Tag: 2016

  • Philippa Whitford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Philippa Whitford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philippa Whitford on 2016-06-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department received the request from the Scottish Government to allow increased payments to Scottish people affected by contaminated blood through the current financial structures.

    Jane Ellison

    Since the Scottish Government announced its decision to accept the recommendations of its independent financial review in March 2016, officials in the Department and Scottish Government have been working together to facilitate the increased payments using the current payment scheme. There have, in addition, been recent conversations at Ministerial level.

  • Hugo Swire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hugo Swire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what he discussed in his recent meeting with his Maldivian counterpart.

    Alok Sharma

    I met the Foreign Minister for the Maldives, Dr Mohamed Asim, on 13 September. I discussed the importance of the UK/Maldives relationship, particularly with regard to the large number of UK tourists that visit the Maldives each year. I raised the Government’s concern about the decline in democracy and human rights in the Maldives, and urged the Maldives government to make progress on the recommendations made by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group.

  • Pauline Latham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Pauline Latham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pauline Latham on 2016-01-14.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will include the removal of VAT on sun safety products in his negotiations on VAT on sanitary products with his counterparts in the EU.

    Mr David Gauke

    EU VAT rules do not currently allow for the application of a zero rate of VAT to sanitary products. That is why I have written to the European Commission and other Member States setting out our strong view that Member States should have full discretion over what rate of VAT they can apply to these products.

    Drugs and medications that are dispensed by a registered pharmacist against a prescription issued by a qualifying health professional are zero rated for VAT.

    High-factor sunscreen is on the NHS prescription list for certain conditions and is therefore provided VAT free when dispensed by a pharmacist to patients.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how NHS England are ensuring that there is no conflict in how Bain and Company supports both vanguards in their application for funds, and NHS England in deciding how to allocate funds.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) commissioned Bain and Company to support vanguards as an extension to work previously commissioned from the company as part of a programme called Future Focused Finance, an initiative sponsored by the Department of Health and arm’s length bodies. This earlier work for the HFMA had focused on the design of a value-based decision effectiveness tool, piloted in Mid-Cheshire and Liverpool. The HFMA, in partnership with NHS England, commissioned the extension to this work so that the tool could be used to support value-based decision-making in the 2016-17 New Care Models programme.

    Alternatives were not sought from competitors because the vanguard support built on the original Bain and Company work for the HFMA.

    The value of the vanguard support contract is £650,000. Value for money was obtained by negotiation, having been benchmarked with other commissions made by the National Health Service to external health consultancies.

    As part of the contract, Bain and Company will be handing over its approach to NHS England, so that NHS England can support other areas in implementing new care models.

    Bain and Company has not been commissioned to assess evidence to support transformation and potential for replication of new care models in other areas. The company is commissioned to develop and implement a framework that appropriately experienced NHS staff can use to assess such evidence. Intellectual property rights in respect of the framework in the future are assigned to HFMA under the terms of the contract. The NHS is entitled to use the framework free of charge in perpetuity.

    Bain and Company is involved in the development of the tool used to make the assessment, and in the implementation of the process to use that tool. The company is specifically commissioned to help vanguard sites to use the tool and to summarise the resulting value propositions to facilitate decision-making by NHS England.

    No conflict of interest arises as decisions concerning funding allocations for individual vanguards are made by NHS England’s Executive Team and Investment Committee and not Bain and Company.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Prime Minister’s announcement of 10 January 2016, Prime Minister pledges to transform sink estates, by what process local authorities will be able to obtain funding for estates regeneration under that initiative.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Government issued a Statement on 23 February, inviting expressions of interest from prospective estates across the country and enabling us to engage with prospective schemes. A more formal arrangement for accessing the £140 million loan fund, and for assessing bids into that fund, will be set in train in due course. The Statement can be accessed at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/estates-regeneration-statement

    “

  • Roberta Blackman-Woods – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Roberta Blackman-Woods – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether prisons record whether inmates are registered as organ donors; and what protocols are in place for donation of organs after a death in custody.

