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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Charles Walker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Charles Walker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will take into account the implications her decision will have on proposals for further lagoons in the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel when negotiating a contract for difference and strike price for the proposed tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government is currently in the first phase of a Contract for Difference negotiation with the developer of the proposed Swansea Bay tidal lagoon project. This process of due diligence will enable us to gain a better understanding of the potential of a tidal lagoon programme in the UK.

    Any proposals for further tidal lagoons would need to be considered separately by the relevant consenting authorities and would require assessments to be undertaken that consider the impacts of both an individual project and multiple projects on a cumulative basis.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will express concern about the effect of the one-child policy on the sex-selective abortion of female unborn children in China to President Xi Jinping during his visit to the UK.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We pay close attention to the human rights situation in China. The Government is committed to engaging with China on the issue and Ministers will continue to raise concerns with their counterparts. Discussions during the State Visit will be broad and cover issues where we agree and where we disagree.

    The Government’s policy on population and sexual and reproductive health and rights is about providing women and girls with a voice, choice and control. We do not condone coercion or support sex-selective abortion. We provide core funding to the United Nations Population Fund who do work in China; they work to promote and uphold the principles of free and informed choice and to challenge the gender norms that de-value girls.

  • Glyn Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Glyn Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Glyn Davies on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people with (a) urinary incontinence and (b) faecal incontinence in England.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England has advised that according to a survey conducted in 2008, there are over 14 million adults who have bladder control problems and 6.5 million with bowel control problems in the United Kingdom.

    The Department does not collect information on the number of people living with urinary and faecal incontinence specific to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This is a matter for devolved administrations.

    The Healthcare Quality and Improvement Partnership (2010) established that in order to achieve the best clinical outcomes, continence services have to be integrated across primary and secondary care and care home settings.

    They also concluded that ‘there is an urgent need for improved and equitable practice for all people with bladder and bowel problems’ through the development of commissioning frameworks, evidence-based training for health professionals and patient empowerment to increase their expectations of cure.

    Improving continence care provision through integrated services brings many benefits including:

    – a better quality of life and more independence through finding solutions appropriate to individual needs;

    – less reliance on pads and products by using alternative treatments;

    – a reduction in admissions to hospitals and care homes;

    – fewer complications, such as urinary tract infections, faecal impaction and skin breakdown; and

    – a reduction in costs.

    NHS England’s Excellence in Continence Care guidance provides a framework that enables commissioners to work in collaboration with providers and others to make a step change to address shortfalls so that safe, dignified, efficient and effective continence care is consistently provided.

    This guidance is aimed at commissioners, providers, health and social care staff and as information for the public and has been produced in partnership with patient and public advocates, clinicians and partners from the third sector. The roles of everyone involved in the care of people with continence needs are made clear in the guidance and publication via a launch is planned for ‘Self Care Week’ beginning 16 November. The launch will both raise awareness and promote understanding.

    In addition the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has produced a range of guidance for clinicians to support them in the diagnosis, treatment care and support and people with continence problems e.g. Urinary incontinence in women (September 2013), Faecal incontinence in adults (June 2007), Urinary incontinence in neurological disease: assessment and management (August 2012) and Lower urinary tract symptoms in men: management (May 2010).

  • Julian Sturdy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Julian Sturdy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take further steps to support Anthony Nolan’s Destination Cure campaign.

    Jane Ellison

    Since 2011, the Department of Health has provided our delivery partners, NHS Blood and Transplant and Anthony Nolan, a total of £16 million in additional, new funding to improve stem cell transplantation services in the United Kingdom. A further £3 million investment was announced in March 2015.

    The Government remains committed to improving stem cell transplantation services and doing all we can to help those in need of a transplant to find a suitable donor. The report ‘Destination Cure – arriving at a better future’ from Anthony Nolan provides a timely contribution to this work.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Policing, Crime and Criminal Justice, of 12 October 2015, Official Report, columns 32-36, what discussions she has (a) had and (b) plans to have with (i) her counterparts in other Government Departments and (ii) the pharmaceutical industry on the medical evidence and research that exists on the use of cannabis for medical treatment; and if she will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    The Government’s position on the medicinal value of cannabis remains unchanged and no discussions are planned. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is open to considering marketing approval applications for further cannabis-based medicinal products.

    The Home Office will continue to consider applications for Schedule 1 licences on their merits to enable trials of new medicines, subject to the appropriate ethical approvals where human trials are envisaged. The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, and regulations made under the Act, continue to facilitate research in this area.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 September 2015 to Question 10029, which schemes referred to in that Answer have been paused by Network Rail.

    Claire Perry

    The Secretary of State announced on 25 June 2015 the pause of work on Midland Main Line electrification and TransPennine electrification.

    On 30 September 2015 he announced that work on these schemes would resume.

    Whilst Sir Peter Hendy completes his review of Network Rail’s Enhancements programme, the efficient and cost effective delivery of other projects is a matter for Network Rail to manage.

  • Neil Coyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Neil Coyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to increase the accuracy of initial personal independence payment (PIP) decision-making to address the rate of successful appeals of PIP.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department monitors the quality and accuracy of its decision making with a robust quality assurance framework where feedback is given to individual decision makers as required. When a decision is overturned by a tribunal, it does not necessarily mean that the original decision was incorrect. A reason for a decision being overturned could, for example, be the provision of additional written evidence that was not available to the original decision maker. That is why we reformed the system, with the introduction of mandatory reconsideration, which enables a further opportunity for evidence to be provided without need to go to appeal. Of course, the Tribunal can form a different view based on the same facts and medical evidence. We will continue to use feedback from the Tribunal to inform the Department’s approach to decision-making or consider onward challenge where that is appropriate.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-10-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the latest date by which they need to amend secondary legislation to change the NHS tariff objection mechanism in order for such changes to operate for the setting of the 2016–17 tariff.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The objection mechanism is part of the provisions relating to statutory consultation by Monitor on proposals for a new or revised national tariff. We anticipate that Monitor will start statutory consultation on 2016-17 national tariff proposals in January. Accordingly any regulations making amended provision for the objection mechanism before that consultation starts would need to be made and brought into force no later than January 2016.

  • Lord Tanlaw – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Tanlaw – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tanlaw on 2015-10-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for the civil timescale Greenwich Mean Time being renamed Greenwich Meridian Time, with a value of UT1 at longitude zero based on GPS rather than the historic location of the prime meridian.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    As the reference frame for the Global Positioning System (GPS) is established through a mathematical interpretation of satellite radio signals, rather than a physical meridian, it is not conceptually appropriate to represent it in the same way as other meridians have historically been marked at Greenwich.

    We do not see any practical benefit in changing the reference point for UT1 even if it was a decision the UK Government could make unilaterally. Such a change could cause confusion as could use of the term “Greenwich Meridian Time”. In line with the International Telecommunication Union Radio Regulations, all time‑signal broadcasts in the UK transmit. the international timescale UTC, and so any change to UT1 or GMT would have no impact on the time-signal available to the UK public.

  • Lord Dear – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Dear – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Dear on 2015-10-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether a Community Land Trust under the proposed Right to Buy scheme is required to sell one of the houses it owns if it is unable to provide an alternative from (1) its existing stock, (2) its newly built stock, (3) the stock it will build in the future or (4) the stock of another housing association.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Under the voluntary agreemment with the National Housing Federation, there would be a presumption that housing associations would sell the tenant the property in which they live, but there would be some broad circumstances where a housing association could exercise discretion to decline a sale. These circumstances include properties held in the Communities Land Trust.