Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the removal of nursing bursaries on the living costs of nursing students who live outside their parental home.

    Ben Gummer

    A preliminary Economic Impact Assessment and Equality Analysis was published alongside the public consultation launched on 7 April 2016. These documents address the proportion of repayment expected, the impact on students with different characteristics, including those who live outside the parental home and the benefit that extra support will have for those on low incomes and from disadvantaged backgrounds.

  • James Cartlidge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    James Cartlidge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cartlidge on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the total value was of all reclaimed equity loans in UK residential property where the holder was a government department in each of the last five years.

    Gavin Barwell

    The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) operates and administers a number of current and past equity loan and equity share schemes for the Department for Communities and Local Government.

    The HCA has received the following funds in redemption of equity loans in each of the last five years:

    2011-12 £4.020 million

    2012-13 £12.141 million

    2013-14 £34.731 million

    2014-15 £70.952 million

    2015-16 £182.916 million

    They include loans from several schemes: Help to Buy: Equity Loan, FirstBuy, HomeBuy Direct and First-Time Buyers’ Initiative.

    The Ministry of Defence operated a scheme: Affordable Homes Ownership scheme (AFHOS) until March 2014. AFHOS receipts to date are:

    Receipts during period 2011-15: £1.457 million

    Receipts during financial year 2015-16: £1.896 million

    The Scottish and Welsh Governments and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive also operate equity loan and equity share schemes for home ownership, on which they can provide information.

  • Cat Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Cat Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support is being provided to refugees currently on the island of Lesbos.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK has so far provided around £4.5 million to partners working in Greece, many of which are active on Lesbos. This includes supporting the Red Cross for assistance and emergency first aid to refugees and migrants arriving on the beaches. We are also providing assistance to the IOM and UNHCR who are delivering essential coordination, reception and registration support, as well as direct physical assistance.

    It is right that the vast majority of our support goes to the region, our support is helping to build long term stability and resilience to help refugees build a life in neighbouring countries and prevent them falling prey to people smugglers and traffickers. For this reason, the UK has been at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region. The UK has pledged over £1.1 billion to date, our largest ever humanitarian response to a single crisis. We are the second largest bilateral donor after the US and have done more than any other European country.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the new Ebola medal takes precedence over jubilee medals in the order of wear.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Jubilee Medals come ahead of the Ebola Medal for Service in West Africa in the current Order of Wear.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the (a) Egyptian Ambassador and (b) Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on resuming flights to Sharm El Sheikh.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government is working closely with the Egyptian authorities with a view to a resumption of flights as soon as possible. Ministers are keeping the position under close review. There have also been regular contacts between the Government and the Egyptian Ambassador to the UK to discuss the situation.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of public health budgets are allocated to services related to diabetes in 2015-16.

    Jane Ellison

    There is no specific allocation for public health services related to diabetes. Local authorities receive a grant which must be spent on public health, but are best placed to assess local needs, prioritise and deploy available resources accordingly. The NHS Health Check is a national programme that seeks to offer preventative checks for all those in the population aged between 40-74 to assess their risk of vascular disease, including diabetes. NHS England commissions the NHS Diabetic Eye Screening Programme but does not receive a specific allocation for this service.

  • David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-03-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to introduce early inflammatory arthritis clinics throughout the country.

    Jane Ellison

    National Clinical Audits are commissioned and managed on behalf of NHS England by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP). Audits help drive improvement by providing local trusts with individual benchmarked reports on their performance against a range of measures, feeding back comparative findings to help participants identify necessary improvements for patients

    The first annual report of the national clinical audit of rheumatoid and early inflammatory arthritis was published on 22 January 2016. The report identifies that although most services offer prompt educational support and agree targets for treatment with their patients, performance against criteria for referral and assessment could be improved. Since the audit, HQIP has reported that a number of trusts have successfully reconfigured their services in order to improve patient care. More information can be found at the following link:

    www.hqip.org.uk/national-programmes/a-z-of-nca/arthritis-rheumatoid-and-early-inflammatory

    To help clinicians to identify the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and make prompt referrals to specialists, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published Rheumatoid arthritis: The management of rheumatoid arthritis in adults, in 2009. This best practice guideline sets out the signs and symptoms of the disease and emphasises the need for early diagnosis with urgent referral to a specialist rheumatologist on suspicion of RA. For those diagnosed with the condition, the guidance also recommends they should be offered the opportunity to take part in educational activities, including self-management programmes.

