Tag: Parliamentary Question

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the experiences of (a) children on the autism spectrum, (b) adults on the autism spectrum and (c) family members and carers, during the diagnostic process, are collected and published.

Alistair Burt

The Department issued new statutory guidance in March this year for local authorities and National Health Service organisations to support the continued implementation of the 2010 Autism Strategy, as refreshed by its 2014 Think Autism update. This sets out what people seeking an autism diagnosis can expect from Local Authorities and NHS bodies.

The Department has also 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 clinical commissioning groups to discuss good practice in meeting the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard 51 Autism, and those that do not, with the aim of supporting more consistent provision. These NICE guidelines already recommend that there should be a maximum of three months between a referral and a first appointment for a diagnostic assessment for autism. We expect the NHS to be working towards meeting the recommendations.

We are aware that Northumberland continues to make significant progress in improving access to services. A child will wait no longer between initial referral and treatment than 12 weeks and the majority are seen within nine weeks. Northumberland has also invested in adult autism diagnosis services and has an agreed programme with Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust designed to deliver the NICE guidelines for adults by September 2016. Urgent cases are seen earlier and those on waiting lists, whose needs escalate, are given access to services as required. There is also a newly developed emotional health and wellbeing strategy for children and young people in Northumberland which will aim seek to identify children with autism at an earlier age and ultimately provide earlier treatment.

NHS England is promoting the engagement services with children and young people. All children, young people and adults, including those with autism or a learning disability, who are receiving care from the NHS, should have the opportunity to provide feedback via the Friends and Family Test. There should also be consideration given to capturing the views of parents and carers. In addition, the autism statutory guidance mentioned above states that NHS bodies and NHS foundation trusts should look at people’s experiences of the autism diagnostic process locally and assure themselves that this is acceptable.

01/01/2023

Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the number of occasions when due to the loss or theft of keys, a prison has had to be relocked between (a) May 2010 and May 2011, (b) May 2011 and May 2012, (c) May 2012 and May 2013, (d) May 2013 and May 2014, (e) May 2014 and May 2015 and (f) after May 2015 to date; and what the cost to the public purse was of each such incident.

Andrew Selous

Security is paramount within prisons and it is important that the risk of any potential key compromise is addressed as quickly as possible to protect the public. When a key/lock incident is reported an immediate investigation is undertaken to assess the risk and unless it is clear that security has not been compromised, locking mechanisms and keys will be replaced and/or other necessary remedial action will be taken.

Between 2005 and May 2010 there were 16 relocks which resulted in costs of £1,280,234. Since May 2010 there have been 8 relocks, at a cost of £529,973.

The table below shows the number of incidents and cost to the public purse of re-lock within prisons in England and Wales due to loss or theft of keys and for the time periods requested.

Time Period	No of Incidents	Total Cost (excluding VAT)
1 May 2010 – 1 May 2011	3	£337,553
2 May 2011 – 1 May 2012	1	Nil cost
2 May 2012 – 1 May 2013	0	0
2 May 2013 – 1 May 2014	1	£28,812
2 May 2014 – 1 May 2015	2	£46,396
2 May 2015 – 9 Dec 2015	1	£117,212

Notes:

Figures exclude VAT.
The 2011/12 incident involved a privately operated prison and the cost of re-lock was met by the private contractor in full at nil cost to the public purse.
Prisons are also responsible for re-locks of crown court cells. Figures exclude re-lock of cells in two crown courts during the period.
The figures quoted have been drawn from live administrative databases and may subsequently be amended. Due care is taken during processing and analysis, but the detail is subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

01/01/2023

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, as a result of the review of the NHS Commissioning Board’s policy on the autonomy of Commissioning Support Units (CSUs), CSUs that want to become staff enterprises or staff mutuals will have access to working capital on the same basis as other options open to CSUs.

Lord Prior of Brampton

It will be for NHS England’s Commissioning Committee to decide, in due course, whether to offer Clinical Support Units (CSUs) who apply to become autonomous, access to working capital and if so, on what terms.

01/01/2023
Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-02-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2016 to Question 22396, on park homes and the Warm Homes Discount, what the budget is for expenditure on the pilot scheme and what proportion is being funded by energy suppliers.

Andrea Leadsom

Energy suppliers participating in the Warm Home Discount this year (2015/16) have been given the voluntary option to provide a rebate to mobile home residents who meet the qualifying benefit as part of the Industry Initiatives section of the scheme. This scheme called the Park Homes Warm Home Discount pilot scheme is funded by obligated energy suppliers in the scheme and is open to permanent park home residents in England, Scotland or Wales. Residents on a Park Home site who pay for their electricity through their park site owner and meet one of the qualifying eligibility criteria can apply. If successful, residents will receive a one-off rebate of £140 towards their electricity bill.

