Tag: Laurence Robertson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment she has made of the equality between mothers and fathers of court judgments on child custody and access to children; and if she will make a statement.

Dr Phillip Lee

The law requires the welfare of the child to be the court’s paramount concern when making any decision about a child’s upbringing, including with whom the child is to live or spend time. The courts must consider the individual facts of each case when making a decision.

Decisions in these cases are a matter for the independent judiciary.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2015 to Question 12052, for what reasons Part M building regulations do not apply to extensions to dwellings.

James Wharton

When Part M was introduced in 1999 the then Government decided not to apply the requirements to extensions to dwellings. To do so would require alterations to the existing dwelling (or the approach to the dwelling or extension) in order to accommodate Part M requirements which are not considered to be reasonably practical for dwellings built before Part M was introduced.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with chief constables about the prevalence of rural crime and the measures they are taking to counter it.

Mike Penning

Police reform is working and crime has fallen by more than a quarter over the last five years, according to the Independent Crime Survey for England and Wales. This means less victims of crime in rural areas as well as urban areas. Overall, people in rural areas are less likely to be the victim of household crime as those in urban areas, according to the Crime Survey. In addition, the 2014 Commercial Victimisation Survey found that crime against the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector was considerably lower than crime against the other sectors surveyed, the wholesale and retail sector and the accommodation and food sector.

The election of Police and Crime Commissioners has given communities – including those in rural areas – a strong voice in determining how police resources are allocated to tackle the crimes that matter most to them. I see this through the work the National Rural Crime Network, which is funded by the Police Innovation Fund, is leading to ensure police forces respond to crime in rural areas, as well as specific activity being taken by police forces across England and Wales

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the (a) Bendamustine and (b) Ibrutinib drugs in treating cancer; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body which makes decisions on the clinical and cost effectiveness of products based on a thorough assessment of the best available evidence and in consultation with stakeholders. National Health Service commissioners are required to fund drugs and treatments recommended by NICE technology appraisals.

Bendamustine (Levact) is recommended by NICE as a possible treatment for some people with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia of Binet stage B or C.

NICE is currently appraising ibrutinib (Imbruvica) for the treatment of (i) chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (NICE’s final guidance is expected in June 2016) and (ii) mantle cell, relapsed, refractory lymphoma (NICE’s final guidance is expected in December 2016).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of amputations caused by diabetes (a) nationally and (b) in Gloucestershire in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison

The attached table gives the number of finished consultant episodes with a primary diagnosis of diabetes and a primary or secondary procedure of amputation for (a) England and (b) Gloucestershire based Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), for the years 2013-14 and 2014-15 provisional.

NHS Gloucestershire CCG and its provider partners have established a Diabetes Footcare Group in order to further analyse local amputation rates and ensure that the appropriate service improvements are made to reduce unnecessary complications of diabetes-related vascular disease such as lower limb amputations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will amend building regulations to ensure that building extensions are fully accessible for people with disabilities.

James Wharton

Part M of the Building Regulations requires that extensions to buildings other than dwellings provide suitable independent access to an extension where reasonably practicable. These requirements do not apply to extensions to dwellings, however. We have no plans to amend the Regulations but will keep this under review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent discussions he has had with charities on respondents being required to tick boxes if they do wish to receive further communications; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Rob Wilson

Government is supporting all of therecommendations of the recent review by Sir Stuart Etherington following the high profile cases of poor charity fundraising practice earlier this year. In line with the review charities should have clear consent to contact donors andcurrent reliance on ‘opt out’ boxes hidden in the small print is not acceptable.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-20.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will ensure that paper forms are more readily available to people who do not have computers who are required to fill in annual tax returns; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke

I can confirm that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) customers can continue to choose whether to file their Self Assessment (SA) tax returns on paper or online. If a customer receives a Notice to File a SA tax return (SA316) but wishes instead to complete a paper SA return they can still do this. HMRC provides the customer with a Self Assessment Helpline number (0300 200 3310) on which they can talk through their needs with an adviser, and at their request HMRC will send out a paper return.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department will pay for the cost of traps used in the trial badger culls.

George Eustice

While cull companies are encouraged to be self-sufficient in procuring their own equipment, Defra has loaned cull companies a number of traps from its existing stocks, which are used for a number of projects. All cage traps loaned must be returned on completion of culls.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the ease with which nursing homes find sufficient numbers of nurses to employ; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer

In response to concerns about the shortage of nurses in adult social care homes identified in the Care Quality Commission report The state of health care and adult social care in England, 2013/14, the Department held a symposium to discuss the recruitment and retention of registered nurses in the care sector in February 2015.

Following feedback at the symposium, the Department established a Care Sector Nursing Taskforce to take forward actions to help ease the recruitment of nurses in care and nursing homes. This includes improving the image of nursing in the care sector through the development of career pathways for registered nurses, as well as developing new models of care provision, such as training for care assistants to take on enhanced roles, freeing up registered nurses to manage patients with the most complex conditions.

Currently, Health Education England (HEE) is responsible for planning and developing the National Health Service workforce, but has no remit over social care workforce. To solve this situation a Task and Finish Group led by Skills for Care, has been established to scope care sector nursing workforce data. Using data they collect, Skills for Care is able to use mathematical modelling to provide accurate workforce predictions for the care sector. An agreement has been reached that these data will in future be shared with HEE to inform their training commissions. This arrangement will be in place to inform the next commissioning round.

In addition, the announcement made by the Home Secretary on 15 October, that the Tier 2 restrictions will be temporarily changed for nurses so that they can be recruited from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), will enable care sector organisations to recruit nurses from outside the EEA, if they are unable to fill nursing vacancies with United Kingdom nurses.

The newly released Care Quality Commission report The state of health care and adult social care in England, 2014/15, has highlighted that the recruitment and retention of registered nurses into social care remains problematic. We will continue to work with all the relevant stakeholders, to improve staffing issues within the care sector.