The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-06-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many secondary breast cancer nurses there are in England.
Ben Gummer
Information on the number of secondary breast cancer nurses in England is not collected by the Department.
It is for local National Health Service organisations with their knowledge of the healthcare needs of their local population to invest in training for specialist skills and to deploy specialist nurses.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-09-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of planned business rates rises on existing commercial solar rooftop projects where the majority of power is consumed onsite.
Mr Marcus Jones
Business rates are based on valuations from the Valuation Office Agency and we do not intervene in their independent assessments. We will look closely at the impacts of the forthcoming revaluation and consult on how to make sure the right support is in place for ratepayers to adjust to any changes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Tier 2 visas were (a) applied for and (b) awarded to (i) Bangladeshis, (ii) Indians and (iii) Pakistanis in each year since such visas were introduced.
James Brokenshire
The information requested is given in the following tables.
The latest quarterly Home Office immigration statistics on entry clearance visas are published in ‘Immigration Statistics, April-June 2015’, available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-statistics
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to make available on the NHS less invasive treatment for inflamed pancreas conditions.
Jane Ellison
Pancreatitis (an inflammation of the pancreas) may either be acute or chronic. Chronic pancreatitis is usually the result of repeated acute episodes of the condition. If a person has suspected acute pancreatitis, urgent admission to secondary care is required. Initial treatment may include pain relief, intravenous fluids and antibiotics for treatment of associated cholangitis (an infection of the biliary tract) or other acute infections.
The management of chronic pancreatitis is usually carried out in secondary care, although the primary care healthcare professional may have a role in the provision of adequate pain relief, screening for diabetes (a possible complication), providing general lifestyle advice and support and referring or admitting patients to secondary care if they develop complication.
Surgical intervention may be required in particularly severe cases of the condition. This may involve the removal of: inflamed sections of the pancreas; pancreatic tissue that has died as a result of infection; gallstones or the entire gallbladder; pseudocysts (sacs of fluid) which can develop on the pancreas; and, in particularly severe cases, the entire pancreas. Whilst some of these interventions may be minimally invasive, others will require more extensive surgical treatment.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published Clinical Knowledge Summaries on both acute and chronic pancreatitis. They are available at the following links:
cks.nice.org.uk/pancreatitis-chronic#!scenario
cks.nice.org.uk/pancreatitis-acute
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to commission an independent assessment of the effect of any new tobacco control measures on small businesses prior to their introduction.
Jane Ellison
The Department assesses the impact of all proposed measures before laying legislation using standard government methodology. These assessments are set out in Impact Assessments which are scrutinised by the Regulatory Policy Committee before publication alongside the Statutory Instrument. Impact Assessments specifically look at the impacts on small and micro businesses. A number of the tobacco measures contain commitments to further review the impact of the legislation within five years of them coming into force.
The Department assesses the impact of tobacco control measures on an ongoing basis as it develops policy and considers new measures. In September 2013, the Department published An Audit of the impact of the Department of Health’s Regulations upon business. A copy of the report is attached. The Audit report covered all regulations for which the Department has responsibility believed to have a potential cost to business, including those relating to tobacco control. As advised in the report, there is a robust cost-benefit case for the tobacco control regulations considered and experience shows that initiatives to reduce smoking prevalence work best in combination, with cumulative effects over time.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michelle Donelan on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis will be made available on the NHS to people who have (a) been raped and (b) had underage sex.
Jane Ellison
NHS England has recently announced that it would make available up to £2 million over two years to enable access for high risk individuals through early implementer test sites. NHS England will work with Public Health England and the Department to confirm the criteria for patient access and assessment of expressions of interest from local authority areas to confirm successful sites. The criteria which will be used to determine the locations of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) Test Sites have not yet been established.
PrEP is an intervention in advance of sexual exposure, and therefore is not relevant for rape victims who may require post exposure prophylaxis after clinical assessment. With regard to those having underage sex, eligibility for treatment through test sites will depend on the clinical assessment of risk undertaken.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-05-09.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 4 May 2016 to Question 35770, what technical and practical barriers will prevent the Electoral Commission implementing a registration look-up tool before the EU referendum.
John Penrose
As required by legislation, all applications to register to vote are assessed by Local Authority Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). There are around 360 EROs across the UK. EROs manage and maintain separate electoral registers for their areas on a variety of different software platforms. A national registration look-up tool would require access to all of these locally held and owned electoral registers, and, if it required the creation of a central national database, could require legislative changes and raise significant data protection concerns.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-06-29.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Department of Health’s Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England, published in March 2013, what steps they have taken to ensure that local areas know of all professionals who are part of their sexual health workforce, and that those individuals have received appropriate training.
Lord Prior of Brampton
It is the responsibility of local authorities and clinical commissioning groups to commission appropriate services and for providers to ensure that their staff are appropriately trained to meet the needs of their local population.
The Government has also mandated Health Education England (HEE) to provide national leadership on education, training and workforce development in the National Health Service in England. In doing so, HEE has a role in ensuring employers remain committed to continuing professional development and in developing the overall strategy for workforce skills and development in their areas.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hamwee on 2016-09-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that children subject to immigration control are not separated from their family or guardian during the process unless there are safeguarding or welfare concerns.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
For immigration purposes children may only be separated from their parents where it is necessary and proportionate to do so and after having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the children’s welfare.
Decisions on family separations are taken in line with published guidance in the Home Office Enforcement Instructions and Guidance at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/removal-actions
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Jones on 2016-01-18.
To ask the Attorney General, if he will discuss with the Director of Public Prosecutions the findings of the Flynn Report on the neglect of older people living in care homes in Wales and the disciplinary decisions of the Nursing and Midwifery Council about three of the nurses involved in that neglect; and if he will ask the Director of Public Prosecutions to reconsider the decision not to bring any criminal prosecutions in relation to the findings of operation Jasmine.
Robert Buckland
The evidence in relation to Operation Jasmine has been carefully considered by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and they have concluded that there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect in accordance with the Code for Prosecutors.
The Director of Public Prosecutions noted the findings of the Flynn report. She has previously considered and responded to the specific recommendation that the CPS refer the case to the Special Crime Division but considered that to be neither necessary or appropriate given that the Special Crime Division was involved in the original decision making.