Tag: Lord Bassam of Brighton

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-04-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which other companies bid to become the main service provider of patient transport in Sussex, and why the decision was made to award the contract to Coperforma over other competitors.

Lord Prior of Brampton

We are advised by NHS England that four organisations including Coperforma completed the Pre-Qualifying Questionnaire (PQQ) in order to submit their bid for the contract and of these the South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, Arriva Transport Solutions Ltd and Coperforma Ltd were assessed as passing the PQQ. An Invitation to Tender was issued to all three organisations on 3 August 2015.

NHS England advises that Coperforma’s bid was evaluated in line with criteria published at the start of the process by a group of subject matter experts, clinicians and patient representatives and the bid was assessed as demonstrating a comprehensive response. The award of the contract to Coperforma was approved by all seven Sussex Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).

We understand that the lead commissioner, High Weald Lewes Havens CCG, awarded Coperforma the non-emergency Patient Transport Service (PTS) contract for Sussex, which commenced on 1 April 2016. The CCG acknowledges that early performance of the new non-emergency Sussex PTS has not been acceptable.

For this reason High Weald Lewes Havens CCG, on behalf of all seven Sussex CCGs, has begun an inquiry with an aim for a report to be available for review by June 2016 with interim progress reports.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2015-11-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many civil servants are supporting Lord Strathclyde in the preparation of his report on the powers of the House of Lords; and which political advisers are also providing support to that review.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston

The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Stowell of Beeston):

Lord Strathclyde is being supported in his review by a panel of external experts and a small secretariat of civil servants in the Cabinet Office. The secretariat does not include political advisers. The expert panel comprises Sir Stephen Laws, former First Parliamentary Counsel; Jacqy Sharpe, a former Clerk in the House of Commons and Clerk to the Joint Committee on Conventions; and Sir Michael Pownall, former Clerk of the Parliaments.

Several reviews have examined the powers of the House of Lords, including the Royal Commission on the reform of the House of Lords (2000) and the Joint Committee on Conventions referenced above (2006).

The review led by Lord Strathclyde is due to consider how to protect the ability of elected Governments to secure their business in Parliament in the light of the operation of certain conventions. The review will consider in particular how to secure the decisive role of the elected House of Commons in relation to its primacy on financial matters; and secondary legislation.

Ministers regularly discuss a wide range of issues with the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service.

Lord Strathclyde will determine the way in which the review is undertaken and the content of his recommendations, including any definitions required. It is not possible to provide an estimate of the cost of the exercise at this stage, but neither Lord Strathclyde nor his panel of experts will be paid a fee. Lord Strathclyde is expected to seek views from a wide range of Parliamentarians, parties and groups in undertaking his review, and has issued a letter to all Parliamentarians inviting their input. He is also seeking views from the Clerk of the Parliaments and the Clerk of the House. Lord Strathclyde will report to the Prime Minister, and the Government will decide how to proceed upon receipt of his recommendations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-04-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what systems are in place to monitor main service providers’ management of patient transport.

Lord Prior of Brampton

It is the responsibility for individual clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to commission and performance manage patient transport services, in line with the national guidance Eligibility for Patient Transport Services. This guidance is attached.

CCGs will manage performance of patient transport providers through regular monitoring performance against Key Performance Indicators and have a range of interventions to improve performance, which are available through the NHS Standard Contract.

NHS England ultimately maintains oversight of CCG commissioning, and holds CCGs to account for their commissioning decisions. In addition, NHS Improvement has a role in ensuring that procurement, patient choice and competition operate in the best interests of patients, and to step in if anti-competitive behaviour by National Health Service commissioners or providers goes against patients’ interests.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2015-11-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish any background advice and research provided to Lord Strathclyde’s review of the powers of the House of Lords.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston

The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Stowell of Beeston):

Lord Strathclyde is being supported in his review by a panel of external experts and a small secretariat of civil servants in the Cabinet Office. The secretariat does not include political advisers. The expert panel comprises Sir Stephen Laws, former First Parliamentary Counsel; Jacqy Sharpe, a former Clerk in the House of Commons and Clerk to the Joint Committee on Conventions; and Sir Michael Pownall, former Clerk of the Parliaments.

Several reviews have examined the powers of the House of Lords, including the Royal Commission on the reform of the House of Lords (2000) and the Joint Committee on Conventions referenced above (2006).

