Tag: Parliamentary Question

Seema Malhotra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the average cost to a (a) school and (b) local authority of employing a (i) teacher and (ii) classroom assistant; and what forecast she has made of that cost in each year from 2016-17 to 2019-20.

Nick Gibb

The government published a statistical release in July 2015, ‘School Workforce in England: November 2014’, which contains the latest statistics on average salaries for teachers employed by schools and local authorities in England. This release can be found online at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2014

The latest available statistics on the average salaries of teaching assistants employed by schools and local authorities in England were published in response to PQ856 in June 2015. This can be found online at: www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-06-02/856/

The Department for Education’s pay reforms have given schools greater flexibility to decide how much to pay their teachers and how quickly their pay progresses over time.

Future average salaries of teachers will be informed by the annual recommendations of the School Teachers Pay Review Body. The pay of teaching assistants and school support staff are set by schools themselves. The department does not produce forecasts of future average pay for these staff.

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01/01/2023
Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many civil servants in her Department are in the redeployment pool.

Mr Desmond Swayne

DFID has 10 staff at present in its redeployment pool of staff who have become surplus due to the role they were filling either having been discontinued, or it having been confirmed to them that their role will be discontinued.

For those whose roles have already been discontinued (5 staff), temporary work has been found whilst we continue to look for more appropriate longer term positions for them.

01/01/2023
Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential role of technology in reducing aseptic pharmaceutical medication error.

George Freeman

Where appropriate, automation has a role to play in ensuring consistent output from aseptic compounding and increased production capacity. It may also provide additional protection against microbiological contamination by use of ‘closed systems’ of manufacture.

Licensed specials manufacturers may consider automation as an appropriate solution for their product range and capacity. In these cases, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency inspections assess whether the process design, validation, personnel, training and procedures relating to the automated system comply with the requirements of Good Manufacturing Practice.

01/01/2023
Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 2 March 2015 to Question HL5030, how much his Department on the feasibility phase for undertaking a diesel generator upgrade to the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyers; when the feasibility phase for that work was concluded; when his Department made a decision on whether to proceed with the upgrade programme; how many options for undertaking the upgrade work were initially presented to his Department by BAE Systems; whether BAE Systems was asked to present further options to his Department, in addition to those initially presented; which option his Department chose to proceed with, and for what reasons; what estimate he has made of the cost of carrying out that work on each of the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyers; on how many destroyers such upgrade work has commenced; and on how many such destroyers the upgrade work is complete.

Mr Philip Dunne

As referenced in the answer given on 2 March 2015 by the then Under Secretary of State for Defence, Lord Astor of Hever, to Question HL5030, the initial feasibility phase of upgrading the Type 45 diesel generators concluded in March 2015. Following this, further feasibility studies were completed in November 2015 at a cost of £4.7million. A range of technical options and a variety of delivery models are currently being explored with competing industrial partners and when the way forward has been determined, will be subject to the Departments formal approvals process. This approval will constitute a decision to proceed.

BAE systems initially presented a range of options. The MOD was satisfied with the range of choices presented and has since selected the three leading options to be taken forward into the Assessment Phase.

01/01/2023

Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the national bed occupancy rate average was for (a) adult and (b) child and adolescent inpatient psychiatric wards in each year since 2010.

Alistair Burt

The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is shown in the following table.

Average daily availability and occupancy rate¹ for consultant-led beds open overnight in the mental health sector, in each quarter from 2010-11

Quarter	Number of available beds open overnight	Occupancy rate
2010-11 Q1	23,515	87.1%
2010-11 Q2	22,929	86.7%
2010-11 Q3	23,740	85.9%
2010-11 Q4	23,607	86.6%
2011-12 Q1	23,253	86.8%
2011-12 Q2	23,208	86.8%
2011-12 Q3	23,016	87.2%
2011-12 Q4	23,121	87.2%
2012-13 Q1	22,550	87.5%
2012-13 Q2	22,269	88.3%
2012-13 Q3	22,496	87.2%
2012-13 Q4	22,268	88.6%
2013-14 Q1	22,109	88.3%
2013-14 Q2	22,025	89.2%
2013-14 Q3	21,931	88.1%
2013-14 Q4	21,731	88.6%
2014-15 Q1	21,750	89.8%
2014-15 Q2	21,618	89.6%
2014-15 Q3	21,446	89.4%
2014-15 Q4	21,374	89.5%
2015-16 Q1²	18,569	89.9%
2015-16 Q2	19,249	89.1%
2015-16 Q3	19,273	88.6%

