Tag: Greg Mulholland

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 19 February 2016 to Question 27234, how many of the 135 women referred to in that Answer became widows after 31 March 1973.

Mark Lancaster

A war widow(er) is the spouse of an ex-Service person whose death in Service, or subsequently, was attributable to injury or illness caused by Service in the Armed Forces before 6 April 2005.

Of the 135 women who remarried between 6 April 2005 and 1 April 2015, 110 registered as a war widow from 1 April 1996 onwards and 20 women registered as a war widow prior to 1 April 1996. The Ministry of Defence is unable to determine the registered date for war widows prior to 1996, and therefore cannot confirm whether they were registered before, or after, 31 March 1973.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress he has made on the electrification of the Leeds- Harrogate-York railway line.

Andrew Jones

Network Rail is taking the recommendations of the North of England Electrification Task Force into account in assessing the case for further electrification of the national rail network, including the Leeds-Harrogate-York line. It plans to publish a draft update to the industry electrification strategy this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to improve the assessment process for personal independence payments.

Justin Tomlinson

Since its inception, the system of assessing claimants’ eligibility for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) has been continually reviewed and refined in order to improve its efficiency, effectiveness and the claimant experience. We have worked extensively with PIP assessment providers and disability rights groups to make improvements to guidance, training and audit procedures in order to ensure a quality service.

The Government’s response to Paul Gray’s independent review of the process can be found at:

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/478224/pip-assessment-first-independent-review-second-response.pdf

The Government has committed in legislation to a further independent review which will report by April 2017.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise of 10 March 2016, Official Report, column 425, in what way Mr Newby has been assisting with the Pubs Code.

Anna Soubry

Mr Newby has not been involved in the drafting of and consultation process for the Pubs Code.

Officials in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills met the Adjudicator after his appointment to provide him with a high level briefing on Part 4 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act and some areas of the draft Pubs Code in order to familiarise him with key aspects ahead of him taking up this important role. During the course of this briefing there was a discussion of some technical aspects of the Market Rent Only arbitration process – for example, the length of time it takes to appoint an independent expert – where the Adjudicator shared his professional insights.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of victims rescued by the Forced Marriages Unit in each year since 2005 have been under 18 years old.

Karen Bradley

The jointly led Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) leads on the Government’s forced marriage policy, outreach and casework. Figures on the number of cases reported to the FMU via its public helpline and email inbox are published annually and are available on GOV.uk. The figures include a breakdown of cases by age range. The FMU acts in an advisory capacity, and information on the number of cases which resulted in prosecutions is therefore not collated centrally.

We made forced marriage a criminal offence in 2014 to send a clear message that this brutal practice will not be tolerated in the UK. We are encouraged by the first conviction in June 2015, and the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) most recent report shows that the volume of referrals from the police to the CPS has risen from 67 in 2013-14 to 82 in 2014-15. But there is still work to be done, and we will continue to work with partners to lead efforts to tackle this abhorrent crime.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that the NHS England consultation on a proposed method to support investment decisions in specialised commissioning launched on 12 April 2016 does not disadvantage potential treatments for rare diseases.

George Freeman

The consultation on a proposed method to support investment decisions in specialised commissioning closed on 11 May 2016. All responses will now be independently analysed, and NHS England will consider the report before making a final decision on the method to be used by the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group (CPAG) when it meets in June 2016 to look at areas for future investment.

In recognition that there may be limited evidence to support proposed treatments for rare conditions, NHS England has proposed that the CPAG may recommend that interventions for rare conditions are funded where there is limited published evidence on clinical effectiveness. CPAG will also be able to seek advice from NHS England’s Rare Diseases Advisory Group – whose membership comprises of both clinicians and patient and public representatives.

To ensure people with rare diseases are not disadvantaged, NHS England’s consultation includes an Equality Impact Assessment which explicitly considers the impact of the proposed process on people with rare conditions, and respondents to consultation have been invited to submit their views on this issue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what the average hourly earnings were of his Department’s (a) BME and (b) non-BME employees in (i) 2015 and (ii) 2016.

Guto Bebb

The Wales Office is not an employer in its own right and is subject to Ministry of Justice (MOJ) policies for pay purposes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of people in (i) Leeds North West constituency, (ii) the Leeds City Region, (iii) West Yorkshire and (iv) Yorkshire are paid less than the Living Wage Foundation’s living wage.

Chris Skidmore

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he has had representations on the research conducted by Professor Malone-Lee and University College London researchers on the effectiveness of the standard NHS tests for diagnosing urinary tract infections.

David Mowat

A search of the Department’s ministerial correspondence database has identified 12 items of correspondence received since 1 January 2016 about the research conducted by Professor Malone-Lee and University College London researchers on the effectiveness of the standard National Health Service tests for diagnosing urinary tract infections. This is a minimum figure which represents correspondence received by the Department’s ministerial correspondence unit only.

NHS commissioners are responsible for making decisions on individual treatments on the basis of the available evidence, taking into account guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) where available. NICE guidance is always evidence based, assuring us of the latest clinical thinking and research to determine the best treatment for patients.

NICE quality standards for urinary tract infections can be found here:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs90

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what treatment options are available to adults with uveitis to access anti-TNF treatment therapy who do not meet the exceptionality criteria of the individual funding request process.

David Mowat

Due to a lack of clinical evidence anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) to treat uveitis in adults is not currently routinely commissioned by the National Health Service. Therefore patients can only access the treatment through the individual funding request process.