Tag: Cat Smith

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce the waiting time to receive an electric wheelchair through NHS Wheelchair Services after being determined eligible to receive one.

Alistair Burt

No data is currently available in relation to waiting times for wheelchairs for 2014-15. A new national data collection has been introduced (from July 2015) to all clinical commissioning groups to allow for transparency and benchmarking their services. Data has so far been published for quarter 2 and quarter 3 2015/16. However, this is a new collection and does not yet provide an opportunity to draw national or regional comparisons.

The new dataset is part of the work that NHS England is taking forward in partnership with service users, carers and others to lay the foundations for improvement across the country. A tariff for wheelchairs will enable commissioners to move away from simple contracts, and so increase efficiency and better align resources with service users’ needs; support and resources for clinical commissioning groups will help them improve their commissioning of wheelchair services.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-04-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his US counterpart on LGBT rights in North Carolina and Mississippi.

Mr Hugo Swire

Our Consul General in Atlanta raised our concerns with the North Carolina Commerce Secretary on 19 April. We have amended our Travel Advice for the United States to reflect legislative changes on LGBT rights in North Carolina and Mississippi . This Government is opposed to all forms of discrimination. We are committed to ensuring that all LGBT people are free to live their lives in a safe and just environment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she has taken to implement the Government’s policy on increasing the involvement of women’s civil society in the development of government policy.

Caroline Dinenage

I greatly value the expertise of women’s civil society and the Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities and I have met with many representatives since taking on our current roles. My officials also frequently consult the women’s sector on policy issues, including policy development, to ensure we benefit from the knowledge and understanding of relevant experts – for example on issues such as the gender pay gap, flexible working and gender diversity of company boards.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of proposals to allow Ministers to cap union facility time contained in the Trade Union Bill on (a) staff morale, (b) productivity and (c) patient safety in the NHS.

Ben Gummer

There are no current proposals to cap tradeunion facility time although the Trade UnionBill includes a reservepower to do so if it is deemed appropriate.The Department has not assessed the effect on staff morale, productivity and patient safety should this power be implemented and has no evidence that they would be affected.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to monitor the number of trans prisoners; and what definition his Department uses of a trans person.

Caroline Dinenage

As the Minister for Prisons, Andrew Selous MP, committed to the House on 20 November 2015, NOMS is currently looking at ways to facilitate the collection and recording of information relating to transgender status as part of our wider review of care and management of transgender offenders. This is within the restrictions of the GRA which means if someone has a GRC they don’t have to disclose former gender. The Equality Act 2010 clearly sets out the definition.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many staff from Crown Post Offices that were franchised in 2014 and 2015 (a) transferred to employment with a franchise partner and (b) reached settlement agreements with the Post Office to leave its employment.

George Freeman

Post Office Limited runs and manages its directly managed Crown post offices. Arrangements for employees of these offices and changes to the Crown network are the operational responsibility of the Post Office.

I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to you on this matter. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to increase the number of bedded inpatient services for young people with mental health conditions.

Alistair Burt

The £1.4 billion additional funding the Government has made available over the course of this Parliament to deliver the vision set out in Future in Mind includes £7 million to enable NHS England to commission 56 new inpatient care beds for children and young people with mental health needs. This raises the total number of beds to 1,442, the highest this has ever been.

The local Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) transformation plans developed during 2015/16 provide the ideal context within which to make decisions about the future requirements for CAMHS T4 beds. The specialised commissioners have reviewed the approach to be taken to the CAMHS T4 procurement and have moved away from a single national procurement to local procurement, clearly set within a national framework. This revised approach will enable variation around timescales and ensure responsiveness to the local agenda. The approach will also reinforce the essential local ownership of capacity plans and pathways of care.

We also need to be clear that effective mental health care is about far more than inpatient beds. We are therefore working with local commissioners to strengthen care across the system. The aim is to bolster preventive and early-intervention services that help young people stay well in their own communities, without ever needing inpatient care.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the tender document for the Work and Health Programme to provide specialist support for long-term unemployed and claimants with health conditions and disabilities will be published; and when that programme will be operational.

Priti Patel

The 2015 Spending Review confirmed that the Department will launch the Work and Health Programme, restructuring our current provision to focus on providing the best possible support for claimants with health conditions or disabilities, as well as those who are long-term unemployed. The programme will launch in 2017.

The Department have commenced the commercial process for the programme by issuing a Prior Information Notice which was published on 28 April 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what criteria the Government uses in deciding which women’s organisations to fund; how much funding the Government gave to women’s organisations in each of the last three years; and which such organisations received funding from government in each of those years.

Caroline Dinenage

The Government remains committed to gender equality. When appropriate we fund women’s organisations to carry out activities that further this aim. The criteria we use to determine which organisations to fund vary according to the policy aims that we are seeking to achieve.

Some of the most significant funding streams for UK women’s organisations in the last three years have come from HM Treasury, the Home Office and the Department for Communities and Local Government. HM Treasury has used £15 million collected from VAT on sanitary products to fund women’s charities – the grantees were announced in March 2016. The Department for Communities and Local Government also made available £250,000 to community and voluntary sector organisations as part of its Women’s Empowerment Fund in 2015-16 and continues to provide funding for refuges. Furthermore, the Home Office is providing funding to organisations and refuges supporting female victims of domestic and other forms of violence, as announced in the refreshed cross-Government strategy to tackle Violence Against Women and Girls on 8 March 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the cost to NHS trusts of nursing staff turnover as a result of proposals to cap union facility time in the Trade Union Bill.

Ben Gummer

There are no current proposals to cap tradeunion facility time although the Trade UnionBill includes a reservepower to do so if it is deemed appropriate.The Department has not estimated the cost to National Health Service trusts of nursing staff turnover should the power to do so be implemented and has no evidence that it would be affected.