Tag: Michael Dugher

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to include having dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease as criteria for (a) eligibility without further assessment or (b) eligibility subject to further assessment for the Blue Badge Scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones

The extent to which a specific condition affects people will vary. If we were to provide automatic eligibility without further assessment by virtue of having dementia it may not reflect genuine need.

However, the ‘subject to further assessment’ criteria do not preclude the issue of badges to people with mental/cognitive disabilities. Any permanent and substantial disability may qualify for a badge if it causes “very considerable difficulty in walking”. It is for the local authority to assess the degree of challenge on a case-by-case basis.

The guidance was last updated in October 2014. There are no plans to update it at this time.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average hospital waiting time was for NHS patients in (a) Barnsley East constituency, (b) Barnsley, (c) South Yorkshire and (d) Yorkshire and the Humber since 2010.

Jane Ellison

The table attached shows average median waiting times in weeks to start consultant-led elective treatment for National Health Service commissioning organisations and regions which most closely match those requested.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the budget reduction for community pharmacy in 2016-17 on high street vacancy rates.

Alistair Burt

Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service and can play an even greater role. In the Spending Review, the Government re-affirmed the need for the NHS to deliver £22 billion in efficiency savings by 2020/21 as set out in the NHS’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy is a core part of NHS primary care and has an important contribution to make as the NHS rises to these challenges. The Government believes efficiencies can be made without compromising the quality of services or public access to them. Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive and so we are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

The Government’s vision is for a more efficient, modern system that will free up pharmacists to spend more time delivering clinical and public health services to the benefit of patients and the public. Our proposals are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. A consequence may be the closure of some pharmacies but that is not our aim. We are not able to assess which pharmacies may close or what the effect on high street vacancy rates might be because we do not know the financial viability of individual businesses or the extent to which they derive income from services commissioned locally by the NHS or local authorities or have non-NHS related income.

We are consulting the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) and others, including patient and public representatives, on our proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond. We announced on 16 March 2016 that the consultation period was to be extended to allow more time to develop the proposed changes with the PSNC and others. It will now close on 24 May 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding per head is received for childcare in (a) Barnsley East constituency, (b) Barnsley, (c) Yorkshire and the Humber and (d) the UK in the latest period for which figures are available.

Caroline Dinenage

Funding for the free early years entitlements is allocated on a local authority basis. In 2016-17[1], the relevant hourly funding rates per child were as follows:

Local authority	Three and four year old entitlement	Two year old entitlement
Barnsley	£3.99	£4.85
Bradford	£5.19	£4.85
Calderdale	£4.15	£4.85
Doncaster	£3.87	£4.85
East Riding of Yorkshire	£4.40	£4.85
Kingston upon Hull, City of	£4.20	£4.85
Kirklees	£4.37	£4.85
Leeds	£4.09	£4.85
North East Lincolnshire	£3.72	£4.85
North Lincolnshire	£4.39	£4.85
North Yorkshire	£4.49	£4.85
Rotherham	£4.07	£4.85
Sheffield	£4.51	£4.85
Wakefield	£4.14	£4.85
York	£3.63	£4.85

In 2016-17, the national average hourly funding rates paid by the Department for Education to local authorities in England is £4.51 for three and four year olds and £5.09 for two-year-olds.

All funding rates for three and four year olds are exclusive of the Early Years Pupil Premium which is an additional funding stream for disadvantaged children.

The figures given above relate to England. Childcare policy for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales is devolved.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2016-to-2017

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