The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-05-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies have spent on infraction proceedings in each of the last 10 years.
George Eustice
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, the Rt. Hon Matthew Hancock, on 11 May 2016, to PQ UIN 36288.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-06-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take in response to the decision by the Care Quality Commission to issue a warning notice to North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust regarding the standard of care in the emergency department at that hospital; and if he will make a statement.
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.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support the Government is providing to the Kurdistan regional government related to internally displaced people in that region.
Rory Stewart
Since June 2014, the UK has committed £129.5 million in humanitarian assistance to the crisis in Iraq. This includes cash assistance, access to clean water, food, medicines and other life-saving assistance for the most vulnerable people, including internally displaced people in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Given the importance of a coordinated response, we have provided £1 million of funding to UNDP to support the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Joint Crisis Centre (JCC), and its equivalent for the Government of Iraq, the Joint Crisis and Monitoring Centre (JCMC). The JCC is leading humanitarian efforts for the Kurdistan Regional Government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the proportion of people working in (a) law, (b) journalism, (c) politics, (d) medicine and (e) other professions who attended (i) selective and (ii) non-selective schools.
Nick Gibb
The Department does not hold this information.
The Sutton Trust has looked at this matter as part of its Leading People study, which can be viewed on its website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was spent from the public purse on the payment of social security benefits to non-UK citizens in each non-European Economic Area country for each year from 1997-98 to 2014-15.
Priti Patel
The full information requested is not held centrally.
The Department for Work and Pensions checks the nationality and immigration status of benefit claimants to ensure the benefit is paid properly and to prevent fraud. While this information is used, it is not recorded as part of the benefit payment administrative systems.
Benefit Expenditure and Caseload tables are published on Gov.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/474453/expenditure-by-country-and-region-2014-15.xlsx
Please note that these figures include a breakdown for UK regions and a combined figure for expenditure abroad or where the region is unknown. Expenditure is not broken down by nationality.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to paragraph 1.57 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on research and development by industry of converting innovation grants into interest-paying loans.
Joseph Johnson
Access to finance remains an important challenge for innovative enterprises. We want to broaden the type of financial support available for innovation. Other European countries like France, Finland and The Netherlands offer financial products in their policy mix for business innovation. We are seeking to learn from these approaches. In doing this, we will engage with businesses to better understand their needs and support access to sufficient financing throughout the lifecycle of innovative projects.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-01-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether new guidance has been issued to her Department on drafting responses to written parliamentary questions.
Nick Gibb
The Department for Education regularly refreshes its internal guidance on drafting responses to written parliamentary questions to ensure that it is up to date.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2016-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to ascertain the reason for a large number of whales becoming stranded on the east coast of the UK in 2016; and if she will make a statement.
George Eustice
Mass stranding events of whales are rare and ascertaining what causes them can be difficult. This is why Defra, in conjunction with the Devolved Administrations of Scotland and Wales, funds the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP). Although it is still too early to draw any conclusions on what may have caused the recent mass strandings of sperm whales in the North Sea, the CSIP will be working with stranding networks in Germany and the Netherlands over the coming months to try to identify the potential cause.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has held with pharmacy patients on the closure of community pharmacies.
Alistair Burt
Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service and can play an even greater role. In the Spending Review the Government re-affirmed the need for the NHS to deliver £22 billion in efficiency savings by 2020/21 as set out in the NHS’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy is a core part of NHS primary care and has an important contribution to make as the NHS rises to these challenges. The Government believes efficiencies can be made without compromising the quality of services or public access to them. Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive and so we are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.
The Government’s vision is for a more efficient, modern system that will free up pharmacists to spend more time delivering clinical and public health services to the benefit of patients and the public.
Our proposals are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. A consequence may be the closure of some pharmacies but that is not our aim. We are not able to assess which pharmacies may close or the number of people who may lose their jobs, because we do not know the financial viability of individual businesses or the extent to which they derive income from services commissioned locally by the NHS or local authorities or have non-NHS related income.
We are consulting the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee and others, including patient and public representatives on our proposals. An impact assessment will be completed to inform final decisions and published in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-04-08.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of parents eligible for tax-free childcare who do not have access to the internet; and what plans he has to ensure all such families are not excluded from access to tax-free childcare due to lack of access to the internet.
Damian Hinds
The Government will publicise the Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme in good time ahead of its introduction through a range of digital and print channels. HMRC will also work with the childcare industry and representative groups who interact regularly with parents to raise awareness of the scheme.
HM Revenue and Customs is developing an online childcare calculator to help parents understand their eligibility for government childcare support. From early 2017, parents of the youngest children will be able to enter the scheme first, with all eligible parents brought in by the end of 2017. Parents will not be able to open childcare accounts prior to the launch of the scheme.
TFC will be straightforward and quick to apply online for the vast majority of parents. We estimate that up to 9% of the families eligible for the scheme of that population may have issues with either accessing or using the internet. HM Revenue and Customs will ensure that assistance is provided, usually by telephone, so these families do not miss out on the support available.
Tax-Free Childcare is part of the wider government childcare offer which will be worth over £6Bn per annum and together provide generous support to families on all levels of income.