Tag: Karin Smyth

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Prime Minister, what NHS performance statistics were made available to him through the Number 10 Dashboard in December (a) 2015 and (b) 2014.

Mr David Cameron

NHS performance statistics are published monthly and are available on the NHS England website.

In addition, as is normal practice during winter, a situation report based on returns from acute trusts is published weekly and is available on the NHS England website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what concerns he raised in his letter of 17 August 2015 to his Ethiopian counterpart on the release of videos of Andargachew Tsege in custody.

James Duddridge

The Government remains deeply concerned by the continued detention of Mr Andargachew Tsege. Extensive Ministerial lobbying resulted in Mr Tsege’s transfer to a normal federal prison in July. The Prime Minister wrote to the Ethiopian Prime Minister on 17 August welcoming this move, emphasising that this should allow regular consular access, and visits by Mr Tsege’s family. The release of video footage of Mr Tsege in July 2014 and January 2015 was not raised in the letter. We continue to press the Ethiopian government for regular consular access, for improvements to Mr Tsege’s welfare and to provide a legal process through which Mr Tsege can challenge his detention, including its consistency with domestic and international law. My Rt Hon Friend, the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Philip Hammond MP), Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, has raised this case on 17 separate occasions with the Ethiopians.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department plans to make a decision on whether to refer for consideration by NICE PRRNT treatment for pancreatic cancers.

George Freeman

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recently consulted stakeholders on the suitability of Lutetium-177 Dotatate – a type of peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) – for treating unresectable, somatostatin receptor-positive gastroentero-pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours without disease progression for referral to its technology appraisal work programme. A decision on its referral to NICE will be taken shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what requests were made in his letter of 17 August 2015 to his Ethiopian counterpart on the detention of Andargachew Tsege.

James Duddridge

The Government remains deeply concerned by the continued detention of Mr Andargachew Tsege. Extensive Ministerial lobbying resulted in Mr Tsege’s transfer to a normal federal prison in July. The Prime Minister wrote to the Ethiopian Prime Minister on 17 August welcoming this move, emphasising that this should allow regular consular access, and visits by Mr Tsege’s family. The release of video footage of Mr Tsege in July 2014 and January 2015 was not raised in the letter. We continue to press the Ethiopian government for regular consular access, for improvements to Mr Tsege’s welfare and to provide a legal process through which Mr Tsege can challenge his detention, including its consistency with domestic and international law. My Rt Hon Friend, the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Philip Hammond MP), Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, has raised this case on 17 separate occasions with the Ethiopians.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional steps her Department is taking to ensure that all victims of historic child abuse are encouraged to come forward with evidence which may result in the prosecution of offenders.

Karen Bradley

Tackling child sexual abuse is a top priority for this government. We have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat in the Strategic Policing Requirement, setting a clear expectation on police forces to safeguard children.

We have provided £1.7 million to fund Operation Hydrant, which co-ordinates the handling of multiple non-recent child sexual abuse investigations specifically concerning institutions or persons of public prominence, and up to £1.5 million to support a new network of regional co-ordinators and analysts to improve the police response to child sexual exploitation.

In addition, the Home Secretary has established an independent statutory inquiry into child sexual abuse. The Inquiry has the power to compel witnesses and call for evidence and any specific allegation will, where necessary, be referred by the Inquiry to the police for consideration for criminal investigation.

No case of child abuse is ‘historic’ for victims and survivors. They must live with the consequences of their abuse each and every day of their lives.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people affected by the under-occupancy penalty in the Bristol City Council area.

Justin Tomlinson

The available information on the number of people affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy in the Bristol City Council area is published and can be found at:

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to increase employment opportunities for people (a) on community sentences and (b) released from prison.

Andrew Selous

Prisons should be places of hard work, rigorous education and high ambition, with incentives for prisoners to learn and for prison staff to prioritise education and work. Dame Sally Coates’ review of education in prisons published on 18 May sets out a clear blueprint for reform of education, with Governors given the tools to ensure education provision meets the needs of their prisoners

Supporting offenders into meaningful employment is a vital aspect of the Government’s approach to rehabilitation. We already work with a wide range of employers in prison through One3One Solutions and engagement by prison Governors. We want Governors to do more and so we are putting the tools to drive this change in the hands of those at the frontline who best know what works. We are keen to increase the number of employers who can provide valuable vocational work for offenders while in prison and who are able to offer them support in preparation for release and employment opportunities following their release. I regularly meet businesses across the country including at a number of successful roadshows across the estate. New businesses are now coming on board as a consequence. The Employers Forum for Reducing Reoffending brings together employers willing to employ offenders and we are working with the Department for Work and Pensions to increase the involvement of more businesses. The Prime Minister has announced changes to recruitment practises across the civil service to ensure that people are considered on their merits and not on their criminal conviction and we want to encourage more employers to do the same.

Our reforms to probation services mean that virtually all those sentenced to less than 12 months now receive support both in custody and on release. Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) were created as part of these reforms and manage low to medium risk offenders, including those serving community sentences. CRCs have been given the flexibility to do what they think works to reduce reoffending, which should increase opportunities for offenders to turn their lives around.

Offenders serving community sentences can access services available in the community such as education and training courses; mental health provision and support to obtain employment and accommodation. Where an offender is subject to an unpaid work requirement, they have the opportunity to give back to their local community.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many duplicate jobs were removed from Universal Jobmatch in each of the 12 months to August 2015.

Priti Patel

The Government does not collect this information.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many applications for registration to the Nursing and Midwifery Council were withdrawn by the applicant before they were assessed from candidates trained (a) in England, (b) in the European Economic Area (EEA) and (c) outside the EEA.

Ben Gummer

The information requested in relation to the number of applications for registration to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is not held centrally.

The NMC is the independent regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom and is responsible for nurse and midwife registration. It has informed the Department that it does not collect data on how many applications for registration are rejected or withdrawn before they were assessed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of people resident in Bristol South constituency whose employment was terminated through ill health in each year from 2005 to 2014.

Mr Rob Wilson

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.