The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-01-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people who had been wrongfully released from English prisons were recalled in 2013.
Andrew Selous
The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost. My hon friend has very recently written to me about a specific case and I will reply to him shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the report of the independent cancer taskforce, Achieving world class cancer outcomes: A strategy for England 2015-2020, published in July 2015, what progress NHS England has made in putting a mandate in place to ensure that GPs have direct access to key investigative tests for suspected cancers.
Jane Ellison
The Independent Cancer Taskforce’s five-year strategy Achieving World-class Cancer Outcomes A Strategy for England 2015-2020 recommends improvements across the cancer pathway, including improved access to investigative testing.
We have already announced funding of up to £300 million a year by 2020 to increase diagnostic capacity to meet the new target that patients will be given a definitive cancer diagnosis, or the all clear, within 28 days of being referred by a general practitioner (GP). The NHS National Cancer Director has set up a new Cancer Transformation Board to lead the roll-out of the recommendations of the new strategy, and a Cancer Advisory Group, chaired by Dr Harpal Kumar, Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, will oversee and scrutinise their work.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Suspected cancer: recognition and referral guideline which was published in June 2015 includes recommendations regarding when GPs should refer patients for direct access investigative tests. NHS England expects clinical commissioning groups to enable GPs to follow the guideline.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assistance his Department provides to support groups for people who have had organ transplants.
Jane Ellison
The Department does not directly provide assistance to support groups for people who have had organ transplants. In addition to post-transplant clinical care by the transplant centre, other post-transplant support is available from a number of national and local voluntary support groups such as the British Liver Trust or local transplant recipient groups such as the St James (Leeds) Liver transplant Group. These groups offer a range of emotional and practical help for transplant recipients and their families.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to review the operation of the National Planning Policy Framework before the end of the current Parliament.
Brandon Lewis
The National Planning Policy Framework, written clearly and simply, has made the planning system more accessible and replaced over a thousand pages of national policy. We keep policy in the Framework under constant review. A consultation on specific changes to the Framework, aimed at increasing housing supply in sustainable locations, closed on 22 February. We are analysing the responses.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what her policy is on her Department’s April 2014 Solar Strategy document.
Andrea Leadsom
Solar is a UK success story: since the previous Government’s April 2014 Solar Strategy was published, we’ve more than doubled the capacity of UK solar, and industry expect that we have already exceeded the forecast of 10GW by 2020 made in that document.
However, the position of this Government is clear: we can only expect bill payers to support low carbon power if costs are controlled; subsidy should be temporary, not part of a permanent business model; and as costs come down, as they have for solar, so should support.
We are encouraged by the way the solar industry is responding to the policy changes we have made in order to control costs: deployment of solar under the revised FIT scheme continues and several developers are putting together models to encourage their customers to install solar without subsidy – the models needed to create a sustainable sector for years to come.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-07-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what process his Department has put in place to assess EU Directives and Regulations and whether it will be necessary to transpose each into UK statute.
Mr David Jones
As the Prime Minister has made clear, the UK remains a member of the EU until our withdrawal is completed. We will exercise our rights and meet our obligations as a member of the EU accordingly, including the existing directives. The Department for Exiting the European Union, with the support of other Government Departments, will continue to assess, negotiate and implement all relevant EU Directives and Regulations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of enforcement of international humanitarian and human rights law in respect of children by the UN Human Rights Council in Yemen.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We worked hard with international partners to secure a strong resolution to help the situation on the ground in Yemen. The resolution includes a commitment to increase the number of international human rights experts in the Yemen Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) operation, making clear the independent mandate for OHCHR to conduct their own investigations. The resolution also maintains the technical cooperation programme for OHCHR to strengthen the National Commission in Yemen, which we believe will make a difference on the ground. We look forward to reports from the OHCHR next year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-12-22.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the clinical and ethical justifications for setting the benchmark in the NHS Supply Chain generic project plans for a national formulary for wound care that 80 per cent of patients will be treated using clinically appropriate dressings.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The wide variety of choice in the current system is leading to duplication of wound care products. This can create more complexity for nurses and clinicians, making their clinical decisions more difficult and potentially leading to over specification and variation in standards of care. Of the 4,796 wound care products available through the NHS Supply Chain, 34% of lines have had no sales in the last 12 months.
Providing an agreed set of National Health Service requirements for wound care products will start to reduce this duplication, complexity and therefore potential risk, helping to improve patient outcomes through less variation in care.
This issue was also highlighted by 74% of respondents to a Royal College of Nursing survey run by Nursing Times (Dec 2014) seeing opportunities to reduce duplication on wound care products, (more than any other type of product).
The project is part of a wider piece of work the Department is working with the NHS Supply Chain on to deliver £300 million of savings by October 2018. Central to this is reducing the number of specifications and variations by category so the NHS can leverage its scale and deliver clinically appropriate solutions that represent ‘value for money’. Such approaches are common in other countries and help drive savings, improve clinical standards and protect front line nursing.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2016-01-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to publish statistics on national food bank usage.
Justin Tomlinson
The Government has no plans to collect or publish statistics on food bank usage.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2016-02-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the costs to the NHS of the treatment of people with addiction to fixed odds betting terminals.
Alistair Burt
No such estimate has been made.
We have no current plans to make such an assessment. We know that gambling addiction can potentially have a harmful impact on both a person’s physical and mental wellbeing and problem gamblers can access services in primary care and secondary care including specialised mental health and addiction services.
The Prime Minister recently announced £1 billion to start a revolution in mental health, including £247 million to make sure that every emergency department has mental health support (following £30 million invested in 2015/16).
Also, over £400 million for crisis resolution home treatment teams will help to improve the management of admissions to acute psychiatric inpatient care, as well as ensure the routine availability of 24/7 intensive home treatment support as a safe and effective alternative to hospitals.
Commissioners must continue to increase investment in mental health services each year at a level which at least matches their overall allocation increase.