Tag: Bill Wiggin

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2014-05-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on (a) the number of companies that provide indemnity insurance for nurses and midwives and (b) the policies that are available for this.

Dr Daniel Poulter

The Department does not hold information on the number of companies that provide indemnity insurance for nurses and midwives or details on the policies that are available for this. In National Health Service organisations, it is not necessary for individual employees to take out their own indemnity insurance, unless they also undertake private work, because their employing organisation is, in law, vicariously liable for any negligence arising out of and in the course of their employment. All NHS trusts in England are members of the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts operated on behalf of the Secretary of State by the NHS Litigation Authority.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the criteria are by which Arqiva assesses notspot data.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Notspot data is compiled and held by Ofcom, with information provided by the Mobile Network Operators. In areas where coverage is thought to be marginal, or there is uncertainty over coverage, DCMS officials have commissioned drive testing to check the level of coverage.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2014-05-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assistance his Department provides for small independent schools making applications for free school status; and if he will take steps to increase such assistance.

Mr Edward Timpson

The Department for Education provides comprehensive guidance for all free school applicants on the criteria that successful applications need to meet. The Department also provides a grant to the New Schools Network to provide free expert support to applicants to develop their free school application.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the process was by which Arqiva arrived at its decision not to proceed with the proposed Fownhope mast.

Mr Edward Vaizey

DCMS officials provided Arqiva with the latest data on notspots, updated by Ofcom for 2014 with information from the Mobile Network Operators. This shows that coverage has improved in Fownhope since the inception of the project. The Mobile Infrastructure Project can intervene in areas where there is no mobile coverage from any operator, and where the cost of the build of a mast, considered alongside the numbers of premises that would benefit from the additional coverage, provides value for money. Unfortunately this is no longer the case for the proposed mast location in Fownhope, and Arqiva made a recommendation to officials to not proceed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2014-05-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to increase the required contributions to NHS pensions before the introduction of the new pension scheme in 2015.

Dr Daniel Poulter

There are no plans to further raise employer or employee contributions to the NHS Pension Scheme before reformed arrangements are introduced on 1 April 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information his Department holds on whether staff from Arqiva visited Fownhope to assess the adequacy of mobile telephone reception in that area.

Mr Edward Vaizey

It is not in Arqiva’s remit to assess adequacy of mobile telephone reception, and no Arqiva staff visited Fownhope for that purpose. It is Ofcom’s role to assess the adequacy of mobile coverage and reception. Ofcom has updated the notspot data for 2014 with information from the Mobile Network Operators, and Arqiva base their planning on that information.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2014-05-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy that a proportion of any future underspend within the NHS is allocated to nurses’ pay.

Dr Daniel Poulter

The Department has made available in subsequent years the underspends delivered by local National Health Service organisations, but is not prescriptive on how those organisations use that funding.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that all notspot data will be properly checked before masts are proposed and plans are made public.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The notspot data is collated and held by Ofcom and has been updated for 2014 with information from the Mobile Network Operators. In areas where coverage is thought to be marginal, or there is uncertainty over coverage, DCMS officials have commissioned on the ground drive testing to assess the level of coverage.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2014-05-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the pay of community staff nurses rises in line with inflation.

Dr Daniel Poulter

In 2012 the Chancellor announced that public sector pay awards would be capped at an average of 1% in 2013-14 and at an average of up to 1% in 2014-15.

The National Health Service’s greatest asset is its staff who deserve to be properly rewarded for the hard work they do in looking after patients. In the NHS, incremental pay costs almost £1 billion. In our evidence to the Pay Review Bodies we were clear that the NHS is facing the most significant financial challenge in its history and that trusts could not afford to pay all staff 1% which would cost £450 million (about £350 million for non-medical staff) and increments which for most staff is over 3.5% on average. The NHS cannot afford to employ more staff, pay them more and pay for increments.

This year, all NHS staff should receive an additional payment of 1% either through their incremental pay or via a pay award if they are no longer eligible to receive incremental pay.

In the wake of the Francis Inquiry, our first priority must be to protect and properly staff the front line so staff are confident that they will have the right number of colleagues working alongside them in hospitals or in patient’s homes. We have to make difficult decisions in order to protect frontline patient care. Giving all NHS staff a 1% pay award is equivalent to employing around 14,000 new nurses and could result in unsafe care.

We know that NHS staff are disappointed that they did not receive the pay award they were expecting. Our door remains open to discussions with trade unions on how consolidated pay awards for all NHS staff can be made affordable in each of the next two years.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he plans to take to ensure that the people have adequate mobile signal coverage in light of the decision not to proceed with a mast at Fownhope.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Mobile Infrastructure Project can intervene in areas where there is no mobile coverage from any operator, and where the cost of the build of a mast considered alongside the numbers of premises that would benefit from the additional coverage provides value for money. Recent changes in coverage provided by the private sector have proved beneficial to Fownhope, but unfortunately this means that the Mobile Infrastructure Project can no longer go forward with plans for a mast.

The Mobile Infrastructure Project can only intervene in areas where there is no coverage from any operator, and where an intervention achieves good value for money for the taxpayer. Government is looking at what else can be done to extend coverage.