    Andrew Selous

    The decision to be an organ donor is for prisoners to discuss with their next of kin and to decide whether they wish to add their name to the National Organ Donor Register. Organ donation by prisoners who are transferred to hospital prior to death may be considered in certain clinical circumstances and providing that it does not affect any coroner investigation.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will suspend the procurement exercise for the recovery of the FV Louisa pending investigation of the tendering process for that recovery.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The fishing vessel Louisa sank off the Scottish coast on 9 April 2016. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) is seeking to raise the vessel as part of its investigation to establish the causes and circumstances of the accident.

    The Department’s procurement experts have independently reviewed the processes undertaken by the MAIB in awarding the contract to recover the Louisa. It is clear from that review that the MAIB’s evaluation team followed the process as set out in the tender document and in a fair and transparent manner. I am therefore satisfied that there are no grounds for the procurement process to be suspended.

    This sinking resulted in the deaths of three fishermen and the vessel should be recovered as soon as possible to give the investigation team the strongest possibility of understanding the reasons why this tragic accident occurred.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-06-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Office of National Statistics’ statistical bulletin Population Estimates for UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: mid-2015 published on 23 June was not subject to purdah before the EU referendum.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Jenkyns on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many amendments to the proposed junior doctors’ contract the (a) British Medical Association and (b) management side accepted during negotiations on the November 2015 contract offer.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The British Medical Association (BMA) have made five concessions overall. The management side have made 107 concessions overall. These concessions included a number of substantial shifts of position to meet concerns expressed by the BMA including for instance increasing the additional pay received for working at weekends.

    (a) The BMA made one concession in relation to the November 2015 offer during the initial ACAS talks, before the commencement of negotiations which ended in February 2016 with no agreement. This was to accept a move from incremental progression to a nodal pay system.

    They made further concessions (including in relation to the March 2016 contract), in the agreement reached in May 2016. These were:

    (i) Agreement to the extension of plain-time working by two hours per day, with a system of weekend allowances based on the frequency of weekend working for those working more than six weekends a year;

    (ii) Accepting the principle of fidelity to the National Health Service, offering locum work at an agreed hourly rate;

    (iii) Agreeing a change to the March 2016 contract to reduce from 48 to 46 hours rest period after consecutive night shifts, amended to improve work life balance and continuity of care; and

    (iv) Agreeing to remove the rule in the March 2016 contract preventing consecutive weekend working – while retaining a rule that the frequency of weekend working can be no more than 1 in 2 weekends – to allow greater flexibility for doctors and employers.

    (b) The November 2015 offer itself had included two concessions in relation to the recommendations made by the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration. In the ACAS agreement, the BMA accepted this November offer as the basis for negotiations. The management side then made a further 105 concessions: four during ACAS talks, 61 during negotiations that ended in February 2016, six after those negotiations ended, and 34 during negotiations in May 2016.

  • Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of levels of rough sleeping in town centres on the use of town centres by the general public.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Government remains committed to protecting the most vulnerable in society. But one person without a home is one too many, which is why we are maintaining homelessness funding over this Spending Review period, building on our significant investment since 2010. We will increase central investment over the next four years to £139 million for innovative programmes to prevent and reduce homelessness and rough sleeping. We have also protected homelessness prevention funding for local authorities, through the provisional local government finance settlement totalling £315 million by 2019/20.

    It is for local authorities to determine what homelessness services are required to best meet the needs of their local area, including provision of suitable accommodation. More rough sleepers are being found and helped quicker thanks to our investment in StreetLink, which gives the public a means to act when they see someone sleeping rough. Since the launch of StreetLink in December 2012, over 16,000 rough sleepers have been found and connected with local services so that they can get the help that they need to get them off the streets. We are committed to do more to improve services for homeless people with complex needs. Building on London’s approach of using social investment to improve outcomes for rough sleepers, we will be setting up a new Social Impact BondFund to help the most complex and entrenched rough sleepers.