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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • 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 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the value of support provided by (a) his Department and (b) Network Rail to the Planning Oversight Group was in each year from 2010-11 to date.

    Claire Perry

    The Government, and Network Rail, to further their objective of supporting a safe, reliable and efficient rail network, engage with and support a broad range of stakeholders and initiatives across Government. These include the Technical Strategy Leadership Group; Rail Delivery Group Limited; the Planning Oversight Group; and the National Task Force.

    The Department provided the following funding towards the Technical Strategy Leadership Group’s strategic research programme through a grant to RSSB which facilitates the group:

    Year

    DfT grant towards TSLG’s research programme (£m)

    2010/11

    1.25

    2011/12

    1.75

    2012/13

    3

    2013/14

    3.5

    Network Rail does not provide direct financial support to the Technical Strategy Leadership Group.

    Network Rail, between 10th August 2012 and 31st March 2014, paid £240,000 to Rail Delivery Group Limited in membership fees. For the year April 2014 – March 2015, Network Rail has paid or is due to pay £1,568,509 in membership fees. The increased fees paid by Network Rail in the most recent year are as a result of the Group assuming responsibility for policy formulation and communications on behalf of the rail industry. Network Rail provides staff to Rail Delivery Group Limited, for which it is due to charge the group £261,312.

    The Planning Oversight Group is funded and supported by Rail Delivery Group Limited and does not receive direct financial support from the Department or Network Rail. The National Task Force does not have a budget, but those who attend are drawn from the various industry members.

  • Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what processes his Department has agreed to enable housing associations to be informed when tenants migrate to universal credit.

    Mr Mark Harper

    The Social Security (Information-sharing in relation to Welfare Services etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 came into force on 13 February 2015 and enable the Department to inform social landlords whenever one of their tenants makes a claim for, or receives an award of, Universal Credit (UC) with housing costs, for the purposes of enabling social landlords to assess which UC claimants may need advice, support or assistance in relation to managing their financial affairs.

    The Department will write to social landlords when a tenant makes a claim for UC, or when a UC claimant becomes a tenant of theirs and the Department has confirmed the tenancy details. The letter will identify the tenant and confirm the date that UC has been claimed from. The information sharing with social landlords through these regulations is aimed at maximising relevant support for vulnerable UC claimants, including enabling social landlords to request Alternative Payment Arrangements (APA) for vulnerable claimants if needed. The Department’s proposals for sharing information with social landlords were published for public consultation last year. Apart from the public consultation, we have also been working closely with local authorities and representatives from the housing organisations in developing our plans for delivering this data sharing.

    This data sharing is being implemented on a test and learn basis, and initially being introduced from 16 February 2015 in areas where UC has been rolled out nationally for single people.

  • Jim Murphy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jim Murphy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Murphy on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many DWP sanctions there were relating to each benefit in each Scottish parliamentary constituency in 2010-11.

    Esther McVey

    The information requested for Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance adverse sanctions, by Scottish Parliamentary constituency, for each of the last four years is published at:

    https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

    Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:

    https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm

    The available information in respect of Income Support Lone Parents (ISLP) sanctions is shown in the attached table.

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  • Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2015 to Question 222916, what the total cost to Birmingham City Council will be of funding the Independent Improvement Panel.

    Kris Hopkins

    As indicated in the Panel’s Terms of Reference agreed with the City Council, it will be supported by a secretariat provided jointly by Birmingham City Council and the Department for Communities and Local Government, and the expenses it incurs will be shared equally by the City Council and the Department.

  • Hywel Williams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Hywel Williams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hywel Williams on 2015-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many recipients of war disablement pensions there are in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland.

    Anna Soubry

    The number of recipients of war disablement pensions in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, can be found below:

    Country

    Number

    England

    89,450

    Wales

    6,925

    Scotland

    11,890

    Northern Ireland

    3,680

    Other UK

    340

    UK Unknown

    345

    Not Known

    135

    Total

    112,765

    Notes:

    1. Other UK includes Isle of Man and Channel Islands.

    2. In line with Defence Statistics’ Rounding Policy, all figures of five or more have been rounded to the nearest 5. Due to rounding, the figures provided may not sum to totals.

