Tag: Barry Sheerman

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans for portable evidential breath-test machines to be made available for use by the police to tackle drink driving.

Mike Penning

We will type approve Mobile Evidential Breath Test Instruments (MEBTIs) as soon as possible. Type approval is a complex process and relies on the submission by manufacturers of instruments which then perform satisfactorily during testing. The Home Office has no control over these factors.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to ensure that higher education institutions make appropriate provision for disabled students who do not have complex needs.

Joseph Johnson

Higher education institutions are responsible for meeting their legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010, including for students with dyslexia.

The legal duty to provide reasonable adjustments applies to all disabled students. In addition Disabled Students Allowances (DSAs) are available where the needs of the student cannot be met by the institution by way of such a reasonable adjustment. A consultation on DSAs closed on 24 September and the Government response will be published in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department has invested in cycling in each of the last three years.

Mr Robert Goodwill

In the last three years, the Department for Transport (DfT)’s budgets for cycling programmes were:

DfT budgets: (million)	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Cycle-Rail	£7.0	£7.5
Bikeability	£11.7	£11.7	£11.7
Junction safety	£30.0	£5.0
Linking Communities	£8.0	£7.5
Cycling Ambition – Cities/National Parks		£46.6	£46.6
Highways Agency		£4.8
LSTF- Cycling	£37.8	£37.8	£37.8
Total DfT	£94.5	£120.9	£96.1

In 2014-15, the Department’s dedicated cycling programmes were Bikeability, Cycle Ambition Cities, Cycling in National Parks and the Highways Agency’s cycling programme. The Department funds cycling programmes through the Local Sustainable Transport Fund, with around 28% of the LSTF being spent on cycling. The Department secures a range of match funding contributions from local authorities for these programmes: the LSTF secured 99% match funding.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that pharmacists are trained to understand autism.

Alistair Burt

In 2015, new statutory guidance building on the 2010 Autism Strategy, and the 2014 Think Autism update, set out expectations for local authorities and the National Health Service in relation to autism training. It is the responsibility for the General Pharmaceutical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council, to ensure newly qualified pharmacists and health visitors are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. The Department has worked the Royal College of Nursing, and Skills for Health and Skills for Care, to develop autism training material. Health Education England is also working with the Royal Colleges and other stakeholders to increase awareness and knowledge of autism for NHS health professionals.

The Department has also provided financial support to the Royal College of General Practitioners’ clinical priorities programme on autism which is undertaking practical work on autism awareness and training for general practitioners (GPs). GPs should be aware of what the local arrangements are for making referrals for autism diagnosis and how to access appropriate post-diagnostic interventions.

NHS England has commenced a programme to visit clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to identify and share good practice in accessing timely autism diagnosis and post diagnostic support. NHS England with support from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services is to visit a selection of areas to talk to CCGs and local authorities about their Autism Diagnostic Care Pathways. A report on the work will be completed by the end of April 2016.

We know that people with autism can experience common mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, as well as other mental illnesses. Over £400 million has been invested in Improving Access to Psychological Therapies to ensure access to talking therapies for those who need them, including those with autism.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been extradited from Pakistan to the UK in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire

Between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2015 there were no extraditions from Pakistan to the UK.

There is no bilateral extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan and, unless a multilateral convention applies, extradition is on the basis of reciprocity.

The Government will neither confirm nor deny whether it is considering or is involved in negotiations with a particular country regarding an extradition treaty.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government has taken to reduce plastic waste; and what assessment she has made of the contribution of the circular economy to reducing that waste.

Rory Stewart

The Government has taken a number of steps to reduce plastic waste.

These include the introduction of a 5p charge on single use carrier bags, which is expected to deliver a reduction of 70-80% in bag usage.

The UK Producer Responsibility (Packaging Waste) Regulations require producers of packaging to ensure that a proportion of the packaging they handle is recovered and recycled. As recycling targets become more challenging, the incentive on businesses to minimise the packaging they use increases.

We encourage packaging producers to use a minimum level of packaging through the implementation of the Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations which require that packaging should not exceed what is needed to ensure that products are safe, hygienic and acceptable to the consumer.

The third phase of the Courtauld Commitment aims to further optimise packaging, reduce packaging waste and improve recyclability. It aims to deliver a 3% relative reduction to the amount of packaging generated by signatories.

Working through the Waste and Resources Action Programme we have developed and delivered a number of activities in support of both the use of recycled materials in new products, and on activities to stimulate its demand.

For example, the Plastics Industry Recycling Action Plan has identified key actions that need to take place across the whole supply chain to ensure that recycling plastics packaging can be done sustainably. This includes design for recyclability, collections and sorting, reprocessing and development of sustainable end markets.

