Tag: Nicholas Brown

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress he has made in establishing a smaller number of specialist children’s heart units, as recommended by the Safe and sustainable review of children’s congenital heart services, published by the NHS in February 2011.

Jane Ellison

On 12 June 2013 my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced in Parliament that the Safe and Sustainable review’s proposals for children’s congenital heart services could not go ahead in their current form. In July 2013, after discussions with key stakeholders, NHS England established a new congenital heart disease review, encompassing services for adults as well as children.

The new review has now been completed and the board of NHS England has agreed its proposals. NHS England is now working on implementation of the proposals and commissioning services against the new requirements. This is being done in collaboration with provider trusts.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department has spent on (a) mental and (b) physical health (i) in total and (ii) as a proportion of the total departmental budget in each financial year since 2010.

Alistair Burt

The table below shows figures for secondary healthcare spend on mental illness which have been taken from the published NHS (England) Summarised Account (2009-10 to 2010-11) and the Department of Health Annual Report and Accounts (2011-12 and 2012-13). Mental illness healthcare is also commissioned in primary care environments. However, it is not possible to separately identify the amount of primary care expenditure on mental illness from the statutory accounting data collected by the Department.

Total revenue expenditure has been used as a proxy for ‘budget’ in order to calculate the proportion of spend on mental health.

Year	Purchase of Secondary Healthcare: Mental Illness £ billion	NHS Revenue Expenditure under Clear Line of Sight Rules £ billion	Spend on mental health as % of NHS revenue expenditure
2009-10				8.08	94.42	8.56%
2010-11	8.37	97.47	8.59%
2011-12	8.61	100.27	8.59%
2012-13	8.80	102.57	8.58%

The Department did not collect data on Mental Illness spend by Clinical Commissioning Groups for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 financial years.

The Department does not collect separate identifiable information on spend on physical health.

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what changes there were in the relative weighting of economic deprivation within the primary health care funding formula in each complete financial year since 2010.

Alistair Burt

It is not possible to estimate the relative weighting specifically for deprivation, as all the factors taken into account in the formula are interrelated.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that public services provided by the NHS are not affected by legal challenge by commercial markets entrants as a result of the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations.

Ben Gummer

The United Kingdom has trade deals with over 160 countries across the world and we have protected the National Health Service and public services in all of these trade agreements. We will continue to do so in the European Union-United States free trade deal (TTIP). This is non-negotiable.

This means that the government of the day, not trade agreements, will always set the rules governing how the NHS is run.

There will be nothing in the EU-US free trade deal Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions that would stop a future Government from changing the legal framework for the provision of NHS services or terminating the private provision of such a service in accordance with the law or contracts entered into as is the case today. It would be entirely possible for the UK, or any EU country, to change the delivery model for publicly funded health services in the future.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how his Department monitors whether NHS England is appropriately assuring itself of clinical commissioning groups’ performance on autism diagnosis for (a) children and (b) adults.

Alistair Burt

In general NHS England is required to assess the performance of each clinical commissioning group (CCG) to ensure that CCGs are commissioning safe, high quality and cost effective services, to achieve the best possible outcomes for patients. Under the Health and Social Care Act (2012), NHS England makes an annual assessment of CCGs each financial year and publishes a summary report. The Secretary of State for Health keeps NHS England’s performance in discharging its functions under review, which includes NHS England’s assurance of CCGs. The Department has discussed with NHS England the difficulties that people on the autistic spectrum can have in getting an appropriate diagnosis in a timely manner. With support from the Department, NHS England and the Association of Directors of Social Services will undertake a series of visits to CCGs where there is good practice in meeting the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard 51 Autism, and to those that do not, with the aim of supporting more consistent provision. The National Autism Programme Board will monitor reported progress from NHS England against the commitments in the Autism strategy including the implementation of NICE guidance.

