Tag: 2016

  • Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on the potential effects of proposed legislation in China on the management of foreign non-governmental organisations’ activities.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    I follow the human rights situation in China closely and the wider impact of legislative developments. We will be gathering reactions, in particular from UK organisations and British nationals working in the Non-Governmental Organisation sector, to assess the law’s potential impact ahead of it coming into force in January 2017. Along with EU partners we will be submitting detailed questions around the implementation of the law to the Chinese authorities.

  • Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policy of the findings of the Care Quality Commission’s recent inspection report for North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust on the (a) level and (b) grade of staff in the accident and emergency department.

    Ben Gummer

    Patient safety remains a key priority for the Government and whilst progress has been made there is clearly much more to be done. The Department is aware of the situation at North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust and the relevant regulatory bodies, led by NHS Improvement, are taking appropriate action.

    The Warning Notice, issued to North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on 6 June 2016 requires the trust to significantly improve the treatment of patients attending the emergency department (ED).

    NHS Improvement has given assurance that North Middlesex University Hospital carried out immediate actions to support the staffing concerns raised by the regulators.

    A new Clinical Director and an experienced Medical Director have been appointed to provide the ED with dedicated substantive leadership. The Clinical Director will provide leadership to the department and oversee the recruitment to currently vacant posts. In addition, there is also focus on reducing the medical work load in the ED through added support from other clinical services and professionals. This includes the appointment of new matrons and a new dedicated service manager with extensive ED experience.

    Further, local general practitioners are increasing the level of support they provide to the department both to prevent admissions and to improve discharges. All of these measures will be in place by the end of June 2016.

    On staffing, the local National Health Service is working with the Trust to ensure it can provide emergency care to the required standards. NHS Improvement and NHS England have put in place enhanced oversight mechanisms to assure themselves that services remain safe at all times.

    An external specialist review of the consultant and middle grade rotas for June, July, August and September has been commissioned to provide independent assurance of the appropriate competencies within each rota.

    NHS Improvement will continue to work with system colleagues, Health Education England and the General Medical Council to assure themselves that the improvements being put in place meet the requirements that they need to see from both the Trust and the system both in the short term and the long term.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many GP surgeries do not have access to a high-speed broadband internet connection in each region.

    Nicola Blackwood

    NHS Digital does not keep records on the availability of high-speed broadband at all general practice (GP) sites. However NHS Digital does have records for broadband services provided by the Department to GP sites through the BT N3 arrangements.

    Across England, some 6,021 GP sites receive broadband services through the National Health Service N3 connection arrangements; of these 6,010 GP sites are defined as high speed (i.e. 512 kilobits per second or greater).

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will confirm which Minister of his Department has responsibility for (a) Akrotiri and Dhekelia and (b) Gibraltar.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    ​The Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister responsible for Cyprus and Gibraltar is the Minister for Europe and the Americas (Sir Alan Duncan MP). The Secretary of State for Defence, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Sevenoaks (Michael Fallon) is responsible for the Sovereign Base Area of Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

  • Lord Soley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Soley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Soley on 2016-01-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they collect any statistics on the number of children being educated at home who are the subject of abuse inquiries, or where the parents or guardian have been convicted of abuse; and whether they will publish any such statistics.

    Lord Nash

    The Department does not hold any data on the number of children who are the subject of abuse inquiries, whose parents or guardians have been convicted of abuse, or who are alleged to have suffered abuse. We are taking steps to ensure that the education system is as robust as it can be when it comes to protecting young people. It is unacceptable for any child of compulsory school age not to receive a suitable education. Local authorities have a responsibility to ensure that this does not happen.

    The Department has taken robust steps to tackle unregistered schools. We are working closely with Ofsted who have agreed to take forward prosecutions for settings operating illegally as unregistered independent schools. We have also published proposals to introduce a new system to regulate out-of-school education settings which teach children intensively, and to intervene and impose sanctions where there are safety or welfare concerns. The call for evidence on out-of-school education settings closed on 11 January 2016 and responses are being analysed.

  • Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Efford on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress the Food Standards Agency has made on coordinating steps in partnership with the Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency and the National Crime Agency to stop the marketing of Miracle Mineral Solution as a cure for children with autism; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued advice that Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS) is not safe and should not be sold as a supplement. It has been working with local authorities across the country to share knowledge, investigate and disrupt the sale of MMS and other similar products.

    Further activity is being conducted with the support of the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and with the involvement of the FSA’s National Food Crime Unit. This activity is ongoing and it would not be appropriate to comment in detail.

    However, the FSA has secured the removal of MMS products from some major marketplace websites, and it has shared information internationally through the National Crime Agency, alerting authorities in other countries to planned seminars at which the use of MMS is promoted.

  • Baroness Walmsley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Walmsley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Walmsley on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many organ donors are registered in each local authority and Parliamentary constituency.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Providing the complete information on the number of people who have joined the NHS Organ Donor Register by local authority and Parliamentary constituency in the main body of this reply would exceed the word limit for responses to written parliamentary questions. The information is therefore in the attached table.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to paragraph 2.256 of Budget 2016, when he plans to announce further details of the Government’s support for a bid to host the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.

    David Evennett

    My officials are holding regular discussions with the Rugby Football League (RFL) and UK Sport about establishing the support the RFL requires for a successful bid. The government will make a further announcement ahead of the bid deadline in June.

  • Hannah Bardell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Hannah Bardell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hannah Bardell on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to raise awareness of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.

    George Freeman

    The Department has taken steps to increase public awareness of all rare diseases including conditions such as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, through the implementation of the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases. The Strategy includes specific commitments to raise awareness of rare diseases.

    The Strategy is currently being implemented across all four countries of the United Kingdom with progress monitored by the UK Rare Disease Forum. The first progress report by the Forum was published in February 2016.

  • Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the standard of treatment in North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust’s emergency department.

    Ben Gummer

    NHS England is the responsible organisation for emergency planning and resilience in London. As such, it has well-established contingency plans in place which take effect in the event of emergency departments (EDs) having to temporarily reduce their scope of operations in order to ensure the best standards of patient care, our central concern.

    As the Rt. hon. Member is aware, following an unannounced inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) at North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust, the CQC issued a Warning Notice. The Warning Notice, published on 6 June 2016, requires the trust to significantly improve the treatment of patients attending its emergency department.

    The CQC is responsible for assessing whether the Trust is providing the right standard of care and ensuring that improvement plans meet the level of improvement required.

    NHS Improvement is working alongside NHS England and the local health and care system to ensure that the Trust has the resources it needs to ensure that patients receive safe, high quality care.

    We are informed by NHS Improvement that, in order to address the poor performance at the Trust’s ED, it has devised a plan titled Safer, Faster, Better. This is a whole system programme with the primary objective of improving performance, patient experience and outcomes for patients.