Tag: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-11-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Secretary of State has now formally withdrawn the commitment made in The importance of teaching: the schools white paper 2010 concerning the role of local authorities in commissioning new provision and overseeing the transition of failing schools to new management.

Lord Nash

Local authorities are under a statutory duty to secure sufficient school places in their area. They can increase the number of school places by proposing the expansion of a maintained school or seeking to fund the expansion of an academy to meet basic need. Where a local authority identifies the need to establish a new school, s6A of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 requires it to seek, in the first instance, proposals to establish a free school. Local authorities can, if they wish, assess proposals and recommend their preferred provider. However, the Secretary of State makes the final decision on whether or not to enter to enter into a funding agreement with any of the proposers.

The Education and Adoption Bill is clear that all failing schools must become academies and local authorities, along with governing bodies, are under a duty to facilitate the conversion. The latest draft of the Schools Causing Concern guidance, which is currently out for consultation, makes clear that local authorities have an important role in working with Regional School Commissioners to ensure the rapid and effective transferof failing schools to sponsor-led academy trusts.

Local authorities therefore have an important role to play in education and this commitment has not been withdrawn.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-11-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the investigation General practice commissioning: in whose interests? by The Times and the British Medical Journal, whether they have plans to require that the boards of Clinical Commissioning Groups cannot enter into contracts with companies in which one or more of their board members has a financial interest.

Lord Prior of Brampton

We do not have any such plans.

However, in all circumstances a clinical commissioning group must manage any actual or perceived conflicts in a way that is transparent, fair, and protects the integrity of their decision making.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-11-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are taking any action against the West London Mental Health NHS Trust for allegedly barring Dr Stuart Lorimer from commenting on his being placed on The Independent on Sunday’s Rainbow List; and if so, what.

Lord Prior of Brampton

We are assured by the NHS Trust Development Authority that the West London Mental Health NHS Trust has not sought to prevent Dr Stuart Lorimer or any other member of staff from speaking about the Independent on Sunday’s Rainbow List and the recognition of Dr Lorimer’s work with the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community. We understand the Trust has congratulated Dr Lorimer on being recognised for his work with the LGBT community.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-12-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of pupils in (1) sponsored academies, and (2) maintained schools, take a GCSE in (a) a qualifying language, and (b) a qualifying humanities subject.

Earl of Courtown

The percentage of pupils who took a GCSE in a qualifying language or humanities subject in 2013/14 is given below:

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the awarding of the second phase of the National PET-CT contract for England will be delayed pending publication of the investigationcommissioned by NHS England into the circumstances leading up to the termination of the contract between Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group and UnitingCare Partnership to deliver urgent care for the over-65s and adult community services.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England advises that there is no direct relationship or clinical interdependency between positron emission tomography–computed tomography (PET-CT) and urgent care services, and therefore the investigation of the termination of the contract between Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group and UnitingCare Partnership has no influence on the PET-CT procurement timescales.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much has been spent by Commissioning Support Units (CSUs) on external management consultancies since they were established; and how much of that was specifically related to contracts CSUs had with the NHS Commissioning Board.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Commissioning Support Units (CSUs) were formally established in April 2013. As at December 2015, CSUs paid out £81 million on consultancy support. Total spend has been reducing year on year as CSUs develop their own internal capacity, with 2015/16 to date spend at £8.4 million.

It is not possible to accurately apportion this to specific contracts with NHS England.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many schools in England are using non-specialist teachers to cover teaching vacancies.

Lord Nash

The Department does not hold this information.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they made of the costs of closing NHS Direct at the time of the decision, and what was the actual cost of closing NHS Direct.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS Direct NHS Trust’s Final Report and Accounts, published in June 2014, set out decommissioning costs of £69.2 million for 2012/13. The Trust’s business case, submitted for approval of the transaction for its dissolution which took effect on 1 April 2014, included an estimated cost of closure of £36.3 million in 2014/15. The Final Report and Accounts showed the decommissioning costs for this year to be £17.6 million.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-02-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government by what authority the chief executive of NHS Improvement is able to instruct NHS Foundation Trusts to enforce the junior doctors’ contract consistently.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Chief Executive did not instruct National Health Service foundation trusts to enforce the new national junior contract. On 15 February he wrote to NHS foundation trust and NHS trust Chief Executive Officers and Chairs and said that: “We must all now work together, across all professional groups, to help the service implement the contract consistently and address the concerns raised by junior doctor colleagues”.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-03-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how many new school places will be required over the next ten years.

Lord Nash

Pupil forecasts based on Office for National Statistics population projections have been published to 2024 and they suggest that pupil numbers are due to rise significantly over that period. Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that there are sufficient school places to meet that need, and for determining precisely how many new places are needed in their area.

We allocate funding for new school places to local authorities three years in advance in order to balance the need for robust forecasts with the need to ensure certainty for local authorities over their future funding allocations. Supporting local authorities to create additional school places is one of the Government’s top priorities. This is signalled by this Government’s commitment to investing £23 billion by 2021 to create 600,000 new school places, open 500 new free schools and address essential maintenance needs.