Tag: Joan Ryan

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the extent to which the Alevi community in Turkey has the right to exercise freedom of religious expression; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington

We have noted the European Court of Human Rights’ ruling and regularly discuss issues concerning freedom of religion and belief, including those of the Alevi community, with our Turkish interlocutors. We will continue to do so. The Turkish government continues to improve protections for all religious minorities in Turkey. We welcome the continuing implementation of the Law on Foundations which has seen a number of properties returned to minority community foundations or the payment of compensation. As we highlighted to Turkey through the 2015 UN Universal Periodic Review of human rights, we would like to see Turkey implement legislation that increases protection of the rights of persons belonging to all minority religious groups, including the status of their places of worship.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the emergency department at North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust is able to guarantee patient safety; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer

NHS England is the responsible organisation for emergency planning and resilience in London. As such, it has well-established contingency plans in place which take effect in the event of emergency departments (EDs) having to temporarily reduce their scope of operations in order to ensure the best standards of patient care, our central concern.

As the Rt. hon. Member is aware, following an unannounced inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) at North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust, the CQC issued a Warning Notice. The Warning Notice, published on 6 June 2016, requires the trust to significantly improve the treatment of patients attending its emergency department.

The CQC is responsible for assessing whether the Trust is providing the right standard of care and ensuring that improvement plans meet the level of improvement required.

NHS Improvement is working alongside NHS England and the local health and care system to ensure that the Trust has the resources it needs to ensure that patients receive safe, high quality care.

We are informed by NHS Improvement that, in order to address the poor performance at the Trust’s ED, it has devised a plan titled Safer, Faster, Better. This is a whole system programme with the primary objective of improving performance, patient experience and outcomes for patients.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what impact assessment his Department has conducted on withdrawal of ESOL Plus Mandation funding and its effects on further education colleges in (a) Greater London and (b) the UK.

Nick Boles

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) conducted an equality analysis to support its compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty prior to making the decision to withdraw the English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Plus (Mandation) funding for 2015/16. The decision was taken in the knowledge that providers are independent organisations which manage their own budgets and have the flexibility to use their adult skills budget to continue to provide ESOL training for jobseekers and are therefore able to mitigate any adverse impact. It was also taken on the basis of our data which shows that the numbers of learners in England being referred to ESOL Plus (Mandation) provision was significantly lower than originally anticipated and the ESOL Plus (Mandation) budget was underspent in 2014/15.

BIS funds skills provision in England only.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2015-11-30.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether record keeping regulations relating to financial services apply to organisations offering third party data storage to banks.

Harriett Baldwin

Authorised firms, such as banks, must be able to meet their regulatory requirements even when relying on a third party for the performance of operational functions. The firm must make available to the regulator all information necessary to ensure the regulator is able to supervise the compliance of the outsourced activities with the regulatory requirements, including those on record keeping.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the government of Sri Lanka’s efforts to fulfil its commitments on the devolution of political authority.

Mr Hugo Swire

During my recent visit to Sri Lanka I discussed the issue of political settlement and devolution with the government and with Tamil politicians. I was encouraged that consultations are beginning and that a formal process of drafting a new constitution, including provisions for devolution, is due to begin shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has made an assessment of the proportion of GPs on the executive bodies of clinical commissioning groups who have a financial interest in the services they are commissioning.

George Freeman

The National Audit Office recently estimated that in 2014-15 there were 3,150 governing body members in total across the clinical commissioning group (CCG) sector. Of these, 1,300 (41%) were also general practitioners, who make decisions about local health services and may potentially be paid by their CCG for providing these services. It is expected that all CCGs should follow the published guidance on managing conflicts of interest.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the human rights situation of the Alevi community in Turkey; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington

We have noted the European Court of Human Rights’ ruling and regularly discuss issues concerning freedom of religion and belief, including those of the Alevi community, with our Turkish interlocutors. We will continue to do so. The Turkish government continues to improve protections for all religious minorities in Turkey. We welcome the continuing implementation of the Law on Foundations which has seen a number of properties returned to minority community foundations or the payment of compensation. As we highlighted to Turkey through the 2015 UN Universal Periodic Review of human rights, we would like to see Turkey implement legislation that increases protection of the rights of persons belonging to all minority religious groups, including the status of their places of worship.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department of findings of Health Education England’s briefing paper on its inspection visit to North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust’s emergency department in March 2016.

Ben Gummer

We understand that no announcement has been made by Health Education England (HEE) about ceasing postgraduate training in North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust’s emergency department.

We are determined to make the National Health Service the safest and most transparent healthcare system in the world, transforming patient safety and changing the culture of the NHS to support patients and doctors alike.

Patient safety is the key concern of the Government. HEE’s role is to ensure that trainees have access to safe, high quality learning. Excellence in healthcare education leads to safe, high quality care for patients in both the short term and the long term.

HEE continues to work with the Trust, NHS Improvement, NHS England and the General Medical Council (GMC) to support the Trust and ensure it has an achievable action plan for trainees to meet GMC standards.

HEE has required the Trust to have sufficient middle grade and senior cover so that junior doctors are appropriately supported. The Trust has appointed a Clinical Director to lead the improvement work required. Enhanced oversight arrangements imposed by NHS Improvement and NHS England will ensure that rotas are safely staffed. Additional support has been provided to the Trust by other NHS organisations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent representations she has received from heads of special educational needs schools on the increase in costs from national insurance and pension scheme contributions.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The Department has received a large number of letters from headteachers about the increase in national insurance and pension scheme contributions, some of which have been from special schools.

We are committed to protecting schools funding, as we pledged in our manifesto. Throughout this Parliament, as pupil numbers increase so too will the amount of money for our schools.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the mandatory retirement age for magistrates from 70 to 75; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The Government position remains that a retirement age of 70 for all judicial office holders is appropriate.

A mandatory retirement age of 70 means both judges and magistrates can continue to make a contribution to society whilst allowing for regular recruitment of the judiciary.

It also enables the judiciary to have the correct number of judges and magistrates, while preventing them from retiring on an ad hoc basis, and ensuring judicial independence is protected.