Tag: 2016

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, who is responsible for deciding which heroin addicts are provided with heroin in line with his Department’s policy set out on page 31 of the Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, published by his predecessor in March 2016.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The prescribing of injectable opioids, such as methadone or diamorphine (pharmaceutical heroin) as substitutes for illicit heroin, as outlined in the Government’s Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, published in March by the then Home Secretary, has been an option for many years but since the late 1960s, prescribing of diamorphine for the management of addiction has been restricted to licensed addiction specialists.

    The decision to prescribe injectable diamorphine for the treatment of dependence is a clinical matter, for a clinician to take in conjunction with the patient. Advice to guide these decisions is contained in Chapter 5 and Annex 8 of the 2007 UK Guidelines on the Clinical Management of Drug Misuse and Dependence. The guidelines advise that:

    – “injectable opioid treatment may be suitable for a small minority of patients who have failed in optimised oral treatment.”;

    – “clinicians providing injectable opioid treatment should encourage patients not to regard it as a lifelong treatment option and should regularly review their patients and the continuing necessity for this unusual and expensive treatment”; and

    – The use of diamorphine “alone does not constitute drug treatment…it should be seen as on element or pathway within wider packages of planned and integrated drug treatment”.

    The guidelines are currently being reviewed by an Expert Working Group, to take into account developments in the evidence base. In July 2016, the Expert Working Group published their draft update for consultation. The consultation has closed and the responses are being considered by the Expert Working Group.

    Diamorphine is licensed as a medicine by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Clinicians wishing to legally prescribe it for the treatment of dependence need to obtain a licence for that purpose from the Home Office and to comply with all other legislation relevant to the safe management, use and supply of medicines which are controlled drugs.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare places there were in each London borough on 1 January of each year from 2010 to 2016.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and make this report available and accessible to parents. The Department does not hold borough level estimates centrally.

    The Department for Education’s Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey[1] collects data on all registered childcare places, including those in maintained schools and nurseries. However, data is only available at a national and regional level.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2013

    “

  • Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Clement-Jones on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how many more cancer medicines will be available to patients as a result of the proposals for a revised Cancer Drugs Fund to be effective from 1 April.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We have made no such assessment.

    NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recently consulted on draft proposals for the future direction of the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF). The consultation outlines a new system, fully integrated into the NICE appraisal process, where the CDF becomes a transitional fund – with clear criteria for entry and exit. The consultation closed on 11 February 2016.

    NHS England has advised that the operational detail of the new scheme will be developed over the coming months, informed by detailed analysis and consideration of the consultation responses received. A new Standard Operating Procedure for the CDF will be published by June 2016. Any changes to the list of available treatments through the Fund as a result of the changes in model will be published in due course.

    NHS England has advised that it is optimistic that a greater number of cancer drugs will be funded from baseline commissioning in the future as a consequence of more appropriate pricing arrangements proposed by pharmaceutical manufacturers and the new CDF being able to address issues as to longer term patient outcomes in order to give such drugs the chance of re-appraisal by NICE with greater certainty as to clinical and cost effectiveness.

  • Robert Jenrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Robert Jenrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Jenrick on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information he holds on whether Network Rail plans to release a contribution to the cost of a disabled access footbridge at Bingham railway station in Nottinghamshire.

    Claire Perry

    The Department for Transport does not hold information on Network Rail’s plans for funding towards the cost of an accessible footbridge at Bingham station.

  • Viscount Waverley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Viscount Waverley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Viscount Waverley on 2016-04-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why UK citizens who have been resident in other EU member states for more than 15 years who pay taxes and social security in the UK and are treated as domiciled in the UK have been excluded from voting in the referendum on 23 June.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The franchise for the EU referendum is based on the current UK Parliamentary franchise and includes British citizens who have lived overseas for fewer than 15 years and were registered to vote before they left the UK. This means that many overseas voters will be able to participate in the referendum and we are supporting the Electoral Commission in their efforts to encourage as many as possible to register to vote. The Government intends to introduce legislation to scrap the 15 year rule as a permanent change to the Parliamentary franchise in due course.

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Thomas-Symonds on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he plans to take to ensure improved risk assessment training and a more effective reporting culture for military training exercises.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The Ministry of Defence views the risk assessment process as a critical component of safety management. Defence already undertakes specific risk assessment training either under the auspices of general training units or by specialist unit safety staff. Some online risk assessment training is also available via the Defence Learning Environment.

    The Defence Safety Review which reported to the Defence Board in April 2016 made a number of specific recommendations concerning the way in which Defence could continually improve in terms of its reporting, analysis and exploitation of safety data. The Defence Safety Authority is addressing these recommendations and in particular the need to instil a culture of proactive safety reporting across all aspects of Defence activity, including training.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will place in the Library copies of the action plans by Bright Tribe Multi-Academy Trust and Adventure Learning Academies Trust in response to the request made to them by the Education Funding Agency.

    Edward Timpson

    The Education Funding Agency is due to publish a report about Bright Tribe Trust. This final report will include the Trust’s progress in implementing recommendations set out by the EFA in December 2015; and will incorporate how assurance is obtained that services are provided at cost. Once this report is published, a copy will be placed in the Library.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many hate crimes were committed against disabled people in each of the last five years.

    Sarah Newton

    The Home Office has collected disability hate crime data from the police since 2011/12.

    In 2011/12, the police recorded 1,748 disability hate crime offences, 1,911 in 2012/13, 2,006 in 2013/14 and 2,508 in 2014/15.

    Further information on hate crime can be found in Hate Crimes, England and Wales,

    2014/15, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hate-crime-england-and-wales-2014-to-2015

    Data for 2015/16 are due to be published on 13 October 2016 and will be available here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hate-crime-england-and-wales-2015-to-2016

    As stated by the Office for National Statistics, action taken by police forces to improve their compliance with the National Crime Recording Standard has led to improved recording of crime, especially for violence against the person offences. Together with a greater awareness of disability hate crime, and improved willingness of victims to come forward, this is likely to be a factor in the increase in disability hate crimes recorded by the police.

    This Government is committed to tackling hate crime. The UK has one of the strongest legislative frameworks in the world to tackle hate crime. We are working across Government with police, (including National Community Tensions Team), the Crown Prosecution Service and community partners to send out a clear message that hate crime will not be tolerated and we will vigorously pursue and prosecute those who commit these crimes.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 22858, on the basis of the evidence seen by the Government, what assessment he has made of who was responsible for the damage to the Iranian Embassy in Sana’a.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    It is important to determine the facts of any incident. From current evidence we have seen, it does not appear that a Saudi airstrike hit the Iranian Embassy. We are continuing to work with all parties to de-escalate regional tensions.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of France about their plans for the refugees now in the Grande Synthe site near Dunkirk; what improvements are in progress; and whether voluntary organisations will be involved.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The management of the migrant situation in Dunkirk is the responsibility of the French government. We share the French government’s concerns about the difficult living conditions in the region and continue to assist their efforts to provide support and facilities elsewhere in France. Migration issues were discussed at the UK-France Summit on 3 March. The summit communiqué provides details of the further cooperation agreed.