Tag: David Hanson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases were stopped as a result of witness withdrawal or non-attendance in (a) Crown court trials and (b) hearings in magistrates’ courts relating to (i) domestic violence (ii) rape and (iii) other cases in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning

Criminal cases discontinued by the prosecution are recorded by Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS). However, the reasons why a case was discontinued are only recorded centrally for cases which are listed for trial but do not go ahead on the day. The reasons for these ‘cracked’ trials, including ‘prosecution end case’, are published at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics in the supplementary Criminal Courts transparency tables. These data are not broken down by offence.

The reasons recorded for cases discontinued at any other point in proceedings are not held centrally by HMCTS. This information could only be provided at disproportionate costs.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what the average hourly earnings of (a) female, (b) male, (c) full-time and (d) part-time employees of his Department were in each of the last five years.

David Mundell

The Scotland Office is not an employer in its own right and is subject to other Government departments policies for pay purposes.

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 and what proportion of general aviation flights that arrived in the UK (a) had correctly completed general aviation reports, (b) had incorrectly completed general aviation reports and (c) failed to complete a general aviation report in each of the last five years.

Karen Bradley

This information is not recorded in a reportable field on Home Office databases. Obtaining such information would therefore require a manual search of records and could only be achieved at a disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government plans to take to reduce the size of the House of Lords.

John Penrose

Given the very large and urgent list of other constitutional reforms currently underway, it’s hard to justify giving Lords reform a higher priority than other manifesto promises. We will continue to consider steps that are able to command support from all sides of the House. The Leader of the House of Lords has convened cross-party talks to discuss these issues, and those talks continue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many deaths from the abuse of nitrous oxide were recorded for each region of England and Wales for each (a) age and (b) gender in 2015.

Chris Skidmore

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

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 209W, on student visas, what the projected cost in 2014-15 is of the student dedicated helpline; how many staff will be employed on that helpline; and what estimate she has made of the number of calls that helpline will receive.

James Brokenshire

The number of calls the student helpline will receive will be dependent on the
demand from individual students.

Ten members of staff can currently be deployed on the student helpline,
depending on the demand, and additional trained staff are ready for
redeployment should the volume of calls increase.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2015-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2015 to Question 223119, how many times the Minister-led working group set up to identify evidence of poor practice in the park homes sector has met to date; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis

The working group held its first meeting on 10 February and agreed its terms of reference and membership. The next meeting will be held in March.