Tag: 2016

  • Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2016 to Question 26844, whether the maximum customer travel of one and a half hours or 65 miles for an interview for a passport application refers to a one-way journey or round trip.

    James Brokenshire

    Please accept my apologies for an error which was made in the response to question 26844.

    Under the planned changes to HM Passport Offices the vast majority of passport application interviewees will see no change to their travel time. In a small number of cases passport application interviewees will have to travel further but this should not be more than 65 miles or one and a half hours additional one-way travel from their previous closest office.

  • 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 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government plans to request that the UN Security Council refer crimes by Daesh to the International Criminal Court.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    The Rome statute provides for "situations" rather than organisations such as Daesh to be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

    When efforts were made to refer the situation in Syria to the ICC in 2014, it was vetoed by Russia and China. We expect that any Security Council resolution at this time seeking to refer the situations in Iraq or Syria to the ICC would likewise be blocked.

    In the meantime, we are supporting the gathering and preservation of evidence that could in future be used in a court to hold Daesh to account. It is vital that this is done now, before evidence is lost or destroyed.

  • Karin Smyth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Karin Smyth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many applications for registration to the Nursing and Midwifery Council were withdrawn by the applicant before they were assessed from candidates trained (a) in England, (b) in the European Economic Area (EEA) and (c) outside the EEA.

    Ben Gummer

    The information requested in relation to the number of applications for registration to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is not held centrally.

    The NMC is the independent regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom and is responsible for nurse and midwife registration. It has informed the Department that it does not collect data on how many applications for registration are rejected or withdrawn before they were assessed.

  • Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-07-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to consider providing interim funding for innovative treatments for patients with radioactive-iodine refractory differentiated thyroid cancer where there are treatments available but they are yet to be reviewed by NICE.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) already provides access to sorafenib as a treatment option for the systemic therapy of locally advanced or metastatic differentiated radioiodine-refractory thyroid cancer.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has been asked to develop technology appraisal guidance on the use of sorafenib and lenvatinib for this indication.

    NHS England published its new standard operating procedure for the CDF in July 2016 and a copy is attached.

    NHS England has advised that it considered carefully the issue as to which drugs should be given interim funding and concluded, with the support of the majority of stakeholders, that interim funding should only be possible for those drugs that had been granted a marketing authorisation and were in receipt of a draft positive appraisal recommendation or a draft recommendation for use within the CDF from NICE.

  • Craig Mackinlay – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Craig Mackinlay – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Mackinlay on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of proposed reductions in pharmacy funding on specific patient populations.

    David Mowat

    The Government’s proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond, on which we have consulted, are being considered against the public sector equality duty, the family test and the relevant duties of my Rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health, under the National Health Service Act 2006.

    Our assessments include consideration of the potential impacts on the adequate provision of NHS pharmaceutical services, including the supply of medicines, access to NHS pharmaceutical services, supplementary hours, non-commissioned services, individuals with protected characteristics, impacts on other NHS services, health inequalities, individuals with restricted mobility and access to healthcare for deprived communities.

    An impact assessment will be completed to inform final decisions and published in due course.

    Our proposals are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. We believe these efficiencies can be made within community pharmacy 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. We are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared with others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

    We want a clinically focussed community pharmacy service that is better integrated with primary care and public health in line with the Five Year Forward View. This will help relieve the pressure on general practitioners and accident and emergency departments, ensure better use of medicines and better patient outcomes, and contribute to delivering seven day health and care services.

    The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England, Dr Keith Ridge has commissioned an independent review of community pharmacy clinical services. The review is being led by Richard Murray, Director of Policy at The King’s Fund. The final recommendations will be considered as part of the development of clinical and cost effective patient care by pharmacists and their teams.

    NHS England is also setting up a Pharmacy Integration Fund to support the development of clinical pharmacy practice in a wider range of primary care settings, resulting in a more integrated and effective NHS primary care patient pathway.

    The rollout of the additional 1,500 clinical pharmacists announced by NHS England will help to ease current pressures in general practice by working with patients who have long term conditions and others with multiple medications. Having a pharmacist on site will mean that patients who receive care from their general practice will be able to benefit from the expertise in medicines that these pharmacists provide.

  • Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering on 2015-12-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the delay in the introduction of Flood Re on those houses recently flooded in Cumbria and elsewhere.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    Until Flood Re becomes operational, the insurance industry is continuing to make insurance available to those policy holders at high flood risk, as agreed to in the Statement of Principles.

    Flood Re has submitted a comprehensive application for authorisation to the financial regulators, and is engaging with them. Flood Re is continuing to build and implement the systems necessary to support the operational launch of the scheme in April 2016.

  • Lord Northbourne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Northbourne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Northbourne on 2016-01-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they define family income and household income, and whether family income includes the father’s income whether or not he is living with his children and their mother.

    Lord Freud

    The Government does not have a single standard definition of family or household income. The definition used will vary depending on the particular circumstances under consideration.

    The definition of household income in the National Statistics publication Households Below Average Income, which analyses the income distribution, is:

    Total income from all sources of all household members including dependants.

    This definition includes any income received by a household member from an absent parent or former partner.

  • Teresa Pearce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Teresa Pearce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Teresa Pearce on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he has taken in response to the findings set out in the 2014-15 Annual Report of the Independent Monitoring Board at HM Prison Belmarsh on the prison’s online and telephone booking system.

    Andrew Selous

    We had already recognised the issues highlighted in the 2014-15 Annual Report of the Independent Monitoring Board at HM Prison Belmarsh. I am pleased to inform the hon. Member for Erith and Thamesmead that we will be increasing the number of social visit slots that are available per session and we have added an additional booking telephone line. There are also plans to introduce an automated system to increase our capacity to manage visit calls.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his speech of 15 March 2016 to the Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Anti-Semitism Conference, what legal changes he has made following a campaign led by Jewish Human Rights Watch.

    Dominic Raab

    On 3 October 2015, the Minister for the Cabinet Office and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government announced the Government’s position on boycott, divestment and sanctions, including legal changes.

  • Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which clinical commissioning groups in England fund (a) no, (b) one, (c) two, (d) three and (e) more than three cycles of IVF treatment.

    Jane Ellison

    The level of provision of infertility treatment, as for all health services they commission, is decided by local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and will take into account the needs of the population overall. The CCG’s decisions are underpinned by clinical insight and knowledge of local healthcare needs. As such, provision of services will vary in response to local needs.

    CCGs have a legal duty to have regard to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. As such, NHS England expects that all those involved in commissioning infertility treatment services to be fully aware of the importance of having regard to the NICE fertility guidelines.

    Following a meeting with Fertility Fairness in December 2015, officials from the Department and NHS England is considering options for addressing variation in the prices that CCGs are currently paying for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment.

    Information about cycles of IVF treatment is not collected centrally.