Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Truscott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Truscott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Truscott on 2016-01-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of recent flooding, what plans they have to re-allocate the proposed funding for HS2 to the funding of strengthened flood defences.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    There are no plans to re-allocate HS2 funding to flood defences. The HS2 budget is to deliver HS2.

    The Government is separately investing £2.3bn in flood defences through the six-year capital programme, which will better protect 300,000 homes and reduce overall flood risk in England by 5% by 2021.

  • Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of recent progress of the international coalition to tackle Daesh.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The Global Coalition is making good progress against Daesh in Iraq. Over 30% of the territory that Daesh took in 2014 has been re-taken. The Iraqi security forces have substantially cleared Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, and are working to make the area safe for displaced people to return. Further north, Kurdish forces have driven Daesh from the Sinjar area. In Syria, the Coalition is continuing to strike Daesh economic targets, including oilfields where we judge that recent strikes on its illicit oil industry have reduced Daesh’s revenues by some 10%.

  • Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the current primary performance management mechanism through which NHS England hold Clinical Commissioning Groups to account for achieving progress in diabetes service improvement and quality of care.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England and Monitor are working closely together to ensure that the payment system supports service developments in the vanguard sites (including those where integrated diabetes care is a focus) as well as monitoring local innovative approaches to supporting integrated care taken by some clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). This is to ensure that the payment system keeps abreast with the development of future service models and is not a barrier to the development of new models of care.

    During 2016/17, NHS England will look at the current incentives and funding arrangements for diabetes to see how greater alignment could be achieved between the financial incentives for primary and secondary care.

    Information on how much money the National Health Service invested in structured education for diabetes patients is not collected centrally.

    Under the Health and Social Care Act (2012), NHS England has a statutory duty to conduct an annual assessment of every CCG. Since April 2013, CCGs have been assessed twice, for the period 2013/14 and for 2014/15.

    For 2016/17, NHS England will introduce a new CCG Improvement and Assessment Framework (CCG IAF). This new framework will align with NHS England’s mandate and planning process, with the aim of driving improvements in a number of key areas including the management and care of people with diabetes.

    NHS England has been working with Diabetes UK on including diabetes indicators in the CCG IAF. The proposed diabetes indicators are:

    – the percentage of diabetes patients that have achieved all three of the National Institute for Heath and Care Excellence recommended treatment targets; and

    – newly diagnosed diabetes patients referred to, or attending, a structured education course.

    Under the proposals, diabetes will also be one of the six clinical priority areas in the CCG IAF that will be overseen by an independent group.

    The CCG IAF proposals are subject to the outcome of an engagement process which closed for comments on February 26 2016. More information can be found at:

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/ccg-improvmnt/

    “

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department’s target was for the number of qualified mental health trust inspectors in each year since 2010; and how many such inspectors were employed by the Care Quality Commission in each of those years.

    Ben Gummer

    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England and is responsible for identifying its own staffing requirements and recruiting suitably qualified people. The Department has not set the CQC targets for the recruitment of inspectors. The CQC has provided the following information.

    The term ‘qualified mental health inspector’ is not one that is used by the CQC. Part of the person specification used in the recruitment of new inspectors for mental health services is that applicants have a background in mental health, learning disability, or substance misuse.

    The CQC is only able to provide figures from April 2014 onwards. Prior to this, the CQC inspectors were not organised into specialist teams and were simply classified as “inspectors”. The CQC planned to recruit 149 inspectors by April 2016.

    Number of full time equivalent mental health inspectors employed by the CQC

    1 April 2014

    29.5

    1 April 2015

    70.6

    1 April 2016

    126.5

  • Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the closure of the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya on refugees in that region; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The Government recognises the scale of the burden and challenge facing Kenya in terms of the number of refugees hosted there. We also recognise that progress under the Tripartite Agreement between the government of Kenya and the international community must urgently speed up, and that more needs to be done to ensure a safe and dignified refugee return. We are concerned over any destabilising action and actions must be consistent with international law. We have confirmed the readiness of the UK to work with the Government of Kenya and other key parties to find a solution.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-07-20.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people working for his Department or its executive agencies on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation; and how many of those people are employed on zero-hours contracts.

