Tag: Lord MacKenzie of Culkein

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord MacKenzie of Culkein on 2016-02-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessments they have carried out on the future of resilient position, navigation and timing systems and the vulnerability of the global navigation satellite system to intentional and unintentional jamming.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Government recognises the strengths and limitations of global navigation satellite systems such as GPS and Galileo, and the importance of the position, navigation and timing services that they provide.

The issue of the vulnerability of satellite based navigation systems has been addressed in the National Space Security Policy, which notes that the signals received from satellite navigation systems are inherently weak. The policy recognises that a proportionate approach is needed to ensure that space infrastructures are resilient to threats, including for instance the use of alternative or fall-back methods of providing the necessary services in the event of an interruption.

Responsibility for determining alternative methods will rest largely with owners and operators of space services or with infrastructure owners and operators, with oversight provided by lead Government departments. UK industry has well recognised capability in developing systems that identify and mitigate intentional and unintentional interference to GNSS.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord MacKenzie of Culkein on 2016-02-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are funding research into terrestrial enhanced position navigation and timing systems.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Her Majesty’s Government is researching terrestrial technology that could supply positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) needs. For example, Innovate UK is working with other agencies to research the use of quantum technology for PNT applications. In addition, there is research into technologies that supply only some elements of PNT, including ranging mode and radar absolute positioning.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord MacKenzie of Culkein on 2016-03-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 22 October 2015 (HL2638), whether the study into the remuneration package for officers has been completed, and if so, whether they will publish the findings.

Earl Howe

The process of stakeholder engagement to support the study into the remuneration package for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and wider Royal Naval engineering officers is complete. The study report is now being finalised. Once the report is accepted, consideration will be given to its publication, in part or in full.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord MacKenzie of Culkein on 2016-03-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the report produced by MindMetre Research How Sharp Are We On Safety?, they will take further steps to improve the mandatory compliance with EU Council Directive 2010/32/EU and the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013.

Lord Prior of Brampton

It is for individual National Health Service provider organisations to ensure that policies, procedures and practices in the affected clinical areas are consistent with current regulations and that requisitions for sharps clearly stipulate the requirement for safer sharps.

We are not aware of any restriction in the availability of products that comply with the Health and Safety (Sharps Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013 for the areas of care as outlined within the ‘How Sharp are we on Safety’ report, published in October 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord MacKenzie of Culkein on 2016-03-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many improvement notices have been served by the Health and Safety Executive in relation to the failure of healthcare institutions and authorities to ensure that safer sharps are used so far as is reasonably practicable.

Baroness Altmann

There have been thirty-two improvement notices served ( up to December 2015) to healthcare institutions in England, Scotland and Wales since the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013 came into effect in May 2013. Of these, twenty-six were specifically for the failure to use or provide safer medical sharps where reasonably practicable, three were for failure to provide appropriate training, two were for failure to take specific actions in the event of a sharps injury and one addressed all of these failings.

Before an improvement notice is served the inspector will discuss the breaches of law with the duty holder and explain why a notice is being served. The inspector will also ensure that the duty holder understands what they need to do to comply, and has the opportunity to explore alternative approaches. A timescale for compliance will also be agreed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord MacKenzie of Culkein on 2016-03-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which institutions and authorities have been served with improvement notices since the introduction of the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013.

Baroness Altmann

Since the introduction of the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013, twenty-six institutions across England, Scotland and Wales have received improvement notices up to December 2015. Before an improvement notice is served the inspector will discuss the breaches of law with the duty holder and explain why a notice is being served. The inspector will also ensure that the duty holder understands what they need to do to comply, and has the opportunity to explore alternatives. A timescale for compliance will also be agreed. The institutions are:

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord MacKenzie of Culkein on 2015-12-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions and consultations they held with the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of Midwives and UNISON before deciding that future nursing and midwifery students should fund themselves through student loans.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Department did not hold any formal discussions or consultations with the highlighted stakeholders prior to the Spending Review announcement.

The Government received and considered a broad range of representations from a number of stakeholders during the Spending Review process.

Following the Spending Review the Department is absolutely commited to working with key stakeholders in implementing these reforms.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord MacKenzie of Culkein on 2015-12-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have received advice from the Council of Deans of Health about the future funding of nursing and midwifery students.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Department of Health (DH) received joint correspondence from the Council of Deans of Health and Universities UK about a number of issues relating to healthcare education funding in England.

The Council of Deans of Health and Universities UK also wrote a joint letter to DH and the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Ministers on 7 August 2015 requesting a meeting to discuss a redesigned system. DH and BIS Ministers agreed to a joint meeting, which took place on the 2 December.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord MacKenzie of Culkein on 2015-12-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what research has been conducted into whether clinical teams, mentors and practice educators can support an additional 10,000 nursing and midwifery students while ensuring the quality of their practice placements.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The additional places will include placements in line with existing degrees, to do so there will be no change required to existing statutory regulation or education standards.Delivering suitable high quality placements as now, is part of the universities commitment on delivering an additional 10,000 student places.

Education standards will continue to be set United Kingdom-wide by the statutory Nursing and Midwifery Council and Health Care Professionals Council who as part of their approvals process assess the quality of practice placements. Professional bodies are also involved in setting curricula, particularly in the allied health professions and this will continue. It will be for universities to work as part of their local health economy with placement providers to secure extra placements for the additional students.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord MacKenzie of Culkein on 2015-12-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what reasons nursing and midwifery students have given for discontinuing their courses in each year since 2010, including financial reasons.

Lord Prior of Brampton

This data is not collected centrally.