Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-01-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2015 to Question 19827, which authority is overseeing the implementation of NICE Quality Standards; and what steps are being taken to (a) monitor progress in developing Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) services against, (b) implement and (c) promote NICE Quality Standard Q581 on IBD.

    Jane Ellison

    The Health and Social Care Act 2012 places a duty on NHS England to have regard to quality standards, published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Quality standards are important in setting out to patients, the public, commissioners and providers what a high quality service should look like in a particular area of care.

    NHS England would expect providers and commissioners to take into account NICE quality standards, including for inflammatory bowel disease, in designing services locally. However, the quality standards do not provide a comprehensive service specification and are not mandatory.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assurances he has sought that the lifting of international sanctions on Iran will not result in an increase in overseas operations by Iran’s Quds Force; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Sanctions related to Iran’s human rights record and support for terrorism – including those on Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) members and entities sanctioned for these reasons – are not affected by the nuclear deal. They remain in place and will continue to be enforced. The IRGC, which includes the Quds Force, is still a sanctioned entity. The lifting of financial and economic sanctions represents a real opportunity for Iranians to make positive decisions about their country’s future and its role in the region.

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

    Andrew Murrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of changes in the number of registrations of care home residents at GP surgeries since the end of retainer fees in 2015.

    Alistair Burt

    Information is not collected centrally on whether a patient, registered with a general practitioner (GP) practice, is resident in a care home or their own home.

    GP practices provide National Health Service primary medical services under contracts with NHS England. These contracts do not distinguish between residents of care homes and other patients. Residents will be registered with a GP practice for core primary medical services whether or not a retainer is paid to a practice and are entitled to receive the same treatment from their GP as those living in their own homes.

    Retainer fees may be charged by a practice for providing services not covered by their contract with NHS England. However, the refusal of a care home to pay practices a retainer should not affect access to NHS primary medical services for residents of care homes.

  • Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will bring forward policies to tackle violence against women and girls in the BAME communities.

    Karen Bradley

    The Government published a new Violence Against Women and Girls strategy on 8 March committing £80 million between 2016 and 2020 to protect women and girls from violence and abuse. The increased funding will help to deliver our goal to work with local commissioners to ensure a secure future for rape support centres, refuges and the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and Forced Marriage Units, whilst driving a major change across all services which promote early intervention and prevention.

    The strategy sets out how we will support local areas in implementing tailored services for victims who experience different forms of discrimination or additional barriers to accessing support. This includes the launch of a Service Transformation Fund from 2017 which will help to meet the needs of women and girls experiencing multiple disadvantage including victims from black and minority ethnic communities.

    We continue to challenge the cultural attitudes that may underpin practices of FGM and forced marriage. We have criminalised forced marriage, set up a specialist FGM Unit, created a mandatory duty for frontline professionals to report FGM to the police, and will publish multi-agency FGM guidance for front-line professionals which we will put on a statutory footing.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-04-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with the newspaper industry on ad-blocking and platform regulation.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Secretary of State hold regular discussions with the newspaper industry on a wide range of issues. As he said in his speech to the Oxford Media Convention on 2 March 2016, he will shortly be hosting roundtable meetings with a wide range of relevant stakeholders, including newspaper industry representatives, to discuss ad-blocking and its impact.

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

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to meet the (a) advice and advocacy and (b) psychosocial needs of people living with HIV in Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham health authority area following implementation of the proposed reduction in specialist HIV support services.

    Jane Ellison

    Support services for people living with HIV are commissioned by local authorities.

    We are advised by NHS England that the boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham are currently consulting on a new service model, under which advice and advocacy, counselling and assessment and signposting services for people living with HIV would be provided by local non-HIV specialist services.

    We understand that the consultation exercise commenced on 9 May 2016 and is due to end on 28 June.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for the decline in average traffic speed over the last five years.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department publishes statistics on average traffic speeds on locally managed ‘A’ roads in England and the Strategic Road Network. For locally managed ‘A’ roads, average speeds have decreased since 2014, when the Department started measuring speeds over the full 24 hours of the day. This is in line with the previously published statistical series which presented average speeds, on locally managed ‘A’ roads during the weekday morning peak, decreasing from 2012 to the end of that series in 2015.

    The statistics for average speeds on the Strategic Road Network start in 2015-16. The latest statistics in this series (the 12 months to June 2016) presented a small decrease in average speeds compared to 2015-16 (the 12 months to March 2016).

    The Department has not undertaken a formal assessment of the reasons for the decline in average speeds. However, we believe that the decreases observed in average speeds on locally managed ‘A roads in England since 2012 are, at least in part, a result of the impact of increases in traffic on these roads. We know that people rely on roads in increasing numbers as our economy grows, and that is why, for example, we are investing £15billion in the strategic road network which will help to help tackle congestion.

    In addition, in 2012-13 there were unusually high levels of rainfall in England, which we also believe contributed to the decrease in average speeds at that time.

  • Baroness Hamwee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Hamwee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hamwee on 2016-10-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consultation was undertaken before giving guidance to Home Office officials on adults at risk in immigration detention to distinguish between torture by state actors and by non-state actors.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The definition of torture adopted for the “adults at risk in immigration detention” policy is in line with that set out in the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) although, for the purposes of the policy, it has been extended to cover serious harm inflicted by terrorist groups exploiting instability or civil war to hold territory.

    The Government adopted this definition as it most accurately reflects the need to protect those who are most likely to be adversely affected by detention – that is, those who have been harmed by the state, or by an organisation exercising similar control, and for whom detention is most likely to be redolent of the harm they have suffered.

    In order to be consistent, the same definition was applied to the reporting system in rule 35 of the Detention Centre Rules 2001 under which doctors working in immigration removal centres are required to report concerns that a detainee may have been the victim of torture. This has no effect on the requirement also in rule 35 for such doctors to report where a detainee’s health is likely to be injuriously affected by continued detention or the conditions of detention.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government on how many occasions since the National Assembly for Wales acquired full legislative powers (1) the Welsh Government has sought permission under Minister of the Crown functions for proposals within Welsh bills, and (2) such permission was refused.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    Secretary of State consent to amend Minister of the Crown functions has been sought in relation to seven of the Acts passed by the Assembly since 2011. The Government has refused such consent once, in relation to the Local Government Byelaws (Wales) Act 2012, having suggested an amendment to the drafting which would have enabled the UK Government to give consent but was rejected by the Welsh Government.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of regulation of the quality of social care paid for through Direct Payments.

    Alistair Burt

    The Care Act 2014 places a duty on local authorities to meet an individual’s eligible needs for care and support. If a person is assessed as being eligible for care and support from their local authority, they must be provided with a care plan to help decide the best way to meet their needs. People may choose to take a direct payment with which to purchase their own care and support, or they may wish to receive services arranged by their local authority, or a combination of both.

    It is important that people are enabled to be flexible to choose care and support from a diverse range of sources. This may include registered care providers but also “non-service” options, such as information and communication technologies and personal assistants. Providers of adult social care must register with the national regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which is responsible for regulating the quality and safety of services. However, non-care services, including personal assistance services, are not required to register with the CQC.

    Statutory guidance issued under the Care Act makes it clear that local authorities should provide people with appropriate advice concerning their use of direct payments, including how they differ from traditional services and provide helpful information such as the difference between purchasing regulated and unregulated services, for example, personal assistants, to help people make fully informed decisions on how best to meet their needs.