The review led by Lord Strathclyde is due to consider how to protect the ability of elected Governments to secure their business in Parliament in the light of the operation of certain conventions. The review will consider in particular how to secure the decisive role of the elected House of Commons in relation to its primacy on financial matters; and secondary legislation.

Ministers regularly discuss a wide range of issues with the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service.

Lord Strathclyde will determine the way in which the review is undertaken and the content of his recommendations, including any definitions required. It is not possible to provide an estimate of the cost of the exercise at this stage, but neither Lord Strathclyde nor his panel of experts will be paid a fee. Lord Strathclyde is expected to seek views from a wide range of Parliamentarians, parties and groups in undertaking his review, and has issued a letter to all Parliamentarians inviting their input. He is also seeking views from the Clerk of the Parliaments and the Clerk of the House. Lord Strathclyde will report to the Prime Minister, and the Government will decide how to proceed upon receipt of his recommendations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-04-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what, if any, variables are used to determine whether main service providers of patient transport are delivering satisfactory services.

Lord Prior of Brampton

It is the responsibility for individual clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to commission and performance manage patient transport services, in line with the national guidance Eligibility for Patient Transport Services. This guidance is attached.

CCGs will manage performance of patient transport providers through regular monitoring performance against Key Performance Indicators and have a range of interventions to improve performance, which are available through the NHS Standard Contract.

NHS England ultimately maintains oversight of CCG commissioning, and holds CCGs to account for their commissioning decisions. In addition, NHS Improvement has a role in ensuring that procurement, patient choice and competition operate in the best interests of patients, and to step in if anti-competitive behaviour by National Health Service commissioners or providers goes against patients’ interests.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2015-11-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish the full list of advisers assisting Lord Strathclyde’s review of the powers of the House of Lords.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston

The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Stowell of Beeston):

Lord Strathclyde is being supported in his review by a panel of external experts and a small secretariat of civil servants in the Cabinet Office. The secretariat does not include political advisers. The expert panel comprises Sir Stephen Laws, former First Parliamentary Counsel; Jacqy Sharpe, a former Clerk in the House of Commons and Clerk to the Joint Committee on Conventions; and Sir Michael Pownall, former Clerk of the Parliaments.

Several reviews have examined the powers of the House of Lords, including the Royal Commission on the reform of the House of Lords (2000) and the Joint Committee on Conventions referenced above (2006).

The review led by Lord Strathclyde is due to consider how to protect the ability of elected Governments to secure their business in Parliament in the light of the operation of certain conventions. The review will consider in particular how to secure the decisive role of the elected House of Commons in relation to its primacy on financial matters; and secondary legislation.

Ministers regularly discuss a wide range of issues with the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service.

Lord Strathclyde will determine the way in which the review is undertaken and the content of his recommendations, including any definitions required. It is not possible to provide an estimate of the cost of the exercise at this stage, but neither Lord Strathclyde nor his panel of experts will be paid a fee. Lord Strathclyde is expected to seek views from a wide range of Parliamentarians, parties and groups in undertaking his review, and has issued a letter to all Parliamentarians inviting their input. He is also seeking views from the Clerk of the Parliaments and the Clerk of the House. Lord Strathclyde will report to the Prime Minister, and the Government will decide how to proceed upon receipt of his recommendations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-04-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are guidelines in place outlining steps to be taken if main service providers of patient transport fail to deliver satisfactory services.

Lord Prior of Brampton

It is the responsibility for individual clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to commission and performance manage patient transport services, in line with the national guidance Eligibility for Patient Transport Services. This guidance is attached.

CCGs will manage performance of patient transport providers through regular monitoring performance against Key Performance Indicators and have a range of interventions to improve performance, which are available through the NHS Standard Contract.

NHS England ultimately maintains oversight of CCG commissioning, and holds CCGs to account for their commissioning decisions. In addition, NHS Improvement has a role in ensuring that procurement, patient choice and competition operate in the best interests of patients, and to step in if anti-competitive behaviour by National Health Service commissioners or providers goes against patients’ interests.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2015-11-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what precedents there are in government for conducting a review of a similar nature to Lord Strathclyde’s review of the powers of the House of Lords.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston

The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Stowell of Beeston):

Lord Strathclyde is being supported in his review by a panel of external experts and a small secretariat of civil servants in the Cabinet Office. The secretariat does not include political advisers. The expert panel comprises Sir Stephen Laws, former First Parliamentary Counsel; Jacqy Sharpe, a former Clerk in the House of Commons and Clerk to the Joint Committee on Conventions; and Sir Michael Pownall, former Clerk of the Parliaments.

