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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Low of Dalston – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Low of Dalston – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Low of Dalston on 2014-06-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make available to Parliament their assessment of the impact of the stronger regulatory powers available to the Care Quality Commission since 2008 on the provision of human rights-compatible care to service users, including the evidence on which that assessment is based, as recommended by the Joint Committee on Human Rights in its report Legislative Scrutiny: Care Bill (11th Report, Session 2013–14, HL Paper 121).

    Earl Howe

    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (2008 Act) all providers of regulated activities have to register with the CQC and meet a set of requirements of safety and quality. As the CQC is a public authority it has a legal obligation in relation to protecting, respecting and fulfilling people’s rights under the Human Rights Act 1998 (1998 Act).

    If a provider fails to meet these requirements the CQC has a wide range of enforcement powers that it can use to protect patients and service users from the risk of poor care.

    The CQC has advised that it has taken the following published enforcement action during the financial year 2013-14.

    – The CQC undertook two urgent cancellations of providers’ registration;

    – The CQC undertook 53 cancellations of providers’ registration;

    – The CQC imposed a condition on a provider on 45 occasions;

    – The CQC varied a provider’s condition of registration on 13 occasions;

    – The CQC undertook an urgent variation of a provider’s conditions of registration on 13 occasions;

    – The CQC imposed 1,269 warning notices on providers and 18,408 compliance actions on providers; and

    – The CQC issued over 500 fixed penalty notices.

    The CQC monitors and inspects health and social care providers under regulations which stipulate that providers must deliver care and treatment to people with due regard to their age, sex, religion, sexual orientation, race, cultural and linguistic background and disability (Regulation 17).

    Where services do not meet standards for Regulation 17, the CQC sets compliance actions and monitors whether providers have taken action to meet the standard. If they have not, the CQC may take enforcement action. Between 1 October 2012 and 30 September 2013, the CQC found 48 services did not comply with Regulation 17, leading to enforcement action. This enforcement action is set out in the following table.

    Enforcement action around Regulation 17 in 2012-13

    Acute hospitals

    1

    Mental health hospitals/hospitals for

    people with a learning disability

    2

    General practitioners

    0

    Dentists

    2

    Care homes

    36

    Home care agencies

    3

    Other social care services

    4

    Total

    48

    The CQC’s consultation ‘A New Start’, in June 2013 on how it regulates, inspects and rates services included a section on how Human Rights would be protected by changes to its regulatory model. To accompany the consultation, the CQC produced a draft document entitled, ‘Equality and Human Rights Duties Impact Analysis (decision making and policies)’, to give more detail about the impact of the proposed changes on equality and human rights and how they would promote equality and human rights for people who use health and social care services.

    The CQC also consulted on its approach to human rights as part of a broader consultation on changes to regulation of care services. The CQC explained its proposed strategy for delivering on its commitment to promote equality, diversity and human rights in its regulatory work; to provide detail about what the strategy will mean in practice; and to receive feedback from important stakeholders.

    The CQC held the consultation between 9 April 2014 and 4 June 2014. The CQC will respond to the results of the consultation in September 2014.

    The consultation can be found at the following web link:

    www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/20140406_our_human_rights_approach_public_consultation_final.pdf

    In January 2014 the CQC published ‘Equality Counts’, a report providing information about equality in its workforce and for people who are affected by its regulatory policies and practices. The CQC will use the information in this report to drive its work in promoting equality and human rights, both in its regulatory functions and as an employer. The CQC will continue to develop its new approach to ensure equality in different types of health and social care services.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many meetings he has had with his Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser in the last 12 months.

    Mr David Willetts

    As was the case under previous administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.

  • Jonathan Edwards – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Jonathan Edwards – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, how much has been spent under each cost heading by the Government in relation to the Scottish independence referendum.

    Greg Clark

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Angus on 19 June 2014, Official Report, column 667W.

  • Michael Meacher – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Michael Meacher – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Meacher on 2014-06-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, in what capacity he and the Secretary of State for International Development attended the recent Bilderberg Conference in Copenhagen; and whether the visits have been recorded in the register of interests.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Chancellor of the Exchequer attended the Bilderberg conference in Copenhagen. All travel undertaken by Treasury ministers is carried out in line with the Ministerial and Civil Service Management Codes. Details of all ministerial overseas travel are published quarterly:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

    “

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the deviations or exemptions from the Military Air Systems Certification Process that allowed the inaugural flight of the Rivet Joint aircraft on May 27 2014 were the final form that will be used for all operations.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 June 2014, (Official Report, column 364W), to the hon. Member for Plymouth, Moor View (Alison Seabeck).

    Ongoing work will progressively refine this release as additional information becomes available and further analysis is conducted.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assets his Department has sold and leased back over the last 12 months; what the sale price was of each asset so sold; and what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of leasing back each such asset over the period of the lease.

    Dr Andrew Murrison

    This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, normally the Ministry of Defence sells its assets with vacant possession, only leasing back properties for short periods pending relocation of the occupants.

  • Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department will publish further information on pilots testing the role of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal in making recommendations on the health and social care aspects of Education, Health and Care Plans.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education, in consultation with the Ministry of Justice and others, is in the process of developing proposals for the review of redress and complaint arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. The review will consider:

    1. Whether the amended mediation arrangements set out in the Act provide parents and young people with a way of having their complaints considered in a holistic way and whether they reduce the number of appeals to tribunals.
    2. How successful the new assessment and EHC planning process itself is at resolving disagreements.
    3. If health and social care complaint arrangements are working for parents and young people.
    4. What role the Tribunal might play in hearing appeals and complaints across education, health and social care.

    Running parallel to the review will be pilots to test an expansion of the powers of the first tier tribunal to make recommendations about the health and social care elements of EHC Plans. We estimate that the pilots will begin in the spring of 2015 as the first appeals about the new Education, Health and Care Plans begin to be heard and that the pilots will last for two years as they build up the evidence on which to base any recommendations.

    The Secretary of State for Education and the Lord Chancellor must lay a report on the outcome of the review before Parliament within three years of any of the provisions of Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 coming into force in September 2014. Interim findings from the pilots could be published before the final report on the review.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many meetings he has had with his Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser in the last 12 months.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    As was the case under previous administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Douglas Carswell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department issues on the ratio of GPs to patients; and what that ratio is in Tendring.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The Department does not issue guidance on the ratio of general practitioners (GPs) to patients. It is for each GP practice to ensure they are able to provide services to all their patients as set out in their contract with NHS England.

    The ratio of GPs to patients in Tendring is not collected centrally. Figures for North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group, which includes the district of Tendring, are shown in the following table.

    Patients per full time equivalent GP

    All GPs full time equivalent per 100,000 population

    North East Essex

    1,715

    60.8

    Sources: The Health and Social Care Information Centre General and Personal Medical Services Statistics; Office for National Statistics: Mid-Year Population Estimates

  • Chris Williamson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chris Williamson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Williamson on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with the National Farmers’ union on the details of the injunction relating to protestor activities around the badger culls scheduled to take place in Gloucestershire and Somerset in 2014.

    Damian Green

    Home Office officials have had discussions with officials from the Department
    for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the National Farmers’ Union
    about the use of civil injunctions, in the context of a broader engagement with
    both organisations, on the badger culling activity for 2014.