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Tag: 2016

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on the number of police call-outs of reductions in staffing in (a) mental health units, (b) hospitals and (c) social care services.

    Mike Penning

    Decisions on the deployment of a police force’s workforce in relation to local requirements are operational matters for individual chief constables, working with their Police and Crime Commissioners. However, a range of initiatives at both local and national level including the Crisis Care Concordat partnership arrangements and street triage scheme have already helped to reduce inappropriate mental health demands on the police.

    The use of police cells in England as places of safety under the Mental Health Act, for example, reduced from 8,667 instances in 2011/12 to 3,996 in 2014/15. Legislative changes being introduced in the Policing and Crime Bill currently before Parliament, to prohibit the use of cells as places of safety for children and further limit their use for adults, as well as reductions in detention periods, will ensure progress in maintained.

    In addition, the Government has committed to invest an additional £1 billion in mental health services by 2020 to ensure improved mental health support in the community and for people in Accident and Emergency, as well as crisis response provision and treatment options for both adults and children. In the last Autumn Statement, the Government also gave local authorities access to up to £3.5 billion of ne support for social care per year by 2019/20.

  • Helen Grant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Helen Grant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Grant on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment has she made of the effectiveness of regulations on advertising of gambling products on social media.

    Matt Hancock

    The Government is committed to ensuring that people, particularly the young and vulnerable, are protected from the risk of gambling-related harm. We are keeping the issue of advertising, including via social media, under review to ensure that sufficient protections are in place, and will not hesitate to take further action if necessary.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to assist families who are in a position to lose their homes as a result of county court judgements.

    Sir Oliver Heald

    If a person finds that a county court judgment has been entered against them and they did not owe the money, they can apply to the court to have the judgment ‘set aside’. The Ministry of Justice is working with other government departments to check that creditors are using accurate address details when making money claims.

    The Department for Communities and Local Government is responsible for housing policy. Under the homelessness legislation (Part 6 of the Housing Act) any family with dependent children will be provided with accommodation. Homelessness teams will often be able to help families with debt advice or assist them to obtain that advice.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of average annual pay growth in (a) 2016, (b) 2017, (c) 2018, (d) 2019 and (e) 2020.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Office for Budget Responsibility provide the Government with estimates for annual pay growth. The table below sets out their forecast growth in average earnings for the years requested.

    Year

    Average earnings growth (per cent)

    2016

    3.4

    2017

    3.7

    2018

    3.6

    2019

    3.7

    2020

    3.9
  • Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what options they are considering to ensure that the student numbers for podiatry are maintained after August 2017.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department will run a consultation on how the funding reforms for nursing, midwifery and allied health education can be most successfully implemented. We currently expect to consult during March 2016. As part of this, an economic impact assessment and equality impact assessment will be published.

    Health Education England (HEE) will continue to have a key leading role in the commissioning of nursing, midwifery and allied health courses. It will continue to provide sufficient clinical placement funding for those places needed to meet the workforce planning needs of the National Health Service.

  • Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the average time between (1) autism referrals and initial assessments, and (2) initial assessments and diagnosis, for each of the past five years.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    No formal statistics are collected of autism referrals, initial assessments or diagnoses. The Department does however commission Public Health England each year to carry out a self-assessment exercise with local authority areas on progress they are making in implementing the Autism Strategy for Adults in England. Local authorities work with their local partners including clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to informally answer a range of questions.

    In the exercise based on 2013 data, all 152 local authority areas replied but some did not answer all the questions. Areas were asked how many adults have completed the diagnostic pathway in the preceding year and 111 reported a total of 4,677. They were also asked the length of the average wait for referral to diagnostic services and 117 answered this question. The average of these figures, weighted for the population in the responding areas, was 27.9 weeks.

