The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with the Independent Commission the Freedom of Information on the number of occasions it plans to meet in order to finalise its report.
Matthew Hancock
It is for the independent Commission on Freedom of Information to organise its programme of work.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to page 13 of the NHS’ Five Year Forward View, what progress NHS England has made on the commitment to give patients choice over where and how they receive care; and how progress on that commitment will be assessed.
Ben Gummer
NHS England is working to secure a sustained improvement in awareness, offer, operation and take up of choice by 2020. This includes supporting the independent Maternity Services Review, which is due for publication early in the New Year, and taking forward any recommendations that relate to choice; improving the quality of End of Life Care and the choices people should have about where they receive their care and where they choose to die; strengthening choice in both physical and mental health elective services, to ensure that the NHS honours patients’ legal rights to choice of who provides their care; and securing choice in the design and implementation of new care models for the future NHS.
NHS England has brought this work together with their programmes on personal health budgets and integrated personal commissioning, under a new Director and with additional resource, to accelerate the work in all of these areas in support of the Five Year Forward View commitment to deliver greater patient empowerment. Improvements will be assessed through a new national assessment framework for clinical commissioning groups.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2015-12-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have had any discussions with International Cat Care and the World Small Animal Veterinary Association about international feline welfare issues.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Ministers have not been approached by International Cat Care or the World Small Animal Veterinary Association so no such discussions have taken place.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the announcement by the Prime Minister on enhancing mental health services on 11 January 2016, what the basis is for the figure of £290 million to be invested in perinatal mental health care; how that funding will be allocated; and how the efficacy of that funding will be measured.
Alistair Burt
This Government is committed to improving access to perinatal mental health services for women during pregnancy and in the first postnatal year. In January 2016 the Government set out that an additional £290 million will be made available over the next five years to 2020/21, over and above the money identified in the Spring Budget, to invest in perinatal mental health services. This is funded from within the Department’s overall Spending Review settlement and means that in total from 2015/16 to 2020/21 £365 million will be invested in perinatal mental health services.
We are aware that there is unacceptable variation in the levels of access to high quality, NICE-recommended specialist perinatal mental health care for women across England. A 2014 census identified that 40% of women in England have no access to specialist perinatal mental health services and that is why we have confirmed this additional investment. The funding should enable significant progress towards closing this gap and will help to enable women across the country to access evidence-based specialist support, in the community or through inpatient mother and baby services, closer to their home, when they need it. It is anticipated that, by 2020/21, around 30,000 more women should be able to access appropriate specialist support.
This new funding, together with the recommendations of the forthcoming report of the independent Mental Health Taskforce, will enable NHS England to work with partners to design a longer-term transformation programme to build capacity and capability in specialist perinatal mental health services over the next five years. This will include setting detailed plans for how the additional investment will be targeted over the period to 2020/21 and setting clear outcome measures and metrics to monitor the impact of the funding on perinatal mental health provision.
In 2015/16 work is already underway to lay the foundations for this longer-term work programme through targeted funding of activities to build capacity in specialist services. This will include, for example, a £1 million investment in strengthening clinical networks across the country. It is also expected to include the provision of national and regional benchmarking data and analytical support to regions, and work to develop clinical leadership capacity. Work will also continue to support the development of specialist mother and baby units in the regions identified as most in need of new services.
To ensure the workforce are available and appropriately trained, NHS England is working closely with Health Education England and key stakeholders to better understand the future workforce commissioning requirements and how it is best to meet multi professional education and training needs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the (a) time taken to introduce and (b) cost of introduction of a system of in-work benefits for newly-arrived EU nationals as envisaged in Section D of the Decision of the Heads of State or Government, meeting within the European Council, on 18 and 19 February 2016.
Priti Patel
These are issues to be answered as part of the implementation process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-03-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much funding was allocated to Heathwatch England in each of the last three years; and how much such funding will be allocated in 2016-17 in cash terms and real terms.
Ben Gummer
Healthwatch England was allocated £4.083 million in 2013/14, £4.157 million in 2014/15, and £4.5 million in 2015/16. The figures are a combination of funding for core running costs and additional non-recurrent funding.
A final allocation for 2016/17 is yet to be finalised.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-04-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government who is responsible for the appointment of prison imams.
Lord Faulks
Prison Governors are responsible for appointing all Chaplains into prison based roles.
In order to ensure our current practice is as robust and effective as possible in dealing with extremism in prison, the Justice Secretary commissioned a review, supported by external expertise, of the overall approach to dealing with Islamist extremism in prisons, probation and the youth justice system and is currently considering the recommendations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Mills on 2016-05-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to review and update NICE guidance to take account of emerging new technologies in electronic auditing.
George Freeman
Neither the Department nor the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has any plans to do so.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what research her Department has conducted or assessed on the effect of wood-burning stoves on air pollution.
Dr Thérèse Coffey
Defra has commissioned its independent Air Quality Expert Group (AQEG) to assess the potential air quality impacts of biomass combustion, including from domestic wood burning stoves. The report reviews the current evidence base and provides recommendations for further assessment. The report will be published in due course.
Air quality is monitored and assessed on an ongoing basis. The National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory is updated annually and compiles data on total UK air pollutant emissions from a broad range of sources. This includes estimates of emissions from domestic combustion.
Defra undertakes air quality modelling to assess the impact emissions have on concentrations of air pollutants in the UK. This is carried out on an annual basis.
Defra also commissioned research aimed at testing different measurement techniques on stoves to inform analysis on the impacts of the Eco-design Directive, which will provide new Particulate Matter emission limits for domestic stoves and boilers. This research will be published in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage people with ability to seek election to local councils; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Marcus Jones
Strong and effective democratic local governance requires the best possible candidates to stand for election.
Whilst encouraging and fostering suitable candidates is largely a matter for political parties and the local government sector itself, rather than government, we have, through the Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government, provided support for such programmes as ‘Be a Councillor’ designed to encourage ambitious and talented councillors.