The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many people applied to the Pubs Code Adjudicator vacancy; and how many such people were (a) longlisted and (b) shortlisted.
Anna Soubry
I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East on 10 March, Official Report, Vol 607, Col 428.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to encourage households to donate unused food.
Rory Stewart
Through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the Government continues to work with the grocery sector to reduce household food waste. The Love Food Hate Waste programme helps UK households to reduce food waste and save money through awareness raising and consumer advice. There has been a 15% (1.3 million tonnes) reduction in household food waste between 2007 and 2012.
WRAP launched Courtauld 2025 on 15 March, which builds on the progress we have already made. This new agreement includes a target to reduce food and drink waste arising in the UK by 20% by 2025 (calculated as a relative reduction per head of population).
For the average household, the price of avoidable food and drink waste is £470 per year. For the average household with children, the cost of avoidable food and drink waste is £700 per year.
The total amount of food thrown away by the average household is 260 kg per year. 160 kg of this is avoidable waste. For the average household with children, this figure rises to 390 kg per year, including 240 kg of avoidable food waste.
These are the latest available figures, applying to 2012. WRAP aims to publish updated figures for household food waste later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish the terms of reference of his Department’s review of criminal driving offences.
Dominic Raab
Driving offences can have devastating consequences for victims and their loved ones.
The government is aware of concerns about a number of sentencing issues and is committed to making sure sentencing for driving crimes is proportionate within the context of our wider sentencing framework. It is our intention to commence a consultation in due course which will look at driving offences and penalties.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2016 to Question 34222, on the humanitarian situation in Madaya, for what reasons the UN had to seek written approval from the Syrian regime.
Mr Desmond Swayne
Attempting to deliver humanitarian assistance without the consent of the parties to the conflict is extremely challenging. There is a risk that shipments of humanitarian assistance would be physically stopped and confiscated, humanitarian staff placed in danger and that convoys could come under attack. Likewise, delivering assistance without consent may risk undermining ongoing negotiations on humanitarian access to the 4.6 million people in hard to reach areas across Syria.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, following the announcement on Twitter by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Life Sciences on 15 April 2016 that a Managed Access Agreement had been reached for the Translarna drug, for what reasons NICE granted a further eight weeks on 4 May 2016 for discussions to take place.
George Freeman
On 15 April 2016, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) announced in its final draft guidance that it was recommending Translarna (ataluren) for the treatment of children aged five and over with Duchenne muscular dystrophy caused by a nonsense mutation.
Translarna was recommended only when (a) the company provides it at a discounted price to the National Health Service under the patient access scheme agreed with the Department and (b) that NHS England and the manufacturer, PTC Therapeutics, in conjunction with patient representatives, agree a managed access agreement setting out (i) the criteria for starting and stopping treatment, which individual patients would be required to agree, (ii) data collection to address considerable uncertainty in the evidence base and (iii) additional confidential financial controls between the company and NHS England.
On 4 May 2016, NICE announced that it was allowing extra time for further discussions on access arrangements for Translarna to take place before its final guidance is published. NHS England and PTC Therapeutics have been asked to reach agreement on the cost of the drug to the NHS by 7 July 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether lease renewal and rent review will remain trigger points for the market rent only option procedure, as set out in Part 6 of the withdrawn Pubs Code etc. Regulations 2016.
Anna Soubry
Yes. Lease renewal and rent review will remain trigger points for the ‘Market Rent Only’ option procedure in the revised regulations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-07-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights in response to his Memorandum on surveillance and oversight mechanisms in the United Kingdom, published in May 2016.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
Following his visit to the United Kingdom from 17 – 22 January, Commissioner Muižnieks published his “Memorandum on surveillance and oversight mechanisms in the United Kingdom” on 17 May. The same day Her Majesty’s Government formally responded, detailing the necessity of surveillance powers and the ways in which the Government has bought world-leading oversight and transparency to these powers. The Government’s full response, which runs to 27 pages, can be found on the Commissioner’s website here: http://www.coe.int/en/web/commissioner/country-report/united-kingdom
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-07-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with NICE about the effectiveness of guidelines to tackle urinary tract infections that are (a) acute and (b) chronic.
Nicola Blackwood
No such discussions have taken place.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a clinical guideline on Urinary tract infection in under 16s: diagnosis and management (CG54) in August 2007. NICE has also published Quality Standards on Urinary tract infection in children and young people (QS36) in July 2013 and Urinary tract infections in adults (QS90) in June 2015.
NICE periodically reviews its technology appraisal methods and processes to ensure that they remain appropriate in the light of wider developments.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of falling milk prices on the UK dairy sector.
George Eustice
Although government cannot control market volatility, our aim is to give farmers improved tools to manage it. We have extended the period over which they can average their tax from two to five years. We are exploring opportunities for a dairy futures market as well as for better branding and labelling in supermarkets in order to improve profitability. We are also exploring opportunities to help farming businesses become more resilient and ready to take advantage of the growing demand for British dairy products both at home and abroad.
According to the latest forecast of Farm Business Incomes for 2015-16, average incomes on dairy farms are expected to fall to £46,500. This reflects the impact of lower milk prices which started to fall in March 2014, and the reduced prices for cull cows and heifers. While the number of dairy farms in England and Wales has also fallen from around 13,500 in 2006 to 9,500 today, the number of dairy cows has remained almost unchanged, which suggests consolidation within the industry.
We have seen an increase in the UK farmgate milk price for the second month in a row to 21.34p per litre in August 2016. The long-term picture for our dairy industry remains positive.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to support the mental health of armed forces veterans; and how much funding his Department allocated to that purpose in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.
Mark Lancaster
The provision of veterans healthcare, including mental healthcare, is primarily the responsibility of the National Health Service in England and the Devolved Administrations who work in close partnership with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and service charities to ensure that veterans get the best possible care.
The MOD is determined to ensure that veterans who require help are provided with appropriate support including through the Veterans UK helpline; Veterans Welfare Service (VWS) and the Veterans and Reserves Mental Health Programme (VRMHP) which provides mental health assessments for veterans with operational Service since 1982. For these services it is not possible to disaggregate specific costs incurred in support of veterans’ mental health from wider budgets.
In addition to the support outlined above, MOD funding is provided for remedial treatment at Combat Stress homes for war pensioners with service related mental illnesses caused before 6 April 2005. In Financial Year (FY) 2014-15 the MOD spent almost £690,000 on this treatment and for FY 2015-16 we have allocated some £665,000.
NHS England spends £1.8 million per year on mental health services for veterans, including 10 veterans’ mental health teams. Up to a further £18 million of NHS England funding is in place to provide the Combat Stress six-week intensive post-traumatic stress disorder programme for veterans, and an additional £2 million of LIBOR funding is being provided to Combat Stress to help veterans with alcohol problems, which can be indicative of underlying mental health issues. Help for Heroes has received £2 million of LIBOR funding for its "hidden wounds" work which offers low-level improving access to psychological therapies services to veterans.
Subject to the forthcoming spending review, a further £8.4 million of Government funding will be provided over the next five years to help the most vulnerable veterans who have mental health problems.