Tag: Grahame Morris

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to (a) improve access to and (b) increase funding of mental health services in (i) the North East, (ii) County Durham and (iii) Easington constituency.

Nicola Blackwood

This Government remains committed to achieving parity of esteem for mental health. We have invested more than ever before in mental health with spending on mental health estimated to have increased to £11.7 billion.

Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are committed to increasing spending on mental health further each year in line with the increase in their overall funding allocations. Information on steps being taken locally can be obtained from NHS Durham, Dales, Easington and Sedgefield CCG, and other CCGs in the North East.

To fund the commitments recommended in the mental health taskforce, we will increase funding over the next five years rising to £1 billion additional expenditure by 2020-21. As announced in January 2016, the Government confirmed additional investment for mental health which includes:

– £290 million of new investment over the next five years to provide mental healthcare for perinatal care;

– £247 million to invest in liaison mental health services in emergency departments; and

– Over £400 million to enable 24/7 treatment in communities as a safe and effective alternative to hospital.

This builds on the £1.4 billion over five years announced in 2015 for children and young people’s mental health services, including services for eating disorders.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to (a) reduce the effects of and (b) improve outcomes for (i) coronary heart disease and (ii) cardiovascular disease.

Jane Ellison

NHS England continues to support implementation of the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Outcomes Strategy. It is working closely with Public Health England (PHE) on a range of preventative issues which support implementation of the strategy and promote wider improvement in outcomes. These include addressing areas such as diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol together with the further development of NHS Health Checks. NHS England is also working with partners to support actions that promoteearlier diagnosis of conditions such as atrial fibrillation, heart failure and valve disease and improved survival from out of hospital cardiac arrest.

NHS England also hosts an expert forum which brings together the relevant National Clinical Directors, the main relevant national charities, the National CVD Intelligence Network, PHE and the Department. This collaborative continues to coordinate delivery of the work which was initiated in the CVD Outcomes Strategy.

As part of its work on the seven days services programme, NHS Improving Quality has surveyed 24/7 diagnostic service provision (including cardiac physiology) and has announced early adopter seven day sites. One of these adopter sites focuses on provision of seven day services to support cardiac interventions and improved bed usage. More details can be found at:

http://www.nhsiq.nhs.uk/media/2422315/papworth_foundation_cs.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many safety case assessments the Health and Safety Executive has received from installation operators in the oil and gas sector in each of the last three years; and what the rate of compliance of that sector is with the provision of the EU Directive on the safety of offshore oil and gas operations.

Justin Tomlinson

HSE received Safety Case submissions from UK Continental Shelf oil and gas installation operators as follows: 2012 – 187; 2013 – 183; 2014 – 223; 2015 (to 11/11/2015) – 223. These figures include submissions required by statute for new installations, and material changes or summaries of thorough reviews of existing safety cases.

The 223 submissions received so far in 2015 include 53 cases required for compliance with the provisions of the EU Directive.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients were treated by gamma knife radiosurgery machines (a) in England and (b) at each hospital in the last three years.

Jane Ellison

NHS England does not routinely collect, or hold, information on the numbers of gamma knife treatment platforms in use in England. However, NHS England can confirm that, as at summer 2015, there were at least seven providers equipped with gamma knife machines in England:

– BUPA Cromwell*

– London Gamma Knife Centre*

– Queens Square Radiosurgery Centre*

– Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

– Leeds Gamma Knife Centre*

– Thornbury Radiosurgery Centre Ltd*

– University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust

NHS England took over responsibility for commissioning intracranial stereotactic radiosurgery/stereotactic radiotherapy services in April 2013. This is supported by a national service specification, together with a number of clinical commissioning policies. The service specification sets out that there are three acceptable treatment platforms to deliver the service, of which Gamma Knife is only one. National Health Service providers, that are commissioned to deliver the service, are responsible for determining which platform(s) to use.

Notes:

1. *Denotes independent sector providers.
2. As the information is not routinely collected by NHS England, the above may not be fully reflective of the current position.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what role the Chair of the new single promotional group will play in the Ministerial Working Group for Maritime Growth on (a) the development of shipping policy and (b) shipping industry regulation.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Invited industry representatives attended the first meeting of the Ministerial Working Group for Maritime Growth to provide an industry perspective on the specific topics discussed at that meeting.

A similar procedure will be adopted for future meetings and it is likely that the Chair of a single promotional body would be invited as part of any industry representation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of people requiring wheelchair accessible homes in (a) Easington, (b) the North East and (c) England.

Brandon Lewis

The Government has published data on the housing need of older and disabled people in England to support local authorities in assessing likely need in their local area. This can be found at link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-regulations-guide-to-available-disability-data

It is for local authorities to determine specific needs in their local areas.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the Supported Accommodation review on the commissioning of services for vulnerable people.

Brandon Lewis

We understand the importance of ensuring that those people living in supported accommodation, who are generally the most vulnerable members of our society, receive appropriate protections.

My Department, along with the Department for Work and Pensions, have jointly commissioned an evidence review of the supported housing sector. The review will report shortly, and we will continue to work with and listen to providers as part of developing a long-term sustainable funding regime.

In the meantime, we have put in place a one-year exception for all supported accommodation, from the rent reduction measures, and from the Local Housing Allowance cap.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve journey times and train frequencies between Easington constituency and local rail hubs at Sunderland and Newcastle.

Andrew Jones

As part of the new franchise award, the Northern franchisee will be required before October 2017 to undertake a feasibility study, identifying options for journey time improvements across the whole network, including services in the North East. This will include possible changes to existing infrastructure, improvements to rolling stock capability and reliability and the implementing of changes to service patterns.

Any resulting changes would be in addition to the local benefits secured as part of the franchise including the withdrawal of Pacer trains and the refurbishment of all the existing carriages retained in the franchise long term.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the implications for the Government’s policy on voter registration of the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Democratic Participation, entitled Getting the Missing Millions on to the Electoral Register, published in April 2016.

John Penrose

I have set out an ambitious vision of how electoral registration could change over the course of this Parliament, building on the successful introduction of Individual Electoral Registration and online registration. The overarching aims are to ensure registers are as complete and accurate as they can be and that the system of electoral registration is as efficient as possible. We welcome the views of the All- Party Parliamentary Group and Bite the Ballot set out in their report which is helping inform our plans for a programme of work aimed at realising this vision.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS spent on management and administration in each of the last five years.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Department publishes the Administration spending outturn annually in the Departmental Annual Report and Accounts. The latest spending information can be found in the table below.

	2011-12 £ million	2012-13 £ million	2013-14 £ million	2014-15 £ million	2015-16 £ million
Administration Outturn	3,307	3,502	3,036	2,781	2,421

The Administration expenditure covers the running costs of the core Department, commissioning sector (NHS England and clinical commissioning groups) and all of the Department’s central government arm’s length bodies.