The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Prime Minister, on what occasions she has met and conversed with members of the public in her official capacity since she became Prime Minister on 13 July 2016.
Mrs Theresa May
I meet members of the public all the time.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will meet his counterparts in the Qatari government to discuss the human rights situation and working conditions of foreign workers assisting that country in building stadia for the 2022 World Cup.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Johnson), last spoke to Qatar’s foreign minister on 7 September about preparations for the World Cup. He offered continued UK support in partnering with Qatar to deliver a successful event in 2022. We continue to raise the issue of workers’ rights with the Government of Qatar; most recently on 15 September to offer UK expertise in addition to support we already give. I am meeting my Qatari counterpart in Doha later this year and will raise this issue again then.
We support the steps that the Qatari Government has taken to respond to concerns about the treatment of migrant workers and we welcome the Government of Qatar’s commitment to the ongoing, systematic reform of Qatar’s labour laws.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate she has made of the value of stationery that has been (a) lost and (b) stolen from her Department in each of the last five fiscal years; and what the cost was of replacing such stationery.
Mr Desmond Swayne
DFID does not maintain records of stationery lost or stolen. Therefore, it is not possible to estimate what the replacement cost would be.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the (a) forecast reduction in cases of and deaths from infection by influenza as a result of the nasal flu vaccine in 2015, (b) forecast number of nasal flu vaccines administered and (c) cost of delivering that programme in each of the next three years.
Jane Ellison
It is difficult to forecast the population impact that the nasal flu vaccine will have in the forthcoming season as vaccine effectiveness will vary according to the circulating influenza virus in any one season together with the vaccine uptake achieved. In general the effectiveness of live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) ranges from 50% upwards against illness caused by antigenically matched strains in children, but has also shown some protection against antigenically mismatched strains. The provisional uptake in two, three and four year olds in England up to week 46 2015 (ending 15 November 2015) was 23.0%, 24.0% and 19.4% respectively.
In 2016/17 the childhood flu programme will cover all 2-7 year olds and at risk children.
In 2017/18 the childhood flu programme will cover all 2-10 year olds and at risk children.
Table 1: The forecast number of nasal flu vaccines administered to children in each of the next three years.
|
Year |
Forecast number of doses of nasal flu vaccine administered to children |
|
2016/17 |
2.8 million |
|
2017/18 |
4.3 million |
|
2018/19 |
4.3 million |
Source: NHS England’s Spending Review submission for childhood flu.
Table 2: The forecast cost of delivering the childhood flu programme in each of the next three years.
|
Year |
Estimated cost of delivering the childhood flu programme |
|
2016/17 |
£80 million |
|
2017/18 |
£120 million |
|
2018/19 |
£120 million |
Note: These are the full programme costs (including the cost of the vaccine).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will make representations to NHS England on its decision to delay the implementation of the positive national commissioning policy on microprocessor-controlled knees.
Alistair Burt
The commissioning of prosthetics is the responsibility of NHS England as a specialised service. The rehabilitation and re-ablement of patients is provided at a local level by specialised Multi-Disciplinary Teams which should be consultant led. The NHS Standard Contract for Complex Disability Equipment – Prosthetics, sets out how the specialist centres should operate and the required level of prosthetic services to be delivered.
A revised policy proposal for the routine commissioning of microprocessor controlled knees was considered by NHS England’s expert Clinical Priorities Advisory Group which recommended its adoption for routine commissioning. The proposal was then considered by NHS England’s Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group at its meeting on 9 December where it was agreed that NHS England would support this service development as a possible call on its resources. However given the potential scale of investment and the need to consider its priority relative to other treatments which would also have a possible call on the specialised commissioning resources, it was decided that the policy should go forward for consideration as part of NHS England’s next annual prioritisation round in June 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 6 January 2016 to Question 20580, if his Department will ask NHS England to allow patient access to technologies assessed through NHS England’s Commissioning through Evaluation programme during the analysis phase on the same basis as during the first stage of the programme.
George Freeman
Whilst any patients already treated under a Commissioning through Evaluation (CtE) scheme will continue to receive appropriate follow up care, no new patients will be funded by NHS England during the subsequent analysis phase.
This ensures that, during the analysis phase, NHS England continues its current policy of not funding treatments which have insufficient evidence of clinical and / or cost effectiveness.
In turn, this means that NHS England can direct public funds to evidence based care. It also allows CtE programme funding to be redirected to support patient recruitment in another area of specialised care where further evaluation data is needed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has for call-in and scrutiny arrangements for the work of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
James Wharton
I refer the hon. member to my answer of 19 January, PQ 921796 and would add that the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill received Royal Assent on 28 January.
The provisions of that Act, including those on overview and scrutiny, are now in force for the purposes of making secondary legislation and for all other purposes will come into force two months after Royal Assent. My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Greg Clark) intends to exercise his powers to make further provision about the membership and operation of overview and scrutiny committees as soon as practicable.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many full-time staff have been employed at the Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory in each of the last five years.
Jane Ellison
The Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory (RIPL) staff numbers for the last five years are listed below:
Staff employed by RIPL in each of the last five years
|
Year |
Technical and Admin Staff |
Medical Staff |
|
2011 |
9 |
2 |
|
2012 |
11 |
3 |
|
2013 |
13 |
3.5 |
|
2014 |
14 |
3.5 |
|
2015 |
15 |
3.5 |
Note: Since 2013, RIPL was incorporated into the functions of Public Health England.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what role the UK pharmaceutical industry is playing in the development of a vaccine for the Zika virus.
Jane Ellison
The United Kingdom pharmaceutical industry will play a leading role in the development of a vaccine for the Zika virus, in collaboration with a range of the UK’s infectious disease experts, who are world leaders in this area.
In the Spending Review, the £1 billion Ross Fund, run jointly by the Department of Health and Department for International Development, includes over £350 million for the development of new vaccines, drugs and diagnostics for infectious diseases.
Particularly noteworthy within this, the UK Vaccine Network, with up to £120 million of funding, brings together industry, academia and Government to finance the development of new vaccines for priority infectious diseases with epidemic potential, including Zika. Indeed, the Network will launch a major funding call to finance the development of vaccines for Zika and other priority diseases at the end of February.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2016 to Question 24211, what account she takes of the recreational benefit of maintaining school playing fields when considering a school disposal request.
Edward Timpson
The Education Funding Agency and the Independent School Playing Fields Panel who advise on playing field disposals will look at a range of factors before advising the Secretary of State on disposals, including any reduction in access to playing fields for the school, other local schools and the local community.