Tag: Greg Mulholland

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Attorney General, how many complaints were upheld (a) in full and (b) partially by the Independent Assessor for the Crown Prosecution Service in each of the last three years.

Robert Buckland

The following table shows the number of complaints upheld or part upheld by the Independent Assessor of Complaints (IAC) in the past three years:

Year	IAC Complaints – Upheld	IAC Complaints – Partly Upheld
2013/14*	10	6
2014/15	35	23
2015/16	36	23

* Part year – IAC role was introduced in May/June 2013

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect on advanced nurse practitioners of proposed adjustments of GPs working hours.

Ben Gummer

An advanced nurse practitioner is generally accepted to be a registered nurse who has acquired the expert knowledge base, complex decision-making skills and clinical competencies for expanded practice, the characteristics of which are shaped by the context of practice. A Master’s Degree is recommended for entry level to an Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANPs) role. This role is not defined by the Nursing Midwifery Council or the Department.

Today ANPs work in a variety of health care settings and in a number of different roles, which range from a nurse consultant managing a specialist service in a hospital to being a nurse partner within a general practice.

Information on how many ANPs are employed by the National Health Service in each region of the United Kingdom in each of the last five years is not held by the Department.

We have made it clear that we are not planning to impose a ‘one size fits all model’ for our plan to provide a seven-day NHS. It will be for local commissioners and providers to decide how best to deliver seven day services in hospitals and for them to work with their Local Education and Training Boards to develop workforce plans to support this.

Although not explicitly mentioned in NHS England’s Five Year Forward view, ANPs are part of the solution to addressing the health and well-being gap; care and quality gap; and funding gap. For example, ANPs are involved in the new care models such as in Derbyshire. The Derbyshire Vanguard site will develop a prevention team made up of health and care professionals including general practitioners (GPs), ANPs, mental health nurses, extended care support and therapy support.

Seven day access does not mean that every GP must work every day or that all practices must open at evenings and weekends. Through schemes such as the Prime Minister’s GP Access Fund, practices are encouraged to collaborate together in delivering more convenient and accessible services for patients in the evenings and weekends through multiple methods including innovative use of technology, working together at scale, and better use of skill mix to both improve patient care and release GP capacity.

The recent independent evaluation of the first wave of the PM’s GP Access Fund reported that “evidence to date suggests that the strategy of making more use of nursing staff, particularly Advance Nurse Practitioners (ANPs), is resulting in benefits including released GP capacity…”

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to support and promote the (a) use and (b) continued production and purchase of existing off-patent drugs.

George Freeman

Existing arrangements allow patients to access the medicines which are appropriate for their care, including off-patent drugs. Doctors may prescribe any drug, whether within the terms of its license or not, where it best meets the individual clinical needs of a patient. Medicines are already prescribed legally, safely and appropriately outside their licensed indications to large numbers of National Health Service patients.

The Department works closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, NHS England, the pharmaceutical industry and others in the supply chain to help ensure continuity in the supply of medicines to patients.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of disability hate crime offences committed in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning

The Home Office has collected disability hate crime data from the police since 2011/12.

In 2011/12, the police recorded 1,748 disability hate crime offences, 1,911 in 2012/13, 2,006 in 2013/14, and 2,508 in 2014/15.

As stated by the Office for National Statistics, action taken by police forces to improve their compliance with the National Crime Recording Standard has led to improved recording of crime over the last year, especially for violence against the person offences. Together with a greater awareness of disability hate crime, and improved willingness of victims to come forward, this is likely to be a factor in the increase in disability hate crimes recorded by the police.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations he has received from business groups on the closure of the Business Growth Service.

Anna Soubry

To date I have received no official representations from business groups on the closure of the Business Growth Service.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2016 to Question 20871, who the (a) applicants and (b) successful bidders were for the £5.5 million Human Rights and Democracy Programme; and how much funding each such successful bidder was allocated.