Several reviews have examined the powers of the House of Lords, including the Royal Commission on the reform of the House of Lords (2000) and the Joint Committee on Conventions referenced above (2006).

The review led by Lord Strathclyde is due to consider how to protect the ability of elected Governments to secure their business in Parliament in the light of the operation of certain conventions. The review will consider in particular how to secure the decisive role of the elected House of Commons in relation to its primacy on financial matters; and secondary legislation.

Ministers regularly discuss a wide range of issues with the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service.

Lord Strathclyde will determine the way in which the review is undertaken and the content of his recommendations, including any definitions required. It is not possible to provide an estimate of the cost of the exercise at this stage, but neither Lord Strathclyde nor his panel of experts will be paid a fee. Lord Strathclyde is expected to seek views from a wide range of Parliamentarians, parties and groups in undertaking his review, and has issued a letter to all Parliamentarians inviting their input. He is also seeking views from the Clerk of the Parliaments and the Clerk of the House. Lord Strathclyde will report to the Prime Minister, and the Government will decide how to proceed upon receipt of his recommendations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-04-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) GPs, and (2) GP practices, there were in Brighton and Hove in each year since 2010.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The information is shown in the following table.

Total general practitioners (GPs) and GP Practices in Brighton and Hove City Primary Care Trust (PCT) and NHS Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG):

	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Brighton and Hove City PCT
Total GP Practices	48	48	47
Total GPs excluding locums	177	184	182
Total GPs excluding retainers, registrars and locums	161	169	170
NHS Brighton and Hove CCG
Total GP Practices				46	45	44
Total GPs excluding locums				177	180	191
Total GPs excluding retainers, registrars and locums				172	176	185

Source: The Health and Social Care Information Centre

Notes:

– Data as at 30 September each year.

– NHS Workforce figures are not available by constituency. Brighton and Hove constituency was contained within and serviced by Brighton and Hove City PCT from 2009-2012 and NHS Brighton and Hove CCG from 2013 onwards. These trusts are not geographically co-terminus and thus the figures are not comparable over a time series.

– Prior to 2015 figures are sourced from NHAIS GP Payments (Exeter) System. From 2015 figures are sourced from the workforce Minimum Dataset (wMDS) and include estimates for missing data.

– GP Locums were collected for the first time in 2015. These have been omitted here for comparability purposes

– Brighton and Hove was serviced by Brighton and Hove PCT 2010-2012 and NHS Brighton and Hove CCG 2013-2015

– The Health and Social Care Information Centre no longer provides individual data for ‘GP Provider, GP Other, GP Registrar and GP Retainer’ from April 2015 onwards as the 2015 GP figures are not published with these four job roles any more.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2015-11-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether evidence sessions will be held in the course of Lord Strathclyde’s review of the powers of the House of Lords, and whether those sessions will be public.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston

The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Stowell of Beeston):

Lord Strathclyde is being supported in his review by a panel of external experts and a small secretariat of civil servants in the Cabinet Office. The secretariat does not include political advisers. The expert panel comprises Sir Stephen Laws, former First Parliamentary Counsel; Jacqy Sharpe, a former Clerk in the House of Commons and Clerk to the Joint Committee on Conventions; and Sir Michael Pownall, former Clerk of the Parliaments.

Several reviews have examined the powers of the House of Lords, including the Royal Commission on the reform of the House of Lords (2000) and the Joint Committee on Conventions referenced above (2006).

The review led by Lord Strathclyde is due to consider how to protect the ability of elected Governments to secure their business in Parliament in the light of the operation of certain conventions. The review will consider in particular how to secure the decisive role of the elected House of Commons in relation to its primacy on financial matters; and secondary legislation.

Ministers regularly discuss a wide range of issues with the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service.

Lord Strathclyde will determine the way in which the review is undertaken and the content of his recommendations, including any definitions required. It is not possible to provide an estimate of the cost of the exercise at this stage, but neither Lord Strathclyde nor his panel of experts will be paid a fee. Lord Strathclyde is expected to seek views from a wide range of Parliamentarians, parties and groups in undertaking his review, and has issued a letter to all Parliamentarians inviting their input. He is also seeking views from the Clerk of the Parliaments and the Clerk of the House. Lord Strathclyde will report to the Prime Minister, and the Government will decide how to proceed upon receipt of his recommendations.