The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel in each location are accommodated in twin rooms.
Mark Lancaster
This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which medicines have been reclassified from (a) prescription only medicine to pharmacy medicine status, (b) pharmacy medicine to general sales list medicine status and (c) prescription only medicine to general sales list medicine status in each of the last 25 years; for each of those medicines so reclassified what condition that medicine was designed to treat; and if he will make a statement.
George Freeman
The Government is committed to the continued reclassification of medicines from prescription only to pharmacy classification and from pharmacy to general sales list classification when it is safe to do so and there is a clear benefit to public health. This is an important part of empowering patients to manage their own care. The Government’s medicines regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, is at the forefront of moves to reclassify medicines to non-prescription and is recognised as a leader in Europe in this regard.
Over the years reclassification has been facilitated by improving the regulatory environment for manufacturers to achieve successful reclassification of their products. Amendments to legislation were introduced in 2002 to reduce the legislative burden for reclassification; new guidance was published in 2012 to streamline the process; and in 2015 a United Kingdom platform was set up to maximise stakeholder engagement with the aim of encouraging further reclassification of medicines.
Patient safety remains the prime consideration in any decision to make a medicine available without prescription.
We are unable to calculate the total difference in cost to the public purse following these medicine reclassifications.
The attached tables contain the information for each of the last 25 years on medicines reclassified from prescription only medicine (POM) to Pharmacy (P) medicine and P medicine to general sales list (GSL) medicine. There are no examples of medicines which have been reclassified from POM to GSL. Where relevant, brand names have been included in brackets.
The lists represent the first reclassification either from POM to P or P to GSL of the product and further extensions such as wider indications, additional pack sizes or higher strengths have not been included.
Not all products listed are currently available, for various reasons, including both commercial and regulatory.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2016-05-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the (a) average and (b) longest wait was for a carers’ assessment after an initial request was made since the introduction of the Carers Act 2014.
Alistair Burt
There is no central collection of data on the average and longest wait for a carer’s assessment after an initial request was made since the introduction of the Carers Act 2014. Nor is data collected centrally on the number of people currently on the waiting list for a carer’s assessment.
Data on the number of carers assessed during the financial year 2014-15 by local authority is attached. It should be noted that these figures include both joint and separate assessments from the cared for person. The source for this data is Short and Long Term Support (SALT), England 2014-15. This return is collected and published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.
Link to SALT:
http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB18663
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-07-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 27 June (HL649), how many unaccompanied refugee children have reached the UK so far this year from (1) Europe, (2) the Middle East, and (3) elsewhere, for family reunion or otherwise for resettlement.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
In the year ending March 2016 the UK received 3,206 asylum applications from unaccompanied children who had reached the UK.
We continue to fulfil our obligations under the Dublin Regulation to unaccompanied children who qualify for transfer to the UK under family reunification provisions. Since January 2016 our records show that over 60 children have been transferred from other EU countries to the UK.
In addtion, the government continues to implement the Immigration Act 2016, including the provision to transfer unaccompained refugee children to the UK from elswhere in Europe. We are consulting local authorities as required and are also working closely with relevant Member States and other partners such as UNHCR, UNICEF and Save the Children.
We are working with UNHCR on our Children at Risk Resettlement Scheme to resettle vulnerable children, both unaccompanied and with their family members from the Middle East and North Africa region. We have committed to resettling several hundred individuals in the first year.
Information on the number of unaccompanied children granted under refugee family reunion provisions in the Immigration Rules is not captured in our data and would require a manual review. This information cannot therefore be provided without exceeding proportionate costs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-09-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the US’s decision to deploy the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system in South Korea.
Mike Penning
The Secretary of State for Defence has not discussed this issue with his US counterpart.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received on the case of the Hares Boys; what discussions he has had with the Israeli authorities on that case; and what information he holds on the current situation.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has received a number of parliamentary questions from Members of the House of Commons, letters from Members of Parliament on behalf of their constituents and letters and emails from members of the public on the case of the Hares Boys.