Mr David Lidington

For the Financial Year 2015-16, the Human Rights and Democracy Programme (HRDP) received 27 bids for democracy projects from the following applicants:

Ba Futuru
British Council Libya
Carter Centre
DanChurchAid
Democracy Reporting International
Global Partners Governance
Guatemalan Archbishopric´s Human Rights Office
International Media Support
International Republican Institute
Investigative Journalists NGO (HETQ)
Jamii Media Company Limited
John Smith Trust
Law Association of Zambia
Moroccan Forum for Truth and Justice
National School of Government International (NSGI)
Northern Ireland-Cooperation Oversees (NI-CO) in partnership with Politics Plus
Safer World Bangladesh and Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI)
Saferworld
Stakeholder Democracy Network
The Asia Foundation
UN Development Programme
Westminster Foundation for Democracy
Young African Leaders Initiative
Youth Association for Human Rights Promotion and Development (AJPRODHO)
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum,
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights

These bids were then considered on a case-by-case basis by the Programme Team, and evaluated against criteria including: value for money, project design, evidence of need, viability, sustainability, risk and local influence. Seven applicants were successful, and were allocated the amounts listed below:

DanChurchAid: £80,000
Global Partners Governance: £99,727
NI-CO in partnership with Politics Plus: £35,000
NSGI: £37,220
Safer World Bangladesh and BEI: £103,422
The Asia Foundation: £99,168
Young African Leaders Initiative: £51,397

The £100,000 Magna Carta Partnerships Fund, to assist democracies in crisis or transition, is also channelled through the HRDP. In the financial year 2015/16, we have so far agreed funding for the following implementers:

Bingham Centre: £9,993
British Embassy Mexico City: £8,000
Chatham House: £10,000
Citizen’s Watch International: £10,000
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK Branch: £20,000
King Prajadhipok Institute: £2,752
Northern Ireland Cooperation Overseas: £2,000
Slynn Foundation: £9,020
Westminster Foundation for Democracy: £5,150

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what information his Department holds on the number of south Asian curry houses in each (a) region and (b) parliamentary constituency.

Anna Soubry

The Government does not hold information on the value of the curry industry, the number of curry houses, trends in the number of curry houses or the number of curry chefs.

Official statistics carry figures on the value and number of restaurants, takeaways and other food service businesses in general, but do not detail specific types of food being served. Similarly while the number of chefs and catering staff will be estimated there is no consideration of their specialisation in terms of cuisine.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2016 to Question 22645, what estimate he has made of the potential cost of answering that question for each of the resources that would be so required.

Justin Tomlinson

We estimate that it would require a departmental analyst to spend 4.5 working days to research, collate and analyse the data and around 0.5 further days of oversight and checking of methodology from a senior analyst. This would result in a total cost of around £1,500, which is significantly in excess of the limit for disproportionate costs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made on empowering tenants in the private rented sector to ensure landlords carry out reasonable repairs.

Brandon Lewis

On 1 February 2016 we issued a new Model Tenancy Agreement and updated our How to Rent Guide which makes clear landlord responsibilities in terms of carrying out repairs. The vast majority of landlords in the private rented sector provide good quality and well managed accommodation. We know that 84% of private renters are satisfied with their accommodation, and stay in their homes for an average of 3 and a half years.

If a tenant feels that the property they are renting is unsafe, and the landlord fails to get the necessary repairs done, they should contact their local authority which has powers, under the Housing Act 2004, to assess the risks and hazards. If a property is found to contain serious (category 1) hazards, the local authority has a duty to take the most appropriate action, which could range from trying to deal with the problems informally at first to prohibiting the use of the whole or part of the dwelling.

The Housing and Planning Bill contains measures to tackle rogue landlords who rent out sub-standard accommodation. Proposals include a database of rogue landlords and property agents, introducing banning orders for serious or repeat offenders, a tougher fit and proper person test, extending Rent Repayment Orders and introducing civil penalties.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to announce a decision on access to Translarna after the NICE Highly Specialised Technology Committee meeting on 17 February 2016.

George Freeman

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently evaluating Translarna (ataluren) for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy through its highly specialised technology programme. The publication date for NICE’s final guidance is to be confirmed.

NHS England has advised that it is in constructive discussions with the pharmaceutical company about the development of a managed access agreement for Translarna and a progress update will be given at the next NICE Evaluation Committee meeting on 17 February 2016.

In the absence of guidance from NICE, it is for commissioners to make decisions on whether to fund medicines based on an assessment of the available evidence.