Tag: 2016

  • Marie Rimmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Marie Rimmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Marie Rimmer on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the report of the Independent Cancer Taskforce, Achieving world-class cancer outcomes: A strategy for England 2015-2020, published in July 2015, what progress has been made on implementation of recommendation 47 on NHS England commissioning NICE to develop updated guidelines for adjuvant treatment for breast cancer.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guideline on early and locally advanced breast cancer: diagnosis and management (CG80) recommends the use of adjuvant bisphosphonates for the management of breast cancer treatment-induced bone loss in specified clinical circumstances. This guideline is currently being updated and the use of adjuvant bisphosphonates has been identified as one of the key areas that will be covered in this update. NICE expects to publish its updated guideline in July 2018.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what strategy they have in place to increase retention of teachers in the profession.

    Lord Nash

    Teacher retention rates have remained stable for over a decade and the turnover rate in teaching is lower than for the economy as a whole. Approximately 90% of all teachers are still in service in the year after they qualify and 72% of those who qualified in 2009 were still in teaching five years later. Over 60 percent of teachers remain in service 10 years after qualifying.

    The Government recognises that it is vital for schools to be able to retain good teachers. That is why we have made policy interventions in areas such as improving pupil behaviour and reducing unnecessary workload.

    The Department has appointed behaviour expert Tom Bennett to lead a review to ensure new teachers are fully trained in managing behaviour in 21st century schools.

    Three groups have been established to address the biggest concerns that teachers raised in the workload challenge: marking, planning and data management. All three groups are due to report in Spring 2016 and the Department is commissioning a biennial survey to track teacher workload, starting in Spring 2016.

  • Baroness Drake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Drake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Drake on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to increase private pension saving by the self-employed.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The 2005 Turner Commission recommended that the self-employed should be able to join a pension in an easy and cost-effective fashion. Therefore the Government-backed pension provider, the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) offers low-charge pension schemes to the self-employed, as well as to all employers.

    Automatic enrolment has been a huge success to date with almost 6 million eligible workers people now enrolled. We will be reviewing automatic enrolment in 2017. We are keen to identify issues that should be addressed within the review and will be working with stakeholders to determine its scope.

    The Government also recognises that the self-employed might benefit from saving in different ways to employees. In 2011 the Government introduced carry forward of annual allowances, which allow individuals with irregular earnings to use any unused Annual Allowance from the previous three years to contribute more to their pension in particular years, if this suits them better than making more regular pension contributions.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many prosecutions have occurred or proceedings been commenced as the result of the seizure of illegally imported puppies taken into the Dogs Trust’s care via its pilot quarantine initiative since the start of that pilot.

    George Eustice

    Local Authorities are responsible for the prosecution of individuals illegally importing puppies into Great Britain. In addition Port of Dover Police can issue formal warnings for illegal landing of puppies including where animals have been concealed. It is for the local authority concerned to decide if it wishes to undertake a prosecution in any of the cases of illegal importation identified during the pilot.

    The Dogs Trust pilot quarantine initiative began on 2 December 2015 and is expected to continue until the end of May 2016. As explained in my reply to the honourable Member for North Durham, Kevan Jones, on 11 March 2016, PQ UIN 30363, the Animal and Plant Health Agency will carry out an assessment of the effectiveness of the initiative following its conclusion. This assessment will be made publicly available and will be based on information provided by all parties involved in the pilot. This will include a summary of all enforcement action that has been taken. The report may not, however, be able to comment on investigations that may be underway.

  • Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many jobs in (a) her Department and (b) each of her Department’s non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority by 2020.

    Andrea Leadsom

    It is confirmed that no jobs in (a) the Department for Energy and Climate Change or (b) any of the Department’s accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority since 2010 or (ii) will be abolished or relocated from the Authority by 2020.

  • Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department provides to district nurses on discussing do not resuscitate orders with patients and next of kin.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department has not itself issued guidance on this subject, but has commended to National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts guidance for healthcare professionals prepared jointly by the British Medical Association, the Resuscitation Council (UK) and the Royal College of Nursing entitled Decisions relating to cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The latest version of the guidance was published in October 2014 and took account of the Court of Appeal’s judgment, handed down in June 2014, in the case of R (on the application of Tracey) v (1) Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (2) Secretary of State for Health. The Court of Appeal concluded that there was duty to consult a patient, or those close to the patient, about a Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation decision unless that consultation is likely to cause physical or psychological harm to the patient.

  • Lord Adebowale – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Adebowale – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Adebowale on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children aged 16 or 17 have presented to their local authority as homeless in (1) 2015–16, and (2) 2014–15, and how many of those were (a) assessed under the Housing Act 1996, and (b) assessed and then accommodated under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    One person without a home is one too many. That is why we have maintained and protected homelessness prevention funding for local authorities through the local government finance settlement totalling £315 million by 2019/20. We have also increased central government funding to tackle homelessness to £139 million over the next four years.

    The causes of youth homelessness are highly complex and our priority is to ensure that young people at risk of homelessness get the support they need. That is why we have also invested in the development of a Positive Pathway framework to help local authorities and their partners support young people to remain in the family home (where it is safe to do so) through a collaborative and integrated approach, as well as identifying the relevant support services needed should they become homeless. This includes supported accommodation as a starting point for 16 and 17 year olds.

    Since 2002, 16 to 17 year olds have been classed as a priority need category and are owned a main homeless duty by their local authority. The number of 16 or 17 year olds who applied and were accepted as homeless was 580 in 2014-15, and 530 in 2015-16 (falling from 2,190 in 2009-10). All of these cases were dealt with under the homelessness provisions of Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996.

    We do not hold details on the age of applicants who reported to their local authority but were ineligible or not homeless.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the Government plans to negotiate to continue participation in the European Centre for Disease Control after the UK leaves the EU.

    David Mowat

    Nothing has yet been decided on whether the United Kingdom will continue participation in the European Centre for Disease Control after leaving the European Union. Officials in both the Department of Health and the Department for Exiting the European Union are considering the position and options available to us with the aim of achieving the best outcome for the UK health system and for the UK as a whole.

  • Lord Framlingham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Framlingham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Framlingham on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much public money has been spent on HS2 to date; how much is estimated to be spent in the next financial year; what is the estimated final cost to the public purse; and what is the projected completion date.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    To date (2009/10 – Dec 2015) the government has spent £1.4bn on the HS2 programme. The Department for Transport and HS2 Ltd are currently in the process of finalising their estimates for the next financial year (2016/17). The 2015 Spending Review reconfirmed the Government’s commitment to a long-term funding envelope for delivering the HS2 programme at £55.7bn in 2015 prices. Phase One and Phase 2a are scheduled to be complete by 2026 and the remainder of Phase Two is expected to be completed by 2034.

  • The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how many Daesh fighters have moved from Iraq and Syria to Libya; and what implications this has had on UK defence and security policies.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are aware that Daesh has called for Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTF) to travel to Libya and that there is a significant FTF contingent among the Daesh forces there, including individuals from Syria and Iraq.

    We are monitoring the situation closely and working closely with international partners to develop a comprehensive approach to defeat Daesh in Libya. This will be a priority for our discussions with the new Libyan government.