The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential health risks of the use of lasers by driverless vehicles.
Andrew Jones
The General Product Safety Regulations prohibit a product from being placed on the market, or otherwise supplied, unless it is safe. The lead department for these regulations is the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Will Quince on 2016-05-09.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to set target levels of reformulation for soft drinks manufacturers under the soft drinks industry levy.
Damian Hinds
The Chancellor announced at Budget 2016 that the soft drinks industry levy will be charged on drinks with added sugar and a total sugar content above 5g/100ml, with a higher charge for drinks with more than 8g/100ml of sugar.
These sugar thresholds provide a strong incentive for companies to reformulate and are set to give industry certainty over the next two years. If companies reformulate their products, as many already have, then they will pay less. But it is up to companies how they respond to the levy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-06-29.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what guidance they have issued to ensure that HIV clinics also test patients annually for hepatitis C.
Lord Prior of Brampton
In February 2014 the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASSH) convened an expert working group, including representation from Public Health England, to formally review evidence and produce Recommendations for testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) men who have sex with men (MSM). The recommendations are attached.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has also published Hepatitis B and C testing – people at risk of infection, recommending testing to all services users at increased risk of infection. A copy of the guidance is attached.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Rebuck on 2016-09-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the finding in the House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Committee’s Fifth Report of Session 2014–15 that the ability to gain literacy and numeracy skills is a fundamental right of all adults, what steps they are taking to ensure that the one in six of the population with poor literacy skills have opportunities to gain at least entry level literacy skills.
Lord Nash
This Government understands the importance of strong literacy skills and makes English provision a priority for support within the adult skills system. We fully fund, through a statutory entitlement, all adults to achieve their first English GCSE at grade C or above as well as other qualifications which help them get to that level. We also support English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision, in addition to DCLG’s community-based programmes and investment in Syrian refugees’ English Language training through the Syrian resettlement programme.
This provision is available for a wide range of learners including:
Prisoners, through the Offender Learning and Skills Service;
Learners in the community, including through Family English, Maths and Language;
People who need ESOL;
Trainees as part of their traineeship;
Apprentices as part of their apprenticeship;
Jobseekers.
To enable these learners to improve their literacy skills, we have embedded English at the heart of all our major programmes. This means:
Learners who did not achieve a good GCSE pass in English by the age of 16 are now required to continue to study the subject post-16;
Since 2014/15, the English requirement for Intermediate Apprenticeships has been stronger, with all apprentices who have already achieved level 1 English having to work towards level 2;
Since 2014/15, young people undertaking a traineeship have been required to study English unless they already have level 2 qualifications in the subjects;
We have reformed GCSEs to ensure they are more stretching and provide greater assurance of core literacy skills than the old GCSEs. In line with the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee recommendation, we recognise that some people are not ready to take GCSE so we are also improving the rigour and relevance of English Functional Skills qualifications, which are taken by many students and apprentices aged 16 and over. We have commissioned the Education and Training Foundation to revise the National Literacy (and Numeracy) Standards and reform Functional Skills with the new qualifications being delivered from September 2018.
To ensure high quality provision is delivered, we have invested over £30m over the past 3 years to improve the quality of the English (and maths) workforce in further education, driving forward improvements in governance and leadership.
To ensure prisoners have the opportunity to improve their literacy skills, Government accepted in principle the recommendations of the review led by Dame Sally Coates on prison education which will include developing a new curriculum for the teaching of basic literacy in prisons.
Lastly, we are undertaking a range of research to better understand where Government investment in English has the greatest impact and delivers value for money. As recommended by the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee in their 14/15 report, Government is using behavioural insights to identify how to motivate adults to improve their English and encourage learners to keep studying once enrolled on a course. I am pleased to report that very positive trial results will be published shortly by the Behavioural Insights Team. This report includes trial findings working with the Army as a significant provider of workplace literacy training.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress his Department has made reforming the Electronic Communications Code.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The Government remains committed to delivering a reformed Electronic Communications Code that is clear, fit for purpose, and supports a UK network that provides consumers with a choice of high quality telecommunications services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve the mental health of young carers and young adult carers as part of the Future in Mind policy.
Alistair Burt
We recognise that young carers may have particular vulnerabilities and are more likely to develop mental health problems because they fulfil that caregiver role.
That is why the local transformation planning process, currently being implemented by every clinical commissioning group across England, will be so important. Local Transformation Plans establish an integrated whole system approach to driving the improvements children and young people want, with the NHS, public health, voluntary and community, local authority children’s services, education and youth justice sectors working together to provide improved support to those children and young people who have a mental health need or who as a young carer might be more likely to develop a mental health need.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-14.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many changes in household circumstances have been processed relating to claimants (a) working tax credit and (b) child tax credit in the last 12 months for which figures are available.
Mr David Gauke
The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lexden on 2016-02-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many claims for compensation by the victims of terrorism in Northern Ireland remain outstanding.
Lord Dunlop
Matters relating to policing and justice were devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive in 2010 by the Northern Ireland (Devolution of Policing and Justice Functions Order) 2010. As a consequence, responsibility for compensation of the victims of terrorism in Northern Ireland now rests with the Northern Ireland Executive, and in particular the Department of Justice for Northern Ireland (DOJNI), which oversees the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-03-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the cost is of her Department’s campaign, Together we can tackle child abuse.
Edward Timpson
This is the first ever nationwide campaign on this issue promoted by the Government. Its aim is to raise awareness amongst the public about abuse and neglect and how to report suspected instances. This is a nationwide campaign and we have been working with all local authorities to promote it. We have provided a toolkit of materials, which can be used across the country to support the campaign locally.
This year, we ran a pilot, paid-for campaign in 33 local authorities in the West Midlands and Outer London where we have paid for out-of-home, digital and radio advertising. These areas were chosen because of their dense and diverse populations. The overall cost of the campaign has been up to £1m.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Tracey on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy for palliative care funding to provide universal access to bereavement services for bereaved families of children and young people.
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.