Tag: Ian Austin

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner’s letter to her of 13 January 2016 on the introduction of a ban on the sale of zombie knives.

Karen Bradley

The Government continues to work with the police and partners to ensure we reduce violence and knife crime, and in the year ending June 2015, knife crime recorded by the police was 17% lower than 2010. We are aware of concerns about zombie knives and we are currently considering representations including the letter of 13 January from the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for the West Midlands and on 21 January from the prospective mayoral candidate for London Zac Goldsmith. A reply will be sent shortly and we will offer to meet with the PCC.

We are currently considering what action to take against the prevalence of zombie knives on our streets. We are talking to retailers, including Amazon, about the action they can take. There are strict laws on the sale of knives to under 18s and on how knives can be marketed. We are concerned about any knives being carried in public especially if used to threaten and inflict violence. It is a criminal offence to possess a knife in public without good reason, and if a person is convicted a second time they now face a minimum mandatory custodial sentence following the introduction of this change by the Government in July 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on (a) overall levels of available compensation and (b) confidence in the NHS of fixed recoverable costs in clinical negligence cases for patients who are (i) over the age of 60 and (ii) female.

Ben Gummer

The Department has established a working group to look at the impact of the proposal on equalities, health inequalities and families. The consultation stage assessment for the introduction of fixed recoverable costs for clinical negligence is work in progress and we will seek views on the impact of the policy on equalities, health inequalities and families within the consultation. We can confirm that age and gender, along with the other protected characteristics named within the Equality Act 2010, will be considered. The policy is not seeking to reduce the amount of damages but to reduce the levels of recoverable legal costs and to make claimant legal costs more proportionate to damages and defence costs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2016 to Question 25590, whether his Department has received a request from the Kurdistan Regional Government for replacement ammunition rounds for British-gifted heavy machine guns; and if he will make a statement.

Penny Mordaunt

The Kurdish Regional Government has made a number of recent requests to Her Majesty’s Government for further assistance, including for ammunition. These requests are currently under consideration and as set out in my Answer of 3 February 2016 to Question 25590. Should a decision be taken that we can provide further assistance, this would be notified to Parliament in the normal way.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many applications to the Healthy New Towns programme were made from each region.

Jane Ellison

The Department does not hold information on the applications to the Healthy New Towns programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of grandparents that care for grandchildren.

Edward Timpson

Informal family and friends care arrangements, such as grandparents who provide care to their grandchildren, are made within families, without local authority involvement.

The Department collects and publishes information about looked-after children who are placed in foster care with a relative or friend. As at 31 March 2015, 7,910 looked-after children were cared for in these arrangements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her Department’s policies on badger culls of the findings of the research paper, Badgers prefer cattle pasture but avoid cattle: implications for bovine tuberculosis control, published in August 2016.

George Eustice

Our comprehensive strategy to eradicate bovine TB includes tighter cattle controls, good biosecurity and badger control in areas where the disease is widespread. This new research, which was funded by Defra, provides further evidence that badgers and cattle contribute to the spread of bovine TB in areas where the disease is rife. Previous research has concluded that TB spreads within and between populations of badgers and cattle and that spread from badgers to cattle is an important cause of herd breakdowns in areas where the disease is widespread. Our strategy does not presume that direct contact between badgers and cattle is the most important route of TB spread between the two species and the new research does not provide evidence against the effectiveness of badger control. Biosecurity guidance promoted by Defra addresses all forms of TB spread and focuses on indirect contact between badgers and cattle in particular, as this type of contact has previously been identified as significant. This new research confirms this.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, who is responsible for deciding which heroin addicts are provided with heroin in line with his Department’s policy set out on page 31 of the Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, published by his predecessor in March 2016.

Nicola Blackwood

The prescribing of injectable opioids, such as methadone or diamorphine (pharmaceutical heroin) as substitutes for illicit heroin, as outlined in the Government’s Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, published in March by the then Home Secretary, has been an option for many years but since the late 1960s, prescribing of diamorphine for the management of addiction has been restricted to licensed addiction specialists.

The decision to prescribe injectable diamorphine for the treatment of dependence is a clinical matter, for a clinician to take in conjunction with the patient. Advice to guide these decisions is contained in Chapter 5 and Annex 8 of the 2007 UK Guidelines on the Clinical Management of Drug Misuse and Dependence. The guidelines advise that:

– “injectable opioid treatment may be suitable for a small minority of patients who have failed in optimised oral treatment.”;

– “clinicians providing injectable opioid treatment should encourage patients not to regard it as a lifelong treatment option and should regularly review their patients and the continuing necessity for this unusual and expensive treatment”; and

– The use of diamorphine “alone does not constitute drug treatment…it should be seen as on element or pathway within wider packages of planned and integrated drug treatment”.

The guidelines are currently being reviewed by an Expert Working Group, to take into account developments in the evidence base. In July 2016, the Expert Working Group published their draft update for consultation. The consultation has closed and the responses are being considered by the Expert Working Group.

Diamorphine is licensed as a medicine by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Clinicians wishing to legally prescribe it for the treatment of dependence need to obtain a licence for that purpose from the Home Office and to comply with all other legislation relevant to the safe management, use and supply of medicines which are controlled drugs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to increase public awareness of the Community Trigger for reviewing anti-social behaviour complaints.

Sarah Newton

The Home Office does not collect or hold information on anti-social behaviour case reviews undertaken by local agencies using the Community Trigger process. The Government issued statutory guidance for frontline professionals in July 2014 on the use of powers to tackle anti-social behaviour introduced by the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

This included information on the Community Trigger, including setting an appropriate threshold, publishing the procedure to be followed when making an application, and relevant data relating to use of the Trigger. We are currently reviewing the statutory guidance and we will publish revised guidance in due course if changes are required.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will ensure that the terms of pupil premium are weighted towards pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds with prior high attainment.

Mr Sam Gyimah

We have no plans to change the basis on which the pupil premium is distributed to schools.

Our school reforms are intended to deliver educational excellence everywhere so that every child, regardless of background, reaches their potential. This includes the new ‘progress 8’ performance measure for secondary schools, so that schools are recognised for the improved achievement of every child.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will ban the sale of zombie knives in the UK.

Karen Bradley

The Government continues to work with the police and partners to ensure we reduce violence and knife crime, and in the year ending June 2015, knife crime recorded by the police was 17% lower than 2010. We are aware of concerns about zombie knives and we are currently considering representations including the letter of 13 January from the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for the West Midlands and on 21 January from the prospective mayoral candidate for London Zac Goldsmith. A reply will be sent shortly and we will offer to meet with the PCC.

We are currently considering what action to take against the prevalence of zombie knives on our streets. We are talking to retailers, including Amazon, about the action they can take. There are strict laws on the sale of knives to under 18s and on how knives can be marketed. We are concerned about any knives being carried in public especially if used to threaten and inflict violence. It is a criminal offence to possess a knife in public without good reason, and if a person is convicted a second time they now face a minimum mandatory custodial sentence following the introduction of this change by the Government in July 2015.