Tag: Lord Black of Brentwood

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make representations to the government of Slovenia about the case of Bostjan Bozic and the issues it raises under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are aware of the case of Slovenian photo journalist Jani Bozic who was given a five month suspended prison sentence by a Slovenian court in March 2015 for invasion of privacy of then Slovenian Prime Minister Bratusek. In all cases, we would expect the Slovenian government to meet its international obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the life-time cost of providing medication and care for an individual diagnosed with HIV at the age of 35.

Lord Prior of Brampton

This information is not available as data is not held on the differential cost of patients based on their disease severity or age. In 2014/15, NHS England provided over £553 million of funding for the care and treatment of around 78,000 diagnosed HIV patients.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2015-12-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made any assessment of the cost of energy bills to people served by District Heating Networks.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

In March 2015 DECC published a report by AECOM titled ‘An Assessment of the Costs, Performance, and Characteristics of UK Heat Networks’. The report included a review of the prices charged to final customers by a representative sample of heat networks (7 in total). The average heat price was found to be 6.43p/kWh but with a wide range of 4.64 to 9.88 p/kWh reflecting differences in network design, construction, commissioning and operation. On average this is less than the modelled cost of gas central heating in flats and terraced houses when boiler ownership costs are included (7.22 to 10.24p/kWh).

The Government is aware that costs to the consumer can vary and achieving cost savings is dependent on the quality of the individual network. DECC has supported industry development of a technical code of practice for heat networks, and worked closely with industry and consumer groups on the development of Heat Trust, an independent consumer protection scheme that launched in November 2015. There are also plans to launch an on-line cost comparator tool in 2016 to allow a consumer to assess their charges against gas central heating. This greater transparency of heat charges is complemented by the billing information requirements in the Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent finding by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine that pre-exposure prophylaxis could reduce HIV rates in men who have sex with men in the UK by between 40 and 60 per cent.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England is working with local authorities, clinicians, patient representatives and Public Health England to consider the clinical and cost effectiveness of providing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to groups at increased risk to prevent them acquiring HIV. This includes a full review and analysis of published literature in this area. The PrEP clinical policy proposition is one of many going through NHS England’s 2016/17 prioritisation round.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much they have spent on combating HIV stigma in each of the last five years.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Combatting HIV stigma is integral to much of the work carried out to tackle HIV and part of our National HIV and Sexual Health Promotion programme is to reduce stigma by working with the communities most affected by HIV. Over the last two years, Public Health England provided support for the People Living with HIV Stigma Survey, a collaborative cross sector community led initiative to capture the feelings and experiences of living with HIV in a variety of settings. Spending on stigma is not identified separately within the National HIV and Sexual Health Promotion programme and related work.

The National Health Service, local authorities, Government, community and faith groups, the media and individuals all have a part to play in eliminating HIV-related stigma.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2015-12-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 30 November (HL3685), on what basis they differentiate dogs and cats in the requirements to report accidents.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 requires a driver to stop and report an accident involving horses, cattle, sheep, asses, mules, pigs, goats or dogs, but not cats or wild animals. This requirement arises from their status as working animals rather than as domestic pets.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to make pre-exposure prophylaxis available in England to men who have sex with men in England who are at high risk of HIV.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England is working with local authorities, clinicians, patient representatives and Public Health England to consider the clinical and cost effectiveness of providing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to groups at increased risk to prevent them acquiring HIV. This includes a full review and analysis of published literature in this area. The PrEP clinical policy proposition is one of many going through NHS England’s 2016/17 prioritisation round.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-07-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 13 July (HL1006), whether they have any plans to monitor private access to (1) Truvada for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) from clinics within England, and (2) generic versions of Truvada for PrEP online from overseas.

Lord Prior of Brampton

It would not be possible or practical to monitor how individuals choose to access medicines or services outside of the National Health Service or to assess the impact on that individual. Registered pharmacies that operate online and that may supply drugs for use as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) are the responsibility of the General Pharmaceutical Council. We are aware that some local authority commissioned sexual health services are offering monitoring of the pharmacological efficacy of generic PrEP however this is a matter for local decision.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2015-10-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 16 September (HL2087), whether they have established success criteria for the budgeted spend of £2 million for Operation Grange in 2015–16.

Lord Bates

The Home Office funds the cost of Operation Grange from the Special Grant budget. The level of funding provided to the Metropolitan Police in relation to this investigation is reviewed regularly and will continue to be monitored. The Metropolitan Police keep the Home Office informed of the progress of the investigation through regular updates. These include an assessment of the need for continued funding which is linked to whether there remain continued lines of investigation to pursue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2015-10-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 16 September (HL2087), whether they have any plans to spend an amount equivalent to the spending on Operation Grange in 2015–16 on the search for Ben Needham, or other missing children; and if not, why not.

Lord Bates

This Government is clear that unresolved missing children cases, like that of Ben Needham, are never closed and will continue to support the Greek authorities in its investigations. In 2014, South Yorkshire Police requested a Special Grant payment of £700k to support its investigation into the disappearance of Ben Needham. This funding was approved. No decisions have been made in respect of police funding for 2016/17, but any request from South Yorkshire Police will be considered carefully.