Tag: Barry Sheerman

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of relapsed blood cancer patients who will no longer be able to access second stem cell transplants as a result of the NHS England decision published on 11 July 2016 to no longer routinely fund second stem cell transplants for those patients.

David Mowat

The Clinical Priorities Advisory Group which makes recommendations to the Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group uses a defined process to prioritise treatments based on a combination of cost and patient benefit. The process includes an impact assessment that estimated that up to 22 patients per year by 2021 might be affected by this decision.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what impact assessment his Department has conducted on the potential cost of eliminating or reducing prescription charges for people with long-term medical conditions.

David Mowat

The Department receives numerous representations on prescription charges for people in England with long-term medical conditions. It is not possible to say how many of these were from clinical experts or health economists, though the independent Commission on the Future of Health and Social Care in England’s report, A new settlement for health and social care, published in 2014, did have health economist input. There have also been representations from the Prescription Charges Coalition, but it is not certain to what extent these were informed by clinical experts or health economists.

Arrangements are in place to ensure that prescriptions are affordable for everyone, including those with a long-term condition. There are exemptions from the prescription charge for people with low income, including through receipt of specific benefits and through application to the NHS Low Income Scheme. For those who do not qualify for exemption, prescription prepayment certificates are also available, which allow people to claim as many prescriptions as they need for a set cost. To support those with high levels of need, the cost of the 12-month and 3-month certificates have been frozen since 2009 and 2011, respectively.

The Department has not undertaken a formal impact assessment on the potential cost of eliminating or reducing prescription charges for people with long-term medical conditions. However, the Prescription Charges Review undertaken by Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, and published in 2010, estimated that extending exemption to all those with a long-term condition would lead to a loss in revenue of between £360 and £430 million.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many hospital-borne infectious diseases were recorded in England in (a) 2000, (b) 2005, (c) 2010 and (d) 2015.

Mr Philip Dunne

In April 2013, Public Health England took over the mandatory surveillance of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs), formerly undertaken by the Health Protection Agency.

The total number of trust apportioned cases of HCAIs can be found in Table 1. For the purposes of answering this question trust apportioned cases can be considered “hospital-borne” infections.

Data for the years 2000 and 2005 are not available.

Table: Counts of trust apportioned HCAIs by financial year in 2010 and 2015:

	April 2010 to March 2011	April 2015 to March 2016
Meticillin sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA)	ND	2,910
E.coli	ND	7,692
Clostridium difficile infection (patients aged 2 years and over)	10,417	5,164
Meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)	688	297

Notes:

1. ND – Not Determined
2. Cases are deemed to be trust apportioned if the following criteria are met:-

– The location where the specimen was taken is given as ‘acute trust’ or is not known;

– The patient was either an ‘In-patient’, ‘Day-patient’, in ‘Emergency assessment’ or is not known.

– Patient’s specimen date is on, or after, the third day of the admission (or admission date is null), where the day of admission is day 1 (for MSSA or E. coli bacteraemia)

Or

– Patient’s specimen date is on, or after, the fourth day of the admission (or admission date is null), where the day of admission is day 1 (for Clostridium difficile infection).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to work with the waste and coatings industries on making better use of leftover paint.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

The Government has been engaging constructively with the British Coatings Federation on making better use of leftover paint, including identifying potential regulatory barriers to its recycling and remanufacture and how these might be overcome.

The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) encourages consumers to recycle and re-use household paint by providing information through the Recycle Now website. This includes a postcode locator which helps pinpoint local Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) that accept leftover paint. The Government’s Innovation in Waste Prevention Fund has also supported a pilot paint re-use project in Cheshire involving local charities, working with HWRCs and housing associations to increase paint donation and minimise disposal. WRAP will publish a summary of the project, lessons learned and a video case study later in the year.

In terms of public procurement, it is for each Government department to consider sustainability and put this into practice in its own procurement activity. Government Buying Standards do not currently include remanufactured paint. WRAP has recently published a guide on ‘How to Include Re-use in Local Authority HWRC Procurement’.