Newcastle Gateshead CCG is investing in Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust to provide improved services for adults with autism with an initial focus to reduce waiting times in line with NICE guidelines and then for further improvement to be made in the core service. Within 18-24 months the intention is for the autism pathway to be embedded in mainstream services with the addition of a specialist autism service which will provide training, support, liaison and assess more complex cases. By the end of this year, it is expected that all children’s services will have reached a 95% target for all referralsto be assessed and in treatment within 12 weeks and for 70% of referrals to be assessed and in treatment within six weeks.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on merging police forces in England.

Mike Penning

It is the role of directly elected local Police and Crime Commissioners to propose changes to local policing, not the Home Office. Any request from police forces to voluntarily merge would be considered where it is supported by a robust business case and has local consent.

It is not necessary for police forces to merge in order to become more efficient. Existing legislation places a strong duty on Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners to collaborate in the interests of efficiency and effectiveness. Many are demonstrating that savings can be generated through collaboration without sacrificing local accountability and identity.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what screening provisions the Government has put in place to prevent people who wish to cause the UK harm from entering the UK through the Syrian refugee resettlement programme.

James Brokenshire

We take security extremely seriously in cases referred to us for resettlement, working closely with the UNHCR who have their own robust identification processes in place. When potential cases are submitted by the UNHCR for our consideration they are screened and considered by the Home Office for suitability for entry to the UK: we retain the right to reject individuals on security, war crimes or other grounds. For reasons of national security, we cannot provide further on the details of the screening process itself.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent assessment she has made of the UK’s progress towards meeting its 2020 carbon emission targets.

Andrea Leadsom

Each year we publish Energy and Emissions Projections which allow us to monitor progress towards meeting the UK’s carbon targets.

The last projections (published in September 2014) showed that we are on track to achieve the second and third carbon budgets, covering the period to 2022. Our projected performance over the third carbon budget equates to a 37% reduction in emissions below 1990 levels.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2014-06-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which organisations collect subscriptions through the employers’ payroll service in his Department and its agencies.

Mike Penning

The table below shows a Treasury Approved list of organisations to which employees can pay subscriptions and premiums through voluntary deductions to their salary.

The Department is unable to determine which of these are specifically subscriptions as per the question asked so for completeness this list details all potential voluntary deductions operated within the Department.

Description

Benenden Healthcare Society

The following are covered under British Hospitals Contributory Association:- – Anglia Health – Bolton and District – BUPA Cash Plan – CreweHospital – GwentHospital – Leicester & County – Mercia Health – Patients Aid – Premier Health Benefits – Provincial Hosp Service – Simply Health – Sovereign Health – Transport Hosp Fund – Healthshield – Wakefield Health Scheme – Western Provident Asscociation

BirminghamHospital Sat Fund

Charity Trust

Civil Service Benevolent Fund

Civil Service Club

Civil Service Retirement Fellowship

Civil Service Sports Council

CSBF Recovery Of Loans

Customs Annuity Ben Fund

FDA

Forester Health

HASSRA

HASSRA National Lottery

Health Scheme

Health Sure Group

Hosp Savings Assoc Crown

Hosp Savings Assoc Individual

Hospital Saturday Fund

Leeds Hospital Fund Ltd

Merseyside Health

NorwichUnion

PCS

Post Office Insurance Soc

Prospect

Scottish Benevolent Fund

Sun Life Assurance Society

Transport and General Workers Union

UK Civil Service Benefit Society

Welsh Hosp and Health Servs Association

Westfield Health Scheme Discretionary

Westfield Health Scheme Fixed

Give As You Earn . G.A.Y.E

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2014-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, for what reasons he decided against change following his review into his Department’s check-off system for employees’ trade union subscriptions.

Jo Swinson

I have not reviewed, and have no plans to review, this Department’s check-off arrangements.

I have not reviewed these arrangements, as I believe that Trade Unions have an important role to play in creating a positive employment relations climate from which all organisations can benefit. I also believe that the check-off system does not create a distinguishable burden on the administration of the HR function in this Department.