Tag: Lord Turnberg

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Turnberg on 2015-10-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with King Abdullah of Jordan about his role in and responsibility for the oversight of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

King Abdullah raised his concerns over violence at the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif site during the visit to Jordan in September by the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron). We regularly discuss measures to de-escalate tensions and maintain the status quo with all levels of the Jordanian government.

On 29 October the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), met a delegation of Arab Heads of Mission, led by the Jordanian Ambassador, to discuss the violence at the Holy Sites and the implementation of the recent Israel-Jordan agreement. He assured the Ambassador and delegation that we will do all we can to support efforts to de-escalate tensions and maintain the status quo, which includes encouraging all sides to respect the King of Jordan’s custodianship.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Turnberg on 2016-03-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the death of an American tourist and the wounding of several citizens by a Palestinian in Tel Aviv on 7 March, whether they will press the leadership of the Palestinian Authority to condemn that, and other similar incidents, and to reduce incitement to violence.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We regularly urge the Palestinian leadership to do more to condemn violence. Most recently our Consul General in Jerusalem had a meeting on 9 March with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Hamdallah where we raised our concerns on incitement.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), issued a press statement on 9 March following the recent increase in violence, condemning the attacks on civilians in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

We regularly raise incitement with the Palestinian Authority, and have urged key figures to encourage calm and condemn violence. We continue to support the reinstatement of the Tripartite Committee on Incitement as the appropriate channel to deal with allegations of incitement from either side.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Turnberg on 2015-10-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what approaches they have made to the President of the Palestinian Authority about his comments that Israel intends to take over the Temple Mount and the mosque situated there.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), emphasised the importance of calming the current tensions when he spoke to President Abbas on 9 October. On 26 October, our Consul General in Jerusalem raised our concerns with Prime Minister and Minister for Interior, Rami Hamdallah.

Since the start of the current violence we have spoken regularly to both the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli Government on the need to de-escalate tensions, avoid any words or actions that could incite further violence, and maintain the status quo at the holy site of Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Turnberg on 2016-03-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Health Foundation report A Perfect Storm: an impossible climate for NHS Providers’ Finances? which reports a shortfall in NHS funding of £2.8 billion in 2015–16 and predicts a widening gap between demand and funding levels despite proposed efficiency savings.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Government has listened and responded to what the NHS has said about the profile of investment it needs to deliver the Five Year Forward View, and that is why we are investing an additional £10 billion that the NHS has said it needs to implement its own plan for the future – with £6 billion frontloaded over 2015-16 and 2016-17.

For next year (2016-17) we have created the Sustainability and Transformation Fund that will give the NHS the resources it needs to transform and create sustainable services for years to come.

Delivering the Five Year Forward View, including proposed efficiencies, will put the NHS on a financially sustainable footing by enabling the NHS to live within its means, eliminating organisational deficits and ensuring a balanced NHS budget in each year. We are putting the right measures in place to help spend taxpayer’s money more efficiently, and reduce variation and waste.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Turnberg on 2015-11-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what conversations they have had with the government of Iraq about the recent attacks on Camp Liberty.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We strongly condemn the attack against the civilian residents of Camp Liberty in Iraq on Thursday 29 October. Officials from our Embassy in Baghdad raised the attack with the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office on Friday 30 October and made clear the importance of an urgent and comprehensive investigation into the incident and that all those responsible are brought to justice.

In all of our engagement with the Government of Iraq on this issue, including at Ministerial level and in our statements, we have emphasised the importance of the Iraqi government doing everything possible to ensure the safety of the residents of Camp Liberty. We support the UN calls for more to be done to protect the residents.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Turnberg on 2016-03-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the observations of the National Audit Office that there was a 7.2 per cent shortfall in nursing, midwifery and health visitor staffing levels in 2014.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Department has set up Health Education England (HEE) to plan the future healthcare workforce for England. They are responsible for ensuring a secure workforce supply that reflects the needs of local service users, providers and commissioners of healthcare. There are already over 50,000 nurses in training. HEE has increased adult nurse training places by 14% over the last two years. HEE has also increased midwifery training places by 1.6% in the last 12 months and have confirmed their intention to maintain that number of places in 2017-18.

