The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-06-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons TV Licensing is not included in the Tell Us Once service.
Priti Patel
Consideration was given to include TV licencing in the Tell Us Once Service, however as the Department for Work and Pensions already provides this information to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, it is not necessary to also include it in the Tell Us Once Service.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-07-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, by what mechanisms (a) clinicians and (b) patients can request NHS England review specialised services commissioning policies that previously conferred a not routinely commissioned status to procedures (i) as part of the Commissioning through Evaluation Programme and (ii) in general.
David Mowat
Commissioning through Evaluation (CtE) is an innovative £25 million programme introduced by NHS England in 2013. It specifically aims to generate valuable new evaluation data in promising areas of specialised care where the current evidence base of cost and clinical effectiveness is insufficient to support routine National Health Service commissioning, and where further formal research trials are thought to be less likely.
Each scheme – put forward by senior clinicians and other stakeholders – is funded on a time limited basis in a small number of selected centres, and then evaluated by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
Once the planned number of patients has been recruited across the participating centres, each scheme closes to new patients and analysis begins. This means that the funding identified for each scheme can then be reinvested into the evaluation of additional potentially life changing specialised treatments to maximise the value and impact of the overall evaluation fund for patients. As an example, routinely funding Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy contrary to the currently published clinical commissioning policy and in advance of a formal review of any new evidence would mean that between £2 million and £4 million per year (covering the surgical costs and immediate follow up only) would then be unavailable to support the evaluation of other promising treatments.
The analysis phase for each CtE scheme will typically take between one and two years depending on how long we need to follow up patients after their treatment to identify its effectiveness. The three cardiology based CtE schemes are currently scheduled for a 15 month analysis and reporting phase, after which the data can be used by NHS England to support policy review.
However, CtE is only one form of data that might be put forward in considering a new (or revision to an existing) policy and clinicians do not need to await the final report from CtE schemes if they feel that other new substantive data becomes available more quickly.
NHS England’s published clinical commissioning policies (which set out eligibility for NHS funded specialised care on the basis of the available evidence) can be reviewed at any time where there is thought to be substantive new evidence available, and around 100 such proposals were developed and considered by NHS England during 2016/17.
The policy development process is subject to both informal stakeholder testing and formal public consultation, including the opportunity for patients, clinicians and industry representatives to review and comment on the evidence base considered and the assessed impact on patients, existing services and cost.
Where a new service is routinely commissioned as a result of a policy review, NHS England works with commissioned providers to ensure that sufficient clinical expertise and supporting infrastructure is in place to provide a safe service to patients in line with nationally set requirements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what contingency plans the Government has in place for winter 2016-17 to support pensioners and other vulnerable people in the event of a prolonged spell of below average temperatures.
Jesse Norman
The Government has various policies in place that will support pensioners and other vulnerable people with their energy bills throughout winter 2016/17,irrespective of temperature.
The Warm Home Discount scheme provides eligible households with a £140 energy bill rebate. This winter, over 2 million low income and vulnerable households, of which over 1.2 million are pensioner households, will be helped under the scheme.
Over 12 million pensioners receive the Winter Fuel Payment of up to £300 each winter while people on certain benefits, including Pension Credit, receive a £25 Cold Weather Payment for each seven day period of freezing temperatures.
The Government is also reforming the Energy Company Obligation to have a greater focus on vulnerable and low income households. It will have a value of £640m a year, will run from 2017 until 2022, and and homes helped under the new obligation could see their energy bills fall by up to £300 per year.
In addition, we are providing £1.3m to fund the Big Energy Saving Network and running the Big Energy Saving Week again. This is a grant scheme that supports vulnerable consumers to take action to reduce their energy costs by switching supplier and taking up energy efficiency, through outreach by trusted and trained community and third sector organisations.
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 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many health visitors there were in each month since May 2010.
Ben Gummer
The attached table shows how many health visitors there were in each month in England from May 2010 to September 2015, which is the latest available figure from the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s monthly workforce statistics. Data from April 2012 onwards is taken from the Health Visitor Minimum Data Set and also includes numbers of health visitors employed by organisations that do not use the Electronic Staff Record but do provide NHS-funded services, such as local authorities.
