Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Craig Tracey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Craig Tracey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Tracey on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will ensure provision of sustainable and long-term funding for (a) children’s hospice sector and (b) other voluntary sector end-of-life care services.

    Ben Gummer

    A review of the allocation methodology of the annual children’s hospice grant is being considered to support an equitable, transparent and evidence based formula making use of data from all children’s hospices in 2016/17. The aim is to provide clear advice to hospices on the grant for 2016/17 and a proposed way forward to review the formula and how hospices can contribute to that process.

    Adult hospices, including voluntary sector hospices, receive on average around a third of their funding from the National Health Service and it is for local commissioners to ensure that the services they commission meet the needs of their local populations, including in end of life care.

    Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have responsibility for ensuring that they are meeting the needs of those requiring children’s palliative care services, considering the full range of local provision, both statutory and voluntary sectors, and the wishes of children and young people and their families. CCGs will need to make sure that they provide information on the support available locally for children with palliative care needs and their families.

    Many maternity units have specialist bereavement midwives and dedicated bereavement suites to support parents but we know that this support is not available in every unit and we are currently considering the actions that we can take to improve bereavement services further. For families of older children and young people chaplaincy services may be able to provide support.

    It is the responsibility of the professional regulators to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricula to ensure newly qualified healthcare professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. It is the responsibility of employers to ensure staff receive appropriate development to deliver safe and effective healthcare. This includes training in providing care to children and young people with life-shortening conditions.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that Ofcom implements the recommendations from its Strategic Review of Digital Communications, published in February 2016, on automatic compensation for mobile and broadband customers for loss of internet connection.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government fully supports Ofcom’s plans to implement a system of automatic compensation for telecommunications customers who suffer a loss or reduction of their broadband services. This is in line with Ofcom’s remit to, amongst other things, protect the interests of end users. The Department anticipates that Ofcom will, in due course, define the specific parameters of the automatic compensation requirements that it will impose, and DCMS will liaise with it during this process.

  • Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-06-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with Ministers of the Scottish Government on payments for people affected by contaminated blood.

    Jane Ellison

    I have had a number of discussions with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Well-being and we are working together to facilitate the increased payments using the current scheme administrator.

    We both want these payments to be made as quickly as possible to people infected in Scotland, and across the UK.

    Officials in the Department and Scottish Government have been working together to facilitate the increased payments using the current payment scheme.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-09-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of people in the UK who do not have access to superfast broadband.

    Baroness Mobarik

    We want everyone to have access to high speed broadband as part of our commitment to building a stronger, more connected economy that works for all.

    Through the Government’s investment of over £780 million, superfast broadband is now available to 90% of homes and businesses in the UK, compared to less than half in 2010. By the end of 2017 it will be available to 95% of homes and businesses.

    But we are determined to go further, and extra funding from clawback and efficiency savings in the local broadband contracts with BT will allow this coverage to be extended.

    We are also committed to introducing a Universal Service Obligation for broadband through the Digital Economy Bill. Our ambition is to set the minimum speed at 10Mbps – enough to meet the needs of a typical family and many small businesses so no-one is left behind.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-11-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what legislative changes they propose in order to bring together Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority within NHS Improvement.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We are bringing together Monitor, the Trust Development Authority (TDA), and patient safety and improvement functions from across the health system, under one single leadership and operating model – known as NHS Improvement.

    A number of changes to secondary legislation, covering directions and regulations to the TDA, will be required to support this work. Work is ongoing to bring forward a set of proposals which will be laid before the House in the new year.

  • Baroness Benjamin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Baroness Benjamin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Benjamin on 2015-12-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the contribution of children’s media from the UK to promoting British culture and principles in the UK and abroad.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government recognises the important contribution children’s television makes to promoting British culture and the UK economy. In April, the Government introduced a new tax relief for children’s ‘live action’ television productions to attract inward investment and support our domestic market. We have noted the issues identified by Ofcom and will continue to monitor the sector and consider whether further measures are needed.

  • The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-01-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimates, if any, they have made of the changes to the water table in Cumbria, Yorkshire and Lancashire as a result of rainfall over the last six weeks.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Environment Agency’s water situation report for the north west of England (which is published on the Gov.UK website) reports the situation for observation boreholes in the main bedrock aquifer in Cumbria and Lancashire, the Sherwood Sandstone. The Sherwood Sandstone is moderately unresponsive to rainfall events and this is partly because of the high storage characteristics of the sandstone and also because much of it is covered by low permeability glacial clays.

