Tag: Andrew Gwynne

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of (a) changes in the number of cases of, and deaths from rotavirus (b) the number of rotavirus vaccinations given each year and (c) the cost of delivering that programme of vaccinations on an annual basis since the introduction of the rotavirus vaccine in 2013.

Jane Ellison

The number of positive rotavirus laboratory reports each year since 2013 is shown in the table below. These data indicate that there has been a decrease of approximately 10,000 annual cases of rotavirus since the introduction of rotavirus immunisation in July 2013.

Table 1: The number of positive rotavirus laboratory reports recorded annually since 2013.

Year	Number of positive rotavirus laboratory reports
2013	14,950
2014	4,447
2015	5,035*

Source: PHE Second Generation Surveillance System (SGSS) laboratory reporting database

Note: *Figure to end October 2015.

Deaths from rotavirus in the United Kingdom are rare. However precise numbers of deaths are difficult to quantify accurately as mortality is usually low and reported simply as death due to gastrointestinal disease. It was previously estimated that there may have been up to three to four rotavirus associated deaths a year in England and Wales (Jit et al., 2007). Following a recommendation from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the independent expert committee that advises the Government on immunisation, the rotavirus vaccine was introduced in July 2013. Since then, there have been no reported rotavirus-related deaths in the eligible cohort.

Immunisation against rotavirus is offered as a two dose schedule to infants at two and three months of age. The table below indicates the number of rotavirus vaccinations given by year.

Table 2: Number of general practitioner (GP) registered patients who received (a) a 1st dose and (b) a 2nd dose of rotavirus vaccine between six and 24 weeks of age.

Year	No. vaccinated with dose 1	No. vaccinated with dose 2
2013*	not available	not available
2014	531,068	500,454
2015 (up to September)	428,591	406,485

Source: ImmForm

Note: *Although the immunisation programme was launched in July 2013, January 2014 was the first complete month where all of 25 week old cohort would have been eligible from the programme start.

In 2014/15 NHS incurred approximately £9 million delivering completed courses of rotavirus vaccination. This figure does not include the cost of the vaccine, which is procured centrally by Public Health England, and is commercially confidential.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what responsibilities the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has which relate to the Duchy of Lancaster.

Mr Oliver Letwin

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is responsible to the Sovereign for the administration of the estates of the Duchy of Lancaster, in which he is assisted by the Duchy Council. The Chancellor also appoints various Duchy representatives on university councils, school governing bodies and charities in the County Palatine.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether further work will be required at HMS Jufair to make it capable of hosting the Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carrier.

Penny Mordaunt

Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) carriers will be able to utilise the Mina Salman Support Facilities whilst at anchor in the vicinity of the port in Bahrain. However, due to draught constraints QEC carriers will not be able to berth directly alongside the Mina Salman Support Facility itself.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times the Sexual Health Forum has met in each of the last five years; what the dates were of each such meeting; and who attended each such meeting.

Jane Ellison

The Sexual Health and HIV Forum met 15 times between March 2011 and March 2015. The Forum was discontinued in September 2015. Details of dates of meetings and those who attended are shown in the attached document.

Public Health England is considering how to take forward appropriate stakeholder relationships in the future.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has been approached by (a) Stockport local authority, (b) Tameside local authority and (c) Greater Manchester combined authority to approve the removal of protected school land for development under Schedule 14 of the Education Act 2011 in the last three years.

Edward Timpson

Since January 2013, the Secretary of State for Education has received:

• 1 application from Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, this is currently being considered.
• 4 applications from Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, all have been approved.
• 19 applications from the Greater Manchester combined authority, 1 is being considered and the other 18 have been approved.

These figures include applications in those local authorities relating to land held by Academy Trusts under a lease from the local authority.

The Education Act 2011 requires that the Secretary of State must give consent prior to the disposal of land which has been used for any school or academy in the last eight years. Secretary of State consent is also required under section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 where local authorities wish to dispose of playing field land that has been used by a school in the last ten years. A key consideration for the government is whether the land proposed for disposal could be suitable for use by a new school.

There are a range of reasons for these disposals. Some disposals are leases from the academy trustees back to the local authority, which allow a children’s centre on site to continue or which provide land for another school. A substantial number of consents refer to local authority maintained school sites for outright disposals where the school has closed or relocated to a new build site.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Chief Executive of Public Health England on the Zika virus.

Jane Ellison

Public Health England’s (PHE) Medical Director is fully engaged in cross-Government discussions on tackling Zika virus and regularly provides updates to Ministers. Staff in the Department, PHE, and other Government departments are in regular contact to monitor the Zika virus situation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-01.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many companies have paid a lower rate of corporation tax as a result of the patent box initiative since its implementation.

Mr David Gauke

The information is not held in the form requested. The estimated amounts of Patent Box relief can be found at the link below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/487119/Dec15_expenditure_reliefs_Final.xlsx.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department has paid out in compensation to (a) internal and (b) external claimants in each year since 2010.

Karen Bradley

This information is not available, except at disproportionate cost.

The Home Office records all Special Payments (of which compensation is a type). However, we are not required to report whether the recipient is internal or external to the Department.

It is therefore not possible, from the data we have, to provide a compensation figure that separates out internal and external claimants.

Page 154 of the Home Office’s 2014/15 Annual Report and Accounts has a table that lists the total value and number of all Special Payments

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions his Department has had with burial authorities and other stakeholders on the reuse of graves.

Caroline Dinenage

The issue of burial space is regularly discussed at meetings of the Burial and Cremation Advisory Group, which is chaired by this department and comprises key stakeholders and representatives within government and the wider burial sector. In addition, the department regularly engages on the issue with individual stakeholders, as appropriate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to reduce the amount of litter on Highways England’s road network; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones

Highways England, as a Government Owned Company, is responsible for complying with the mandatory legal requirements under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which includes removing litter on England’s motorways. Collecting litter puts road workers at risk and is a costly operation, so Highways England works collaboratively with a number of organisations to promote anti-litter campaigns.