Tag: Laurence Robertson

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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of banning raised laying cages for breeding pheasants and partridges; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice

Recent Defra funded research into the use of cages for gamebirds showed that enrichment and space allowance, in the forms provided, had little impact on the welfare of caged pheasants. However, egg production and quality and most measures of pheasant welfare were improved in cages compared to floor pens. For the partridges, the behavioural results indicated that enrichment might be positive for welfare and was probably a more valuable modification than increasing the size of an otherwise barren cage. However, the research also concluded that there might be penalties from parasitism and reduced egg production if enrichment is offered at a conventional space allowance. The published research can be found:

http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&ProjectID=17541&FromSearch=Y&Publisher=1&SearchText=aw1303&SortString=ProjectCode&SortOrder=Asc&Paging=10#Description

We intend to discuss the findings of the research with industry and welfare organisations as part of next year’s review of the “Code of Practice for the Welfare of Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes”.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the roll-out of the Liaison and Diversion services schemes; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer

Liaison and Diversion (L&D) services operate by referring offenders who are identified as having mental health issues, learning disabilities, substance misuse and other vulnerabilities such as homelessness, into appropriate treatment and support services. L&D services also share appropriate information with justice agencies to assist with justice decisions.

NHS England commissions L&D services and since April 2015 services have been available to over 50% of the English population. The Department of Health commissioned RAND Europe to conduct an independent evaluation of L&D services. This evaluation will form part of the Full Business Case for national roll out of L&D services, to be submitted to HM Treasury in autumn 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce the sugar content of carbonated drinks; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison

We have accepted the recommendations from experts earlier this year that we should halve our daily intake of sugar and we will put forward our plans for action in this area in our childhood obesity strategy in the coming months.

Measures by industry to reduce calories including sugar are also important components in any approach to reduce obesity. Some parts of industry have already taken a range of actions to reduce sugar in their soft drinks, but the challenge to make further progress remains.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the PCR test for tuberculosis; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice

Defra recently funded a comparative study of several potential tests, including the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, for detecting Mycobacterium bovis in badger faeces. None of the tests met the minimum levels of sensitivity and specificity. Defra is considering if there are any situations where the current tests can be used informatively on a large scale. PCR is also used to enhance detection of M.bovis in bacterial culture and the EU Reference Laboratory for bovine tuberculosis has also assessed the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. (https://www.visavet.es/bovinetuberculosis/ring-trials.php).

Defra continues to review evidence of effectiveness of the potential diagnostic application of PCR in other situations.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the incidence of bovine TB on farms situated in trial badger cull areas.

George Eustice

On 28 August 2015, the Animal and Plant Health Agency published a report of the incidence of bovine tuberculosis in cattle in 2013-14 in the areas of Somerset and Gloucestershire exposed to the first year of industry-led badger culling. The report is annexed to the Bovine TB Surveillance Report for England 2014, which is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/bovine-tb-surveillance-in-great-britain-2014.

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