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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Royal College of Nursing on the use of nirolumab and ipilimumab to treat skin cancer.

    George Freeman

    We have had no such discussions.

    Nivolumab (Opdivo) in combination with ipilimumab (Yervoy) does not currently have a marketing authorisation in the United Kingdom for treating advanced or unresectable melanoma.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently appraising nivolumab in combination with ipilimumab for the treatment of advanced, unresectable melanoma. NICE currently expects to publish final guidance in September 2016.

    In the absence of guidance from NICE, it is for commissioners to make decisions on whether to fund new medicines based on an assessment of the available evidence.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients on assessment and treatment units have been diagnosed with mental health conditions in the last 12 months.

    Alistair Burt

    Access to an independent mental health advocacy (IMHA) is a statutory right for people detained under most sections of the Mental Health Act, subject to Guardianship or on a community treatment order. We would expect Assessment and Treatment Units to follow their statutory obligations to ensure patients have access to an IMHA where appropriate.

    The Learning Disability Assuring Transformation statistics data shows that of the 2,565 inpatients at the end of April 2016, 600 patients had a main diagnostic category of mental illness on admission.

    Data on the numbers of formal complaints made about patient care; the management of assessment and treatment units; access to autism-specialist services and access to occupational and speech and language therapy are not held centrally. However, NHS England, Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and Local Government Association, published in October 2015, a Service Model for commissioners of health and social care services. This model sets out that when people are admitted to inpatient settings services should seek to minimise their length of stay and any admissions should be supported by a clear rationale of planned assessment and treatment with measurable outcomes. We would therefore expect all patients, irrespective of inpatient setting, to have access to the treatment and therapeutic interventions they require.

  • Lord Wills – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Wills – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2016-07-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government in how many schools Design and Technology is not part of the curriculum.

    Lord Nash

    Design and Technology (D&T) is part of the national curriculum, and is therefore a compulsory subject in maintained schools for pupils aged 5 to 14. The national curriculum is a benchmark of an excellent, academically rigorous education that academies can use and improve upon. The Department does not collect information on how many schools do not include D&T as part of their curriculum.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he has made representations to the Department of Transport on negotiations on the bilateral agreement regulating direct flights between the UK and the People’s Republic of China.

    David Mundell

    On Tuesday 11 October, following successful negotiations in London, the UK Government announced an agreement between the UK and China to more than double the number of flights allowed to operate between the two countries, lifting all limits on cargo services and the number of destinations that can be served. Transport Scotland and representatives from both Edinburgh and Glasgow airports were present at these negotiations, and the agreement will provide economic opportunities right across the UK, including Scotland.

    Visits from China to the UK are on the increase, with 2015 figures up 46% on 2014 to almost 270,000, and spend rising by 18% to £586 million during that same period. This moves China into the UK’s top 10 most valuable inbound markets, and provides yet another positive example that it is a strong United Kingdom with a strong global voice that is the union which matters to Scotland.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what (a) military and (b) financial support his Department has provided to the Kurdish region in northern Iraq and Syria in the last year; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Militarily, the UK is conducting air operations as part of the Global Coalition to assist the Iraqi Government and Kurdish Regional Government in their fight against ISIL. The UK is also providing training and equipment to Iraqi Security Forces and Kurdish Peshmerga in northern Iraq. The UK has provided over 50 tonnes of non-lethal support, 40 heavy machine guns, nearly half a million rounds of ammunition and £600,000 worth of military equipment to the Kurdish Peshmerga. We have gifted 1000 counter-IED VALLON detectors to Iraqi Security Forces, including Kurdish fighters. We have also delivered over 300 tonnes of weapons and ammunition on behalf of other Coalition nations. In Syria, the UK is not providing material support to Kurdish groups. Financially, the UK, through the Department for International Development, is providing £79.5 million in humanitarian assistance to help those across Iraq, including in the Kurdistan Region, who have been affected by ISIL’s brutality. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office also manages a portfolio of projects under the Conflict, Security and Stability Fund worth £10 million in Iraq, aimed at helping political reconciliation, building community cohesion and encouraging security sector reform – a portion of which will benefit the Kurdish Region. The UK is providing over £1.1 billion in humanitarian assistance across the region to help those affected by the conflict in Syria.

  • Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussion, if any, they have had with the government of Turkey and the UNHCR about urgent plans for the return home of Yazidi refugees, currently in a camp near Diyarbakir.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK Government is not aware of plans to return Yezidi refugees to their homes from Diyarbakir. The UK works with the Government of Turkey, the United Nations and the international community to support the rights of all minorities.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the number of Syrian refugees brought to the UK under the Private Sponsorship Scheme will be in addition to the Government’s commitment to take 50,000 refugees over the next five years.

    Richard Harrington

    The Prime Minister announced on 7 September 2015 that the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement (VPR) scheme would be expanded to resettle 20,000 Syrians in need of protection during this Parliament.

    We will build on offers of support to develop a community sponsorship scheme to allow individuals, charities, faith groups, churches and businesses to support refugees directly.

  • Sue Hayman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Sue Hayman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sue Hayman on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dairy farmers have gone out of business in each of the last five years.

    George Eustice

    The table below shows the net change in the number of dairy farms. Data is only available on the total number of dairy farms in June and December of each year, so the table only shows the net change, rather than the number entering and the number leaving dairy farming. The latest data available on the number of dairy farms in England is for June 2015. This is shown below with data for the previous 5 years. The change in the number of farms includes new holdings which have been registered with dairy cattle, holdings that have ceased to have cattle and holdings that have merged.

    The number of dairy cows on these dairy farms is also shown below. This shows that despite a 16% decrease in the overall number of dairy farms between June 2010 and June 2015, the number of dairy cows has remained almost unchanged, suggesting consolidation within the industry.

    Date

    Number of dairy farms(a)

    Number of cows in the dairy herd(b)

    Jun-2010

    9 461

    1 142 497

    Dec-2010

    9 287

    1 147 450

    Jun-2011

    9 041

    1 112 459

    Dec-2011

    8 823

    1 105 290

    Jun-2012

    8 663

    1 104 676

    Dec-2012

    8 503

    1 107 045

    Jun-2013

    8 342

    1 098 610

    Dec-2013

    8 197

    1 124 368

    Jun-2014

    8 092

    1 128 548

    Dec-2014

    8 051

    1 150 007

    Jun-2015

    7 982

    1 148 089

    % change Jun15/Jun10

    -16%

    0.5%

    (a) Sourced from Cattle Tracing System. Dairy farms are defined as the number of holdings with more than 10 cows in the dairy herd.

    (b) Cows in the dairy herd are defined as female dairy cows over 2 years old in the milking herd (i.e. with offspring).

    “

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many contracts Atos holds with the Home Office.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Office holds three contracts with Atos.

    The first is “IND Procurement of Infrastructure Development and Support” (IPIDS), which provides application management supporting and hosting for major immigration IT systems. This contract expired on 31st January 2016, and a six-month transition period was invoked to provide support for a smaller subset of applications not covered by the replacement programme.

    The whole life cost of IPIDS was circa £220 million (exclusive of any additional project charges) until 31st January 2016. The maximum cost of the six-month transition period will be £642,000 (excluding VAT).

    The Department’s second contract with Atos is “Contain,” which is a direct replacement for IPIDS. The programme provides continuity for seven major Immigration IT systems, whilst work continues on the Immigration Platform Technology (IPT) platform. The Contain contract allows legacy immigration applications to be phased out whilst service continuity is preserved, and enables new applications delivered by the IPT programme to be brought in without disruption. The contract will run for a maximum of two years, and the total contract value is £18.1 million (excl VAT), which includes run and decommission costs.

    The third contract with Atos Worldline is a small G-Cloud Call-Off Agreement to enable passport application payments to be made online; the total contract value is £183,000.

  • Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research his Department has commissioned on the causes and consequences of neural tube defect-affected pregnancies.

    George Freeman

    The Department has not recently commissioned specific research on the causes and consequences of neural tube defect-affected pregnancies.

    The Department funds the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). A pilot randomised controlled trial led by researchers at the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Great Ormond Street Hospital and University College London suggests that women at risk of having children with neural tube defects may be able to reduce this risk by taking inositol (Vitamin B8) as well as folic acid during pregnancy. The findings were published in February in the British Journal of Nutrition.