Tag: Geoffrey Cox

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the NICE quality standards on rheumatoid arthritis, what steps he has taken to ensure patients with early inflammatory arthritis are referred from their GP to rheumatology services within three days.

Jane Ellison

Quality standards (QS) are important in setting out to patients, the public, commissioners and providers what a high quality service should look like in a particular area of care. Whilst providers and commissioners must have regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) QS in planning and delivering services, they do not provide a comprehensive service specification and are not mandatory.

The first annual report of the national clinical audit of rheumatoid and early inflammatory arthritis, commissioned on behalf of NHS England by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP), was published on 22 January 2016. This report, which includes data from 1 February 2014 to 30 April 2015, assesses the quality of care by specialist rheumatology services using criteria derived from sources, including the rheumatoid arthritis quality standard, published by the NICE in June 2013. The report identifies that although most services offer prompt educational support and agree targets for treatment with their patients, performance against criteria for referral and assessment could be improved. Since the audit, HQIP has reported that a number of trusts have successfully reconfigured their services in order to improve patient care.

More information can be found at the following link:

www.hqip.org.uk/national-programmes/a-z-of-nca/arthritis-rheumatoid-and-early-inflammatory

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-06-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that small villages and towns have sufficient housing to meet demand.

Brandon Lewis

We believe that meeting the housing needs of rural communities is vitally important.

The National Planning Policy Framework rightly asks local planning authorities to identify and plan to meet the needs of their communities. It is for local planning authorities, in consultation with local people, to use their evidence base to ensure they plan to meet their housing need, shaping where development should and shouldn’t go, through an up to date Local Plan. Over 85,000 affordable homes have been provided in rural local authorities in England between April 2010 and March 2015.

Budget 2016 announced a £60 million fund to help bring forward community-led housing developments in rural and coastal communities. This fund will target those areas which are particularly affected by the impact of second homes. We will be announcing further details on how the fund will be allocated shortly.

The Homes and Communities Agency and my officials meet regularly with those working to deliver homes in rural communities to discuss the provision of affordable rural housing.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effects of the ban on fishing for bass on the North Devon fishing industry.

George Eustice

The overall estimated reductions of the EU bass measures for the main gear groups in the commercial sector are set out in the following table; at this stage calculated for the UK fleet. This is an estimate which takes into account the effects of the initial 6 month moratorium, related derogations, and the subsequent monthly vessel catch limits.

Those parts of the industry that use hook and line and fixed gillnets will benefit from derogations in the form of higher monthly catch limits and a moratorium of 2 rather than 6 months.

More in depth analysis also taking into account additional factors such as the effects of last year’s increase of the minimum conservation reference size for bass and reduced availability of bass will be undertaken.

Gear type	Previous average tonnage 2011-13	Estimated tonnage catch potential in 2016	Estimated % reduction from 2011-13 average
Bottom Trawl	131	37	72%
Nets	378	224	41%
Hook and line	171	167	2%
Purse seine	56	21	63%
pelagic trawl	77	11	86%
Totals	813	460	43%

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what account the Government took of arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions in its Childhood Obesity Strategy.

Jane Ellison

Our Childhood Obesity Strategy, which will be launched in the summer, will look at everything that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to encourage BT to increase its commercial investments.

Matt Hancock

Nine out of ten homes and businesses now have access to superfast broadband, but our goal is to make sure the UK builds the right infrastructure to maintain our position as a world-leading digital nation. BT has a big part to play in this.

The government supports Ofcom in the changes that it wants to see in relation to Openreach. A more independent Openreach is needed to benefit consumers and boost investment in the UK’s digital infrastructure.

We are encouraging BT to invest in high-quality broadband infrastructure and have brokered a deal between Openreach and the Home Builders Federation that will see fibre-based broadband offered to all new developments either for free or as part of a co-funded initiative. Additionally, Virgin and GTC have recently signed new deals in this area.

We are creating a favourable regulatory environment to incentivise commercial investment for BT and all Communications Providers. For example: we will reform the Electronic Communications Code, to support faster and more efficient infrastructure rollout and to encourage investment and growth in the UK digital industry; and we are making permanent a relaxation of the rules for deploying fixed broadband infrastructure originally introduced in 2013.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations he has received on regional variations on the availability of treatment for arthritis.

Jane Ellison

No representations have been made to Ministers in the Department on regional variations in the availability of treatment for arthritis.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the standard and level of maintenance of roads in Torridge and West Devon constituency; and what steps his Department has taken to improve the maintenance of those roads.

Andrew Jones

The Department for Transport regularly publishes Official Statistics on the proportion of roads where maintenance ‘should be considered’ in England. The smallest administrative area this information is published for is the local highway authority area. Devon County Council is the local highway authority for the constituency of Torridge and West Devon, but the Devon County Council area covers in whole or part 8 other constituencies.

For Devon County Council we are providing £42.3 million this financial year (2015/16).

Road maintenance is a matter for individual local highway authorities, such as Devon County Council, and it is for them to prioritise work according to local need.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to promote battlefield tourism in (a) England and (b) Northam in Torridge and West Devon constituency.

Tracey Crouch

There are 46 ​Registered Battlefields in England, 22% of ​these are located in the South West. Through the recently published Tourism Action Plan and Discover England Fund this Government is encouraging visitors, both domestic and international, to venture beyond London, so that the benefits of growth can be felt across the whole of the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-01-12.

To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what grants the Church Commissioners have given to churches in (a) Devon and (b) Cornwall from the Roof Repair Fund in each of the last five years.

Mrs Caroline Spelman

The Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund grants are distributed by the National Heritage Memorial Fund, on behalf of the Government. There has been one round of grants to date, announced in March 2015,

(a) 22 churches in Devon were offered grants totalling £1,199,700

(b) 7 churches in Cornwall were offered grants totalling £492,700.

A second round to distribute a further £25 million allocated by the Treasury is currently open, with applications closing on Friday, 26 February.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-03-15.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has to launch a second phase of the local sustainability fund.

Mr Rob Wilson

The Local Sustainability Fund will support 265 small-to-medium sized organisations, providing vital services to vulnerable and disadvantage people, helping them to secure and enhance those services.

Government is now planning and delivering further initiatives that will help small-to-medium sized voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations to achieve their full potential. These include offering training to improving fundraising practice, growing the social investment market and ensuring strong leadership and governance.