  • Simon Kirby – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Simon Kirby – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2015-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to enforce humane standards in slaughterhouses; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    We have in place legislation which sets down strict animal welfare rules within our slaughterhouses. Enforcement of this legislation is the responsibility of the Food Standards Agency; enforcement is carried out by Official Veterinarians in every approved slaughterhouse. We are continuing to work closely with the Food Standards Agency to see how we can further improve the welfare standards in slaughterhouses.

  • Helen Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Helen Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2015-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the report Research spend in the UK, published by the Stroke Association on 3 December 2014, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of that report; and if he will make a statement.

    George Freeman

    The report published by the Stroke Association compares research spend in four disease areas (stroke, cancer, coronary heart disease and dementia) by governmental organisations and charities.

    The usual practice of the two main public funders of health research – the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) – is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics or disease areas: research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available.

    NIHR expenditure on research on stroke, cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD) (including coronary heart disease) and dementia is shown in the following table.

    £ million

    2009/10

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    Stroke

    20.2

    20.9

    20.4

    26.1

    26.3

    Cancer

    101.5

    100.9

    104.1

    133.2

    129.9

    CVD

    31.6

    31.0

    34.1

    42.7

    46.3

    Dementia

    12.6

    18.3

    24.9

    24.4

    26.8

    Through its training and career development programmes, the NIHR supports clinicians at all stages of their career: integrated clinical and academic training; doctoral training; postdoctoral training; and more senior awards. The prestigious NIHR Senior Investigator award provides an additional incentive for the country’s most outstanding clinical researchers. These programmes make a major contribution to the building and developing of research capacity in stroke and other disease areas.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the oral evidence to the Health Committee of Dame Fiona Caldicott, 21 January 2015 to Question 705, what assessment he has made of whether patients who opt out of the care.data scheme will be excluded from NHS services such as bowel screening and e-referrals.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The process for objecting (‘opting out’) will be communicated during the care.data pathfinder stage and will apply to the use of identifiable general practitioner data for purposes beyond direct care. The care.data Programme team is working closely with clinical commissioning group pathfinder practices to ensure that it is understood that the opt-out should not impact upon the sharing of information for direct care.

    The care.data Programme team is working closely with the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), NHS England and the Department in relation to ‘type 2 objections’. Appropriate communications will be agreed before starting communication activity in pathfinder areas.

    For those people who have made an existing ‘type 2 objection’, the HSCIC is committed to ensuring no patient suffers any adverse impact on their direct care through an inappropriate implementation of an objection. This means that information flows to support services such as cancer screening, electronic prescriptions and e-referrals are currently flowing and will continue to do so.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much funding NHS walk-in centres in (a) Preston, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West received from Government in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013 and (v) 2014.

    Jane Ellison

    This information is not available centrally.

    Since 2007, the local National Health Service has been responsible for NHS walk-in-centres. Local commissioners decide on the funding and availability of these services.

  • Rosie Cooper – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rosie Cooper – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 9 April 2014, Official Report, columns 261-3W, on psoriasis, what indicators have been proposed to the NICE Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Indicator Set Advisory Committee for psoriasis.

    Norman Lamb

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Clinical Commissioning Group Outcome Indicator Set (CCG OIS) Advisory Committee considered the following draft psoriasis indicators, derived from the NICE Psoriasis Quality Standard, at its meeting in October 2014:

    – PSO 5.1 Psoriasis: assessment for psoriatic arthritis;

    – PSO 6.2 Skin disease: time off school or work due to skin disease;

    – PSO 6.3 Psoriasis: skin clearance; and

    – PSO 3.2 Psoriasis: Patient experience: access to secondary care services.

    It was the decision of the committee that the indicators did not meet the prioritisation criteria, as set out in the NICE Indicator Process guide. The primary reason for this was that the majority of care for people with psoriasis is provided in primary care and the CCG OIS is focused on care provided in secondary care. As such, the committee has not put forward any of the psoriasis indicators for further development and testing by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC). The HSCIC has not, therefore, undertaken any further work on the development of Read Codes for this topic.

    The NICE indicator process guide and the NICE consultation document setting out those indicators which did meet the prioritisation criteria can be found at the links below:

    www.nice.org.uk/media/03E/31/Indicators_process_guide.pdf

    www.nice.org.uk/media/default/Standards-and-indicators/CCGOIS-indicator-consultation.pdf

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