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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Kevin Hollinrake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Kevin Hollinrake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Hollinrake on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to (a) reduce the number and (b) support the families of people reported as missing for more than three months; and when he expects to bring forward legislative proposals on the proposed guardianship bill.

    Dominic Raab

    The government is currently reviewing the Missing Children and Adults strategy, originally published in 2011. We are engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, including the charity Missing People, to update the guidance given in relation to all cases of children and adults going missing. The refreshed strategy will be published later this year and will include measures relating to preventing people going missing and improving the responses by all agencies to the families of long-term missing persons. We will introduce legislation to create a new legal status of guardian of the property and affairs of a missing person as soon as parliamentary time permits.

  • Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-04-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.15 of Budget 2016, (a) to which organisations and (b) when the £5 million allocated to a National Mesothelioma Centre will be paid.

    Greg Hands

    The National Mesothelioma Centre will be a collaboration between four leading institutions who have a major interest in the treatment of mesothelioma: National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI) at Imperial College; Royal Brompton Hospital; Institute of Cancer Research (ICR); and Royal Marsden Hospital. This collaboration will form the hub of the Centre which will engage with all other hospitals in the UK to which mesotheliomas are referred and treated.

    Professor Sir Anthony Newton Taylor, Head of Research & Development at the National Heart & Lung Institute, who made the application for support from LIBOR fines, is working closely with the British Lung Foundation and other charities in order to ensure that experts from across the lung and cancer research community are able to contribute to this important enterprise.

    The £5 million grant, which is intended as seed funding, has been profiled over 4 years and will be paid to the National Mesothelioma Centre, once established. The funding will be subjected to standard Grant Terms and Conditions, including a feedback and reporting mechanism, and audit.


  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 15 March 2016 to Question 29900, on tuberous sclerosis, for what reasons the policy statement for the commissioning of Everolimus for treating angiomyolipomas has not yet been published; and when he plans to publish that statement.

    George Freeman

    The policy statement for the commissioning of Everolimus for treating angiomyolipomas has not yet been published owing to delays experienced when incorporating the needs of children into the policy.

    Those issues have now been resolved and the policy is due to be published imminently on NHS England’s website.

  • Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of doctor staffing levels in the emergency department at North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust.

    Ben Gummer

    Patient safety remains a key priority for the Government and whilst progress has been made there is clearly much more to be done. The Department is aware of the situation at North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust and the relevant regulatory bodies, led by NHS Improvement, are taking appropriate action.

    The Warning Notice, issued to North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on 6 June 2016 requires the trust to significantly improve the treatment of patients attending the emergency department (ED).

    NHS Improvement has given assurance that North Middlesex University Hospital carried out immediate actions to support the staffing concerns raised by the regulators.

    A new Clinical Director and an experienced Medical Director have been appointed to provide the ED with dedicated substantive leadership. The Clinical Director will provide leadership to the department and oversee the recruitment to currently vacant posts. In addition, there is also focus on reducing the medical work load in the ED through added support from other clinical services and professionals. This includes the appointment of new matrons and a new dedicated service manager with extensive ED experience.

    Further, local general practitioners are increasing the level of support they provide to the department both to prevent admissions and to improve discharges. All of these measures will be in place by the end of June 2016.

    On staffing, the local National Health Service is working with the Trust to ensure it can provide emergency care to the required standards. NHS Improvement and NHS England have put in place enhanced oversight mechanisms to assure themselves that services remain safe at all times.

    An external specialist review of the consultant and middle grade rotas for June, July, August and September has been commissioned to provide independent assurance of the appropriate competencies within each rota.

    NHS Improvement will continue to work with system colleagues, Health Education England and the General Medical Council to assure themselves that the improvements being put in place meet the requirements that they need to see from both the Trust and the system both in the short term and the long term.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received from clinical experts and health economists on prescription charges for people with long-term medical conditions.

    David Mowat

    The Department receives numerous representations on prescription charges for people in England with long-term medical conditions. It is not possible to say how many of these were from clinical experts or health economists, though the independent Commission on the Future of Health and Social Care in England’s report, A new settlement for health and social care, published in 2014, did have health economist input. There have also been representations from the Prescription Charges Coalition, but it is not certain to what extent these were informed by clinical experts or health economists.

