Tag: Parliamentary Question

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

    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 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that NICE guidance is followed in the use of faecal microbiota transplants in the treatment of recurrent Clostridium difficile.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has produced guidance on faecal microbiota transplant for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection under the interventional procedure programme. This programme makes recommendations about the safety of the procedures and how well they work. However the guidance does not constitute a direction to National Health Service trusts to provide the interventions. Decisions about whether to provide a treatment are taken locally.

  • Ann Coffey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ann Coffey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Coffey on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish the implementation plan and monitoring framework for the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

    Sarah Newton

    While there are no plans to publish an additional plan or monitoring framework, the Government has several mechanisms overseeing implementation and monitoring of the Modern Slavery Act and Strategy. The Inter-Departmental Group for Modern Slavery, chaired by the Hoe Secretary, publishes an annual report on Government work to tackle modern slavery. The Modern Slavery Threat Group chaired by the National Policing Lead, oversees the operational response. And the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner will publish his first annual report about the UK’s response this Autumn.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many audiology services there are in England.

    David Mowat

    Comprehensive data on the number of audiology services in England is not collected.

    NHS England has no current plans to introduce financial incentives for the achievement of Improving Quality in Physiological Services (IQIPS) accreditation.

    As of 1 September, there are 39 organisations with IQIPS accreditation for audiology, covering 28 adult and 21 paediatric audiology services. If an organisation is accredited for both adult and paediatric audiology, United Kingdom Accreditation Service considers that one accreditation.

    In Commissioning Services for People with Hearing Loss: A framework for clinical commissioning groups, published in July, NHS England strongly encourages clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to expect providers to have completed the IQIPS self-assessment tool and applied for accreditation with UKAS, and achieve accreditation within the duration of their contract. This is reflected in the model service specification for adults.

    In the contract for Genomics Medicines Centres, Annex M requires National Health Service trusts nominated as Lead Organisations and Local Delivery Partners to be working towards diagnostic accreditation across all available schemes, including IQIPS.

    NHS England is also working with the Care Quality Commission to agree the use of scientific and diagnostic schemes as an information source for inspection purposes, as set out in their latest strategy.

    We currently have no plans to introduce mandatory accreditation of audiology services in England.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of solar panels to reduce energy costs for consumers.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government proposed changes to the feed-in tariff scheme (FITs) as part of the FITs review, on which we consulted widely between 27th August and 23rd October. The proposals made clear that FITs generation tariffs are set taking into account: bill savings to the generator; value of power exported; and value of the generation tariff balanced against the costs of deploying, operating and maintaining the installations. Detail on the potential value of bill savings was set out in the impact assessment which was published alongside the FITs consultation.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the latest date is on which he could announce his decision on airport expansion in the south east consistent with meeting the timetable for delivering capacity set out by the Airports Commission.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    On 10 December, the Government accepted the Airports Commission’s case for expansion in the South East. We agree with the Commission’s shortlist of three options, all of which it concluded were viable. The Government will now conclude a package of further work by the summer, and will ensure that the timetable for delivering additional capacity set out by the Commission does not alter.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish his Department’s reasons for installing an Engineered Material Arresting System at RAF Northolt; how much he expects that installation to cost; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS) is being scoped as a military infrastructure requirement commensurate with safety cases for military aircraft operating at RAF Northolt and the associated military aerodrome design standards utilised at the Station. I am withholding estimated costs for the EMAS project as it is at the pre-tender stage and disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice commercial interests.

    The Mott McDonald report has no opinion or relevance against the military aerodrome design criteria and safety cases in place at the Station or the current operation of RAF Northolt. Any infrastructure investment for military operational requirements will continue to be undertaken as necessary to support military and Government outputs.

  • 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 2016-02-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Prior of Brampton on 11 February (HL5773, HL5959 and HL5960), why they have not placed in the Library of the House a full copy of the original licence application submitted to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to perform genome editing in human embryos by means of CRISPR-Cas9; why they have not placed in the Library of the House copies of the patient information and consent forms submitted to the HFEA by the person responsible in order to perform such work; how the conditions stipulated under paragraph 13 of Section G in Direction 0008 version 4 as published by HFEA on 29 October 2015 (http://www.hfea.gov.uk/docs/ General_Directions_0008. pdf) regarding Information to be submitted to the HFEA as part of the licensing process” were satisfied in the case of the decision; and why they will not place in the Library of the House a full copy of the responses to peer reviewers by the person responsible.”

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) publishes on its website the inspection report relating to a licence renewal application and the minutes of the Licence Committee’s decision. It does not publish other information associated with a licence application.

    The Licence Committee considering the application to which the noble Lord refers was satisfied that the requirements of General Directions 0008 were met, with the exception of evidence of ethics approval, which must be submitted to the HFEA before any licensed research can begin.

    The HFEA has advised that licence conditions R18-R27 and T97 address any potential conflict between the use of embryos in research and the use of embryos in the provision of treatment services. The person responsible did not give a reason on the application form for requesting that reference to surplus embryos should be removed from the research project title, nor are they required to do so. The removal of ‘surplus’ from the title does not reflect a change in the way embryos will be donated to the research.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2016 to Question 29595, what the reasons were for refusal of the Tier 2 (Minister of Religion) Visas.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office does not hold this information in the format requested. It could only be obtained at disproportionate cost, through the interrogation of individual case records.

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of improving metro services in the North East and extending such services into Easington constituency.

    Andrew Jones

    My Department is supporting Nexus in delivering an 11 year programme of works to renew and improve the Tyne and Wear Metro. This work is being funded with over £300 million of grant from DfT and includes refurbishment of the Metrocar fleet, modernisation of 60 stations, introduction of new ‘smart’ ticketing machines, barriers and technologies, and a new communications system. Nexus is also overhauling and maintaining structures such as bridges and tunnels, track and overhead power lines.

    As part of the North East Devolution Deal, Nexus will be submitting a business case shortly that covers the replacement of the existing rolling stock and signalling as well as any proposals for expanding the Metro network.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of waste exported for recycling which is contaminated and is sent to landfill or incinerated.

    Rory Stewart

    We are not aware of any waste exported for recycling which has had to be landfilled or incinerated due to contamination.

    There is a legitimate export market for quality recyclable material – but the law is clear that it is illegal to export waste from the UK for disposal.

    The regulatory framework governing waste shipments provides a mechanism for facilitating the takeback of waste to the country of export in cases where it cannot be processed as intended or in the case of an illegal shipment.

    The UK environment agencies have adopted an intelligence-led approach to identify and disrupt the movement of waste intended for illegal export. Defra has been working with the agencies to find ways of strengthening their enforcement activities.