Tag: Parliamentary Question

Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-03-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 2 March 2016 to Question 28094, on minimum wage: enforcement, if he will provide details of the assurance process used to make sure that employers who have been found to be non-compliant with the national minimum wage have fully self-corrected their pay system and paid all workers any national minimum wage arrears that they are owed.

Nick Boles

The assurance process involves Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) performing a sample check that arrears have been paid to workers under self-correction. Workers are selected and contacted by telephone and correspondence to confirm that they have received the arrears they are owed, and the amount that the employer has reported. If HMRC do not receive a self-correction report from the employer they will remind the company and then follow up with an unannounced visit, where appropriate. If HMRC has concerns following the above processes then an investigation is re-opened.

01/01/2023
Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the quality and variation of rehabilitation available to stroke survivors.

Jane Ellison

One of the actions set out in the 2007 National Stroke Strategy was to increase the rate of thrombolysis (treatment with clot busting drugs), which stood at around 1% of stroke admissions. Data from the Stroke Sentinel Audit Programme (SSNAP) suggests this rate has risen to 11-12%, with around 9,600 stroke patients now benefiting from treatment with thrombolysis each year. Evidence suggests that, on average, 13% of those treated with thrombolysis will have reduced disability as a result. It is therefore likely that more than 1,200 stroke patients per year now benefit from reduced disability due to thrombolysis.

Although the Government has made no assessment of the quality and variation of rehabilitation and speech and language therapy available to stroke survivors in England, SSNAP has collected data over the last three years on the rehabilitation that patients get in hospital and when they are discharged in to the community.

SSNAP also undertook an audit in 2015 of the provision and organisation of post-acute stroke care which includes details on the provision of speech and language therapy. It shows there are variations around the country in the availability of these services to stroke survivors. The Strategic Clinical Networks and the National Clinical Director for Stroke are working with clinical commissioning groups to help address this.

01/01/2023
Henry Bellingham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Bellingham on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many small and medium-sized businesses in North West Norfolk placed a bid on a public contract in the last two years.

Matthew Hancock

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

01/01/2023
The Countess of Mar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Countess of Mar on 2016-06-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 20 June (HL503), and in the light of the fact that there are no detection systems fitted in commercial aircraft to indicate the presence of fumes, how pilots or crew with little or no sense of smell are expected to be able to identify the presence of fumes in cabin air that might constitute a potential safety incident.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Anosmia (complete loss of smell) is rare and many of the medical conditions/medications which may cause this are incompatible with pilot medical certification. Hyposmia (reduction in sense of smell) is most commonly associated with acute or chronic upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) – crew who have a significant URTI should not be on duty.

Even if someone did have little, or no sense of smell, there are other indications of the occurrence of a fumes event, such as the presence of smoke or a visible haze. In addition, any fumes event associated with bleed air contamination would be distributed throughout the cockpit/cabin, so detection does not rely on the sense of smell of one individual.

Any pilot experiencing symptoms of possible cabin air contamination, such as eye or throat irritation, should follow the standard operating procedure and wear their goggles and oxygen mask, regardless of whether they can smell anything – particularly if they are aware that they have a poor sense of smell.

There is currently no evidence of toxicity as a result of fumes events that would justify installation of monitors (even if monitors suitable for routine use on aircraft were available).

01/01/2023
Baroness Smith of Basildon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2016-09-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many cases under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 have been referred to the Crown Prosecution Service in each year from 2005 to date.

Lord Keen of Elie

While the Crown Prosecution Service and the police work with each other at an early stage on Female Genital Mutilation cases to ensure all avenues of enquiry can be pursued, the CPS only records data on the Case Management System following a positive decision to charge a case.

The Casework Management System records that one FGM case was charged in 2014 and resulted in an acquittal in 2015.

01/01/2023
Daniel Kawczynski – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Kawczynski on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the building of bungalows and other homes accessible to people with limited mobility.

