Tag: Derek Twigg

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Twigg on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people undertake quality assurance in the NHS outside of clinical commissioning groups.

Ben Gummer

We do not hold information centrally on the number of people working in the National Health Service who have a quality assurance role.

However, the fundamental standards set out the standards against which care should not fall and all providers are expected to have systems and processes in place to assure themselves that they are assessing, monitoring and improving the quality and safety of their services.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is responsible for the inspection and regulation of quality of all healthcare providers and its findings are published together with a performance rating. Where a provider’s performance falls below the fundamental standards the CQC has specific powers to take appropriate action.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his visit to the Mersey Gateway on 23 April 2015, what progress has been made on ensuring support will be provided to small businesses in Runcorn and Widnes when that bridge opens in 2017 related to the cost of tolls crossing the Mersey Gateway.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Residents of Halton will already be able to use the bridges for free following previous Government decisions to fund an extension to the original, limited, resident’s discount scheme proposed by Halton Borough Council. Heavy goods vehicles and coaches will pay the same wherever they are geographically based which will ensure a level playing field for businesses across the North West.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Twigg on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much was spent from the public purse on the maintenance of NHS buildings in each year since 2010.

George Freeman

The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the following table.

Data is collected annually in the Estates Return Information Collection from the National Health Service for maintenance service costs (prior to 2013-14 the data collected was “total building and engineering maintenance costs”). The data for 2010 onwards is provided for the NHS below:

	£ million
2010-11	768.46
2011-12	751.40
2012-13	753.64
2013-14	756.06
2014-15	749.82

The data is provided as received from the NHS and has not been amended centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Twigg on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many soldiers left the army voluntarily in each year since 2010.

Mark Lancaster

Defence Statistics publish information on a regular basis showing voluntary outflow figures for the Armed Forces, broken down to single Services.

Figures for 2010-11 are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/280435/1_january_2013.pdf

Figures from 2011-12 to 2014-15 are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/426880/QPR_Apr2015.pdf

The most recent information is contained in ‘UK Armed Forces Monthly Service Personnel Statistics September 2015’ and associated tables which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-monthly-service-personnel-statistics-2015

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions his Department has had with NHS England on increasing the amount of funding available to GP practices.

Alistair Burt

The Department has regular discussions with NHS England on various measures to support general practice, including funding.

NHS England has confirmed that it will increase funding for general practice by an average of 4.5% each year to 2020/21.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Twigg on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) people and (b) children are being treated for Lyme disease in (a) Halton constituency and (b) Merseyside.

Nicola Blackwood

Most cases of Lyme disease are treated in primary care by a course of antibiotics. Only the most severe cases require hospitalisation and appear in the Hospital Episode Statistic (HES) series. Data for those treated in primary care is not collected centrally.

Data from HES for admissions for adults and children where there is a primary diagnosis of Lyme disease are:

Halton Constituency of residence – 0

Halton Clinical Commissioning Group of residence – 0

Merseyside – 0

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Twigg on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the average amount spent on new school textbooks in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each year since 2010.

Nick Gibb

The Department for Education does not collect data on the specific amount schools spend on textbooks.

The department publishes the amount of money spent on educational resources, including textbooks. This information is published in releases which can be found online at GOV.UK.[1]

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-education-and-childrens-services-spending-2013-to-2014

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-and-expenditure-in-academies-in-england-2013-to-2014

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of the use of steroids on the physical and mental health of people using such drugs.

Jane Ellison

Information on the physical and mental health effects of anabolic steroids, as well as other illicit and licit substances, is contained in ‘A summary of the health harms of drugs: A guide to the risks and harms associated with substance misuse’ published by the Department in August 2011 and is available online:

http://www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/healthharmsfinal-v1.pdf

When used in clinical practice, doctors prescribing a course of anabolic steroids are expected to discuss potential side effects and to draw patients’ attention to the additional information contained in the Patient Information Leaflet.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Twigg on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the cost to the public purse has been to date of the area-based review of post-16 education in the Liverpool City Region.

Robert Halfon

Area reviews are designed to deliver a further education system that meets the economic and educational needs of areas, whilst also ensuring the long term sustainability of colleges to support productivity. The Department and its agencies are undertaking this work without any additional staffing. Additional costs have, therefore, been minimal. Where they have arisen, they have been met by reprioritising existing resources. This has included providing access to additional advice and support from the Further Education and Sixth Form College Commissioners and their teams.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Twigg on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a) all UK electricity generators and operators and (b) developers of gas plants are able to compete on a level playing field after the planned increase in interconnector capacity after 2020.

Andrea Leadsom

The priority of this government is to ensure security of supply at the lowest cost to consumers. Where there are benefits to consumers of further interconnection, this will be identified through Ofgem’s regulatory regime. In this way, we will ensure the efficient level of interconnection and a good balance between domestic generation and continental imports.

In relation to the Capacity Market, National Grid advises on a sensible range for de-rating factors for interconnectors in the auction from which the Secretary of State will decide the final number. This mitigates the risk of relying too much on imports and ensures that the efficient amount of domestic capacity will always be secured in the auction.