    Arrangements are in place to ensure that prescriptions are affordable for everyone, including those with a long-term condition. There are exemptions from the prescription charge for people with low income, including through receipt of specific benefits and through application to the NHS Low Income Scheme. For those who do not qualify for exemption, prescription prepayment certificates are also available, which allow people to claim as many prescriptions as they need for a set cost. To support those with high levels of need, the cost of the 12-month and 3-month certificates have been frozen since 2009 and 2011, respectively.

    The Department has not undertaken a formal impact assessment on the potential cost of eliminating or reducing prescription charges for people with long-term medical conditions. However, the Prescription Charges Review undertaken by Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, and published in 2010, estimated that extending exemption to all those with a long-term condition would lead to a loss in revenue of between £360 and £430 million.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of suicides among women with autism.

    David Mowat

    The cross-Government suicide prevention strategy, ‘Preventing suicides in England: a cross-Government outcomes strategy to save lives’ highlights various groups of people for which tailored approaches to meet their mental health needs are required to address risk of suicide. This includes people who are in contact with mental health and/or social care services and people who may experience social factors such as social isolation and social exclusion, which may be experienced by people with autism.

    We are looking at ways to strengthen the cross-Government suicide prevention strategy and will set out details later this year.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published a guideline in 2015, ‘Challenging behaviour and learning disabilities: prevention and interventions for people with learning disabilities whose behaviour challenges’ which recommends interventions to mitigate risks, including for people with autism, such as self-harm and suicide.

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he had with the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when developing his Department’s policy on local authority procurement policies and companies’ investment and divestment decisions announced on 3 October 2015.

    Matthew Hancock

    Cabinet Office will shortly issue guidance that reminds public authorities of their international obligations when letting public contracts. Foreign policy is not a matter for local authorities. The guidance will make clear that boycotts in public procurement are inappropriate and may be illegal, outside where formal legal sanctions, embargoes and restrictions that have been put in place by the Government.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) social and (b) affordable housing tenants in receipt of housing benefit who have paid rents in excess of local housing allowance rates in each of the last six years.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information requested can only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what projection her Department has made of use of the Thames Barrier in each of the next five years.

    Rory Stewart

    The Thames Barrier will be required to close more frequently due to sea level rise but it is projected to protect London from tidal flooding to its designed standard until 2070.

    The Environment Agency monitors a number of indicators to ensure that this projection remains valid but does not develop projections of the number of closures on a year on year basis.

  • Sheryll Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Sheryll Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sheryll Murray on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her announcement of 2 November 2015 Introducing greater emphasis on literacy and numeracy at key stage 2, what representations she has since received on that policy; and approximately how many such representations were (a) against and (b) in favour of that statement.

    Nick Gibb

    We have not received specific representations on literacy and numeracy following the Secretary of State’s announcement in November. The government remains committed to raising standards of literacy and numeracy and works closely with professionals to raise standards for all pupils so that they are equipped to succeed in education and in life. In 2010, one in every three children starting secondary school was unable to read, write, or add up properly. Following government reforms, teachers have driven up standards with the figure now at one in five.

    It is vital that we get the foundation right so that every child has a fair chance to succeed through all key stages. That is why we have placed phonics at the heart of the early teaching of reading and introduced a phonics check at the end of year 1 to enable schools to assess whether the essential building blocks of reading are in place. The percentage of pupils meeting the required standards of phonics in year 1 has increased from 58 percent in 2012 to 77 percent in 2015, putting 120,000 more 6 year olds each year on track to become confident readers. We fund a programme of 200 book clubs in primary schools where reading attainment at key stage 2 is currently low, and support schools to enrol year 3 pupils with a public library.

    Beyond this, we have placed a greater emphasis within the primary curriculum and assessment on a secure grasp of the essentials such as grammar, punctuation and spelling, introducing a grammar, punctuation and spelling test in year 6.

    For mathematics, we have placed particular emphasis in the primary curriculum on fluency in mental and written calculation. Just as knowledge of phonics is an essential foundation for success in reading, sound knowledge of arithmetic is essential for future success in mathematics. We removed the use of calculators for the end of key stage 2 mathematics tests from 2014 and in January 2016 we announced that all children will have their multiplication skills checked at the age of 11.

    We want to ensure that all children have the right foundation at primary school and that any child who falls behind can catch up quickly. We provide funding to secondary schools to help year 7 pupils catch up and, as the Secretary of State said in her November speech, we have announced a resit test for year 7 pupils who do not meet expected standards in reading or mathematics at the end primary school.