    Hydrographs for Skirwith (Cumbria) and Yew Tree Farm (West Lancashire) are thought to be representative of this aquifer, although this monitoring is undertaken for water resources purposes not groundwater flooding purposes.

    • The Skirwith hydrograph shows that the groundwater level has risen quite dramatically since mid-November in response to recent rainfall..
    • The hydrograph for Yew Tree Farm shows a similar but less dramatic rise, with levels close to record highs (the site has been monitored since 1971 but with groundwater levels rising steadily since the late 1990s due to reduction in nearby abstraction).
    • The sudden rise in levels was from quite a low point due to a relatively dry year and especially early autumn. Both of the examples show a steady reduction in levels up to the rainfall starting in November.

    The Environment Agency routinely monitors groundwater throughout Yorkshire. Water levels in November 2015 were:

    • on the low side of average in the Chalk Principal Aquifer and the Corallian Limestone Principal Aquifer
    • just above average in the Magnesian Limestone Principal Aquifer
    • well above average in the Sherwood Sandstone Principal Aquifer

    Levels in all the aquifers in Yorkshire have responded to the rainfall in late December 2015 and early January 2016:

    • Levels in the Chalk have responded strongly to the recent rainfall.
    • Groundwater levels in the Corallian Limestone near Malton are now at record highs and the result is ongoing groundwater flooding in Malton. North Yorkshire County Council are coordinating a multi-agency response including pumping to minimise the impact on local communities.
    • Levels in the Magnesian Limestone and the Sherwood Sandstone have also responded to the rainfall and are now at maximum levels for the time of year.

    The Environment Agency undertakes monitoring and assessment of different aquifers locally, based upon the potential risk of groundwater flooding. A system of groundwater flood alerts and warnings is provided through our incident response procedures for those communities most vulnerable to potential groundwater flooding.

    Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs)(Local Councils) have responsibility for local flood risk including groundwater under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. This Act gives LLFAs duties to prepare local flood risk management strategies and to co-operate with other risk management authorities, and powers to carry out local flood risk management.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent steps he has taken to reduce the incidence of death during armed forces training.

    Penny Mordaunt

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1 February 2016 to Question 24067 to the hon. Member for Romford (Mr Rosindell).

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which (a) GPs, (b) acute trusts and (c) mental health trusts failed to submit data to the Female Genital Mutilation Enhanced Dataset via the Health and Social Care Information Centre by (i) the 31 July submission deadline for Q2 2015, (ii) the 31 October deadline for Q3 2015 and (iii) the 31 January deadline for Q3 2015.

    Jane Ellison

    The data from the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Enhanced Dataset can be found at:

    http://www.hscic.gov.uk/fgm

    It became mandatory for all acute trusts to collect and submit to the FGM Enhanced Dataset from 1 July 2015 and for all mental health trusts and general practitioner (GP) practices from 1 October 2015. Therefore GPs and mental health trusts were not under a requirement to submit information during the period for which information can be provided. The third quarterly data set has been published today.

    “

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to the funding formula for GP surgeries on surgeries in (a) Huddersfield and (b) Kirklees.

    Alistair Burt

    Approximately 55% of general practitioner (GP) practices operate under General Medical Service (GMS) contract arrangements. Typically, at least half of the money that a GMS practice receives is in the form of the ‘global sum’, derived through the Carr-Hill Formula.

    The formula, as agreed with the British Medical Association (BMA) before the introduction of the 2004 GP contract, is used to allocate the global sum and related payments on the basis of the practice population, weighted for factors that influence relative needs and costs.

    There are indications that the formula does not work as effectively in areas with demographically atypical populations, such as new towns or areas with high student populations. NHS England is working with the BMA’s General Practitioners Committee, NHS Employers, the Department and academic partners on the review to develop a formula that better reflects the factors that drive workload, such as age or deprivation. As part of this work, the effect of any changes on practice funding in specific areas such as Huddersfield and Kirklees will be considered. It is intended that the review of the Carr-Hill formula will inform the 2017-18 GP contract.

    A search of the Department’s Ministerial correspondence database has identified one item of correspondence received since 1 May 2015 from university health centres. There has also been a Ministerial meeting related to areas with demographically atypical populations, in this case new towns. It was not possible to identify correspondence received from GP surgeries with atypical patient profiles. This represents correspondence received by the Department’s ministerial correspondence unit only.