Tag: Nicholas Soames

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help dairy farmers better manage market volatility.

George Eustice

I recognise that many farmers are struggling with the prolonged period of low prices.

The £26.2 million aid package we secured for the UK from the European Commission – and paid out in November and December – provided some immediate relief to hard-pressed farmers. From 1 April, farmers will be able to average their tax over five years instead of two, helping them deal with volatility between years. We are also looking at the development of a dairy futures market in the UK to allow farmers to fix their prices for longer periods.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many full-time equivalent GPs were employed in general practices in Mid Sussex constituency in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12, (d) 2012-13 and (e) 2013-14.

Alistair Burt

The information is shown in the following table.

Total general practitioners (GPs) in selected area, full time equivalents 2009-2014:

	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
West Sussex Teaching Primary Care Trust (PCT)
Total GPs	556	556	558	550
GPs (excluding registrars)	469	455	462	474
GPs (excluding retainers and registrars)	462	452	460	472
GP Provider	355	344	352	357
GP Other	107	108	108	115
GP Registrar	86	101	96	76
GP Retainer	7	4	2	3
East Sussex Downs and Weald PCT
Total GPs	236	240	243	242
GPs (excluding registrars)	213	213	219	220
GPs (excluding retainers and registrars)	208	211	217	218
GP Provider	179	173	173	173
GP Other	29	38	43	45
GP Registrar	22	27	25	21
GP Retainer	5	2	2	2
NHS High Weald Lewes Havens Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)
Total GPs					115	110
GPs (excluding registrars)					110	110
GPs (excluding retainers and registrars)					109	109
GP Provider					80	78
GP Other					29	31
GP Registrar					5	1
GP Retainer					0	0
NHS Horsham and Mid Sussex CCG
Total GPs					134	135
GPs (excluding registrars)					130	132
GPs (excluding retainers and registrars)					129	131
GP Provider					95	94
GP Other					33	37
GP Registrar					4	3
GP Retainer					1	1

Source: The Health and Social Care Information Centre General and Personal Medical Services Statistics

Notes:

1. Data as at 30 September in each year.
2. NHS Workforce figures are not available by constituency. Mid Sussex constituency was contained within and serviced by East Sussex Downs and Weald PCT and West Sussex Teaching PCT from 2009-2012 and NHS High Weald Lewes Havens CCG and NHS Horsham and Mid Sussex CCG from 2013 onwards. These trusts are not geographically co-terminus and thus the figures are not comparable over a time series.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-03-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the amount spent by the NHS on locum doctors in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt

Information on the amount spent by the National Health Service on locum doctors in each of the last five years is not held centrally.

The Department only collects data on overall spending on agency staff at a national level and this is incorporated into the Department’s annual accounts.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to improve NATO decision-making procedures and culture.

Mr Julian Brazier

NATO adaptation is a high priority for the UK and many other Allies. A number of important decisions were taken at the Wales Summit in 2014. Significant progress has been made in implementing those changes. We expect NATO to take further decisions on adaptation at the forthcoming Summit in Warsaw.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-14.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what definition the Government uses of productivity.

Greg Hands

The government uses a number of measures to examine productivity, looking at output per hour, output per worker and output per job. While the measure used will depend upon the circumstances, output per hour is generally regarded as the best measure.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) E3-D Sentry and (b) Voyager aircraft are in operational use.

Mr Philip Dunne

The number of E-3D Sentry and Voyager aircraft in operation with the RAF as at 1 May 2016 is given below.

	Forward Fleet	Sustainment Fleet	Total
E-3D Sentry	4	2	6
Voyager	9	0	9

The Forward Fleet comprises serviceable and short term unserviceable aircraft. Typically the short term unserviceable aircraft are undergoing minor works, forward maintenance or any other unforeseen rectification or technical inspection that can arise on a day-to-day basis. The Sustainment Fleet includes aircraft undergoing deep maintenance, upgrade programmes or being held in storage. It excludes those declared redundant, surplus or awaiting decommissioning or disposal.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-05-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what change there was in the level of emergency admissions of older people between 2010-11 and 2014-15 in the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Ben Gummer

Between 2010-11 and 2014-15, there was a 5.4% increase in the number of emergency admissions of patients aged 65 and over at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will instigate an inquiry into the past management of the South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Department’s attention was first drawn to issues in relation to South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAMB) NHS Foundation Trust’s NHS 111 service in autumn 2015.

In March 2015, NHS England convened a risk summit meeting involving all partners following the suspension by SECAMB of their unofficial call-handling project. NHS England commissioned an external investigation which was published on 5 November 2015, while an initial report was shared with families involved with the SECAMB’s project in September 2015.

Monitor, the then independent regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts (now part of NHS Improvement), announced on 28 October 2015 that it was taking action against SECAMB. Monitor’s requirements included the development of three reviews. The first; a forensic review of the project itself undertaken by Deloitte was published on 15 March 2016. Second, the Trust has commissioned an independent expert to lead a patient impact review following the call-handling project, which will be finalised shortly. Third, the Trust is required to undertake a full governance review and this will take place once the substantive board is in place.

In the meantime NHS Improvement are working closely with the Trust to support it in addressing known governance, operational and quality issues.

The Government has no plans to set up an inquiry.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of registered farm businesses which have access to superfast broadband.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

The Government is investing £780 million in superfast broadband. This will enable 95% of homes and businesses, including those based on farms, to have access to superfast broadband by the end of 2017. Clawback from contracts could extend this further. Standard broadband of at least 2Mbps was made available to everyone by the end of 2015, enabling digital access to all public services, and superfast broadband is now available to over 90% of UK premises – up from 45% in 2010. We are looking at superfast solutions for the last 5%. Farmers will also benefit from the broadband Universal Service Obligation which we are working to introduce by 2020, with an ambition that this will be set at 10 megabits per second.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds in the number of people in a permanent vegetative state in the UK; and how many such people are cared for by the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.

David Mowat

Information on the number of people in a permanent vegetative state is not collected centrally.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospital are currently not caring for any patients in a permanent vegetative state.