    The exercise based on 2014 data saw 149 areas respond. They were asked how many adults had received a diagnosis of an autistic spectrum condition in the preceding year and 128 reported a total of 5,109. Areas were also asked the length of the average wait between referral and assessment for all adults and 135 answered this question. The average of these figures, similarly weighted, was 19.6 weeks. Information on the waiting time between autism referrals and initial assessments, and between initial assessments and diagnosis, was not collected during these exercises. The next exercise will be launched later in the spring.

    The number of children and young people diagnosed with autism by the National Health Service is not collected centrally. Latest figures from the School Census (2015) state that there were 90,775 pupils with an autistic spectrum condition at state funded schools and non-maintained special schools in England. This has increased from a total of 56,250 in 2010 who were recorded as having a primary need of autism, but it is not directly comparable to the 2015 figures because of a change in collection methodology.

    New statutory guidance was issued in England in March 2015 to support implementation of the Adult Autism Strategy. This set out what people seeking an autism diagnosis can expect from local authorities and NHS bodies. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published three clinical guidelines on autism and a quality standard to assist health managers and practitioners in developing services. This includes a recommendation that an assessment is started within three months of the referral. NHS England has commenced a programme to visit CCGs to identify and share good practice in accessing autism diagnosis, and look at possible barriers. NHS England will complete a report on this by the end of April 2016.

  • Derek Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Derek Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Twigg on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions his Department has had with NHS England on increasing the amount of funding available to GP practices.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department has regular discussions with NHS England on various measures to support general practice, including funding.

    NHS England has confirmed that it will increase funding for general practice by an average of 4.5% each year to 2020/21.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Attorney General, (a) how much funding he has allocated to and (b) how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by the (i) Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and (ii) SFO’s Proceeds of Crime Division in each year since 2009.

    Jeremy Wright

    The information requested is contained in the following tables.

    2009-10

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    2015-16

    SFO gross budget

    £44.6m

    £41.3m

    £40.1m

    £43.7m

    £54m

    £59.4m

    £62.2m

    SFO Proceeds of Crime Division 2

    £0.920m

    £1.021m

    £1.571m

    £1.683m

    £1.931m

    £2.304m

    £2.674m

    Full time equivalent staff 3

    2009-10

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    2015-16

    SFO

    307

    305

    306

    292

    305

    4014

    393

    SFO Proceeds of Crime Division

    13

    17

    21

    20

    23.43

    32.71

    31.43
    1. The figures includes any blockbuster funding received in each year. They exclude capital expenditure, annually managed expenditure.
    2. The Proceeds of Crime figures include the budget for the current year and outturn for the previous years. They do not include £110k funding received from the Department for International Development in the financial years 2014-15 & 2015-16.
    3. This data covers FTE staff in post as at 31st March each year including fixed term contractors, but not agency staff. Complete records for staff in post in the Proceeds of Crime division before 2011-12 are not held centrally and the figures provided for these years are based on available data.
    4. This is a revised figure which corrects the number previously published in the SFO Annual Report and Accounts 2014-15.
  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects part-time season tickets to be available to all rail passengers.

    Claire Perry

    Progress is being made on the delivery of more flexible tickets. We are challenging operators to introduce products which give passengers more flexibility. This month c2c launched their flexi-day season on their smartcard. Passengers who commute three times a week to London from Southend can save over £135 a year with the new ticket. Other operators such as Govia Thameslink Railway and Arriva Trains Wales already offer flexible products on selected routes that can provide passengers who work or commute part-time a better deal.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraphs 5.36 to 5.38 of the Cabinet Manual, what the Government’s policy is on whether the convention that a debate in Parliament should be held before troops are committed in military action applies if troops are deployed in a non-combat role but then subsequently become involved in sustained and proactive combat activities as a result of a change in circumstances or a change in mission.

    Michael Fallon

    The Government has been clear that before troops are committed, the House of Commons should have an opportunity to debate the matter except when there was an emergency and such action would not be appropriate. We will continue to ensure that Parliament is kept informed of significant major operations and deployments of the Armed Forces. In observing the convention, we must ensure that the ability of our Armed Forces to act quickly and decisively, and to maintain the security of their operations, is not compromised.