Developing and securing sustainable end markets for recycled materials is key to delivering a circular economy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-03-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his policy is on protecting the dual citizenship of people with British citizenship living in Hong Kong.

Mr Hugo Swire

During his meetings with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on 5 January and in London on 4 February, the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), stressed the importance of respect for the fundamental rights and freedoms of all residents of Hong Kong. He also made clear our expectations that the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law for Hong Kong should be respected. During those meetings, China reaffirmed its commitment to the implementation of ‘One Country, Two Systems’ and Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy.

During the visit to London by Hong Kong Chief Executive C Y Leung on 15 and 16 October 2015, the Foreign Secretary and I also discussed with him the importance of Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and the need to preserve the rights and freedoms which are enshrined in the Joint Declaration.

The Foreign Secretary’s most recent six-monthly report to the House, published on 11 February (covering the period 1 July–31 December 2015), urged “the Chinese and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region governments to reassure the people of Hong Kong that the fundamental rights and freedoms of Hong Kong residents will continue to be fully protected, and respected by all, in accordance with the Joint Declaration and Basic Law.” The report also stated that “while we assess that during the reporting period ‘One Country, Two Systems’ has, in very many areas, continued to function well, there have been some areas which have given grounds for concern. These revolve principally around the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Joint Declaration, including academic freedom and the freedom of the press.” We will continue to raise such issues with the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities.

We aim to provide consular assistance to all British citizens, and to dual nationals in their country of other nationality in exceptional circumstances, in line with our consular guidance. We acknowledge that some countries do not accept dual nationality.

In the case of British citizen Mr Lee Po, the Government continues to call at the highest level on the Chinese Government for his
immediate return to Hong Kong. Despite formal requests which we continue to make, we have not been granted consular access to Mr Lee. We also stand ready to provide consular assistance to Mr Lee’s family.

The Government will continue to monitor rights and freedoms in Hong Kong through the Foreign Secretary’s six-monthly reports.

The full report can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/six-monthly-report-on-hong-kong-july-to-december-2015

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria her Department uses to assess the value for money of each free school’s capital budget.

Edward Timpson

Since 2010, we have opened around 400 new free schools, university technical colleges and studio schools. These schools offer excellent value for money. They are being built significantly quicker and cheaper than previous school building programmes. The National Audit Office found in its report in 2013 that free schools were built 45% cheaper than other school building programmes. Almost 200,000 new places will be provided. 25% of the free schools inspected by Ofsted have been judged outstanding compared to 20% of all other schools. We plan to open at least 500 new schools during this Parliament.

We monitor the programme’s costs to ensure it continues to offer excellent value. A value for money assessment is made prior to a free school application being approved for the pre-opening stage and again before a capital budget is approved. We consider all aspects of the project, including the size of the school and the location of the site. Sites in London tend to cost more to acquire and this is taken into account when considering the value for money offered by London projects.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to the funding formula for GP surgeries on surgeries in (a) Huddersfield and (b) Kirklees.

Alistair Burt

Approximately 55% of general practitioner (GP) practices operate under General Medical Service (GMS) contract arrangements. Typically, at least half of the money that a GMS practice receives is in the form of the ‘global sum’, derived through the Carr-Hill Formula.

The formula, as agreed with the British Medical Association (BMA) before the introduction of the 2004 GP contract, is used to allocate the global sum and related payments on the basis of the practice population, weighted for factors that influence relative needs and costs.

There are indications that the formula does not work as effectively in areas with demographically atypical populations, such as new towns or areas with high student populations. NHS England is working with the BMA’s General Practitioners Committee, NHS Employers, the Department and academic partners on the review to develop a formula that better reflects the factors that drive workload, such as age or deprivation. As part of this work, the effect of any changes on practice funding in specific areas such as Huddersfield and Kirklees will be considered. It is intended that the review of the Carr-Hill formula will inform the 2017-18 GP contract.

A search of the Department’s Ministerial correspondence database has identified one item of correspondence received since 1 May 2015 from university health centres. There has also been a Ministerial meeting related to areas with demographically atypical populations, in this case new towns. It was not possible to identify correspondence received from GP surgeries with atypical patient profiles. This represents correspondence received by the Department’s ministerial correspondence unit only.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to introduce a GP registry for autism to allow the collection of population-level data.

Alistair Burt

General practitioners already maintain a register of people with learning disabilities which may include patients on their lists who also have autism where this has been diagnosed. The Royal College of General Practitioners’ Autism Initiative, which is part funded by the Department, is currently looking at the idea of an autism indicator in general practice. This work is at an early stage.

NHS England has been working with the Health and Social Care Information Centre to develop the Mental Health Services Data Set. This mandatory data set will include provision for the diagnosis of autism to be recorded. The data will be published and available for everyone to use to support and develop services based on health outcomes.