Full-time equivalent figures are used as this is the most accurate measure of service capacity.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many portions of milk have been reimbursed by his Department under the nursery milk scheme in each month of the last 10 years.
Jane Ellison
The Nursery Milk Scheme allows for the reimbursement of the cost of providing portions of one-third of a pint of milk per day to children under the age of five attending childminders or private and local authority nurseries for at least two hours a day. The Scheme covers England, Scotland and Wales; Northern Ireland has its own arrangements. The Department holds information relating to the number of portions of milk reimbursed in respect of claims from eligible settings in Great Britain since January 2009 and this information is in the following table.
|
Date |
Total Portions (1/3 pints) Claimed |
|
January 2009 |
18,123,707 |
|
February 2009 |
17,637,807 |
|
March 2009 |
21,558,309 |
|
April 2009 |
17,371,970 |
|
May 2009 |
16,221,249 |
|
June 2009 |
13,432,093 |
|
July 2009 |
15,464,454 |
|
August 2009 |
11,467,147 |
|
September 2009 |
16,389,034 |
|
October 2009 |
20,382,597 |
|
November 2009 |
16,079,212 |
|
December 2009 |
17,391,428 |
|
January 2010 |
15,680,452 |
|
February 2010 |
24,496,820 |
|
March 2010 |
33,011,644 |
|
April 2010 |
22,567,652 |
|
May 2010 |
17,782,066 |
|
June 2010 |
21,798,146 |
|
July 2010 |
21,923,309 |
|
August 2010 |
23,117,196 |
|
September 2010 |
15,810,902 |
|
October 2010 |
20,081,579 |
|
November 2010 |
23,160,564 |
|
December 2010 |
20,662,622 |
|
January 2011 |
23,048,244 |
|
February 2011 |
25,351,169 |
|
March 2011 |
26,415,006 |
|
April 2011 |
22,494,397 |
|
May 2011 |
18,211,857 |
|
June 2011 |
24,807,226 |
|
July 2011 |
24,435,096 |
|
August 2011 |
20,694,290 |
|
September 2011 |
15,889,141 |
|
October 2011 |
20,655,967 |
|
November 2011 |
21,672,552 |
|
December 2011 |
24,047,889 |
|
January 2012 |
23,045,503 |
|
February 2012 |
25,555,512 |
|
March 2012 |
29,047,089 |
|
April 2012 |
26,723,281 |
|
May 2012 |
21,223,680 |
|
June 2012 |
23,990,408 |
|
July 2012 |
23,634,192 |
|
August 2012 |
23,634,192 |
|
September 2012 |
10,813,985 |
|
October 2012 |
18,973,780 |
|
November 2012 |
22,527,849 |
|
December 2012 |
21,635,603 |
|
January 2013 |
20,907,751 |
|
February 2013 |
27,996,321 |
|
March 2013 |
23,764,641 |
|
April 2013 |
23,390,936 |
|
May 2013 |
20,100,589 |
|
June 2013 |
21,982,896 |
|
July 2013 |
23,393,113 |
|
August 2013 |
22,317,209 |
|
September 2013 |
13,218,322 |
|
October 2013 |
22,600,819 |
|
November 2013 |
25,334,664 |
|
December 2013 |
24,340,053 |
|
January 2014 |
20,978,012 |
|
February 2014 |
26,176,219 |
|
March 2014 |
26,673,043 |
|
April 2014 |
22,229,447 |
|
May 2014 |
20,175,242 |
|
June 2014 |
22,182,139 |
|
July 2014 |
26,207,194 |
|
August 2014 |
20,259,095 |
|
September 2014 |
13,121,733 |
|
October 2014 |
22,573,963 |
|
November 2014 |
26,413,799 |
|
December 2014 |
24,221,524 |
|
January 2015 |
24,901,748 |
|
February 2015 |
25,079,913 |
|
March 2015 |
25,432,666 |
|
April 2015 |
25,831,561 |
|
May 2015 |
19,519,236 |
|
June 2015 |
23,815,213 |
|
July 2015 |
27,758,159 |
|
August 2015 |
20,262,151 |
|
September 2015 |
16,068,770 |
|
October 2015 |
25,258,995 |
|
November 2015 |
26,127,900 |
|
December 2015 |
28,076,574 |
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.