The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-12-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government who will decide when Sea Lightning squadrons are embarked or disembarked on the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers.
Earl Howe
The decision on whether to operate embarked or disembarked squadrons will be taken by the Strategic Headquarters in the Ministry of Defence.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with the Secretaries of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Work and Pensions and Energy and Climate Change and with the Chancellor of the Exchequer since the announcement of job losses this week by Tata Steel.
Stephen Crabb
I have had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills about the steel industry in Wales. We are committed to doing everything we can to level the playing field for the UK Steel industry. We are actively engaged with the Welsh Government and our officials are working together to support individuals affected by last week’s announcement, as a matter of priority.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce ambulance waiting times in (a) the East Midlands and (b) England.
Jane Ellison
Ambulance services are facing unprecedented demand, delivering over 2,800 more emergency journeys every day compared to 2010 and still continue to respond to the majority of life-threatening cases in under eight minutes.
The Department continues to work closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement to monitor and support performance across all ambulance trusts in 2015-16. In the longer term, NHS England’s Urgent and Emergency Care Review will aim to tackle the root causes of the increasing demand on urgent and emergency care services.
East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust has put measures in place with local partners to address performance issues, including rapid handover protocols with hospitals, a significant recruitment drive, a sickness reduction plan for staff, and working with local NHS 111 providers to ensure that patients are sent the most appropriate response at the right time.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-03-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Annual Report of the National Clinical Audit for Rheumatoid and Early Inflammatory Arthritis, published on 22 January 2016, what plans his Department has to improve systems for capturing, coding and integrating data from NHS outpatient clinics which will also enable coordinated patient-centred care.
Jane Ellison
National Clinical Audits are commissioned and managed on behalf of NHS England by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP). The first annual report of the national clinical audit of rheumatoid and early inflammatory arthritis was published on 22 January 2016. The report identifies that although most services offer prompt educational support and agree targets for treatment with their patients, performance against criteria for referral and assessment could be improved. Since the audit, HQIP has reported that a number of trusts have successfully reconfigured their services in order to improve patient care.
In terms of plans to introduce national measurements for rheumatology services, NHS England’s National Indicators Group is reviewing service level metrics that could provide commissioners with assurance in this area. NHS England will also review whether a new best practice tariff in rheumatoid arthritis could be developed, subject to suitable data being available.
The Department is currently taking a number of steps to improve the systems for capturing, coding and integrating data from National Health Service outpatient clinics. For example, where trusts have identified local requirements for improving the capture of information, including for outpatient data, funds have been made available for improved electronic systems through the Integrated Digital Care Fund and the South Local Clinical Systems Programmes. This includes for improvements to patient administration, patient records, and document management systems which will help the recording and accessing of data at the point of care.
Going forward, through the work of the National Information Board, the Department is taking the following steps to improve the systems for capturing, coding and integrating data from NHS outpatient clinics:
– supporting providers to implement technology systems further in outpatient departments where they do not already exist, to collect better data and become paper free at the point of care. £1.4 billion of the recently announced investment of £4.2 billion in NHS technology over the next five years is intended for this purpose;
– examining the potential to move outpatient departments to capture activity in a standardised terminology (SNOMED CT) so it may be available elsewhere in the hospital and to support reporting and clinical audit. SNOMED CT includes representation of codes pertaining to rheumatoid and inflammatory arthritis that are generally well-developed; and
– In 2017/18, expanding the a current programme of work which is looking information exchange for inpatient transfers, to cover other care domains including the exchange of outpatient information between acute trusts and patients’ general practitioners.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many Approved Mental Health Professionals were employed in the public sector in each year since 2010.
Alistair Burt
The information requested is not collected centrally.
Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that there are enough Approved Mental Health Professionals available to meet local need.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-05-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 11 May 2016 to Question 35798, on Academies Sponsorship, how many of the re-brokered schools in each year since 2010 had been graded inadequate by Ofsted.
Edward Timpson
60 of the 130 academies and free schools that have been re-brokered since 2010 had been graded inadequate by Ofsted.
The remaining academies and free schools were re-brokered because Regional Schools Commissioners identified weaknesses in those schools that could be better addressed by a new sponsor.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2016-07-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many 999 calls were made by each prison establishment as a result of substance misuse including alcohol and new psychoactive substances in the last six months; and if he will make a statement.
Andrew Selous
Information about the frequency of emergency call-outs to prisons is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2016-09-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government plans to take to support providers of supported housing affected by planned reductions in social housing rents.
Gavin Barwell
The Government is committed to protecting the most vulnerable through our welfare reforms. That is why we have exempted supported housing from the Local Housing Allowance cap until 2019/20, from which point we will bring in a new funding model which will ensure that the sector continues to be funded at current levels, taking into account the effect of Government policy on social sector rents. We will apply the rent reduction to supported housing, with the exception of domestic violence refuges, with rents in these properties decreasing by 1% a year for 3 years, up to and including 2019/20.
Our social rent reduction policy was based on the need to put welfare spending on a sustainable footing whilst protecting the most vulnerable. It is right that supported housing providers make the efficiency savings we are asking of the whole social housing sector, and that’s why the 1% rent reduction will apply to the majority of them. In exceptional circumstances, supported housing providers (as for general needs social sector providers affected by the policy) who feel that compliance with the social rent reduction policy would result in serious financial difficulty or jeopardise their financial viability, can apply for an exemption from the requirement.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2015-11-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on the concentration of flight paths over residential areas near Heathrow Airport.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Government’s overall policy on aviation noise, as stated in the 2013 Aviation Policy Framework (APF), is ‘to limit and, where possible, reduce the number of people in the UK significantly affected by aircraft noise’. To achieve this, the Government believes in most cases it will be preferable to concentrate aircraft over as few routes as possible. The APF does however go on to say that ‘where there is intensive use of certain routes, and following engagement with local communities, it may be appropriate to explore options for respite which share noise between communities on an equitable basis, provided this does not lead to significant numbers of people newly affected by noise.’
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an assessment of the accuracy of reports by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that a UK-produced bomb was used in an airstrike against a civilian factory in Yemen.
Penny Mordaunt
We are aware of the allegation that a ceramics factory in Sana’a Governorate was attacked on 23 September 2015 causing civilian casualties and are monitoring this alleged incident.
In doing so, the Ministry of Defence is considering a range of evidence from Government sources, foreign governments, the media and international non-governmental organisations. Our consideration of this allegation is on going.