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 data his Department holds on the (a) employment rate and (b) income of graduates with dyslexia in comparison with people with dyslexia who did not attend university.

Joseph Johnson

The Department publishes statistics on labour market conditions for English domiciled graduates and postgraduates relative to non-graduates as part of the Graduate Labour Market Statistics series. The latest figures refer to the quarter from April to June 2015 and are available at the link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/graduate-labour-market-statistics-april-to-june-2015

These statistics cannot be disaggregated to the level of detail requested.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what research his Department has conducted on the effect on children of the imprisonment of their mothers.

Caroline Dinenage

The Ministry of Justice has recently published statistics on child dependents of female offenders (located at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/female-offenders-and-child-dependents) but has not specifically conducted research on the impact of imprisonment on children.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to reduce the cost of university for students.

Joseph Johnson

All eligible students can apply for an upfront tuition fee loan to meet the costs of their tuition fees. This ensures that students are not prevented from attending their course because they cannot pay for their fees.

From 1 August 2016 onwards, students who would otherwise have received a grant will see an increase in the amount of maintenance support they can access, with those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds receiving 10.3% more in loans for living costs.

Linking repayment to a borrower’s income will ensure that deductions are based on their ability to repay. Repayments are made through the UK tax system at 9% of earnings of any income over the relevant repayment threshold and they will cease if earnings fall below the threshold. Any outstanding loan balance will be written off after thirty years.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the criteria are for making a ministerial directive against the closure or downsizing of a hospital.

Ben Gummer

The Government is clear the reconfiguration of front line health services is a matter for the local National Health Service. Services should be tailored to meet the needs of the local population and proposals for substantial service change must meet the four tests of reconfiguration which are (i) support from general practitioner commissioners (ii) strengthened public and patient engagement (iii) clarity on the clinical evidence base and (iv) support for patient choice.

A local authority has the power to refer NHS substantial reconfiguration proposals to the Secretary of State if they consider:

― the consultation has been inadequate in relation to the content or the amount of time allowed;

― the NHS body has given inadequate reasons where it has not consulted for reasons of urgency relating to the safety or welfare of patients or staff; or

― a proposal would not be in the interests of the health service in its area.

Upon receipt of a local authority referral, the Secretary of State can refer the matter to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) for its advice. The Panel will consider whether the proposals will provide safe, sustainable and accessible services for the local population, taking account of factors including: clinical and service quality, patient and public involvement, the surrounding local services and national policies.

On receipt of IRP advice, the Secretary of State would then decide whether or not to accept it. Since its inception in 2003, all Secretaries of State have used the IRP advice to inform their decisions.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what risk assessment he has conducted on the proposed rollout of wifi in NHS buildings.

George Freeman

Free wi-fi throughout National Health Service premises is an independent recommendation from Baroness Lane Fox to the National Information Board.

As part of the implementation of Baroness Lane Fox’s recommendations, NHS England will be carrying out a more comprehensive review of current provision, benefits and barriers to wi-fi throughout the NHS estate. This will include assessment of any risks.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department offers to third-sector training providers and local authorities in reducing the number of young people not in education, employment or training.

Nick Boles

Local authorities have a duty to track, support and encourage young people to participate in education and training, with a particular focus on those who are not in employment, education or training (NEET). The Department for Education supports local authorities in meeting this duty by: providing a secure portal for them to exchange data about young people’s activities; collating and publishing data about young people’s activities; sharing good practice; and publishing a NEET Scorecard to help local authorities manage their performance.

Local authorities decide how they will work with and support education and training providers, the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS), and other agencies in meeting these requirements.

Local authorities receive funding from central government to enable them to meet their statutory obligations including this duty, but it is up to them to determine exactly how much they spend on these activities, and whether and how much funding should be provided to VCS organisations to help with this. Reflecting its continued commitment to supporting young people NEET, the government has allocated £30 million for the Youth Engagement Fund and Fair Chance Fund Social Impact Bond (SIB) schemes, and the recent Spending Review settlement saw over £100 million for further SIBs, tackling issues such as youth unemployment, homelessness and mental health.