The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-09-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of wheelchair access at sports venues.
Tracey Crouch
I refer my honourable friend to my answer to question 44837, answered on 7th September.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to improve the service quality provided by call handlers who respond to NHS 111 and 999 calls; and what funding he plans to allocate to those services in the next five years.
Mr Philip Dunne
The service quality provided by call handlers who respond to 999 and 111 calls is the responsibility of local providers of these services.
Computer-aided dispatch and clinical decision support systems are used to guide call handers through 999 and 111 calls. These systems have embedded clinical governance processes which keep them under continual internal evidence based review.
In the future, the 111 phone number will be the “front door” to a 24/7 integrated urgent care service. It will provide access to a ‘clinical hub’ which offers patients access to a wide range of clinicians supported by access to clinical records.
National Health Service ambulance trusts (who operate 999 call handling services) and providers of NHS111 services are commissioned and funded locally by NHS clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). CCGs work with these providers to take decisions on funding on a yearly basis.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to ban the wearing of masks at demonstrations in public spaces.
Mike Penning
Face coverings can be worn in public places for a variety of legitimate reasons and there are no plans to introduce a blanket ban at demonstrations or other public events. The police already have powers in relation to the wearing of face masks in public order situations under existing legislation.
Section 60AA of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 allows a police officer in uniform, following an authorisation relating to a specified area for a specified time (up to 24 hours initially), to remove or seize anything that he or she considers is being, or could be, worn wholly or mainly for the purposes of concealing identity. This would include all types of face coverings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Lewis on 2015-12-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his evidence to the Defence Committee on UK military operations in Syria and Iraq on 1 December 2015, HC 657, Q36, if he will publish a breakdown of the groups comprising the estimated 70,000 fighters in Syria described by the UK government as moderate.
Michael Fallon
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 1 December 2015 to Question 18014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Crawley on 2016-01-20.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what independent analysis of different systems for tobacco control and product authentication HMRC is proposing to undertake.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
The EU Commission is currently considering how the track and trace system and security feature provisions of the EU Tobacco Products Directive will be implemented.
Until this is decided HMRC have no plans for independent analysis of different systems for tobacco control and product authentication.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-02-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the amount of EU funding her Department received in each of the last three years.
Mr Sam Gyimah
For the period December 2013 to July 2015 (2007-2013 European Social Fund programme extended to 2015), £71 million of ring fenced European Social Fund monies was available to provide support for young people aged 14-19 who were not in education, employment or training or, who were at risk of being so. The funding was administered by the Skills Funding Agency on behalf of the Education Funding Agency.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2016-03-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits for the UK economy of the completion of a EU internal energy market.
Amber Rudd
My Department assesses that the completion of the EU internal energy market would put downward pressure on energy bills; encourage efficient investment in the UK energy sector; and enhance energy security.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Holloway on 2016-03-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to deploy the armed forces in Libya to provide security for the Libyan Government of National Accord.
Michael Fallon
Multinational planning, in which the UK has played a supporting role, is focused on training Libyan security forces to provide their own security to the new Libyan government and Libyan people.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-05-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the clinical risks to patients of follow-up appointments being scheduled beyond clinically recommended times.
Lord Prior of Brampton
All follow up appointments (also known as planned, surveillance or recall appointments) should take place when clinically appropriate. It is for clinicians to make decisions on when they see patients, in line with their clinical priority, and patients should not experience undue delay at any stage of their referral, diagnosis or treatment. Moreover, the appropriate interval for follow up appointments will vary between different services or specialties, and between individual patients, depending on the severity of their condition.
To ensure that patients are seen at the appropriate time, NHS England guidance is clear that when patients on planned lists are clinically ready for their care to commence and reach the date for their planned appointment, they should either receive that appointment or be transferred to an active waiting list. At that point, a waiting time clock will be started and their wait reported in the relevant statistical return, so that patients are not waiting on ‘hidden’ lists.
Furthermore, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) also assesses providers against the new fundamental standards of safety and quality below which care should never fail. One of these standards requires that care and treatment must be appropriate and reflect service users’ needs and preferences. Another requires that care and treatment must be provided in a safe way. The CQC will require a provider to improve where it is not meeting these standards.
No assessment has been made of the clinical risks to patients of follow-up appointments being scheduled beyond clinically recommended times, as the risks will also vary between services, specialties and patients. It is for clinicians to make these judgements.
The information requested on delays to review outpatient appointments is not collected centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Cox on 2016-06-15.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the UN Security Council resolution of 31 May calling for a suspension of the Transitional Government of National Unity’s decision to increase the number of states in South Sudan to 28.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We have consistently expressed serious concern at President Kiir’s decision on 2nd October 2015 to create 28 states in South Sudan, in contradiction to the peace agreement he signed in August 2015. The UK voted in favour of UN Security Council Resolution 2290 of 31 May 2016, which underlined the need to address this issue. We welcome that the Transitional Government of National Unity has subsequently begun the process of forming a Boundary Commission that should resolve this dispute.