Source: Bed availability and occupancy, NHS England

Notes:

Numbers of occupied beds are collected every quarter by consultant main specialty. Numbers of available beds are not collected by consultant specialty, because some beds may be available for more than one specialty to use depending on need. Instead, available beds are collected by four sectors within which beds are used flexibly. These sectors are general and acute, mental health, learning disabilities, and maternity. Occupied bed days by specialty are added to calculate occupancy rates for each of these sectors.
In 2015-16 Q1 several mental health providers ceased to submit a return, as a validation of beds data concluded that they were not satisfying the required criteria for consultant-led beds. This is the major factor behind the drop in the number of consultant-led, available mental health beds.

01/01/2023

Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-03-24.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to consult with people in Cumbernauld on the proposed closure of HM Revenue and Customs Cumbernauld office.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) plans to create two new Regional Centres in Scotland, in Glasgow and Edinburgh in 2019-20, accommodating between 5,700 and 6,300 employees. HMRC’s new Regional Centres will give its staff all they need including a modern office environment, close to good travel and transport links. They will provide stable, high quality jobs and offer a wide range of opportunities for training and promotion and allow its staff to follow more varied career paths than have previously been possible.

HMRC will help all its staff work through their options. It will give everyone the opportunity to discuss their personal circumstances with their manager ahead of any office closures or moves, so they know about any issues that need to be taken into account when making decisions.

01/01/2023
David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what work her Department is carrying out using its funding priorities to encourage gender equality around the world.

Mr Nick Hurd

Promoting the rights of girls and women is a priority for the UK’s development programme. The UK Aid strategy states that ‘Throughout all its development spending, the government will continue to prioritise the needs of girls and women, which has been fundamental to the UK’s approach to development’ (para 3.2.1).

DFID’s Strategic Vision for Girls and Women (published in 2011, refreshed in 2013) sets out how UK Aid is being used to unlock the potential of girls and women, to stop poverty before it starts. To reinforce this, the Gender Equality Act was passed in the UK law on 13th May 2014. Through the Act there is a legal requirement to consider, before providing development assistance and alongside other considerations, how the assistance will contribute to reducing gender inequality.

01/01/2023
Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which Government Minister will have responsibility for overseeing the implementation of the new anti-corruption strategy.

Matthew Hancock

Building on the UK’s Anti Corruption Plan and the Prime Minister’s successful summit, the UK has committed to develop a new national anti-corruption strategy which will provide a vision and framework for our domestic and international policy priorities. We are reviewing the governance arrangements for the strategy and will announce them in due course.

01/01/2023
Stephen Hammond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Hammond on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the (a) ability and (b) willingness of police forces to catch those using their mobile phone while driving.

Brandon Lewis

There has been no assessment made of the enforcement by the police of the offence of driving whilst using a mobile phone. The enforcement of this offence is an operational matter for individual Chief Officers of police.

The attached table, “Fixed Penalty Notices” includes figures for Fixed Penalty Notices for use of mobile phones whilst driving, broken down by Police Force Area and by Year.

Based on information provided by the Ministry of Justice, statistics on offenders found guilty and sentenced, including sentence outcomes, for using or causing others to use a mobile phone whilst driving, at all courts in England and Wales, by police force area, from 2005 to 2015, can be viewed using the ‘Motoring data tool: with criminal justice area’ in the annual publication, linked below:- https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2015

01/01/2023
Lord Kilclooney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kilclooney on 2016-10-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much is paid to GP practices for (1) advising a person to have a flu jab, and (2) giving a person the flu jab.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Under the General Medical Services contract, general practitioners (GPs) are paid £9.80 for each dose of influenza vaccination that they administer to patients who are eligible for the vaccination. GPs are not paid for advising patients to have the influenza vaccination.

01/01/2023