Tag: Derek Thomas

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department is giving to strengthening water, sanitation and hygiene services in countries affected by Ebola.

Mr Nick Hurd

Prior to, during and following the Ebola outbreak, DFID has provided funding and technical assistance to increase access to water, sanitation services and hygiene education (WASH) in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Between 2012-2016, DFID has committed through our country programmes up to £71.3m for WASH programmes in Sierra Leone and £4.75m for Liberia. We have no bilateral programme in Guinea.

During the Ebola outbreak our existing WASH programmes were adapted to help Sierra Leone and Liberia respond to the crisis. The above figure includes DFID assistance to improve water and sanitation facilities in schools and health facilities as part of our support to the post-Ebola recovery.

The President of Sierra Leone has identified water as one of his top six priorities for the post Ebola recovery period. DFID has committed to support delivery of this agenda and we are working with them to define high quality programmes that will increase access to clean water.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department issues guidance to schools on how to identify and manage incidences of parental alienation.

Edward Timpson

Protection from abuse and neglect is a fundamental right of all children and young people, regardless of their family situation, and the government will continue to review how schools, police, social services and other agencies work together to protect all children.

The Department published updated statutory guidance in 2015 on Keeping Children Safe in Education and Working Together to Safeguard Children. Schools and colleges must have regard to this guidance when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. All school and college staff should be aware of the various forms of abuse, including emotional harm, so that they are able to identify children in need of help and support and know what action to take. This would include recognising where children are suffering as the result of family relationship breakdown.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2016-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to prevent the illegal killing of hen harriers.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

All wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, with strong penalties for committing offences against birds of prey and other wildlife.

The Government takes wildlife crime very seriously and raptor persecution is a UK wildlife crime priority and has a delivery group led by a senior police officer to consider what action should be taken, and develop a plan to prevent crime, gather intelligence on offences and enforce against it. It focuses on the golden eagle, goshawk, hen harrier, peregrine, red kite and white tailed eagle.

The National Wildlife Crime Unit, which Defra funds jointly with the Home Office, monitors and gathers intelligence on illegal activities affecting birds of prey and provides assistance to police forces when required.

The Government has also published the Hen Harrier Action Plan, setting out proposals to increase hen harrier populations in England and includes measures to stop illegal persecution. A copy of the plan can be accessed at www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/491818/hen-harrier-action-plan-england-2016.pdf.

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to ensure that every young person covered by the youth obligation receives appropriate financial advice, education and support for the first six months as part of their preparation for work.

Priti Patel

From April 2017, we will be introducing the new Youth Obligation for Universal Credit claimants aged 18-21 who we expect to look for work. This new programme of support will help young people develop skills and experience to get on in work.

The first three weeks of this will be a Work Coach led Intensive Activity Period (IAP), where young people on the Youth Obligation will complete a set curriculum of activity designed to help establish them as effective full time job-seekers straight away and support them into work as soon as possible.

Once the claimant has completed the curriculum they will continue to see a dedicated IAP Work Coach who will work with them, continuously reviewing what was achieved during the intensive start-up period.

We will be conducting a stakeholder engagement exercise to help inform the design of the Youth Obligation and will be inviting stakeholders with an interest in the provision of financial advice.

We will set out our policy design for the Youth Obligation in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will issue guidance to NHS trusts on ensuring future reductions in frontline staff numbers are not made for the purpose of reducing trusts’ deficits.

Ben Gummer

The National Health Service has taken a number of steps to reduce trusts’ deficits. We have introduced tough new financial controls to cut down on waste in the NHS – including clamping down on rip-off staffing agencies and expensive management consultants, and introducing central procurement rules.

We are also introducing a £2.1 billion Sustainability and Transformation Fund in 2016/17 to support providers to move to a financially sustainable footing. This will give the NHS the space to transform services so they are world class for decades to come.

The purpose of these actions is to put NHS finances on a sustainable footing to ensure high quality care, now and in the future.

Trusts should focus on the numbers and skillmix needed to deliver quality care, patient safety and efficiency, taking into account local factors such as acuity and casemix.

