Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what meetings he has had with manufacturers in the North East on the (a) immediate effect of the outcome of the EU referendum and (b) short- and long-term effect of the UK leaving the EU.

    Mr David Jones

    We are determined to hear from all sectors as we work to build a national consensus around our negotiating position. As part of this we will listen and talk to as many organisations, companies and institutions as possible – all over the country – alongside a series of roundtables with key sectors. This will ensure that all views and specific regional considerations are reflected in our analysis of the options for the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Nicholas Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Office for National Statistics plans to include in quarterly migration figures the number of Syrian refugees resettled in the UK under the Government’s relocation scheme.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Jess Phillips – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jess Phillips – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans NHS England has to use capacity in independent sector hospitals to reduce waiting lists in 2015-16.

    Jane Ellison

    Decisions about whether to use independent sector capacity are made at local level according to local need, as part of the operational management of capacity and demand.

  • Lord Morris of Aberavon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Morris of Aberavon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Morris of Aberavon on 2015-12-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Home Secretary will discuss with the police whether a protocol should be agreed to rationalise and improve on the present system of names of persons interviewed by the police but not charged being made public on a case by case basis.

    Lord Bates

    The decision to release the name or details of a suspect in an investigation is an operational one for the police to take.

    The College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice (APP) ‘Guidance on ‘Relationships with the Media’, which was developed in full consultation with the police, makes clear that decisions on releasing the names of those who are arrested or suspected of a crime should be made on a case by case basis and that the police should not do so unless there are clearly identified circumstances to justify it, such as threat to life or the prevention or detection of crime. This guidance will be reviewed by the College early in the New Year.

    It is the Government’s position that, in general, there should be a right to anonymity before the point of charge. However, there are circumstances where the police decide it is in the public interest that an arrested suspect should be named.

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

    Emma Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to ensure that clinical commissioning groups (a) improve access to, (b) provide training to health professionals on and (c) increase the number of healthcare professionals working in perinatal mental health.

    Alistair Burt

    This Government is committed to improving access to perinatal mental health services for women during pregnancy and in the first postnatal year. In January 2016 the Government set out that an additional £290 million will be made available over the next five years to 2020/21, over and above the money identified in the Spring Budget, to invest in perinatal mental health services. This is funded from within the Department’s overall Spending Review settlement and means that in total from 2015/16 to 2020/21 £365 million will be invested in perinatal mental health services.

    We are aware that there is unacceptable variation in the levels of access to high quality, NICE-recommended specialist perinatal mental health care for women across England. A 2014 census identified that 40% of women in England have no access to specialist perinatal mental health services and that is why we have confirmed this additional investment. The funding should enable significant progress towards closing this gap and will help to enable women across the country to access evidence-based specialist support, in the community or through inpatient mother and baby services, closer to their home, when they need it. It is anticipated that, by 2020/21, around 30,000 more women should be able to access appropriate specialist support.

    This new funding, together with the recommendations of the forthcoming report of the independent Mental Health Taskforce, will enable NHS England to work with partners to design a longer-term transformation programme to build capacity and capability in specialist perinatal mental health services over the next five years. This will include setting detailed plans for how the additional investment will be targeted over the period to 2020/21 and setting clear outcome measures and metrics to monitor the impact of the funding on perinatal mental health provision.

    In 2015/16 work is already underway to lay the foundations for this longer-term work programme through targeted funding of activities to build capacity in specialist services. This will include, for example, a £1 million investment in strengthening clinical networks across the country. It is also expected to include the provision of national and regional benchmarking data and analytical support to regions, and work to develop clinical leadership capacity. Work will also continue to support the development of specialist mother and baby units in the regions identified as most in need of new services.

    To ensure the workforce are available and appropriately trained, NHS England is working closely with Health Education England and key stakeholders to better understand the future workforce commissioning requirements and how it is best to meet multi professional education and training needs.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of how many people in supported housing specifically designated for (a) disabled people, (b) victims of domestic violence, (c) people with substance misuse problems and (d) others will be affected by the change in housing benefit to the Shared Accommodation Rate.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information requested is not available.

  • Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has issued guidance to GP practices on waiting times for patients seeking telephone consultation appointments.

    Alistair Burt

    There is no central guidance to general practitioner (GP) practices on waiting times for telephone consultations.

    GPs can conduct telephone consultations with patients if they feel it is appropriate to do so. This could remove the need for the patient to go on to have a face to face consultation, however, it is for the GP to use his or her clinical judgement to decide if and when a face to face consultation should take place, and for the patient to decide if they wish to attend.

    This Government is committed to improving access to GP consultations and the Prime Minister’s GP Access Fund encourages practices in the schemes to use innovative methods to provide appointments to patients.

  • Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering on 2016-04-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many cyclists have been successfully prosecuted in each of the last three years for a breach of the Highway Code; and how many have been issued with a fixed penalty notice for (1) a summary offence, and (2) a more serious offence.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Enforcement of cycling offences and collection of data on such offences is a matter for the Ministry of Justice and Home Office.

    Based on information provided to the Department for Transport, the number of defendants proceeded against at Magistrates’ courts and found guilty and sentenced for some cycling (non- motoring) offences in England and Wales from 2012 to 2014 (latest available) can be viewed in the attached table. This includes the average fine given at all courts for the specific offences listed in the table.

    The Home Office collects data on the number of fixed penalty notices issued for motoring offences only and these data are published by the Home Office in the annual ‘Police Powers and Procedures’ publication. Data on fixed penalty notices issued to cyclists are not held centrally.

    We are not able to provide an overall average financial penalty figure for all cycling offences. Many of these cycling offences are recorded under a miscellaneous offence grouping. The information required to split this miscellaneous grouping at offence level is held in individual court files, which can only be inspected at disproportionate cost.

  • Wendy Morton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Wendy Morton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wendy Morton on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cases of Ehlers-Danios Syndrome have been diagnosed in each of the last five years.

    George Freeman

    These data are not held centrally by the Department.

    Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) is a complex group of heritable disorders of connective tissue with an estimated prevalence of one in 20,000. As EDS appears in a variety of forms rates of diagnosis can be underestimated.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that dairy farmers receive a greater proportion of the profits of their produce compared to other elements of the supply chain.

    George Eustice

    The voluntary Code of Practice on contractual relationships has been extremely important for improving relationships across the dairy industry through greater transparency and predictability in milk pricing arrangements. It is for the industry to review it and check that it is working. The Code was last independently reviewed in 2014 which showed that it has been effective, but the review made some recommendations which its signatories (Dairy UK, NFU Scotland and the NFU) are taking forward.

    The Groceries Code Adjudicator also has an important role to play in changing behaviours and the overall culture of the sector. A review of the Grocery Code Adjudicator is due this year and we will look at how this can help the farming industry.

    The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board has established a Volatility Forum which brings together government, the farming industry and wider supply chain to catalyse knowledge exchange and long-term engagement with new risk management tools. It is exploring options such as forward contracts and use of futures markets, which could give farmers more certainty over price and share risk throughout the supply chain.

    Retailers have also shown their support for the British dairy industry. For example, Tesco has pledged that all own-brand yoghurt will now be made with British milk, Morrisons has launched the ‘Milk for Farmers’ brand that allows customers to pay more if they want to support British farmers and Arla has launched ‘Arla Farmers Milk’ where an additional 25p of the retail price of a four pint carton is paid to its farmers.