Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-10-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the total funding that the Welsh Government will lose as a result of the UK leaving the EU.

    Mr David Gauke

    The UK Government will guarantee EU funding for structural and investment fund projects in Wales, including agri-environment schemes, signed before we leave the EU. It will be for the Welsh Government to make an assessment of which projects should be pursued in areas of its competence, and this guarantee will apply to any such projects. The agricultural sector in Wales will receive the same level of funding that it would have received under Pillar 1 of CAP until the end of the Multi-Annual Financial Framework in 2020.

    As a result of these steps taken by the UK Government, individuals and organisations in receipt of EU funds now have a greater degree of certainty about funding over the coming years. The UK Government will work with the Welsh Government to consider future funding arrangements for once the UK has left the EU.

  • Carolyn Harris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Carolyn Harris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department’s Accelerated Access Review will consider issues relating to the routine availability of off-patent, repurposed drugs.

    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.

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2015-12-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 1 December (HL3647), why they have not yet published the 2014 feasibility study on caste discrimination.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    We are currently considering the conclusions and recommendations of the caste feasibility study as part of our wider consideration of the implications of the Tirkey v Chandok tribunal judgments. As I said in my reply of 1 December, we will keep the House informed of further developments on this matter.

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many National Clinical Directors will be appointed; and what areas those National Clinical Directors will cover after April 2016.

    George Freeman

    NHS England will be supported by 17 National Clinical Directors (NCDs) from 1 April 2016. 14 of these roles have been advertised and will be newly appointed. Three NCDs will continue in post into 2016/17; these are NCDs for Maternity and Women’s Health, Learning Disabilities and Innovation. The 17 roles are:

    National Clinical Director (Major Programmes):

    — Cancer

    — Mental Health

    — Diabetes and Obesity

    — Learning Disabilities

    — Urgent and Emergency Care

    — Maternity and Women’s Health

    — Innovation

    National Clinical Director (Service Improvement):

    ― Cardiac Services

    ― Stroke

    ― Respiratory

    ― End of Life Care

    ― Diagnostics, including Imaging and Endoscopy

    ― Musculoskeletal

    ― Dementia

    ― Emergency Preparedness and Critical Care

    National Clinical Director (Population Groups):

    — Children, Young People and Transition to Adulthood

    — Older People and Integrated Person-Centred Care

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

    Lord Scriven – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how many GP surgeries there are in (1) the City of Sheffield, and (2) South Yorkshire, and what if any issues they intend to address as a consequence.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Government has made no such assessment. This is an operational matter for the local National Health Service.

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

    Lord Chadlington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chadlington on 2016-03-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to educate women on alcohol avoidance whilst pregnant.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    On 8 January 2016, the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers published a new guideline on pregnancy and drinking – that if a woman is pregnant or planning a pregnancy, the safest approach is not to drink alcohol at all, to keep risks to the baby to a minimum. A copy of the guideline is attached. The Department will be working with the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology to ensure that their members are fully informed about the content of the guidelines and are able to explain them to the women they care for and help them make informed decisions. Public Health England (PHE) is also working with professional organisations to enhance the awareness and confidence of midwives and health visitors to educate and inform women about avoiding alcohol while pregnant.

    PHE’s Start4Life social marketing programme delivers advice and practical guidance to parents and parents to be to help them adopt healthy behaviours and build parenting skills to give their child the best possible start. This includes looking after their own health, and addresses the implications of drinking during pregnancy. Start4Life uses a range of products to inform and influence its audience’s behaviour around alcohol consumption including the Information Service for Parents, Start4Life website, and leaflets and posters.

    Through voluntary actions by alcohol producers, independent research showed that in 2014 90.7% of bottles and cans carried warning labels about drinking in pregnancy, compared to just 17.6% of products six years before.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that people leaving sixth form are fully aware of all further education options open to them.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    We are taking a number of steps to ensure that the full range of education and training options are widely understood by young people. Schools are legally required to secure independent careers guidance for pupils up to the age of 18. This must include information on the full range of education and training options, including apprenticeships.

    Destination measures are a key tool to assess how well schools and colleges prepare their students to make a successful transition into the next stage of education or training, or employment. The key stage 5 measure looks at activity in the year after the young person took A level or other level 3 qualifications. Destination measures will be one of the headline performance measures in the 2016 performance tables if the data are robust enough. They are taken into account by Ofsted during school inspections.

    However, the range of information that young people receive remains too narrow and we want to ensure that young people hear much more consistently about the merits of alternatives to academic routes and are aware of all the routes to higher skills and into the workplace. The government intends to bring forward legislation at the earliest opportunity that will require schools to allow other education and training providers the opportunity to talk to students about their offer on school premises.

  • 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 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that outsourced hospital food providers and the places they source their ingredients are monitored regularly to ensure the highest hygiene standards.

    Jane Ellison

    All hospital food providers need to register with their local authority Environmental Health Department, who will carry out food safety interventions, including inspections, at a frequency determined by the risk based intervention criteria in the Food Law Code of Practice. The inspections will include consideration of the provider’s traceability system.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Public Health, Jane Ellison, on 1 June (HC38011 and HC38012), which members of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s (HFEA) Executive who provided administrative support to the work of the expert panel convened by the Authority might have in turn passed on any unredacted information that was provided in confidence to the expert panel to non-members; and whether each of the individuals concerned continue to be employed by the HFEA in a similar capacity.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) convened Expert Panel is comprised of scientific experts in the relevant fields and supported by a small team of Authority staff. The HFEA has advised that in order for the Panel to carry out its work it is essential for members of the Panel and Authority staff to be able to exchange information.

    It is entirely proper that all involved in reviewing the information have access to all the relevant documentation. All HFEA staff who were involved in supporting the Expert Panel continue to work for the Authority and have the full confidence of the Chair and the Chief Executive Officer.

  • Amanda Solloway – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Amanda Solloway – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Amanda Solloway on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the additional £1.25 billion made available in the March 2015 Budget for child and adolescent mental health services has been spent in Derby North constituency.

    Nicola Blackwood

    This information is not available in the format requested.

    We are advised by NHS England that from this additional funding the amount allocated to Southern Derbyshire Clinical Commissioning Group in 2015/16 was £1.029 million and for 2016/17 the amount is £1.370 million.

    This Government has made £1.4 billion funding available over the course of the Parliament for spending on children and young people’s mental health, with total investment to date of £453 million.

    Investment in 2015/16 included:

    – £75 million to transform local services through delivery of Local Transformation Plans (LTPs);

    – £30 million to improve community based eating disorder services; and

    – £68 million to fund expansion of the Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Programme (CYP IAPT); improvements to perinatal mental health care; investment in inpatient services for children and young people; increased workforce capability; and innovation and development of online support.

    Investment for 2016/17 includes:

    – £119 million for LTPs;

    – £30 million to improve community based eating disorder services; and

    – £131 million for workforce and system development to support LTPs; a proportion of this will be allocated to commissioners for CYP IAPT and perinatal mental healthcare.