Tag: Ben Howlett

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that carers are able to give each patient an appropriate amount of time on visits.

Alistair Burt

In most cases, very short visits from care workers are incompatible with high quality care. However, short visits may be appropriate in certain circumstances. For instance, checking medication has been taken.

Local authorities are responsible for the commissioning of services, not the Government but both Government and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) agree that inappropriately short home care visits are unacceptable.The Care Act sends a clear message that commissioning services without properly considering the impact on people’s wellbeing is unacceptable.

In September 2015, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published guidelines on homecare which state that homecare visits should not normally be less than 30 minutes long. The Department published statutory guidance to the Care Act which directs local authorities when commissioning to consider national standards including NICE guidelines.

Further, the Department worked with ADASS and the Local Government Association (LGA) to produce a framework of standards, ‘Commissioning for Better Outcomes’ which explicitly states that inappropriate use of short visits is not compatible with best practice. The framework is designed to support local authorities to improve their commissioning practices using self-assessment and peer challenge through the LGA’s programme of sector-led improvement.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department intends to establish or encourage national training schemes for care providers to ensure consistency in care provision across the sector.

Ben Gummer

The introduction of the Care Certificate, a recommendation of the Cavendish Review, will help to improve the consistency of training in the sector. As of 1 April 2015, all new social care support workers and healthcare assistants are expected to attain the new Care Certificate within their first twelve weeks of employment.

The Department funds Skills for Care, the partner in the sector skills council for social care, to produce a range of resources for workers to develop the knowledge to support people who use the services. This includes the apprenticeships programme which is important in growing a consistently skilled workforce providing high quality care for the future.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the prevalence of giant hogweed.

George Eustice

Giant hogweed has been present in the UK for over a century and is widespread. Biocontrol methods have been considered in the past but suitable candidates from the plant’s native range have not been found.

Giant hogweed is, however, listed on schedule 9 and subject to section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which makes it an offence to plant, or cause this species to grow, in the wild. In addition, Local Authorities and the Police now have powers to issue Community Protection Notices under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, requiring landowners to take action to control species like giant hogweed where they are having a detrimental effect on local people’s quality of life.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the human rights situation in Iran.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Our assessment of human rights in Iran can be found in the FCO Human Rights Report, which was updated in July.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to improve air quality in order to assist people with lung diseases.

Rory Stewart

We are fully committed to complying with EU Air Quality Standards as soon as possible. We have already committed over £2 billion since 2011 in transport measures to improve air quality. On 12 September we launched a public consultation on our draft revised Air Quality plans for nitrogen dioxide, which set out a range of local, national and European actions to lower levels of harmful emissions. The consultation closes on 6 November 2015.

Government departments and agencies work together to prioritise action and offer the best advice to vulnerable groups to help mitigate the health effects of air pollution. Our daily air quality forecast includes accompanying health messages to the public based on advice provided by Public Health England.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to prevent sexual exploitation of vulnerable people with special educational needs in schools.

Edward Timpson

The government’s report ‘Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation’ sets out the steps that the government is taking to protect children from sexual exploitation, including children with learning difficulties and disabilities. For example, we are exploring how personal, social, health and economic education training and resources for schools might be tailored for staff and special schools, and have provided £4.85 million for services supporting child sexual abuse survivors, including vulnerable children with learning difficulties.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will bring forward proposals to allow the creation and sale of licences and franchises to provide heating using power station waste heat.

Andrea Leadsom

The Government has a range of policies in place to promote the use of Combined Heat and Power (CHP), which is a key technique capable of generating heat from power station waste heat. Environmental permitting requires developers of power plants to consider opportunities for operating CHPs, and provides them with CHP permits if these are cost effective. CHP installations that are certified by our Quality Assurance Programme are eligible for Enhanced Capital Allowances, Business Rates exemptions, a partial exemption from the Carbon Price Support tax, and Renewable Obligation Certificates and Renewable Heat Incentive payments for any heat they generate from biomass. Developing heat networks offers further opportunities for power plants to recover and supply heat.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department made prior to laying the Flood Reinsurance (Scheme Funding and Administration) Regulations 2015 of whether the scope of the definition of home insurance in the regulations covered only those home insurers who explicitly protected against flood risk.

Rory Stewart

We consulted widely and worked very closely with the Association of British Insurers to ensure that the Flood Reinsurance (Scheme Funding and Administration) Regulations 2015 reflect the intended policy position. As set out in the Regulations, Flood Re will assess whether an insurer is liable for levy payments (and the amount of levy they are due to pay) based on the amount of domestic property insurance an insurer covers in the UK market.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take a greater role in facilitating a two state solution in Israel.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

My priority remains the achievement of a two-state solution. I will continue to consult with international partners as to the best means to make greater progress, and to encourage the parties to take steps which lead us towards peace. I am extremely concerned by the violence that we have seen across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in recent weeks. This only strengthens my conviction that a negotiated two state solution is of the greatest urgency. We are encouraging both sides to maintain calm and avoid taking actions which could make peace more difficult. I have also been pushing both parties to take steps that improve the situation on the ground and preserve the viability of the two state solution.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to ensure that people who are homeless have access to talking therapies.

Alistair Burt

Homelessness can lead to significant physical and mental health problems, and without accommodation and support, the chances of recovery are very limited. The £10 million Homeless Hospital Discharge Fund promoted new ways of improving the discharge arrangements of homeless people from hospital by working with other local services to help their recovery and improve their health.

In April, the £40 million Homelessness Change/Platform for Life programme was launched. This programme will join up health and housing services, and help support young people at risk of homelessness across the country. We will be announcing the successful programme bids shortly.

Talking Therapies, like the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme are a key weapon in addressing the mental health needs of vulnerable groups, like homeless people. While the normal referral processes to IAPT services are through general practitioners (GPs), individuals can self-refer, meaning that homeless people can refer themselves to services without the need for a GP.

Public Health England is also working with local authorities to help them understand better the physical and mental health needs of homeless people in which access to IAPT will play a part.