Tag: Luciana Berger

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, in how many areas the NHS provides mental health services that are targeted at black men; and what types of service provision are so targeted.

Alistair Burt

The information is not held centrally.

We are committed to ensuring fair and equitable mental health care services for all, which includes all black and minority ethnic (BME) communities. NHS England published The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health report by the independent Mental Health Taskforce last month, which clearly outlines action to be taken nationally, regionally, and locally to help improve mental health services for BME communities in England.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (a) how much and (b) what proportion of the funding allocated to domestic violence services is specifically allocated to support children living in refuges.

Karen Bradley

The previous Government provided £40 million of dedicated funding for domestic and sexual violence services between 2011 and 2015 equating to £10 million per year. This funding was extended until April 2016, supplemented by an additional £10 million for refuges, and a £3.5 million fund to boost the provision of domestic violence services including refuges. We do not hold figures for the amount of funding which is spent on supporting children in refuges. It is for local areas to make decisions on the provision of safe accommodation, including refuges, and the support for victims of domestic abuse and their families. On 8 March, as part of our new Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy, we announced £80 million of dedicated funding from 2016 to 2020 which includes support for refuges and other accommodation-based services, helping local areas ensure that victims of domestic violence and their children have the support they need.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2016 to Question 23217, on local transformation plans, for what reasons not all plans have been published online; and when he expects all those plans to be available online.

Alistair Burt

The deadline for the assessment process was December 2015 but some local areas have needed extra time to ensure the approved plans are in an accessible format for the general public. All plans should now be available online.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will estimate how many and what proportion of all women with mental health issues in the UK have been internally or internationally trafficked.

Mike Penning

The Home Office do not hold data that allows us to establish how many women with mental health issues in the UK have been trafficked.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of local authority areas in which the Safe Places scheme is used.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Department has made no estimate of the number of local authority areas in which the Safe Places scheme is used.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many clinical commissioning groups collect (a) prevalence and (b) standardised mortality data on autistic people as part of their joint strategic needs assessments.

Alistair Burt

Information is not collected centrally on how many clinical commissioning groups collect prevalence and standardised mortality data on autistic people as part of their joint strategic needs assessments.

The National Health Service is taking action to reduce premature death among people with autism and a learning disability, and with autism by increasing annual health checks for people with learning disabilities, including for those who also have autism. The NHS is working to reduce variation and improve care for physical health conditions that disproportionately impact on people with learning disabilities who also may have autism, including epilepsy and cancer. NHS England has commissioned the world’s first Learning Disability Mortality Review Programme to support local areas to review deaths of people with learning disabilities and to use the information to improve service provision. This review programme for people with learning disabilities includes those who also have autism.

Think Autism set out a clear, cross Government programme of action, developed alongside people with autism, their families and carers to improve their lives and reduce premature mortality through better access to healthcare by making adjustments to services. This includes supporting the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGPs) Autism Initiative to improve understanding of autism amongst GPs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-04-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to ensure adequate levels of bursaries and salary support for trainee clinical psychologists in the 2017-18 cohort.

Ben Gummer

Health Education England (HEE) funding for trainees in clinical psychology is currently determined at a local level based on local need and is subject to annual workforce planning. For 2016-17, HEE will fund those commissions set out in the HEE Commissioning and Investment Plan for 2016-17. HEE’s plans for training clinical psychologists remain unchanged from 2015-16 with 526 commissions proposed for 2016-17. HEE will set out its plans for 2017-18 training commissions in its next annual Commissioning and Investment Plan or Workforce Plan for England which is expected to be published in December 2016 prior to the start of the financial year.

The Government is currently consulting on how the education and funding reforms for pre-registration undergraduate and postgraduate non-medical courses (nursing, midwifery and allied health courses) which are currently funded through both HEE funded tuition and an NHS bursary/reduced rate loan for maintenance are most successfully implemented. Respondents to the consultation may wish to raise issues relating to the funding for courses operating outside of this model, such as clinical psychology training programmes. The Government will consider these in the context of its consultation response.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many and what proportion of clinical commissioning groups increased their spending on children and young people’s mental health as a proportion of their overall budget in 2015-16; and how many are forecast to increase such spending in 2016-17.

Alistair Burt

For 2015-16 we do not hold details on the increase in spend by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) on children and young people’s mental health. However a detailed and robust assurance process was set up and 123 Local Transformation Plans to improve children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing at local level were submitted to NHS England during 2015-16. This process covered every CCG in England. An assurance process was established with detailed financial tracking arrangements to ensure that the additional money was spent for the purposes intended and that locally determined key performance indicators are being met. No funding was allocated without full assurance in place.

For 2016-17 we are currently collecting planned spend on mental health services as part of NHS England financial planning processes. Programme level spend, including children and young people’s mental health spend, will be monitored routinely throughout the year and any adverse variances from agreed plans will be escalated through the routine financial reporting.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the NHS England Five Year Forward View on Mental Health, published in February 2016, what progress has been made on Recommendation 28 on digital infrastructure.

Alistair Burt

The Government is working with delivery partners to carefully consider the independent Mental Health Taskforce’s recommendations and aims to publish a strategic implementation plan in the autumn that will set out how Government and partners will deliver the recommendations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he has taken to improve mobile telephone coverage in the Liverpool City Region.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Improving mobile coverage remains a priority for the Government, and our landmark agreement in December 2014 with the four mobile network operators (MNOs) for each to provide voice and SMS text coverage to at least 90% of the UK landmass by 2017 will significantly improve coverage in the UK, including the Liverpool City Region. The additional licence obligation on Telefonica, which the other MNOs have publicly stated they will match, will deliver significant improvements in 4G coverage – covering 98% of UK premises by the end of 2017.

In support of this work, the Government is also reforming mobile planning laws (in England only) and the Electronic Communications Code to make it cheaper and quicker for industry to invest and deliver coverage improvements.