The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-04-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Hungarian government about the sale of Hungarian residency bonds through off-shore companies.
Mr David Lidington
Neither I, nor the The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), have had any discussions with the Hungarian government on this issue.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with medical organisations on the potential link between high blood pressure in people of 30 to 40 years of age and the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
Jane Ellison
The Department has had no such discussions.
Dementia is a key priority for this Government. That is why on 6 March 2016, we published the Implementation Plan to support the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020. As part of the Plan, we will transform our approach to risk reduction, using the NHS Health Check programme to educate more people earlier about the risks of developing dementia – and the steps they could take to reduce those risks.
In March 2016, we announced that Public Health England, in collaboration with Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK, will pilot approaches to the dementia awareness and risk reduction component of the NHS Health Check, specifically with the younger age group, aged 40-64.
The Government has also signed up to the Blackfriars’ Consensus, which, made clear that individuals can reduce their risk of dementia by living healthier lives by not smoking, drinking less, keeping physically active and better managing diabetes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Clancarty on 2016-07-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to maintain their policy of universal free access to the UK’s national museums and galleries.
Lord Ashton of Hyde
Yes. The Government recognises the benefits that free access to the national museums and galleries brings to the public and to the UK economy. The Spending Review 2015 committed to continued free access to the permanent collections of the national museums and galleries as part of a settlement that maintained funding in cash terms for museum and galleries over the Spending Review period. Museum policy is a devolved matter for their respective administrations although the National Museums of Wales and Scotland are also free of charge, as are the National Armed Forces museums sponsored by the Ministry of Defence.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many instances of Islamophobic abuse have been recorded in each of the last five years.
Sarah Newton
The Home Office does not hold the requested information. The Home Office has published data for 2011/12 to 2014/15 on hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales for the five centrally monitored strands (race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and gender identity) but these data cannot be broken down by religion of the victim. The 2015/16 data will have been published on 13 October 2016.
From April 2016, the Home Office began collecting data from the police on the targeted religion of religious hate crime offences in order to help forces build community trust, target their resources and enable the public to better hold them to account. This information will be provided voluntarily in 2016/17, but we intend to make it mandatory from the following year. We will publish the first data from this collection in the 2016/17 Hate Crime statistics publication in 2017.
This Government is committed to tackling hate crime. The UK has one of the strongest legislative frameworks in the world to tackle hate crime. We are working across Government with police, (including National Community Tensions Team), the Crown Prosecution Service and community partners to send out a clear message that hate crime will not be tolerated and we will vigorously pursue and prosecute those who commit these crimes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to support advanced nurse practitioners in the NHS.
Ben Gummer
An advanced nurse practitioner is generally accepted to be a registered nurse who has acquired the expert knowledge base, complex decision-making skills and clinical competencies for expanded practice, the characteristics of which are shaped by the context of practice. A Master’s Degree is recommended for entry level to an Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANPs) role. This role is not defined by the Nursing Midwifery Council or the Department.
Today ANPs work in a variety of health care settings and in a number of different roles, which range from a nurse consultant managing a specialist service in a hospital to being a nurse partner within a general practice.
Information on how many ANPs are employed by the National Health Service in each region of the United Kingdom in each of the last five years is not held by the Department.
We have made it clear that we are not planning to impose a ‘one size fits all model’ for our plan to provide a seven-day NHS. It will be for local commissioners and providers to decide how best to deliver seven day services in hospitals and for them to work with their Local Education and Training Boards to develop workforce plans to support this.
Although not explicitly mentioned in NHS England’s Five Year Forward view, ANPs are part of the solution to addressing the health and well-being gap; care and quality gap; and funding gap. For example, ANPs are involved in the new care models such as in Derbyshire. The Derbyshire Vanguard site will develop a prevention team made up of health and care professionals including general practitioners (GPs), ANPs, mental health nurses, extended care support and therapy support.
Seven day access does not mean that every GP must work every day or that all practices must open at evenings and weekends. Through schemes such as the Prime Minister’s GP Access Fund, practices are encouraged to collaborate together in delivering more convenient and accessible services for patients in the evenings and weekends through multiple methods including innovative use of technology, working together at scale, and better use of skill mix to both improve patient care and release GP capacity.