James Wharton

National planning policy sets out clearly the need for local authorities to plan for the housing needs of all members of the community and that planning should encourage accessibility. In March this year the Department published further planning guidance to make clear how councils can plan ahead to meet the needs of an ageing population, and consider the types of homes they would need to build locally. This can include bungalows and homes designed with older people in mind offering for example, step-free access, downstairs bathrooms, or wider halls and doorways.

New Building Regulations came into force in October which included a new standard for accessibility, higher than the current national minimum standard, which a local authority can apply where needs and viability tests are met.

01/01/2023
Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost to the NHS was of treating cold-related admissions to hospitals in each year since 2010.

Jane Ellison

The information is not held centrally.

01/01/2023

Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-14.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many applications for mandatory reconsideration of a tax credits decision have been made to Concentrix in each month since April 2014.

Mr David Gauke

The number of requests for mandatory reconsideration of a decision about a tax credits award that Concentrix have received since the commencement of their contract with HM Revenue and Customs in November 2014 is as follows:

Month	Number of MRs
November 2014	0
December 2014	2
January 2015	6
February 2015	38
March 2015	29
April 2015	137
May 2015	100
June 2015	45
July 2015	71
August 2015	108
September 2015	1221
October 2015	925
November 2015	871
December 2015	2371

The total is about 1.6% of all decisions Concentrix made in the same period.

As of 15 January 2016, there are 566 mandatory reconsiderations in progress that have been opened and Concentrix are waiting for customers to provide further evidence. Concentrix have 30 further mandatory reconsiderations that are awaiting determination.

The average length of time taken between Concentrix starting to work a mandatory reconsideration and making a decision is 24 days. This includes the time needed for customers to provide any further evidence.

01/01/2023

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what procurement process was followed to commission Bain and Company to support the vanguard programme in NHS England in deciding how to invest transformation funds; what is the value of that consultancy contract; and how value for money in that contract was established.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) commissioned Bain and Company to support vanguards as an extension to work previously commissioned from the company as part of a programme called Future Focused Finance, an initiative sponsored by the Department of Health and arm’s length bodies. This earlier work for the HFMA had focused on the design of a value-based decision effectiveness tool, piloted in Mid-Cheshire and Liverpool. The HFMA, in partnership with NHS England, commissioned the extension to this work so that the tool could be used to support value-based decision-making in the 2016-17 New Care Models programme.

Alternatives were not sought from competitors because the vanguard support built on the original Bain and Company work for the HFMA.

The value of the vanguard support contract is £650,000. Value for money was obtained by negotiation, having been benchmarked with other commissions made by the National Health Service to external health consultancies.

As part of the contract, Bain and Company will be handing over its approach to NHS England, so that NHS England can support other areas in implementing new care models.

Bain and Company has not been commissioned to assess evidence to support transformation and potential for replication of new care models in other areas. The company is commissioned to develop and implement a framework that appropriately experienced NHS staff can use to assess such evidence. Intellectual property rights in respect of the framework in the future are assigned to HFMA under the terms of the contract. The NHS is entitled to use the framework free of charge in perpetuity.

Bain and Company is involved in the development of the tool used to make the assessment, and in the implementation of the process to use that tool. The company is specifically commissioned to help vanguard sites to use the tool and to summarise the resulting value propositions to facilitate decision-making by NHS England.

No conflict of interest arises as decisions concerning funding allocations for individual vanguards are made by NHS England’s Executive Team and Investment Committee and not Bain and Company.

01/01/2023
David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-03-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the additional revenue councils will receive from local business rates as a result of devolution deals.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Government has announced that, by the end of the Parliament, we will give all local councils new responsibilities in return for keeping 100% of locally raised business rates. In advance of 100% retention, devolution deals are already giving some areas the ability to keep 100% of the actual growth in business rates they achieve above a pre-determined baseline. This will give them an added incentive to grow their local economies and increase their income from business rates.

01/01/2023