Tag: Henry Smith

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve the assessment of medicines for rarer cancers with small patient populations.

George Freeman

NHS England has advised that it intends to jointly consult with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on proposals for a new Cancer Drugs Fund operating model. This will include the future arrangements for the evaluation of cancer drugs, including drugs for rarer cancers with small patient populations. Members of the public and any interested parties will have the opportunity to consider and comment on these proposals.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the quantity and quality of specialist therapeutic support available to children who have experienced abuse.

Alistair Burt

Children who have been abused may require a range of services to meet their needs. Local commissioners are responsible for assessing local need and ensuring the delivery of appropriate services. Local partners and NHS England need to work together to help children who have experienced abuse or neglect access appropriate care pathways and evidence-based care.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to increase the number of school places in Crawley.

Edward Timpson

Local authorities are responsible for planning and securing sufficient school places in their area, and supporting them to do so is one of this Government’s top priorities. That is why we have committed to spending £7 billion on school places up to 2021, which along with our investment in the free schools programme we expect to deliver 600,000 new places.

Basic need funding is allocated to local authorities to help them to create new school places. West Sussex received £113 million of basic need funding between 2011 and 2015, which helped to create almost 10,000 new places between 2010 and 2015. These new places include over 1,000 provided by the Gatwick School, an all-through free school in Crawley.

West Sussex has also been allocated a further £85 million to create the places needed by 2019, including in Crawley.

Information on basic need allocations can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/basic-need-allocations

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential benefits of requiring CCTV animal welfare standards monitoring in slaughterhouses; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice

The Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC) was commissioned by GB governments to produce an independent assessment of the benefits of CCTV in slaughterhouses. The report was published in February 2015. It concluded that CCTV can offer some real benefits but it cannot replace the need for businesses to have proper monitoring procedures in place on the ground. The FAWC report did not recommend legislation. However, the Government is keeping the issue under review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress is being made on the implementation of 30 hours of free childcare for working parents.

Mr Sam Gyimah

On 1 June 2015, the government introduced a Bill to create a new entitlement to 30 hours of free childcare for working parents of three and four-year-olds.

The entitlement is on track to be implemented early for some families in some areas from September 2016, with full roll-out across England from September 2017. More details will be available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childcare-bill-policy-statement

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the lease extension of the military base on Diego Garcia.

James Duddridge

We have been clear that we want to see US presence continue. However, the Government has not yet held discussions with the US about continuing the agreement relating to Diego Garcia.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve the quality of data that it holds about the mental health of looked-after children.

Edward Timpson

The Department collects Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) scores for children looked-after for at least 12 months. In March 2015, The Department for Education and Department of Health strengthened the statutory guidance ‘Promoting the health and wellbeing of looked after children'[1] to include information on how Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires should be used. The Department wrote to local authorities in 2014 and 2015 to remind them about the purpose and importance of SDQs. Ahead of this year’s data collection (published in September 2016), the Department will also write to Virtual School Heads and Independent Reviewing Officers about the use of SDQs for looked-after children. In addition we are considering how to utilise best practice from local authorities that have had consistently good return rates for SDQ scores in their annual children looked-after data returns.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-the-health-and-wellbeing-of-looked-after-children–2

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the size of (a) rail franchises and (b) the Govia Thameslink rail franchise on the efficient delivery of rail services.

Paul Maynard

We take a very large number of factors into account when determining the most appropriate way forward when franchises are due for renewal. We undertook just such an assessment when considering options for the most appropriate approach to providing passenger rail services during the delivery of the Thameslink Programme infrastructure and the introduction of new rolling stock. This included balancing the size of the franchise against the need to ensure effective coordination of all the services on the lines affected by Thameslink during the construction period. We of course always take into account lessons learned from practice when looking at similar decisions in the future.

Regarding the size of the Govia Thameslink Railway franchise, as I made clear at the Transport Select Committee, it is unlikely the Department will wish to let such a franchise in the future. The size of the franchise is a factor in this assessment. However, I believe that with the measures recently announced this franchise should deliver a better passenger experience in the future.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when his Department plans to make an announcement regarding resettlement of the British Indian Ocean Territory by Chagos islanders.

James Duddridge

A twelve week public consultation ended on 27 October. Nearly 850 written responses were received from as far afield as Tanzania, Switzerland, Thailand, France, and of course the main Chagossian communities in the UK, Mauritius and Seychelles. Officials are continuing their analysis of these, and the results of meetings held with Chagossians in their own communities, to allow a decision on a way ahead soon.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department’s policy is on the installation of mandatory, independently-monitored CCTV in slaughterhouses and abattoirs.

George Eustice

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the Rt. Hon. Member for Knowsley, George Howarth, on 24 June 2015, PQs UIN 2944 and 2945.