Tag: Christina Rees

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to consult clinicians on his policy on access to off-patent drugs.

George Freeman

Our policy on generic prescribing has been in place for a number of years. The policy helps ensure that patients can access the medicine that best meets their needs and it has been a key driver in the National Health Service making maximum use of off-patent drugs which are also known as generics. We have the best prescribing rate for these drugs in Europe.

To support clinicians who may want to prescribe a product off-label for a patient to and improve the flow of research evidence into clinical practice, the Department hosted a Roundtable Event in February 2015. Attendees included the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, Breast Cancer Now and other charities and discussions helped determine those non-legislative measures that could be undertaken. The Government is committed to this work and is holding a further roundtable event with charities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to paragraph 1.143 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, how the Government defines the term claims culture.

Dominic Raab

The government remains concerned about the number and cost of whiplash claims which are out of all proportion to any genuine injury suffered. The Autumn Statement referred to the cost to society of the substantial industry that encourages claims through cold calling and other social nuisances and which increases premiums for consumers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry on the Off-patent Drugs Bill.

George Freeman

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry attended and contributed to the Department’s Roundtable Event of February 2015 ‘Translating evidence in to clinical practice’ which gathered key stakeholders including Breast Cancer Now and other charities, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the British Generic Manufacturers Association, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and many other NHS organisations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions court cases have been listed in the same time slot as another case since 2010.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many new criminal offences have been (a) created and (b) proposed since May 2015; and if he will make an assessment of the (i) effect on and (b)cost to the prison estate of the creation of those offences.

Mike Penning

The information requested is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

My department has issued guidance on the making of new criminal offences, which is located here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/481126/creating-new-criminal-offences.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on the potential effect on Wales of plans to repeal the Human Rights Act 1998.

Guto Bebb

Wales Office Ministers have regular discussions with colleagues in the Ministry of Justice on a range of issues including our plans to reform the UK Human Rights framework.

Revising the Human Rights Act can only be done by the UK Parliament and we will consult fully before bringing forward proposals.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners were in open prisons (a) in the most recent period for which figures are available and (b) in each of the last five years.

Andrew Selous

Progression to open prisons is never automatic, and prisoners must generally be within two years of release before they can be considered for allocation. Public protection is paramount, only those prisoners who are assessed as low risk of escape/abscond and low risk of causing harm to the public are transferred to an open prison.

The following table shows the number of male and female prisoners held in open prisons as at the last Friday in June in each of the last five years and as at the last Friday in November 2015, which is the most recent period for which figures are available.

The data below does not include the number of male and female prisoners held in category D units in otherwise closed prisons.

Number of male and female prisoners held in dedicated open prisons from June 2011 to November 2015.

Date	Population
June 2011	4,808
June 2012	4,953
June 2013	4,981
June 2014	5,087
June 2015	5,020
November 2015	5,137

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2016-06-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans his Department has for training the judiciary on the implementation of problem-solving courts.

Caroline Dinenage

The Working Group has now submitted its findings, which support the case for problem-solving courts.

Training of the judiciary is a matter for the judiciary and the judicial college. We will be working with both, taking learning from approaches nationally and internationally, as we progress our work on problem-solving courts.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, for what reasons the matters within his Department’s responsibility in Schedule 1 of the draft Wales Bill have been designated as reserved.

Joseph Johnson

The reservations listed in Schedule 1 to the draft Wales Bill reflects the Government’s view of where the Welsh devolution boundary lies following the devolution of further powers to the Assembly provided for in the draft Bill.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the budget is for prison libraries in (a) total and (b) each prison in 2015; and what the cost was in each of the last five years.

Andrew Selous

All prisons in England and Wales have a library. NOMS has been responsible for funding prison library services in England from April 2011.

The total NOMS allocated budget for prison libraries in 2015/16 in England was £7,592,414

The attached table shows both the provider and allocated library budget for each prison in England since 2010. NOMS is not responsible for funding library services in prisons in Wales as this is a devolved function of the Welsh Government so data is not included. Privately managed prison contracts put in place since 2011 have identified levels of funding for libraries and so are included in the table. The table does not include library provision at privately managed prisons whose contracts were awarded before 2011 as this was part of the overall included contract price and so it is not possible to extract a specific cost element to this part of the contract. This equates to 10 prisons.

On 8 September 2015 the Secretary of State announced a review of the quality of education in prisons, chaired by Dame Sally Coates, which will report later in the year.