Tag: 2016

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with community pharmacies on the proposals for a pharmacy access scheme.

    Alistair Burt

    Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service 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.

    We have been in detailed discussions with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) since December 2015 regarding the Government’s proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond, including the proposal for a Pharmacy Access Scheme. In parallel, we also want to hear views on our proposals from across the sector and from patient groups. We published our open letter to the PSNC on 17 December 2015 and on 27 January 2016 we published a set of slides setting out the proposals with a foreword by the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer.

    We announced on 16 March 2016 that the consultation period was to be extended to allow more time to develop the proposed changes with the PSNC and others. It will now close on 24 May 2016.

    Once we have carefully considered the outcomes from the consultation, we are looking to communicate final decisions as soon as possible, so that pharmacy contractors are fully informed some months before the funding reduction starts from October 2016.

    The role of the general practice pharmacist is distinct from the role of the pharmacist in a community setting. However, they are synergistic. Pharmacists working in general practice will, in the main, work with patients who have long term conditions to support them with their medicines and self-management of their condition by helping with the development and review of individual care plans. These patients will not generally be those with minor illnesses which can be treated by seeing a pharmacist in a community setting and for whom community pharmacy will remain the first, and most appropriate, option.

  • Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2016-04-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who will receive a lower state pension under the single-tier pension system.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information requested can be found in the Impact of the New State Pension (nSP) on an Individual’s Pension Entitlement – Longer Term Effects of nSP published in January 2016. The link can be found here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/491845/impact-of-new-state-pension-longer-term-reserach.pdf

    Figure 1 of the assessment shows the proportion of all pensioners from 2016 until 2060 at each time point with changed notional State Pension outcomes under the new State Pension.

    “

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of staff in his Department were (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff in each financial year from 2010-11 to 2015-16.

    Mr Mark Francois

    Details of payroll and non-payroll staffing in my Department are published on Gov.uk and in the Annual Report and Accounts.

  • Alex Salmond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alex Salmond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Salmond on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure the safety of refugees coming to the UK.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Home Office works closely with local authorities to support resettled refugees as they arrive in their areas. Local authorities have a duty to protect individuals in their care – this includes resettled Syrians.

    The Care Act 2014 put adult safeguarding on a legal footing and established that each local authority must set up Adult Safeguarding Boards with multi-agency membership including local partners and the Police. Local agencies, including the police and health services, also have a duty under section 11 of the Children Act 2004 to ensure that they consider the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children when carrying out their functions.

    In addition, upon arrival, the local authority assign a caseworker to every resettled family/individual, who maintains close contact with the family for the first 12 months to support their well being and integration. The small number of unaccompanied minors being resettled will be placed into local authority care where their safety needs, along with other needs, will be met via the resettling authority’s children’s social care service.

  • Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville on 2016-10-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure that commercial short-term lettings of accommodation, such as those offered by the AirBnB website, are safe and comply with fire regulations.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies to houses or flats where the premises are not occupied as a private dwelling, including properties offering short term accommodation to paying guests.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2015 to Question 18551, (a) whether all records retained under JSP441 Defence Records Management Policy and Procedure by training establishments comply with paragraphs 1.24 and 1.25 of that Policy and (b) decisions to retain records relating to (i) individual training establishments infrastructure costs and (ii) numbers attending training courses have been approved by the Departmental Records Officer as meeting the statutory requirements set out in paragraph 1.31 of JSP441; and if he will make a statement.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Departmental Record Officer (DRO) sets down overall policy and guidance (in JSP 441), establishes a governance structure through the normal departmental chain of command so that there are officers responsible for records in each unit, and works with the providers of ICT and Education within the Ministry of Defence to ensure that there is an appropriate set of tools and training packages. The DRO gives particular focus to those areas of Defence where the records may merit permanent preservation. Areas related to the routine business of Defence are typically managed at local level by trained staff working to DRO policy and guidance.

  • Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the total annual costs to local authorities were for public health funerals in each year between 2010 and 2015.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Department for Communities and Local Government does not collect the information requested. Figures on local authority expenditure on, and income from, the provision of cemetery, cremation and mortuary services, including closed churchyards and post-mortem services within mortuaries, are collected on the Revenue Outturn form and are available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing-england-2014-to-2015-individual-local-authority-data-outturn

    “

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills about the effect of bus franchising in the vehicle manufacturing sector.

    Andrew Jones

    I refer my hon Friend the Member for Brigg and Goole to the answer I gave on 15th February, to Question UIN 26533.

    “

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding he plans to provide to local authorities for the provision of pre-exposure prophylaxis.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England has announced that it will make available up to £2 million in 2016/17 and 2017/18 for early implementer test sites for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). This funding will be made available to successful applications from local authorities.

    These will run over the next two years and will aim to test the ‘real life’ cost effectiveness and affordability of PrEP as part of an integrated HIV and sexually transmitted infection prevention service.

    NHS England, Public Health England and the Department will consider the relevant findings from the test sites to inform their respective commissioning responsibilities for HIV care and treatment and HIV prevention.

  • Baroness Smith of Basildon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Smith of Basildon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2016-04-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many dedicated road traffic officers there were in each of the past five years in (1) Essex, (2) Kent, (3) Sussex, and (4) London.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The number of full time equivalent police officers employed in traffic policing roles as at 31 March in each of the last 5 years is provided in the tables. Officers with multiple responsibilities are recorded under their primary function or role. Data for 31 March 2015 (the latest period for which figures are available) can also be found in the supplementary tables of the July 2015 police workforce statistics publication:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/444537/police-workforce-supptabs-mar15.ods

    As HM Inspectorate of Constabulary has made clear, there is no simple link between police numbers and crime levels, between numbers and the visibility of police in the community, or between numbers and the quality of service provided.

    Decisions on the size and composition of the police workforce are operational matters for Chief Officers working with their Police and Crime Commissioners and taking into account local priorities. What matters is how officers are deployed, not how many of them there are.