Tag: Graham Allen

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Allen on 2016-02-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many three year olds received a free NHS dental check in (a) Nottingham North constituency, (b) Nottingham and (c) the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt

Information is not collected centrally on the number of three year olds who received a free NHS dental examination. Information is available for the number of courses of treatment for 0-17 year olds that contained a dental examination.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Allen on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the effect will be on the pension entitlement of the Deputy Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire Police of her promotion to acting Chief Constable.

Mike Penning

The Home Office does not hold information about the personal pension entitlement of any individual police officer.

Arrangements for the pensionable pay of chief officers on temporary promotion to a higher rank are set out in determinations made under the Police Regulations 2003. These state that after 28 days spent performing the duties of a chief constable, a deputy chief constable will be paid either a temporary salary (pensionable) at a rate equivalent to 90% of the higher rank’s basic pay or an honorarium (a non-pensionable payment) of an amount to be determined by the local policing body.

Pensionable pay is taken into account in calculating pension contributions and pension benefits, whereas any non-pensionable payments are not.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Allen on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2016 to Question 25934, for what reasons information about how many three year olds received a free NHS dental check is not collected centrally.

Alistair Burt

Normally the Health and Social Care Information Centre is the source for any patient information but does not collect the data requested. However further investigation revealed that the NHS Business Services Authority is able to extract the information. We apologise for not identifying this earlier.

All children receive free National Health Service dental care. Data has been provided for the number of courses of treatment (COT) for patients aged three where an examination has been recorded for the period 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015 and can be found in the table below.

Contract Location	Number of COT for three year olds with examination recorded
Nottingham North Constituency	1,372
Nottingham Local Authority	3,629
England and Wales	552,652

Source: NHS Business Services Authority

Notes:

1. A CoT is defined as:

a. an examination of a patient, an assessment of their oral health, and the planning of any treatment to be provided to that patient as a result of that examination and assessment; and

b. the provision of any planned treatment (including any treatment planned at a time other than the time of the initial examination) to that patient.

2. Patient Age: Age for the patient on the date of acceptance. Derived from patient date of birth and date of acceptance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Allen on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect of the speed of development of unmanned underwater vehicles on the capability of Trident submarines to evade detection.

Mr Philip Dunne

The submarines that carry our trident missiles will not be rendered obsolete by new technologies, including developments in unmanned underwater vehicle technology. We dedicate considerable resource to horizon scanning to assess the threats from emerging capabilities and will apply any necessary mitigations throughout the lifetime of both the Vanguard Class and the future Successor Class of nuclear deterrent submarines, to combat these future challenges. We assess that the ocean will remain a complex and challenging environment in which through the conduct of large scale anti-submarine warfare our adversaries may seek to threaten our submarines, despite advancements in technologies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Allen on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the proportion of five-year olds eligible for free school meals with severe or extensive tooth decay.

Jane Ellison

Public Health England (PHE) has produced guidance to support local authorities in their responsibility to improve dental health and reduce inequalities among children in their area. PHE has also developed guidance for dental teams on preventing dental disease in their patients. Advice has recently been published by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence.

The Department will be launching the Childhood Obesity Strategy in the summer. It will look at everything that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese, including sugar which is a cause of tooth decay.

Overall, children’s access to National Health Service dentistry remains consistently high, with the number of children seen in the 24 months to December 2015 by an NHS dentist standing at 8.1 million or 69.5% of the population. 104,000 more children saw an NHS dentist in England in the 24 month period ending 31 December 2015, compared with the same period ending 31 December 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Allen on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what programmes her Department supports related to children and religious fundamentalism; and if she will make a statement.

Justine Greening

If there is a face of poverty, it is often a young face, and young people are at the heart of DFID’s agenda. We combat poverty, and religious fundamentalism, by investing in young people and their future, which is why our focus on education is so important.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Allen on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the proportion of five-year olds eligible for free school meals with severe or extensive tooth decay.

Jane Ellison

Public Health England (PHE) has produced guidance to support local authorities in their responsibility to improve dental health and reduce inequalities among children in their area. PHE has also developed guidance for dental teams on preventing dental disease in their patients. Advice has recently been published by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence.

The Department will be launching the Childhood Obesity Strategy in the summer. It will look at everything that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese, including sugar which is a cause of tooth decay.

Overall, children’s access to National Health Service dentistry remains consistently high, with the number of children seen in the 24 months to December 2015 by an NHS dentist standing at 8.1 million or 69.5% of the population. 104,000 more children saw an NHS dentist in England in the 24 month period ending 31 December 2015, compared with the same period ending 31 December 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Allen on 2016-09-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer to Question 44728, how many (a) amended and (b) cancelled tax credit claims account for the savings in annually managed expenditure identified.

Jane Ellison

Since the contract with Concentrix began in November 2014, Concentrix have amended around 103,000 tax credit claims up to and including 11 September 2016. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Concentrix, acting on HMRC’s behalf, do not separate out the number of awards that are either partially amended or stopped.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Allen on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department’s press release of 6 April 2016, entitled Government responds to public desire for EU facts, if the Government will provide a detailed budget breakdown for the digital promotion and website costs associated with the campaign aimed at helping the public make an informed decision in the forthcoming EU referendum.

John Penrose

I refer the hon. Member to my response to the hon. Member for Harwich and North Essex of 14 April 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Allen on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the annual cost to the public purse of (a) extending free dental check-ups to people aged 60 and over and (b) exempting people aged over 60 from all dental charges.

David Mowat

The table below shows the estimated cost of extending exemption to National Health Service dental charges for paying patients under the age of 21, age 60 and over and for examinations only for patients aged 60 and over.

Age Group	Estimated Cost
People aged 18-21	£15.7 million
People aged 60 and over	£329.2 million
People aged 60 and over (for check-ups only)	£25.1 million

This data is based on FP17s submitted to the NHS Business Services Authority for general dentistry courses of treatment completed between April 2015 and March 2016. It shows the amount of patient revenue, based on 2016/17 charge levels, which would be foregone should the currently fee paying groups be made exempt.

Dentists are required to submit a form called an FP17 for every course of NHS dental treatment they provide. The figures assume no increase in the number of patients currently accessing NHS dental care, in reality additional patients may seek NHS treatment if they were to become exempt.