Tag: David Hanson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to ensure that businesses which contribute to the Construction Industry Training Board Levy scheme do not also pay the apprenticeship levy; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Boles

The apprenticeship levy is economy wide. It will apply to all employers with a pay bill over £3,000,000 including those in the construction and engineering construction sectors.We are aware that the industry is concerned about the potential impact of paying two levies. We are working closely with the Industry Training Boards who will consult with their members ahead of the introduction of the apprenticeships levy on how their existing arrangements will be affected.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-02-04.

To ask the Prime Minister, what the (a) job description, (b) budget and (c) selection criteria is for each of his trade envoys.

Mr David Cameron

Information regarding trade envoys can be found on the gov.uk website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many vessels (a) completed and (b) failed to complete the C1331 customs declaration form in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire

The table below outlines the number of completed C1331 customs declaration forms received by Border Force in each of the last 5 years. This data has been drawn from basic IT systems used for management information which are not subject to internal quality checks and may be subject to change.

Year	Number of completed C1331 Forms received by Border Force
2011	408
2012	331
2013	399
2014	391
2015	319

There are no records held that could adequately answer the question of how many vessels failed to complete the C1331 form.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-02-11.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many Financial Conduct Authority staff are (a) seconded to his Department and (b) work in the private office of each Minister of his Department.

Harriett Baldwin

HM Treasury currently has 3 secondments in from the Financial Conduct Authority. None of these work in any ministerial private office.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost to date has been of the current tender process for civil and crown court reporting and transcribing services.

Sir Oliver Heald

Court Reporting & Transcription Project Costs are currently estimated at £687k.

This relates to MOJ staff costs, the use of external advice in the preparation of contracts and conducting due diligence tests of bidders.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many deaths there have been as a result of faulty heart pacemakers in each year since 2010.

George Freeman

Clinicians are encouraged and manufacturers are mandated to report deaths and other incidents to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) if they suspect a device fault.

The numbers of United Kingdom deaths reported annually since 2010 to the MHRA involving patients implanted with approved pacemakers, are as follows:

Year	Deaths reported involving pacemaker patients
2015 – present	1
2014	8
2013	3
2012	3
2011	1
2010	4

According to registry data from 2014, over 35,000 pacemakers are implanted annually in the UK. Therefore the number of reported patient deaths listed above which could have potentially related to pacemaker failure represents no more than 0.01% of this population.

Analysis of MHRA investigation conclusions revealed that none of the above deaths resulted from a faulty pacemaker.

As the UK regulatory authority, the MHRA is responsible for monitoring the safety of medical devices once they have been approved for market. Although the majority of pacemakers are well functioning, the MHRA actively monitor the performance of implants using a variety of methods.

One key element involves the investigation of device-related adverse incidents, where manufacturers’ mandatory reports are supplemented by voluntary reports from clinicians and members of the public using the yellow card system.

The MHRA challenges manufacturers if it is believed that the proposed post-investigation action is inadequate to protect public health.

Every new incident, including those involving pacemakers, is assessed and assigned to an appropriate type of investigation according to its severity and the likelihood of obtaining further information on the cause of the event. All reports, even those unsuitable for further investigation, are fully recorded and subject to periodic trend analysis by the MHRA to look for signals suggesting any possible device-related problems.

In addition to scrutinizing manufacturers’ device data provided in incident investigations, and their published product performance reports, the MHRA also monitors relevant published research and articles on potential safety concerns as part of its surveillance of the medical device market. If evidence emerges that affects the safety of UK pacemaker patients, the Agency issues advice to the health service and takes any necessary regulatory action.

Furthermore the Agency actively engages with the clinicians and professional bodies to gauge their opinion on early indications for failure and problems encountered with device usage.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many applications from Normandy veterans for the award of the Legion d’Honneur have been made to his Department since 6 June 2014; how many such applications have been approved for forwarding to the French government; and how many of those applications have resulted in receipt of a medal by veterans.

Mark Lancaster

Ministry of Defence (MOD) officials have received approximately 3,850 applications from Normandy veterans in the period 6 June 2014 to date; about 3,300 had been sent to the French authorities by April this year. The French system was overwhelmed by these and other applications from Allied nations, which have far exceeded expectations. We jointly developed a new administrative process with the French whereby, since July 2015, 100 cases per week have been re-submitted to the French authorities.

