Tag: Parliamentary Question

Lord Mawson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mawson on 2016-02-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of their planned pharmacy cuts on patients and health services in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service and can play an even greater role. In the Spending Review, the Government re-affirmed the need for the NHS to deliver £22 billion in efficiency savings by 2020-21 as set out in the NHS’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy is a core part of NHS primary care and has an important contribution to make as the NHS rises to these challenges. The Government believes efficiencies can be made without compromising the quality of services or public access to them. Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive and so we are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

The Government’s vision is for a more efficient, modern system that will free up pharmacists to spend more time delivering clinical and public health services to the benefit of patients and the public.

We are consulting the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, other pharmacy bodies and patient and public representatives on our proposals. An impact assessment will be completed to inform final decisions and published in due course.

NHS England has a statutory duty to ensure the adequate provision of NHS pharmaceutical services across England and will ensure that duty continues to be met, including in respect of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

01/01/2023
Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which bus operators his Department has had discussions with on the Buses Bill; and how many meetings his Department has had with each of those bus operators.

Andrew Jones

Bus operators attended a series of workshops in the Autumn of last year, and since then officials have engaged, on a regular basis, with both large and small bus operators via the Confederation of Passenger Transport and the Association of Local Bus Company Managers.

01/01/2023
Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-04-26.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what he expects the take-up rate of tax-free childcare to be.

Damian Hinds

Tax-Free Childcare is being designed to be as straightforward as possible for parents. It will be quick and easy to apply online for the vast majority who are able to do so. However, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs will ensure that assistance is provided to families who cannot access the internet so that they do not miss out on the support available via Tax-Free Childcare.

Once the scheme is fully open, we estimate that up to 1 million families may take up the scheme in ‘steady state’.

The Tax-Free Childcare system will be extensively tested before the scheme is launched.

01/01/2023

Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-06-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many British citizens are resident in each European Union member state; how many from each of those states are resident in the UK; and in each case how many are of pensionable age.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

There is no legal obligation on a British citizen living overseas to register with the British Embassy, but the UN estimated that in mid-2015 there were more than 1.2 million UK citizens living permanently elsewhere in the EU. These estimates do not include British citizens travelling or residing for part of the year in another Member State.

* Population of UK citizens permanently resident in the European Union; UN estimate, mid-2015

Total (thousands)
TOTAL UK IN EU	1,216.0
Austria	11.0
Belgium	27.3
Bulgaria	5.3
Croatia	0.7
Cyprus	40.5
Czech Republic	4.8
Denmark	18.6
Estonia	0.5
Finland	6.9
France	185.3
Germany	103.4
Greece	17.7
Hungary	7.0
Ireland	254.8
Italy	65.0
Latvia	1.1
Lithuania	3.3
Luxembourg	6.6
Malta	12.0
Netherlands	49.5
Poland	34.5
Portugal	17.8
Romania	3.1
Slovakia	4.9
Slovenia	0.6
Spain	308.8
Sweden	25.0

Office for National Statistics data show that, between January and December 2014, there were approximately 2.9 million European Union member state nationals resident in the UK.

* Population resident in the United Kingdom, excluding some residents in communal establishments, by nationality; ONS statistics August 2015 (2014 data)

Total (thousands)
TOTAL EU IN UK	2,940
Austria	18
Belgium	17
Bulgaria	59
Croatia	4
Cyprus	17
Czech Republic	37
Denmark	26
Estonia	14
Finland	14
France	160
Germany	131
Greece	54
Hungary	85
Italy	170
Latvia	108
Lithuania	155
Luxembourg	0
Malta	8
Netherlands	82
Poland	853
Portugal	175
Republic of Ireland	331
Romania	175
Slovakia	79
Slovenia	5
Spain	131
Sweden	32

There are many different ways of defining and calculating migration data so different sources will not necessarily be comparable.

No information is available on the numbers of UK and EU citizens in receipt of a UK State Pension broken down by nationality. This is because the UK State Pension is a contributory based pension, where nationality or citizenship do not form part of the eligibility criteria.

There is no data available on the number of European Union member state nationals resident in the UK who are of pensionable age.

01/01/2023

Paul Farrelly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Farrelly on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plans for (a) Staffordshire and (b) other constituent parts of the UK.

David Mowat

Sustainability and Transformation Plan proposals are currently at a draft stage, but it is expected that all local leaders will be talking to the public and stakeholders regularly as it is vital that people are able to shape the future of their local services. No changes to the services people currently receive will be made without local engagement and, where required, consultation. There are longstanding assurance processes in place to make sure this happens. All footprints will submit an updated plan in October, with further formal public engagement and consultation taking place from this point, as appropriate. Many footprints are already publishing patient-facing summaries as part of their engagement programme.

