Tag: Luciana Berger

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-04-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much Public Health England has spent on consultancy workers in 2013-14.

Jane Ellison

Public Health England (PHE) has incurred no expenditure with professional consultancy firms of the nature described in the Cabinet Office definition of Consultancy.

However, PHE sought approval under the Department’s Professional Services approvals route for £8.1million of contingent labour where the daily rate of the individuals concerned was more than £220 per day. This involves approval by the Chief Executive of PHE, by the Department’s Procurement and by the Department’s Financial Approvals Panel.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-06-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the Government’s assessment is of the effectiveness of warning labels on alcoholic beverages regarding drinking during pregnancy; and what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of making such labels mandatory.

Jane Ellison

Research in the evidence around the effectiveness of alcohol harm reduction communications and related campaigns suggests that labelling and point of sale information can have an impact on consumption, in conjunction with broader campaigns to raise consumer awareness and education on the health risks linked to alcohol consumption.

As part of the Public Health Responsibility Deal, alcohol retailers and producers have committed to putting an agreed warning or a pregnancy warning logo on 80% of labels on bottles and cans by the end of 2013. An independent market survey is underway to measure compliance. This level of coverage should allow the majority of consumers to see the pregnancy warning and logo.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-06-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2014, Official Report, column 293W, on sugar, what discussions he has had and what representations he has received on including sugar in the list of ingredients that companies should work with caterers to reformulate in meals as part of the H4 pledge on Healthier Staff Restaurants; and what response his Department gave in each such case.

Jane Ellison

There have not been any discussions or representations made to the Secretary of State for Health or any Departmental officials, on including sugar in the list of ingredients that companies should work with caterers to reformulate in meals as part of the H4 Responsibility Deal pledge on Healthier Staff Restaurants.

There are 169 organisations currently signed up to the H4 pledge which includes a requirement for employers to work with caterers to reformulate recipes to ensure staff meals are lower in fat, salt and energy.

In addition, 11 catering companies have signed up to take a range of actions to help people consume fewer calories, including through reformulation to reduce sugar content.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-04-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the running costs are for each of the academic health science networks.

Norman Lamb

The information requested is not available.

NHS England advise us that individual funding levels and programme costs vary between Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs). NHS England budget allocations are not their sole source of income and AHSNs are seeking to supplement this funding through participation in strategic investment programmes and match-funding initiatives. Core running cost are for AHSNs to determine independently and may also be subject to change through the year.

Further information on AHSN work programmes and business plans can be found on their websites:

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-06-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the importance of psychological support services for patients suffering from cancer of the unknown primary.

Jane Ellison

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance manual: Improving Supportive and Palliative Care for Adults with Cancer (www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/pdf/csgspmanual.pdf) provides a framework for the provision of psychological support in people with cancer – including cancer of unknown primary.

The NICE clinical guideline for Depression with a chronic physical health problem (CG91) is also a useful resource.

All patients should have systematic psychological assessment and have access to an appropriate psychological intervention from professionals competent to provide them.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-06-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 486W, on health: business, whether he plans to make an assessment of the overall (a) number and (b) proportion of those companies which are meeting all of the pledges they have signed up to.

Jane Ellison

Details of our Responsibility Deal partners, the pledges they have committed to taking action on, their delivery plans and annual updates are all readily available on the Responsibility Deal website at:

https://responsibilitydeal.dh.gov.uk/partners/

This information is published in full and the Department does not therefore publish an assessment of partners’ achievements under the pledges.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-06-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many financial bonuses of what amount have been paid to employees of Public Health England since April 2013; and on what criteria such bonuses were awarded.

Jane Ellison

Financial bonuses have been paid to 20 employees of Public Health England since its establishment on 1 April 2013, all of which relate to their performance in predecessor organisations in the 2012-13 reporting year. The criteria used for the performance assessment and subsequent payments for which they were eligible were those of their former employer.

Of these, 18 were to former employees of the Department of Health, all of which were non-consolidated. The number of payments and amounts were as follows:

The remaining two were to former employees of the Health Protection Agency, which were also non-consolidated, and amounted to £10,000 each.