Two communications to NHS trusts (a letter on safe staffing and efficiency dated 13 October 2015 from NHS Improvement, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), NHS England, Jane Cummings, Chief Nursing Officer and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence; and a letter dated 15 January 2016 from Chief Executive-designate of NHS Improvement, Jim Mackey, and the CQC’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards) asked trusts to consider quality and finances on an equal footing in their planning decisions; stated that it is not the case that NHS trusts could only achieve their financial targets at the expense of quality, or that improving quality is more important than staying in financial surplus; and emphasised that responsibility for staffing rests (as it has always done) with trust boards.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to review the decision no longer to fund second stem cell transplants for blood cancer patients.

David Mowat

The commissioning of stem cell transplantation is managed as part of the overall system to deliver specialised services. To ensure that investment decisions are affordable and offer value for money, NHS England has established a defined prioritisation process. This involves assessment of all proposals based on clinical benefit and cost. On 2 August 2016, NHS England announced a re-run of the prioritisation process carried out earlier this year.

The Department is not planning to review the decision related to the commissioning of second stem cell transplants.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2015-11-24.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to (a) contribute to the delivery of the Financial Capability Strategy for the UK and (b) ensure that vulnerable young people have the requisite financial skills necessary for working life.

Harriett Baldwin

The government recognises the importance of impartial financial guidance and that increased financial capability for consumers will lead to better outcomes for both consumers and the wider economy. Helping hard-working people achieve their aspirations at every stage of their lives is at the heart of our long term plan. That is why we launched the Public Financial Guidance consultation in October 2015 to seek input on what role the government should play in promoting financial capability, and how the public provision of free-to-client, impartial financial guidance should be structured to give consumers the information they need to make financial decisions. In addition, the government recognises the importance of giving young people the skills they need to make financial decisions, which is why financial education has been on the national secondary school curriculum in England since September 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he plans to take to help give the views of young people greater prominence in policy decisions in their community.

Mr Rob Wilson

The Cabinet Office supports the Government’s commitment of giving young people the power and opportunity to play a real part in their community. We promote engagement, advocacy and consultation at both national and local level

We support the British Youth Council (BYC) to deliver its ‘youth voice’ programme, including key activities such as the national annual Make Your Mark ballot, UK Youth Parliament, and the Youth Select Committee.

Cabinet Office has committed to continuing its support for these activities for the remainder of the current Parliament.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what priority his Department accords to improving GP services through GP Forward View.

David Mowat

Improving general practice (GP) services is a priority for the Department, and the GP Forward View, published on 21 April by NHS England, sets out a package of support to help get general practice back on its feet, improve patient care and access, and invest in new ways of providing primary care.

The Five Year Forward View recognised the need to expand and strengthen primary and ‘out of hospital’ care and to invest more in primary care. The Government is committed to improving access to GP services as part of the plan for a seven day NHS, and by 2020, everyone will be able to access GP appointments at evenings and weekends. Achieving improved access not only benefits patients but also has the potential to create more efficient ways of working, which benefits GPs and practice staff.

The GP Forward View sets out that there will be an extra £2.4 billion investment per year for general practice services by 2020/21 – this represents a 14% increase in real terms. The overall investment for general practice includes a £500 million national ‘turnaround’ package to support GP practices. This is part of a wider package of support for general practice, which contains measures to help boost the workforce, drive efficiencies in workload and modernize primary care infrastructure and technology.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will review the effect of the decision to discontinue GCSE and A-level qualifications in information communication technology on future levels of IT literacy skills for the workplace; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb

The rigorous new Computer Science GCSE and A level qualifications, backed by industry experts, will enable pupils to progress to further study and employment. The inclusion of Computer Science in the EBacc reflects its rigorous academic standards. The decision has therefore been made not to redevelop further IT qualifications in a related area of study.

Through computer science, students will develop their computational thinking skills, learn to code and understand information technology topics such as cyber security, networking and data storage. There are also a number of vocational options for students at Key Stage 4 and opportunities for further specialism at Key Stage 5. For 14-16 year olds, technical awards have a focus on practical and technical subjects and offer an opportunity to gain experience and knowledge in areas such as digital literacy and web design. For 16-19 year olds, high quality vocational qualifications provide progression to higher education and employment and prepare students well for that purpose.

This builds on our changes to the national curriculum where we have replaced the outdated ICT programme of study with a new computing programme of study. The new computing curriculum has been designed to facilitate innovation and creativity from both teachers and pupils and emphasise the importance of learning about the fundamentals of computer science.