The recent independent evaluation of the first wave of the PM’s GP Access Fund reported that “evidence to date suggests that the strategy of making more use of nursing staff, particularly Advance Nurse Practitioners (ANPs), is resulting in benefits including released GP capacity…”
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pendry on 2015-11-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the work of the World Anti-Doping Agency, in particular in setting regulatory standards against doping and educating athletes and coaches to shift the culture against cheating.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has improved its compliance and reporting processes, resulting in the recent suspension of six countries for non-compliance and a further six countries placed on its watch-list. Last week, WADA’s Foundation Board increased its scope to conduct internal investigations and strengthen its whistleblowing process. WADA President Craig Reedie’s statement that values-based education is the best weapon for clean sport is a view shared by UK Anti-Doping and implemented through its successful 100% Me education programme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many press and public relations staff are employed by (a) the National Archives, (b) the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, (c) HM Courts and Tribunal Service, (d) HM Prison Service, (e) the Legal Aid Agency, (f) the National Offender Management Service, (g) the Office of the Public Guardian, (h) Cafcass, (i) the Criminal Cases Review Commission, (j) the Judicial Appointments Commission, (k) the Legal Services board, (l) the Parole Board, (m) the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales, (n) the Law Commission, (o) HM Inspectorate of prisons, (p) HM Inspectorate of Prisons, (p) HM Inspectorate of Probation, (q) the Legal Ombudsman, (r) the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, (s) the Victims’ Commissioner; how many of those employees are paid more than (i) £50,000 and (ii) £100,000; and what the total expenditure was on press and public relations by each of those orqanisations in the most recent year for which figures are available.
Mike Penning
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the estimated completion and entry into service dates are for each of the proposed Successor Trident submarines.
Mr Philip Dunne
As set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, we expect the first Successor submarine to enter service in the early 2030s. As detailed Planning Assumptions for Service Entry are classified, I am witholding that information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of the Sellafield Workforce Reform programme on the Sellafield workforce.
Andrea Leadsom
The Sellafield Change Programme is being put into place to improve business performance and provide greater value for the public purse while maintaining the priority of safe and secure operations. Sellafield Ltd will continue to offer quality employment for many people for many years and is looking at how it can deliver the decommissioning mission as effectively and efficiently as possible and in a way that strengthens the local economy. Sellafield Ltd is engaging the workforce and its representatives on plans to improve the business and specifically on what this will mean for employees.
Details of the change programme are available at http://www.nda.gov.uk/contracts-and-competition/sellafield-model-change-programme.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hannah Bardell on 2016-03-15.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what process HM Revenue and Customs uses to test for illicit tobacco products.
Damian Hinds
Tobacco products classified as ‘illicit’ in the UK include anything on which duty has not been paid but should have been paid. This includes counterfeit products, brands manufactured legally overseas but not legally sold in the UK, and genuine products originating in the UK and overseas but diverted from legitimate supply chains by criminals. Because of this, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officers use a variety of ways to identify illicit product. Testing product authenticity is one mechanism.
To test product authenticity, HMRC uses identifiers required by legislation, for example, Fiscal Marks which manufacturers are required to print on specified tobacco products to show they are UK duty paid, as well as voluntary tools used by the manufacturers. One such voluntary tool is Codentify.
Codentify was developed and introduced by the major tobacco manufacturers on their own initiative through the Digital Coding and Tracking Association (DCTA). HMRC played no part in the development or introduction of the system nor did HMRC require that it be introduced. Codentify codes already feature on packs and are there regardless of any HMRC use of them. HMRC took a policy decision, in line with the commitment to tackle illicit tobacco, to examine whether these existing codes could provide a useful additional tool to help officers authenticate product in the field.
The trial is concerned only with the use of Codentify for product authentication, and no other aspect of the system is being used or evaluated. Codentify requires no specialist equipment or training. Officers are provided with basic guidance and access to an online system. No charge is made for use of the system and, as no procurement was needed, there was no requirement for HMRC to run a tender exercise. As this is a trial only, no Ministerial approval was required or has been sought.
A number of HMRC officers have been given access to the system and trained by HMRC colleagues. The time spent on this activity is minimal and is estimated to be less than one staff year in total.
HMRC has explained the use of Codentify as a potential product authentication tool to colleagues in Border Force and Trading Standards. However, they have not provided training to any officers in those organisations.
The EU Tobacco Products Directive introduces a requirement for a pan European security feature and track and trace systems. The European Commission, working with Member States, is considering proposals and have yet to determine any technical specifications,
HMRC is aware of a wide range of potential track and trace and security feature solutions on the market. They are not evaluating, and, given the current position on the Directive, could not evaluate any products against its requirements. The aspects of Codentify being used are entirely separate from the requirements of the Directive.
In accordance with regulatory requirements, when technical specifications are determined, HMRC will ensure that any evaluation against them ensures no unfair competitive advantage or obstacles to competition.