An official from our Embassy in Tel Aviv met Chief Military Prosecutor, Maurice Hirsch, on 23 November to raise our concerns over this case in addition to our broader concerns about Israel’s child detention policy. We were informed by the Chief Military Prosecutor that the Hares boys agreed to a plea bargain resulting in their imprisonment for 15 years. We continue to monitor developments in the case of the Hares boys and raise the issue with the Israeli authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of identified violations of the Schools Admissions Code since 2014 related to failure to properly prioritise looked-after and previously looked-after children.
Nick Gibb
Of the 271 admission objections determined since January 2014, 6% were found to have non-compliant elements relating to provisions in the School Admissions Code concerning looked after and previously looked after children.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will bring forward measures to incentivise businesses to use recyclable materials in their packaging; and if she will give consideration to whether businesses which choose to use non-recyclable materials when a recyclable alternative is viable should be subject to financial penalties.
Rory Stewart
Developing and securing sustainable end markets for recycled materials is key to delivering a circular economy.
Working through the Waste and Resources Action Programme we have developed and delivered a number of activities in support of both the use of recycled materials in new products, and on activities to stimulate its demand.
For example, the Plastics Industry Recycling Action Plan has identified key actions that need to take place across the whole supply chain to ensure that recycling plastics packaging can be done sustainably. This includes design for recyclability, collections and sorting, reprocessing and development of sustainable end markets.
Another example is the Courtauld Commitment, a voluntary agreement aimed at improving resource efficiency and reducing the carbon and wider environmental impact of the grocery sector. Phase 3 ran from 2013 until 2015. Specifically on packaging, it looked to improve packaging design through the supply chain to maximise recycled content as appropriate, improve recyclability and deliver product protection to reduce food waste, while ensuring there was no increase in the carbon impact of packaging by 2015, from a 2012 baseline. The interim results released in January 2015, showed an approximate 4.5% reduction in carbon impacts of packaging – well ahead of the 2015 target of zero increase.
However, while we can encourage design for recyclability, it is ultimately the decision of the business that make the product to decide what packaging materials they use based on a number of functionality requirements. We are making it easier for businesses to adopt eco-design principles by ensuring access to a range of free advice and guidance on packaging design and issues which should be considered when designing packaging.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appeals against school exclusion were heard at the First Tier Tribunal (SEN and Disabilities) in each year since 2010.
Caroline Dinenage
Information about the number of appeals (a) heard against school exclusion and (b) how many were found in favour of the appellant is published by the Ministry of Justice in the Tribunals and Gender Recognition Statistics Quarterly. The most recent statistics for the First-tier Tribunal SEND are for the period 1 September 2014 to 31 August 2015, published on 10 December 2015, which can be viewed at:
These statistics cover the years 2011/12 to 2014/15.
The statistics for earlier years can be viewed at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/385777/sen-tables-2014.xls.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-05-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 3 May 2016 to Question 35165, on Personal Independence Payments, what steps his Department is taking better to understand why sufficient documentary evidence is not being sought during the assessment and mandatory reconsideration stages.
Justin Tomlinson
The 75% can be broken down as follows:
Cogent oral evidence – 66%
Cogent documentary evidence supplied at the appeal – 9%
These figures are from internal DWP systems, where only one of possible multiple reasons can be recorded, and are derived from unpublished information and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics standard.
The Department encourages claimants to provide as much relevant evidence as necessary to support their claim. The “How your disability affects you” form and accompanying guidance sets out the range of information that can help the Department reach a decision. The guidance for Health Professionals also sets out sources of further evidence which could help inform their advice to the Department.
At the Mandatory Reconsideration stage, again claimants are encouraged to provide any further evidence about their disability. Following the first independent review of Personal Independence by Paul Gray, the Department is reviewing all communications (including those used by Assessment Providers) it has with claimants throughout the claim, assessment and reconsideration process to ensure that claimants clearly understand the importance of providing sufficient evidence to support their claim and application.
Further, once a claimant has submitted their claim, the Department has created a new Standard Work Instructions (SWI) for its decision making staff to gain further evidence, where appropriate. For Mandatory Reconsideration, the SWI puts a process in place to establish what the areas for dispute are, consider any gaps in the evidence, ensure any expected further medical evidence is received and referring that to the Assessment Provider. “