    Simon Kirby

    No direct employees of HM Treasury, Office of Budget Responsibility, Government Internal Audit Agency and Debt Management Office are paid less than the rate defined by the Living Wage Foundation as a living wage. No direct employees are employed on zero hours contracts.

    The Government supports businesses that choose to pay the Living Wage however our prime policy is the National Minimum Wage for the low paid. This is independently set by the Low Pay Commission at a level that maximises their wages without reducing employment prospect. It is for workers and employers to decide the level of wages above the minimum wage based on current circumstances. This includes the Government as a procurer and an employer. Over 95%, around 20 million employees earn above the minimum wage and the majority of public sector workers currently earn above the Living Wage. Government will always award contracts on the basis of the best value for money for the taxpayers – which includes the low paid.

    HM Treasury does not hold information on wages paid by our suppliers.

  • Lord Trefgarne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Trefgarne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Trefgarne on 2016-10-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government who will be responsible for the regulation of British civil aviation during and after Brexit.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is the Government’s expert Arm’s Length Body for the safety, security, consumer rights and economic regulation of civil aviation in the United Kingdom. The CAA participates in European Union (EU) regulatory systems in these areas. The Government is considering carefully all the potential implications arising from the UK’s exit from the EU including the implications for the continued participation in European aviation safety and security regulatory processes. Until we leave, EU law still applies, and EU regulation in these areas will continue to apply in the UK, alongside national rules.

  • Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to (a) increase awareness of autism and (b) ensure that diagnosis times are improved.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department issued new statutory guidance in March this year for local authorities and National Health Service organisations to support the continued implementation of the 2010 Autism Strategy, as refreshed by its 2014 Think Autism update. This sets out what people seeking an autism diagnosis can expect from Local Authorities and NHS bodies.

    The Department has also discussed with NHS England the difficulties that people on the autistic spectrum can have in getting an appropriate diagnosis in a timely manner. With support from the Department, NHS England and the Association of Directors of Social Services will undertake a series of visits to clinical commissioning groups to discuss good practice in meeting the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard 51 Autism, and those that do not, with the aim of supporting more consistent provision. These NICE guidelines already recommend that there should be a maximum of three months between a referral and a first appointment for a diagnostic assessment for autism. We expect the NHS to be working towards meeting the recommendations.

    We are aware that Northumberland continues to make significant progress in improving access to services. A child will wait no longer between initial referral and treatment than 12 weeks and the majority are seen within nine weeks. Northumberland has also invested in adult autism diagnosis services and has an agreed programme with Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust designed to deliver the NICE guidelines for adults by September 2016. Urgent cases are seen earlier and those on waiting lists, whose needs escalate, are given access to services as required. There is also a newly developed emotional health and wellbeing strategy for children and young people in Northumberland which will aim seek to identify children with autism at an earlier age and ultimately provide earlier treatment.

    NHS England is promoting the engagement services with children and young people. All children, young people and adults, including those with autism or a learning disability, who are receiving care from the NHS, should have the opportunity to provide feedback via the Friends and Family Test. There should also be consideration given to capturing the views of parents and carers. In addition, the autism statutory guidance mentioned above states that NHS bodies and NHS foundation trusts should look at people’s experiences of the autism diagnostic process locally and assure themselves that this is acceptable.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the administrative costs was of implementing and enforcing the criminal courts charge; and what the projected cost of administering that charge is in each of the next three years.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The costs of the criminal courts charge implementation project were £534,760.

    The cost of enforcing the criminal courts charge cannot be separated from the total cost of enforcing all types of court ordered financial impositions. No additional resources have been allocated to the National Compliance and Enforcement Service within HMCTS specifically as a result of the criminal courts charge.

  • FALSE – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    FALSE – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by FALSE on 2016-01-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of the Republic of Ireland concerning the human rights section of the Belfast Agreement 1998, in which that government affirmed the right to freely choose one’s place of residence”

    Lord Dunlop

    As I have set out in previous answers, the UK and Irish Governments meet regularly at ministerial and official level to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern, and will continue to do so.