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Tag: 2016

  • Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to implement an adult hearing screening programme; and if he will recommend to the National Screening Committee that it undertakes a public health campaign on deafness and hearing loss.

    Alistair Burt

    The UK National Screening Committee recommended in 2015 that screening for hearing loss in adults should not be offered because:

    – although hearing loss in older adults is a serious public health problem the evidence is too limited to establish the type of screening test to be used, the severity of hearing loss to target, the age of the population to be screened and the frequency of screening;

    – uncertainty on the effectiveness of the long term use of hearing aids and on the effectiveness of additional interventions aimed at improving the duration of hearing aid use; and

    – the absence of randomised controlled trials of screening in the general population. Screening has not been shown to provide any hearing related improvement in quality of life in comparison to hearing loss identified in other ways.

    There are currently no plans by Public Health England to run an awareness campaign on adult hearing loss.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will place in the Library copies of all correspondence between Ministers in his Department and newspaper editors, executives and proprietors about press regulation policy and Leveson Part 2 since May 2015.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The department does not publish as standard confidential correspondence between individuals or organisations and ministers. A list of ministerial meetings is published in the department’s quarterly returns.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Energy Technologies Institute report, published on 12 May 2016, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policy of carbon capture and storage technology contributing to meeting the UK’s commitments to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government views Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) as having a potentially important role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK’s economy. The Government will set out its approach to CCS in due course, and the recent Energy Technologies Institute report, funded by DECC, will inform the Government’s thinking.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, when he plans that the UK will cease contributing towards the funding of the EU.

    Mr David Davis

    The UK will remain a full member of the EU, with all of the rights and obligations, until it leaves. As we establish a UK approach and objectives for negotiations on the UK’s exit, a range of decisions will be made, including on funding.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with officials from (a) the EU and (b) the UN on obtaining compensation for UK victims of Libyan-sponsored IRA terrorism.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK Government takes the needs of UK victims of Qadhafi-sponsored terrorism very seriously and is sympathetic to their attempts to seek redress. We have raised this with the Libyan authorities, making it clear that resolution remains a priority for us, though current instability has delayed progress on this issue. The UK Government is not currently involved in negotiations on securing compensation payments with the EU or UN, though the FCO does provide facilitation support to campaign groups, where it has been requested. The EU and UN have made clear that when sanctions are lifted, frozen assets must be made available to and for the benefit of the people of Libya.

  • Lord Oates – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Oates – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the total annual cost of the ministerial special advisers, including members of the Council of Economic Advisers, who were in post on 1 September.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Information on the cost of special advisers, which I have attached for information, was published on 17 December on gov.uk.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the implementation of universal credit on the level of rent arrears in council homes.

    Justin Tomlinson

    This information is not collected centrally.

    Statistics are published annually on the total value of local authority social housing rent arrears, broken down by Local Authority area. They were most recently published on the Government’s website for 2014-15:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-housing-data#2014-to-2015

    “

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department’s policy is on junior doctors who whistleblow about safety concerns in the NHS.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department supports National Health Service staff who wish to raise concerns and is implementing a range of measures to support the development of a culture in which staff are able to raise concerns without fear of repercussion or reprisal. The Department has made clear to NHS organisations that they should have policies and procedures to support and encourage staff to raise concerns, and that those concerns should be acted upon.

    Junior doctors are protected by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, as they are employees of the NHS trusts at which they are based.

    Junior doctors along with other NHS staff will benefit from a national network of Freedom to Speak Up ‘local guardians,’ led by the National Guardian Dame Eileen Sills, who was appointed on 7 January 2016.

    The National Guardian will lead, advise, and support the ‘local guardians’ in carrying out investigations on how concerns are being handled, share good practice, report on national or common themes, and identify any barriers that are preventing the NHS from having a truly safe and open culture.

    In addition we are also introducing a new Guardian of safe working appointed jointly with junior doctors.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV is on the list of drugs being referred to NHS England’s Clinical Priorities Advisory Group for decision.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England does not now consider pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV is suitable for prioritisation of specialised commissioning spend as it is a preventative measure. However given the potential benefits in this area, NHS England wants to build on the work to date and will be making available up to £2 million over the next two years to run a number of early implementer test sites. These will be undertaken in conjunction with Public Health England and will seek to answer the remaining questions around how PrEP could be commissioned in the most cost effective and integrated way to reduce HIV and sexually transmitted infections in those at highest risk.

  • Naz Shah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Naz Shah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Naz Shah on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how she plans for the £10 million increase in funding to expand breakfast clubs in schools announced in paragraph 1.95 of Budget 2016 to be distributed; and how her Department plans to monitor the spending of that funding.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Chancellor announced in the recent budget that funding from the new sugar levy would be used in part to expand breakfast clubs in up to 1,600 schools from September 2017. We are currently refining the details of how this scheme will operate and further details will be announced in due course.