    The NICE RA quality standard (QS), published in 2013, is based on the NICE guideline, and one of the seven quality statements recommends that people with suspected RA are assessed in a rheumatology service within three weeks of referral. However, whilst providers and commissioners must have regard to these standards in planning and delivering services, they do not provide a comprehensive service specification and are not mandatory.

    Regarding the establishment of early arthritis clinics, the configuration of services, including decisions to such arthritis clinics, is a matter for the local National Health Service.

    The latest monthly workforce statistics published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre showed that, as of November 2015, there were 563 full time equivalent rheumatology consultants employed in the NHS. This is an increase of 119 (26.8%) since May 2010. The recruitment and retention of staff is matter for local NHS services.

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that new guidelines on the recognition and treatment of Lyme disease are made available by July 2018.

    Jane Ellison

    As services for the treatment of Lyme disease are commissioned locally information on the costs associated with laboratory testing and treatment of late stage Lyme disease is not collected centrally. Nor is information collected centrally on the average time to diagnose cases of Lyme disease.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is developing a clinical guideline on Lyme disease and reports progress on its website. NICE recently consulted on a draft scope for the guideline, and expects to publish final guidance in July 2018.

    Public Health England and NHS Choices publish information on their websites to raise awareness of Lyme disease and encourage timely medical consultation because early diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease is the best way of limiting complications from infection. Given the need to maintain public awareness these or similar mechanisms are expected to continue beyond 2018. Increased awareness is likely to encourage early consultation but no information on the time taken to seek medical advice is available.

    There are no plans to set targets for diagnosis and treatment as most cases of Lyme disease are diagnosed empirically by general practitioners using their clinical judgement rather than relying on a laboratory test, thus treatment can start immediately. Diagnosis of patients with late or complicated Lyme disease can be difficult and the National Health Service will continue to provide care taking account of the existing evidence base.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-05-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on his Department’s expenditure of the UK leaving the EU.

    Michael Fallon

    None.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has had with her counterparts in the Middle East on steps to tackle the refugee crisis in that region.

    Sir Desmond Swayne

    The UK is at the forefront of international efforts to support over 4.8 million Syrian refugees to remain in host countries in the region until it is safe to return to Syria, and to support host countries to accommodate them.

    As part of this, we are working in partnership with host countries to help them to expand job and education opportunities for refugees in a way that will enable them to better support themselves and give them skills for the future, and we are helping host countries to cope with the impact of refugees on local services.

    The UK co-hosted the “Supporting Syria and the Region” conference in London in February, at which neighbouring governments made bold commitments to open up their labour markets to refugees, to improve regulation and the investment climate in their countries, and to ensure all children in their countries have access to quality education.

    The Secretary of State for International Development continues to lead engagement with regional partners on tackling the refugee crisis, including by delivering on the commitments made at the London Conference, which will help to create 1.1 million jobs and provide quality education to 1.7 million children by the end of the 2016/17 school year. At the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings in April she convened meetings between regional governments, the UN and World Bank and held bilateral discussions with key Ministers. And at the World Humanitarian Summit in May, she and other London Conference co-chairs convened a meeting of all interested parties to discuss and review progress.

    Looking forward, we will be using UN General Assembly in September as an important moment to review progress with key leaders on the Syria Conference implementation, including how all parties are all delivering on their commitments to support refugees in the region.