children with challenging behaviour or who have been excluded from other schools.

    All admission authorities, including those of academies and free schools, are required to participate in the Fair Access Protocol for their area.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many apprenticeship starts in the food and farming sector her Department estimates there will be in each of the next five academic years.

    George Eustice

    We aim to treble the number of apprenticeships started annually in food and farming from about 6,000 now to 18,000 by 2020. Defra will work closely with the Apprenticeship Delivery Board and the National Apprenticeship Service to support employers in the sector to engage successfully with apprenticeships. The introduction of the apprenticeship levy in 2017 is expected to provide an opportunity for growth in apprenticeships.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2016 to Questions 30551 and 30552, on UK membership of EU: Crown Dependencies, what his Department’s policy is on the future of the principles enshrined in Protocol 3 should the UK vote to leave the EU.

    Dominic Raab

    The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man enjoy special arrangements for access to the EU, provided under Protocol 3 to the UK’s Treaty of Accession to the European Community. As set out in the Government’s White Paper: ‘The process for withdrawing from the European Union’, published on 29 February, the withdrawal process is unprecedented. There is uncertainty about how it would work. There would be no requirement under EU law for these arrangements to be maintained if the UK left the EU.

    The Government respects and values the constitutional relationship between the UK and the Crown Dependencies, and will continue to engage constructively with them to address issues and areas of concern.

  • Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2016-05-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with a health condition affecting their hearing have received support from Access to Work grants to (a) start work, (b) stay in work and (c) move into self-employment.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Access to Work is available to individuals who are in or about to start paid employment and whose disability or health condition affects the way they do their job. The Department does not distinguish between those helped into new employment opportunities, including self-employment, and those helped to retain existing work.

    5,580 people whose primary medical condition is listed as ‘Deaf and hard of hearing’ were helped by Access to Work in the period 2014/15.

    This figure is taken from the latest statistics for Access to Work, which show figures for people helped by the scheme going back to 2007 and are published quarterly here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/514468/access-to-work-statistics-to-dec-2015.pdf

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  • Lord Mawhinney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Mawhinney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mawhinney on 2016-07-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many, and what percentage of, NHS providers have signed up to the first round of proposed control totals; and how they plan to respond to those providers who (1) have not signed up, or (2) refuse to do so.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS Improvement continues to work with those providers who have not been able to agree control totals by the end of July. At present, 213 of 238 providers (89.5%) have an agreed a control total. Those providers who have been unable to agree a control total will not be able to access the sustainability and transformation fund.

    NHS Improvement is currently consulting on a new oversight regime, which details proposals on how providers will be monitored in future and this will set out how variance from financial plan or control total will be managed.

    NHS Improvement does not intend to replace the boards of those providers who do not achieve financial balance by the end of 2016/17. The organisation’s new oversight regime also sets out in detail how it proposes to monitor and support providers.

    The Government’s Mandate to the NHS 2016-17, a copy of which is attached, confirms that the National Health Service must ensure that it balances its budget, including commissioners and providers living within their budgets. To support this, £1.8 billion of NHS England’s budget for 2016-17 will be allocated through the Sustainability and Transformation Fund to support providers, in particular emergency services, payable through commissioning or as other support.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many staff of his Department work on (a) the Yemen Desk and directly on Yemen and (b) all matters which directly or indirectly relate to Yemen.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    It is not possible to identify a precise figure for full time equivalent staff working on Yemen directly and indirectly because a range of staff are involved across various Foreign and Commonwealth Office departments and the proportion of their time devoted varies depending on need. That said, the UK remains committed to de-escalating the conflict by encouraging all parties to participate in negotiations to find a peaceful solution, as well as working with other government departments to address Yemen’s urgent humanitarian and economic needs and reduce the terrorist threat emanating from Yemen.