The MOD is not routinely informed when an individual veteran is awarded the Legion d’Honneur as this is a matter for the French authorities. MOD officials understand that around 150 awards had been made by the beginning of July and that, subsequently, approximately 950 additional awards have been approved; of these we believe that about 600 may have been sent out. I am confident that this number will increase significantly over the coming weeks and months.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment (a) his Department and (b) the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency have made of (i) the rate of reported faults in heart pacemakers and (ii) research from UK and non-UK sources on heart pacemakers since 2010.

George Freeman

Clinicians are encouraged and manufacturers are mandated to report deaths and other incidents to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) if they suspect a device fault.

The numbers of United Kingdom deaths reported annually since 2010 to the MHRA involving patients implanted with approved pacemakers, are as follows:

Year	Deaths reported involving pacemaker patients
2015 – present	1
2014	8
2013	3
2012	3
2011	1
2010	4

According to registry data from 2014, over 35,000 pacemakers are implanted annually in the UK. Therefore the number of reported patient deaths listed above which could have potentially related to pacemaker failure represents no more than 0.01% of this population.

Analysis of MHRA investigation conclusions revealed that none of the above deaths resulted from a faulty pacemaker.

As the UK regulatory authority, the MHRA is responsible for monitoring the safety of medical devices once they have been approved for market. Although the majority of pacemakers are well functioning, the MHRA actively monitor the performance of implants using a variety of methods.

One key element involves the investigation of device-related adverse incidents, where manufacturers’ mandatory reports are supplemented by voluntary reports from clinicians and members of the public using the yellow card system.

The MHRA challenges manufacturers if it is believed that the proposed post-investigation action is inadequate to protect public health.

Every new incident, including those involving pacemakers, is assessed and assigned to an appropriate type of investigation according to its severity and the likelihood of obtaining further information on the cause of the event. All reports, even those unsuitable for further investigation, are fully recorded and subject to periodic trend analysis by the MHRA to look for signals suggesting any possible device-related problems.

In addition to scrutinizing manufacturers’ device data provided in incident investigations, and their published product performance reports, the MHRA also monitors relevant published research and articles on potential safety concerns as part of its surveillance of the medical device market. If evidence emerges that affects the safety of UK pacemaker patients, the Agency issues advice to the health service and takes any necessary regulatory action.

Furthermore the Agency actively engages with the clinicians and professional bodies to gauge their opinion on early indications for failure and problems encountered with device usage.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the statement of 24 June 2014, Official Report, column 206, on student visas, on what date her Department first became aware of the systematic cheating taking place in the tests of the Educational Testing Service.

James Brokenshire

Since the last election, the Government has taken action to reduce and control
immigration and to crack down on the abuse of the system which the previous
government failed to address. We have kept the main immigration routes to
Britain under review and remain vigilant against abuse of the student visa
system. Around 750 education sponsors have been removed from the register of
those entitled to bring overseas students to the UK. We now know that almost
400 of these were linked to the sponsorship of people who obtained invalid ETS
certificates. Abuse of the student visa route has been the subject of various
lines of inquiry for some time, but Immigration Enforcement officers, together
with officials from UK Visas and Immigration and with the support of the
National Crime Agency, began conducting a detailed and wide-ranging
investigation into actions by organised criminals to falsify English language
tests provided by ETS at the start of February.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the statement of 24 June 2014, Official Report, column 206, what the terms of reference are of the working group established, who the members of that group are and when that group is first expected to meet; and if she will make a written statement to the House on the conclusion of that group’s work.

James Brokenshire

The initial members invited to join the working group are:
• Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS)
• Universities UK (UUK)
• UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA)
• Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)
• Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCEW)
• Scottish Funding Council
• National Union of Student (NUS)
• British Council
• UCAS
• Association of Colleges (AoC)
• Guild HE
• Russell Group
• Welsh Assembly Government

The first working group meeting took place on 7 July.

The draft terms of reference were discussed at the first meeting and will be
finalised in discussion with working group partners. Once finalised, a copy
will be placed in the Library of the House.

As I stated to the House on 24 June, the Home Office will provide regular
updates to the House on progress with this work.