Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-06-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which people and organisations his Department consulted (a) before and (b) after the announcement of 25 November 2015 to end NHS bursaries for nursing, midwifery and allied health professional students.

    Ben Gummer

    As with all policy development to inform decision making the Government received and considered a range of representations from a number of stakeholders before and after the announcement in the Spending Review, 25 November 2015.

    These representations involved discussions with officials in the Department and from its arm’s length bodies, The Council of Deans of Health and Universities UK, Trade Unions, leading organisations including Royal Colleges, professional bodies and representatives from Universities.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many full-time equivalent staff are employed at the carers allowance building at Palatine House, Preston; and what his Department’s plans are for changes in that number up to May 2020.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The number of full time equivalent staff at Palatine House in Preston is 234.12, of which 140.32 work in the Carers Allowance Unit. The headcount number for the Carers Allowance Unit for future years will be agreed as part of the Department’s routine annual resource allocation process.

  • George Howarth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    George Howarth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Howarth on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has held with the Senet Group on gambling addiction; and if he will make a statement.

    Tracey Crouch

    I have had several meetings with groups and individuals concerned about the negative effects of gambling, and have made clear to the industry that it must continue to demonstrate it is taking action to mitigate the risk ofgambling related harm.

    Last year, the Governmentannounced a range of player protection measures including a £2 million programme funded by industry to promote responsible gambling, and the Senet group formed in 2014 promote responsible gambling standards, have overseen a range of measures, including a commitment from its members who cover around 80% of Britishlicensedbetting offices – todedicate 20% of shop window advertising to responsible gambling messages, and a TV campaign earlier the year to educate people about the risks of problem gambling.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assistance her Department plans to permit Serco to give the Diocese of Blackburn to facilitate the settlement of Syrian refugees in Preston.

    Richard Harrington

    The UK has been operating resettlement schemes for many years and we already have established and effective networks to accommodate and support resettled people. It is up to each individual local authority to decide how best to manage the resettlement of refugees in their area, and they are therefore free to choose their own delivery partners.

  • Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to increase awareness of (a) arthritis and (b) other musculoskeletal conditions; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England (PHE) work in partnership with NHS England, professional bodies, the Chief Fire Officers Association, Arthritis Research UK (ARUK), Work Foundation and other private sector system leaders to increase awareness of the prevention of arthritis and musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions.

    PHE’s Chief Knowledge Directorate have worked collaboratively with ARUK to develop a set of local authority briefings on osteoarthritis based on data from ARUK’s MSK Calculator[1]. A musculoskeletal domain has also been created within PHE’s National General Practice Profiles[2]. The Burden of Disease for England was published by PHE in September 2015, which provides analytics on MSK.

    PHE has commissioned and developed a series of resources and tools to raise awareness amongst professionals and the public of Arthritis and MSK conditions such as; a British Medical Journal e-learning module on the benefits of physical activity for osteoarthritis and lower back pain, which has been highly valued by clinicians; a public facing falls prevention booklet.

    [1]http://www.arthritisresearchuk.org/policy-and-public-affairs/policy-priorities-and-projects/musculosketal-health-services/the-musculoskeletal-calculator.aspx

    [2]http://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/general-practice/data#mod,1,pyr,2014,pat,19,par,E38000001,are,-,sid1,2000009,ind1,-,sid2,-,ind2,-

  • Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which common electrical and propulsion systems are shared between the T26 Global Combat Ship and the Type 45 Destroyer.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Due to the specific requirements of Anti-Submarine Warfare operations and the availability of equipment on the open market, the Type 45 and Type 26 Global Combat Ship (T26 GCS) electrical and propulsion system architectures are fundamentally different; no major equipment will be common to both.

    Lessons learned from the Type 45 programme and the in-service experience drawn from the Type 23 Anti-Submarine Warfare Frigates have all been applied to the T26 GCS electrical and propulsion system design.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of (a) defections from North Korea and (b) unsuccessful defection attempts from that country in the last four years.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not hold detailed information on the number of defections from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Information on defections from the DPRK can be obtained from the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Unification

    http://eng.unikorea.go.kr/content.do?cmsid=3026

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department spent on upgrading its IT systems in 2014-15.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Department spent £38m on upgrading IT systems in 2014-15, including both software and equipment development. This includes around £31m for internally developed software, predominantly within delivery bodies of the department such as the Student Loans Company. It also includes the Core Department roll out of a new ICT system, Evolve, for use by all staff. This replaced the previous IT service. The total cost of the Evolve rollout was £3.5 million.

  • Iain Stewart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Iain Stewart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Stewart on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Minister for Social Care’s oral contribution of 3 December 2015, Official Report, column 608, what progress his Department has made on putting in place a national ambition to reduce the number of adults sent out-of-area for acute inpatient mental health care.

    Alistair Burt

    In-line with the recommendations of the Independent Mental Health Taskforce published in February 2016, we have set a national ambition to eliminate inappropriate out of area treatments for adult acute inpatient care as a result of local acute bed pressures by 2020/21 at the latest. To achieve this ambition we expect areas to put in place local action plans and achieve year on year reductions from 2016/17.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures she plans to take to support further education students with additional travel costs arising from mergers of institutions as a result of area reviews of post-16 education.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Area reviews of post-16 education are focused on meeting the needs of learners in each area, and because they are overseen by steering groups including Chairs and Principals of colleges as well as local authorities, they are well placed to do this. The steering group’s discussions and recommendations are based on the best available evidence, including an analysis of local economic and educational needs and the mapping of current curriculum provision and travel to learn patterns. Recommendations made by the steering group, including mergers, should improve access to better quality teaching delivered by sustainable institutions focused on meeting learner need.

    Local authorities are members of area review steering groups and have statutory responsibility for transport to education and training for 16- to 19-year-olds. We expect local authorities to make reasonable decisions about the support they offer based on the needs of their young people, local transport infrastructure and the resources they have available. Authorities will need to take account of the recommendations arising from each area review and the impact on transport for learners. We will reflect this in the next version of the post-16 transport statutory guidance which we plan to update in the autumn.

    Most young people already have access to some kind of discount or concession on bus or train travel, either from their local authority, local transport providers, or from their school or college, and we would expect this to continue following any changes to post-16 provision as a result of area reviews. The 16 to 19 Bursary Fund will continue to be available to support those young people who most need it, with the costs of attending post-16 education or training such as transport and meals.