The pilot scheme opened in November and is only open for a limited period and once a certain number of applications have been received and are successful, the pilot scheme will close. The pilot is currently expected to deliver just over 1000 rebates. This translates to just over £140,000 of support being delivered before the 31st March 2016.

01/01/2023
Baroness Northover – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Northover on 2016-03-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that women from affected communities are in positions of leadership and involved in planning and decision-making during a humanitarian emergency response.

Baroness Verma

To ensure that humanitarian responses meet the unique needs of women and girls, women should be provided with opportunities to engage in humanitarian response systems, decision-making processes, and accountability mechanisms. DFID works with partners, including United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations to promote the inclusion of women and women’s groups in planning and decision-making around preparedness, response, and early recovery. This approach reflects the International Development (Gender Equality) Act 2014 that states that before provision of humanitarian assistance, the Secretary of State shall have regard to how it will take account of gender-related differences in needs.

Ensuring the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016 delivers outcomes for women and girls is a priority for the Government. This includes support towards proposals for system-wide accountability for gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment in crises and increased participation of women’s groups in humanitarian responses.

01/01/2023
Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what criteria are used to determine the level of compensation due to current or former service personnel diagnosed with cancer related to working conditions experienced during their period of service.

Mark Lancaster

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) provides no-fault compensation for members of the Armed Forces where illness, injury or death is caused by service from 6 April 2005 under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) and, before that date, under the War Pensions Scheme (WPS).

Any disablement, injury or illness, including cancer, can be claimed with awards made where the claimed disorder is accepted as being due to service. Lay and scheme medical advisers work together and decisions are evidence based, reflecting the individual case facts, contemporary medical understanding of causation and the relevant law.

Awards under the WPS depend on the assessed level of disablement with the method of assessment set out in the legislation and expressed as a percentage. The AFCS is tariff based. The legislation includes nine tables of injuries and disorders with associated tariff levels, relevant to military service. A lump sum is paid for pain and suffering taking account of the likely progress of the condition over the person’s lifetime. There are fifteen tariff levels and, for the more serious disorders like cancer, a Guaranteed Income Payment to cover reduced civilian employability is paid, in addition, from the date of claim for life.

Where negligence exists on the part of the MOD, Service personnel may make a claim for damages under common law for service after May 1987. Awards are determined by common law principles which, broadly, take into account, as appropriate, an individual’s pain and suffering, degree of injury, past and future financial losses and level of care required. Levels of compensation which include these elements can vary depending on an individual’s circumstances.

01/01/2023
Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of cancer patients in (a) England and (b) Copeland constituency received their first cancer treatment within 62 days of an urgent GP referral in 2015-16.

Jane Ellison

The information is shown in the following table.

Proportion of patients that started first treatment for all cancers within 62 days of an urgent general practitioner referral in 2015-16

England

NHS Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)¹

2015-16

82.4%

79.2%

Source: Cancer waiting times, NHS England

Notes:

¹NHS Cumbria CCG is the CCG responsible for commissioning care for the residents of the constituency of Copeland. Data is not available by parliamentary constituency.

01/01/2023
Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether the Government was involved in the legal agreement drawn up in 1998 to transfer the estates involved in the Tower Hamlets Housing Action Trust to Old Ford Housing Association.

Gavin Barwell

We do not know whether Government was involved in drafting the legal agreement itself – this could only be determined at disproportionate cost – but the Government was involved in the development of, and preparatory work leading to, the transfer to Old Ford Housing Association.

01/01/2023
Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the proportion of companies which have published details of the measures they are taking to eradicate slavery and human trafficking from their supply chains.

Sarah Newton

The Government has not estimated what proportion of businesses have reported so far.

We published guidance in October 2015 advising that businesses should report as soon as reasonably practicable after their financial year end, which in practice should mean within six months of an organisation’s financial year end.

01/01/2023
Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps NICE has taken to make the Novalung treatment available on the NHS.

George Freeman

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended in interventional procedures guidance that the use of extracorporeal membrane ventilators, like Novalung, may be considered as a treatment option for suitable patients in a number of conditions.

NICE’s interventional procedures guidance is available on NICE’s website at: www.nice.org.uk/Guidance

01/01/2023

England	NHS Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)¹
2015-16	82.4%	79.2%