Tag: Parliamentary Question

Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting times are for access to talking therapies in (a) the UK, (b) Yorkshire and (c) Halifax.

Alistair Burt

We do not hold the data in the format requested. What data we do hold is provided in the following table:

The number of referrals entering treatment¹ in the year, with mean and median waiting times to first treatment (days), for Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services in 2014/15. Data shown for NHS Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and all Yorkshire CCGs combined².

Organisation code	Organisation name	Total number of referrals entering treatment³	Average (mean) waiting time to first treatment appointment (days)⁴	Median⁵ waiting time to first treatment appointment (days)

	All England	815,665	32	17

	All Yorkshire CCGs combined	71,690	39	21

02E	NHS Calderdale CCG	4,200	14	6

¹In order to enter treatment a referral must have a first treatment appointment (an appointment with a therapy type recorded) in the year.

²CCG is based on general practitioner (GP) Practice. Where GP Practice is not recorded, or cannot be assigned to a CCG, the referral is categorised as ‘Unknown’.

³In order to enter treatment a referral must have a first treatment appointment in the year.

⁴The mean was used as the average.

⁵Means and medians have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

Notes:

Waiting time is measured by counting the number of days between a referral being received and the first treatment appointment. For 2014/15, the presence of a valid therapy type is used as an indicator of whether treatment was provided in the course of the appointment.

Entering treatment figures are rounded to the nearest 5.

It is generally advised that the median is used as the more reliable measure of average waiting time, as this accounts better for any outliers in the data.

Source: IAPT

01/01/2023

Lord Shinkwin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Shinkwin on 2016-03-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much has been invested in the last year in (1) Down’s Syndrome research, (2) Down’s Syndrome screening, and (3) support for people with Down’s Syndrome.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The information requested on total investment in Down’s syndrome research is not available. Spend on research funded directly by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is categorised by Health Research Classification System (HRCS) health categories including ‘congenital disorders’. There are no HRCS health sub-categories, such as for Down’s syndrome or other specific syndromes.

To obtain how much the National Health Service invested in Down’s syndrome screening in the last year would incur a disproportionate cost.

Data on how much has been invested in the last year on support for people with Down’s syndrome is not held centrally.

01/01/2023
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-04-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any guidance or instruction from the Department of Education has prompted Brighton and Hove City Council to seek to establish the gender identity rather than the physical sex of four and five year-old children, and how many other education bodies have sent similar requests to parents.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Department for Education provides guidance on the Equality Act 2010 to schools which contains advice on the Public Sector Equality Duty and on the protected characteristic of gender reassignment.

The Department has not inquired into the gender identity of children in January 2016 and has no correspondence on the matter.

The addition of gender identity information on the pupil registration form was solely a decision of the Brighton and Hove City Council. They have the independence to make this decision.

The Department does not hold details of any additional information collected by local authorities outside of those required by the Department for our centrally specified, mandatory data collections.

The Department is not aware of any referral on this issue to the Police.

01/01/2023
Tom Pursglove – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of General Policy Recommendation No.16, by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, adopted on 16 March 2016, that doctors, teachers, landlords and other social service providers should not be obliged to report illegal immigrants.

James Brokenshire

Access to social services, benefits, social housing, NHS secondary care services, employment and private rented accommodation is subject to eligibility rules and immigration status checks by providers. The Government would not accept or support any recommendation which would bar public officials or private service providers from reporting illegal immigrants to the Home Office.

01/01/2023
Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether it remains his Department’s policy to meet EU climate targets; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd

The UK’s commitment to tackling global climate change is firm. Until we leave the EU, the UK will remain a full member, with all of the rights and obligations this entails.

01/01/2023
David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many deaths from the abuse of nitrous oxide were recorded for each region of England and Wales for each (a) age and (b) gender in 2015.

Chris Skidmore

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

01/01/2023
Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-11-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of how many additional GPs will be needed to supply the Battersea-Nine Elms development; and how many such GPs are planned to be provided.

Alistair Burt

We are advised by NHS England that it is working with its co-commissioning clinical commissioning groups to assess the requirements of the new development utilising the existing infrastructure and the requirements for an estimated population of in excess of 30,000 over a 10 year plus timeframe.

We understand that new models of delivery of primary care services are being investigated with an estimate of around 15 additional general practitioners required to serve the final population numbers.

01/01/2023
Lord Scriven – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2015-11-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made, for each local authority in the Yorkshire and Humber region, of whether the social care budget will meet future demand in the period between 2015 and 2020, in the light of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

No such assessment has been made. It is for local authorities to allocate funding to individual services from their overall budget. In recognition of increasing demand for social services, the Spending Review announced an ambitious plan to integrate health and social care across the country by 2020, and a £3.5 billion package to support local authorities with responsibility for adult social care to meet the needs of their local population. This includes giving councils the additional freedom to introduce a social care precept onto council tax bills, which local authorities in Yorkshire and Humber with responsibility for Adult Social Care services can choose to take up from 2016-17.

01/01/2023

Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many bearskins and other associated headgear containing real fur his Department purchased in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not buy bear pelts; it buys ceremonial caps direct from suppliers who source pelts from animals culled as part of a programme to manage the wild population licensed by the Canadian government. Animal welfare standards relating to the bear cull are a matter for the Canadian government.

The MOD also purchases coney skin (rabbit fur) for the Royal Engineers’ and Royal Signals’ busby and fox fur for the Royal Horse Artillery, Kings Troop Officers’ busby. The current contract requires a commitment to sustainable procurement.

Depending on usage and maintenance, bearskin busbys can last for up to 50 years. The coney skin and fox fur busbys have indefinite lifespans if properly maintained.

Calendar Year	Cost of Bearskin Busby Headgear (£)	Financial Year	Cost of Coney Skin Busby Headgear (£)	Cost of Fox Fur Busby Headgear(£)
2005	Not held	2005-06	1,532	0
2006	Not held	2006-07	0	1,472
2007	Not held	2007-08	0	0
2008	31,319	2008-09	9,173	406
2009	148,891	2009-10	0	0
2010	131,886	2010-11	0	0
2011	90,822	2011-12	0	861
2012	126,087	2012-13	1,779	861
2013	65,108	2013-14	0	0
2014	136,671	2014-15	10,257	1,899
2015	149,379	2015-16	2,558	0

All figures are rounded to the nearest pound.

Calendar Year	Number of Bearskin Busby Headgear	Financial Year	Number of Coney Skin Busby Headgear	Number of Busby Headgear made of Fox Fur
2005	Not held	2005-06	4	0
2006	Not held	2006-07	0	2
2007	Not held	2007-08	0	0
2008	35	2008-09	22	1
2009	195	2009-10	0	0
2010	158	2010-11	0	0
2011	99	2011-12	0	1
2012	126	2012-13	4	1
2013	63	2013-14	0	0
2014	127	2014-15	20	2
2015	122	2015-16	5	0

Historically the MOD has undertaken a number of trials on synthetic alternatives to bear skin but none of these matched the properties of the natural material. No trialling has taken place since 2007. Information about costs of these trials is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. In 2012 the Ministry of Defence loaned a sample bearskin to the animal rights organisation, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, to aid its research and development programme on a synthetic alternative.

There has been no research and development carried out to find a synthetic alternative to coney skin or fox fur.

01/01/2023

Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-01-28.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment the Financial Conduct Authority has made of the effectiveness of its regulations to ensure record keeping by banks and other financial institutions are not being (a) deleted, (b) manipulated or (c) altered.

Harriett Baldwin

This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent from Government.

The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the Rt Hon Joan Ryan MP by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

01/01/2023