The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rana on 2015-12-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the humanitarian impact of cutting aid to India from 2016.
Baroness Verma
We selected this three year transition period specifically so that we could responsibly fulfil commitments to existing financial aid projects and ensure government partners were able to build the capacity needed to meet development needs after our support ends.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Jones on 2016-01-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ensure that police forces have sufficient numbers and adequate powers to deal with incidents similar to which took place during New Year celebrations in Cologne.
Mike Penning
Enforcement of the law and decisions on how resources are deployed, are responsibilities of individual Chief Officers and Police and Crime Commissioners, taking into account the specific local issues and demands which they face.
Since the disorders seen in summer 2011 and the issue by the Home Secretary in 2012 of the first Strategic Policing Requirement, the police in England and Wales have taken significant steps to strengthen their capability to manage the risk of disorder. These steps include:
• ensuring sufficient public order trained officers are available to respond to local and national strategic threat and risk assessments;
• enabling the quick and effective deployment of police officers across the country, through the National Police Coordination Centre and the National Mobilisation Plan;
• ensuring the effective use of public order powers and tactics;
• ensuring the early detection of, and effective mitigation against, any issues through an improved national capability to intelligently monitor open source media.
The police have a range of powers they can use across a broad canvas of criminal offences enabling them to proactively prepare for, and provide, a coordinated and proportionate response to disorder incidents, similar to those seen in the New Year celebrations in Cologne.
With regards to the sexual violence seen in Cologne, the key message must be that anyone who disrupts the communities and livelihoods of our citizens will face the full force of justice, because it is the victims who matter most. This includes those seeking asylum and we are clear we will remove asylum eligibility from those who commit serious crime. I am also clear that every incident of sexual violence and rape need to be treated seriously, every victim needs to be treated with dignity and every investigation and every prosecution needs to be conducted thoroughly and professionally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Walmsley on 2016-02-22.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to make the Meningitis B vaccine available on the NHS to children born before 1 May 2015.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the independent expert body that advises ministers on immunisation matters, recommended a meningococcal B (MenB) immunisation programme that will protect infants because they are at highest risk, with the peak incidence of MenB being in infants at about five months of age. The MenB vaccine is offered to babies at two months of age, with further doses offered when they reach four and 12 months of age.
The JCVI keeps the eligibility criteria of all vaccination programmes under review and considers new evidence as it becomes available. If the JCVI provides further advice about the programme, we will consider this.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Willis of Knaresborough on 2016-03-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to involving appropriate regulators in the development of degree-level apprenticeships for nursing and other allied health professionals.
Lord Prior of Brampton
Apprenticeship standards focus on the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to enable an apprentice to demonstrate mastery of an occupation and, as such, must meet professional registration requirements in sectors where these exist at the relevant level.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council are involved in the development of the Degree Nurse Apprenticeship Standard and will formally be invited to become a member of the Nursing Trailblazer Group.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-04-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department has made an assessment of how much it costs on average to fill an individual pothole; and if he will make a statement.
Andrew Jones
The Department for Transport has estimated that on average it costs £53 to repair a pothole. However, the cost of filling an individual pothole will depend on a range of variables including geography, the type of road and whether the repair is temporary or permanent.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-05-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients discharged from assessment and treatment units were re-admitted to hospital settings in each of the last five years.
Alistair Burt
The data on patients discharged from assessment and treatment units and re-admitted to a hospital setting or an assessment and treatment unit in each of the last five years is not available.
Health and Social Care Information Centre has been collecting data through the Learning Disability Assuring Transformation data collection since February 2015. Between March 2015 and February 2016, 1,835 patients were admitted to inpatient settings, of these, 250 patients were re-admitted within a year, including 75 patients who were re-admitted in the last 30 days.¹ Data on discharge has also been collected since February 2015 but readmission and discharge data are not linked and therefore may not relate to the same person.
Note:
¹ To note for those readmitted, Health and Social Care Information Centre can only consider the data they have from February 2015 onwards. Therefore if a patient was discharged in January 2015 and then readmitted in March 2015 they would not be counted as a readmission. The readmission figures may currently be under counting; however this will improve over time as the data set grows.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-07-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of reports that one in seven women in South Sudan do not survive childbirth, what steps they are taking to ensure the improvement of conditions for pregnant women in that country.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The UK leads the £200 million, five year, multi-donor Health Pooled Fund which provides comprehensive health care for pregnant women, including skilled care during labour and delivery, in eight of the ten states in South Sudan. Over the last three years this programme has enabled 493,316 pregnant women to receive anti-natal care services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress his Department has made on reaching a decision on NHS England’s commissioning responsibilities for drugs capable of preventing HIV infection in high-risk groups.
Nicola Blackwood
In September the Court of Appeal heard an appeal against an earlier judgement of the High Court, which ruled that NHS England does have powers to commission pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for people at risk of contracting HIV. Judgement is still awaited. No decisions on commissioning of PrEP have yet been made.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received about funding allocated by his Department to the organisation Action on Smoking and Health.
Jane Ellison
To identify relevant representations the Department has received would result in disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-12-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of why there has not been an improvement in the proportion of female high earners in the UK despite initiatives to reduce the gender pay gap.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
New figures released by the Office for National Statistics show that the gender pay gap in the UK remains the lowest on record.
I am proud of our achievements, but recognise there is still more we must do. To help eliminate the gender pay gap within a generation, we are requiring larger employers to publish information about their gender pay gaps and bonuses. We are also working with business to support and promote Lord Davies’ target of 33% of women on boards in the FTSE 350 by 2020.
The government is also introducing new regulations that will require larger employers to publish their gender pay gap information. This will encourage companies to take action and drive change on this important issue