In addition to funding nurses through undergraduate training, HEE is running a return to practice campaign to attract nurses back to the National Health Service. This initiative has already yielded an additional 779 nurses available for employment now.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Turnberg on 2015-11-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the situation of Iranian refugees in Camp Liberty.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We continue to engage with the Government of Iraq on the welfare of the residents of Camp Liberty. Our Embassy in Baghdad regularly raises this issue with the Government of Iraq and we support the UN calls for more to be done to protect residents, but remain of the view that the Iraqi government is responsible for security at the camp.

Officials from our Embassy in Baghdad visited the camp on 28 April to assess living conditions, which the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq have judged to be well in excess of basic humanitarian standards. Trucks containing food, medicine and diesel fuel continue to routinely enter the camp.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Turnberg on 2016-03-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have assessed the plans of NHS England for provision of mandated research in the NHS.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Department of Health formally holds NHS England to account on its delivery against the research objective in the NHS Mandate, a process which will be rolled forward during 2016/7.

Progress has been made in the areas of participation of National Health Service organisations in research, with 98% of NHS trusts recruited into National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network Portfolio studies during the course of 2014/15, and 78% of NHS trusts recruiting to commercial contract studies in the same year. In addition, recruitment of participants into such studies increased in 2014/15 compared to the previous year to 618,453 participants. Recruitment into commercial contract studies is at an all-time high, with 34,885 participants in 2014/15; a 35% increase from 2013/14.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Turnberg on 2015-11-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what efforts they have made to allow endangered refugees in Camp Liberty to come to the UK.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

In 2011 the Government of Iraq signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UN Assistance Mission to Iraq which allowed the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to make assessments on applications made by the residents for relocation. The UNHCR assessment process is underway, and a number of residents have now been relocated to third countries.

The UK has re-admitted four individuals from Camp Ashraf who hold valid UK travel documents. The Home Office exceptionally agreed to consider whether 52 residents of Camp Liberty previously settled in the UK, but who left many years ago, should be readmitted. Seventeen residents approved for resettlement in the UK by the Home Office are now in the UK. The UNHCR has also referred 35 further residents and a decision from the Home Office is pending.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Turnberg on 2016-07-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the removal of the role of the National Clinical Director for gastrointestinal and liver diseases, what other forms of information and advice on those diseases are available to NHS England.

Lord Prior of Brampton

In future, NHS England will seek clinical advice on issues relating to gastrointestinal and liver disease from a variety of sources. This will include experts at Public Health England (PHE) for issues which are alcohol related, the National Clinical Director for Obesity and Diabetes for issues relating to obesity induced fatty liver disease as well as through the Clinical Reference Group for hepatitis C and the medical Royal Colleges.

Information on liver and gastrointestinal (GI) diseases is also available from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, PHE Atlases of variation, relevant national audits and regular clinical communication between the national Medical Director, his senior team and the relevant Royal Colleges and specialist societies and with senior professionals.

NHS England continues to run an Endoscopy Stakeholder Group to ensure that all aspects of diagnostic pathways for GI disease are reviewed and clinical advice is taken regarding policy developments to address the current and projected requirement in capacity. The relevant specialist societies are key members of this group. NHS England also supports the national Cancer Implementation Programme on behalf of the arm’s length bodies, which includes workstreams on early diagnosis, and on living with and beyond cancer, both of which are addressing many issues that affect patients with GI cancers.

Health Education England will continue to ensure that they engage with employers to forecast how many gastroenterologists they require year on year. The process for making decisions relating to medical training numbers is currently being refined. Medical speciality training post numbers will be reviewed in greater depth with a range of stakeholders on a rolling programme; approximately every two years. Gastroenterology is expected to be reviewed this winter.