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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that injured military veterans do not have to pay social care costs out of their military compensation; and if he will make a statement.

    Alistair Burt

    Armed forces veterans injured in service receive payments either through the War Disablement Pension (WDP) or the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS). The AFCS applies to veterans injured from 6 April 2005. These payments are divided into a personal injury compensation element and other payments. Traditionally, only the personal injury compensation payment has been fully disregarded.

    Since October 2012 Guaranteed Income Payments made to veterans under the AFCS have been disregarded. The Department has been in discussion with the Royal British Legion about how WDP payments are treated. Currently the first £10 per week of WDP payments is disregarded. The Government is considering how WDP payments to veterans should be treated in the financial assessment for social care charging in future.

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs on the restricted breed list were destroyed in each of the last three years.

    George Eustice

    Numbers of dogs destroyed as a result of being a dog of a specified type (section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991) are not held centrally. Such records would be held by each police force.

  • Lord Ahmed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Ahmed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ahmed on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the total number of visitor visa applications received from (1) India, and (2) Pakistan, in the last six months; and what was the success rate in each case.

    Lord Keen of Elie

    For July to December 2015, there were 155,928 and 40,985 Entry clearance visitor visa applications from Indian and Pakistani nationals. Of the cases resolved (granted, refused, withdrawn or lapsed) in the same period, the proportion granted was 86% and 47% respectively. The information is provided in the table.

    The latest quarterly Home Office immigration statistics on entry clearance visas are published in ‘Immigration Statistics, October-December 2015’, available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-statistics

  • Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress has been made on the Thameslink programme; and if he will make a statement.

    Claire Perry

    London Bridge station works are progressing to schedule to enable the planned opening of part of the new concourse in late summer.

    The new Class 700 trains are undergoing testing on the network and are due to enter passenger service on the Brighton to Bedford Thameslink route this spring.

  • Baroness Royall of Blaisdon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Royall of Blaisdon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessments they have made of the value of creating a legal status for those participating in full-time, long-term volunteering programmes, such as those run by City Year UK, vInspired and Volunteering Matters, under the proposed National Citizen Service Bill.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The National Citizen Service Bill will place the NCS programme on permanent statutory footing. It is estimated that NCS participants have dedicated over 8 million hours of volunteering to their local communities to date. Other opportunities for young people to participate in social action, such as those run by City Year UK, vInspired and Volunteering Matters, have contributed to the success of NCS and made sure that young people have opportunities to develop new skills that extend and transform their life chances. The government is committed to increasing volunteering and social action, and to providing support for different opportunities and programmes that encourage volunteering.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding is available for training care workers on supporting people with autism.

    David Mowat

    Revised statutory guidance for local authorities and National Health Service organisations to support implementation of the Adult Autism Strategy was issued in 2015 and reiterated requirements and expectations for staff including care workers who work with people who have autism. In 2016/17, the Department is providing approximately £23.3 million in funding to Skills for Care for the training and development of the adult social care workforce. Skills for Care has developed a comprehensive suite of standards and qualifications to help workers develop the skills and knowledge they need to support people who use services, including those with autism.

    Support for people who are diagnosed with autism is provided and facilitated at a local level by local authorities, the NHS, and schools and colleges when the person is still in education. An adult diagnosed with autism has, under the Care Act 2014, a right to an assessment of needs and, where relevant, a carer’s assessment. Adults who subsequently do not qualify for social care support should receive information on what other support may be available. A child who is diagnosed with autism may be eligible for special educational support in school; where a child’s special educational needs require an Education, Health and Care plan, the local authority and clinical commissioning group must work together to commission services jointly across education, health and social care.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his proposals to time-limit civil claims made in relation to military operations will apply to Operation Banner.

    Mike Penning

    We are not currently in a position to confirm our plans with regards to limitation. We will make an announcement in due course.

  • Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what safeguards are in place to prevent armed opposition fighters funded by Western countries from using their arms and training against unintended targets, or acting in a way that contradicts the Government’s overall strategy in the Middle East, in particular in Syria.

    Earl Howe

    The US-led programme to Train and Equip members of the moderate Syrian opposition, to which the UK has contributed, incorporated a screening process to determine the suitability of candidates. The training programme itself was designed to reinforce positive behaviours and on completion, successful candidates were required to make a formal declaration committing themselves to the fight against ISIL. Efforts continue to be made to monitor the activities of such individuals and the groups to which they are affiliated, to mitigate the risk that they engage thereafter in activities inconsistent with the aims of the programme.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department made of the effect of previous reviews on the uptake of innovation in the NHS in establishing the terms of reference for the Accelerated Access Review.

    George Freeman

    The Accelerated Access Review (AAR), chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor, will make recommendations to government on reforms to accelerate access for National Health Service patients to innovative medicines and medical technologies making our country the best place in the world to design, develop and deploy these products. The terms of the reference for the review focus on faster access to innovations, which may include certain off-patent repurposed drugs, as opposed to the routine availability of medicines or medical technologies.

    Prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR, the Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS including the Innovation, Health and Wealth report. As a result, building upon the lessons of previous reviews is explicit with the terms of reference of the AAR.

    The AAR has regular meetings with senior officials from NHS England via a steering group as recommendations are being developed. In addition, some staff from NHS England have been assigned to support the review team.

    Sir Hugh is still in the process of developing final recommendations which will be published in spring 2016. In his Interim Report published in October, Sir Hugh sets out a proposition on “galvanising the NHS”. This involves supporting the NHS to adopt innovation, more rapidly through better practical support, stronger incentives and the potential streamlining of local structures.

    The Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR. It was clear that whilst progress has been made on the uptake of innovation in the NHS there is still much to do. Sir Hugh and the head of the External Advisory Group, Professor Sir John Bell, set out the case for uptake of innovation in the recently published AAR Interim Report.

    The AAR has senior level contact with officials working on Lord Carter’s review of NHS efficiency to ensure that information is shared between the two teams.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-01-05.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the annual running cost is of the Council of Economic Advisers; and what office space that council is allocated within the government estate.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Members of the Government’s Council of Economic Advisers meet every day to discuss the design and formation of government policy. Details of the Council’s membership and remuneration are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-adviser-data-releases-numbers-and-costs-december-2015. The Council operates from HM Treasury. Running costs cannot be disaggregated from the department’s budget.

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