Tag: David Amess

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve uptake of cervical screening among all age groups.

Jane Ellison

NHS England closely monitors the coverage rates for cervical screening in all age groups. NHS England is committed to improving coverage and reducing variation between all age groups.

Local NHS England commissioners analyse coverage rates within their area and work with general practices to improve coverage by sharing best practice. In addition a primary care cancer screening best practice guide has been developed jointly with the transforming cancer services team, clinical commissioning groups and local authority public health representatives.

NHS England is working in partnership with Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support on the ACE (Accelerate, Coordinate, Evaluate) Programme aiming to generate knowledge about effective approaches to achieve earlier diagnosis. A number of ACE test sites are evaluating approaches to increase screening rates in a range of groups.

A range of research studies are also underway, such as Imperial College conducting a randomised controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of texting non-responders on improving coverage. In addition, the Department’s Behavioural Insight team has undertaken a trial to investigate the use of behavioural insights to optimise the content of the invitation letter for cervical screening. Results are due shortly.

The Independent Cancer Taskforce recognised the importance of screening for cervical cancer and the potential of the new human papillomavirus (HPV) test in their report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, published in July 2015. NHS England has appointed Cally Palmer as National Cancer Director to lead the implementation of the strategy, and an implementation plan outlining the key first steps for the national cancer programme was published on 12 May. In addition, the routine HPV vaccination programme, offering immunisation to girls aged 12-14 years, is expected to reduce the already low rates of cervical cancer in these young women and allow them to be protected for years to come.

Ministers welcome cervical cancer prevention week and we are fully supportive of the work Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust does to raise awareness of cervical cancer and the importance of cervical screening for eligible women.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report, Health at a Glance 2015: How does the United Kingdom compare?, the UK has cervical screening rates well above the OECD average. Further information is available at:

https://www.oecd.org/unitedkingdom/Health-at-a-Glance-2015-Key-Findings-UK.pdf

http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/download/8115071ec053.pdf?expires=1465810879&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=102E30B1A256588EDD14918B5BE3AA4C

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-10-22.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment the Government has made of the effect on consumers of the practice of insurers in signing customers up to automatic policy renewals without the option to opt-out; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin

This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are operationally independent from Government.

The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the honourable member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-10-22.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on competition in the private motor insurance market of automatic policy renewals; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin

This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are operationally independent from Government.

The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the honourable member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-10-22.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment the Government has made of the effect on consumers of the practice of insurers in not giving details of no claims bonuses to customers in their renewal notice; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin

This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are operationally independent from Government.

The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the honourable member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-10-22.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on consumers of the practice of insurers in automatically signing-up customers to annual policy renewals without their explicit consent; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin

This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are operationally independent from Government.

The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the honourable member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-10-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment the Government has made of the financial effect on consumers of the requirement for drivers to be insured at all times under the Road Safety Act 2006.

Andrew Jones

Since the introduction of the Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE) scheme, the level of uninsured driving has been reduced from 1.4 million vehicles at the end of 2010 to 1.0 million at the end of 2014, a 29% reduction. CIE has promoted positive changes in vehicle keeper behaviour and contributes significantly to making our roads safer and in helping keep down insurance premiums for the honest motorist.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-10-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recommendations of the Maritime Growth Study, published on 7 September 2015, on reforms to the UK ship register.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government will respond formally to the Maritime Growth Study by the end of 2015, but is taking immediate action in response to some recommendations. This includes the establishment of a Ministerial Working Group for Maritime Growth and taking steps to support the improved operation of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) such as appointing a commercial director to lead the UK Ship Register separately from the Agency’s regulatory functions and a business case exploring the costs and benefits of options for more significant reform of the MCA.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what (a) financial and (b) environmental guidance NHS England provides to clinical commissioning groups on delivering sustainable healthcare in England.

Alistair Burt

In its mandate for NHS England, the Government sets a clear objective for NHS England to work with others to secure unprecedented improvements in value for money across the NHS in order to maximise resources for frontline patient care.

NHS England has responsibility for clinical commissioning group (CCG) allocations. While NHS England does not set explicit financial savings targets for commissioners, CCGs are required to manage their expenditure within their allocation whilst meeting the business rules as set out in the planning guidance, which include setting aside a 0.5% contingency and planning for 1% of their allocation to be invested non-recurrently. To demonstrate that the requirements of the planning guidance have been fulfilled, a CCG is required to submit clear and credible plans that are financially sustainable. Tools are available to support CCGs in establishing whether they are applying their allocation in a financially sustainable way.

With regard to environmental guidance, in January 2014 the Sustainable Development Unit (SDU) for NHS England and Public Health England launched a Sustainable Development Strategy for the NHS, Public Health and Social Care System. The Strategy is complemented by a number of specific modules, one of which focuses on commissioning and procurement.

There is guidance on the SDU website on how CCGs can embed sustainable development in all the work they do, especially as commissioners of services and local system leaders. This guidance was written jointly by the SDU and the Royal College of General Practitioners.

Service Condition 18 of the he NHS Standard Contract 2015-16, which is mandated by NHS England for use by commissioners for all contracts for healthcare services other than for primary care, relates to sustainable development. The clause requires providers to take all reasonable steps to minimise their adverse impact on the environment and to maintain a sustainable development plan.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress NHS England has made on making care for people with long-term conditions (a) more personalised and (b) better coordinated in the last year.

Jane Ellison

NHS England’s Five Year Forward View sets out a number of high level objectives that will support better long term condition (LTC) care. Delivery of these objectives is being supported in a number of ways across NHS England and with partners. These include improving professional and public awareness of person centred co-ordinated care and supporting commissioners through the development of a LTCs commissioning toolkit, a LTC dashboard and personalised care and support planning handbooks.

In January 2015 NHS England and the Coalition for Collaborative Care published the personalised care and support planning handbooks which were coproduced with representatives from commissioning organisations, care practitioners, patients, carers and policy experts. The handbooks provide practical information and theory on how to introduce personalised care and support planning and encourage reflection and innovation for local approaches to implementation and include supplementary information for commissioners, advice on practical delivery and effective multi-disciplinary working. The Integrated Personal Commissioning Programme, a joint NHS England and Local Authority led programme, began in April 2015 and aims to better coordinate an individual’s health and social care funding, giving them more control over how this money is used through person-centred care planning and personal budgets.

NHS England is taking steps to roll out personal health budgets which will offer people with LTCs more choice and control over the care and support they receive.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the 50 per cent cap on faith-based admissions on the levels of religious diversity in free schools and new academies; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson

The government is committed to ensuring that faith designated free schools and new academies provide additional places not just for pupils of their own faith but for pupils from other faiths or no faith. It is for individual schools to decide whether or not to adopt faith based admission arrangements.Those that do may give priority when oversubscribed to a maximum of 50% of applicants with reference to their faith. The department does not collect data on schools that are oversubscribed or on religious diversity in those schools that adopt faith based admission arrangements.

The number of free schools and new provision academies with a religious character opening between September 2010 and October 2015 by academic year is detailed in the table below.

Numbers of free schools and new provision academies with a religious character opening between September 2010 and October 2015 by academic year
Academic year of opening
2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16	Total
Free Schools and New Provision Academies	0	7	12	22	15	12	68

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