01/01/2023
Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Saville Roberts on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offices Working Links has in Wales for the administration of probation services; and what the locations are of those offices.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The administration of probation services across the Wales Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) is changing. There will be three operational hubs located in Swansea, Cardiff and Colwyn Bay. Frontline delivery office locations will exist across Wales and the Wales CRC are establishing community hubs to provide and deliver collaborative partnership working.

All CRC providers set out an agreed operating model within their bid during the Transforming Rehabilitation competition. We are robustly managing the contracts to make sure the providers deliver services which reduce reoffending, protect the public and provide value for money to the taxpayer.

01/01/2023
Anna Turley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when his Department was first made aware that employer pension payments were not being made by SSI UK.

Anna Soubry

There is a statutory process in place for the reporting of missing pension contributions. Managers of pension schemes are required to report any material non-payment of contributions to The Pensions Regulator within 90 days of those contributions falling due. There is no role for my department in this process.

In insolvency situations, such as SSI’s liquidation, unpaid pension contributions can be claimed from the Redundancy Payments Service within specified legal limits. If there are unpaid contributions, then the manager of the pension scheme will submit a claim to the Redundancy Payments Service on behalf of employees.

As part of his role as liquidator of SSI UK, the Official Receiver will look into all aspects leading to the company’s failure, including the directors’ conduct.

01/01/2023
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-12-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust deals effectively with the issues of racial discrimination and harassment identified by the Care Quality Commission.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The NHS Trust Development Authority (TDA) is monitoring and working closely with Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust to support the Trust to address these issues.

We are advised by the TDA that the Trust’s Race Equality Workforce Engagement Strategy involves multiple work streams led by area specific engagement groups to address specific issues and challenges across all areas and levels of the Trust. It was launched at the joint Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Network and Trust conference in October 2014.

A programme board was established and the first meeting was in February 2015. Programme board meetings are co-chaired by the Chief Executive and the Chair of the BME Network in order to provide oversight, performance management and governance of the race equality action plans developed by the various engagement groups.

We are assured by the TDA that the Trust followed procedures correctly in appointing the Chairman of the Trust to hear a right of appeal from nine BME members of staff against the decision of Henrietta Hill QC.

01/01/2023

Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many apprentices with special educational needs or disabilities have not completed their apprenticeship placements with a five per cent club employer.

Nick Boles

The table below shows this information for apprenticeship frameworks that are related to the transport Industry.

Table 1: Apprenticeship success rates for learners with a learning difficulty or disability on frameworks related to the transport industry (2013/14)

Frameworks	Overall Success Rate
Aviation Operations on the Ground	85.7%
Driving Goods Vehicles	70.7%
Rail Transport Engineering	81.0%
Road Passenger Transport – Bus and Coach	81.0%
Transport Engineering and Maintenance	96.2%
Vehicle Body and Paint Operations	58.3%
Vehicle Fitting	68.8%
Vehicle Maintenance and Repair	67.0%
Vehicle Parts Operations	72.2%

Notes

1) Frameworks with fewer than 20 leavers are excluded.

2) Figures for learning difficulties or disabilities are based on self-declaration by the learner

The Department does not collect the information required to estimate 5 per cent club or NHS apprenticeship success rates.

01/01/2023

Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2016-02-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they intend to respond to the Institute of Race Relations’ recent analysis Prevent and the Children’s Rights Convention in which the new duties placed on schools to prevent children being drawn into terrorism have been tested against the key articles in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Lord Bates

The Prevent duty is foremost about safeguarding vulnerable people – including children – from the dangers of radicalisation. We expect front line professionals, including teachers, to apply the duty in a proportionate manner.

To support schools in understanding their responsibilities in relation to the duty, we published statutory guidance in March last year which set out what is expected of them. In June last year, the Department for Education issued practical advice for schools which complemented the statutory guidance. Last month a website called ‘Educate Against Hate’ was launched specifically for schools and parents, which provides advice and support on how to identify and respond to concerns about radicalisation. We are also rolling out a training programme to equip all teachers with an awareness of radicalisation and an understanding of what they can do to ensure that children and young people are safeguarded from its risks.

It is important that when they have genuine concerns, people refer an individual to Channel, our voluntary programme to counter radicalisation, with the benefits that brings. A referral to Channel will be gauged in a way that defines an appropriate response.

01/01/2023