Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2014-06-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the detailed breakdown of the estimated £12 to £15 million total cost of the special administration process in relation to Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust.

    Earl Howe

    The £7,250,000 incurred by the special administration process at Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust relates to the period when the trust special administrators (TSAs) were appointed in April 2013, to the point at which the Secretary of State announced his decision to accept the TSAs’ proposals in February 2014.

    We are informed by Monitor that the total figure of £7,250,000 can be broadly broken down as follows:

    – Cost of the TSAs and supporting team to run the Trust – £2,000,000;

    – Cost of solution development – £3,600,000; and

    – Cost of stakeholder engagement and consultation – £1,650,000.

    Monitor has estimated the total cost of the special administration process will be £12 to £15 million. This was first announced as part of its decision to accept the TSAs’ final proposals on 16 January 2104 and re-stated in an announcement on 13 March 2014. This includes the £7,250,000 and £250,000 expenses incurred up to the point of the Secretary of State’s decision.

    The remainder of the estimated total cost consists of costs incurred in the period leading up to the dissolution of the trust. These are the cost of continuing to employ a team to run the trust, and the cost of implementing the recommendations set out in the TSAs’ Final Report.

    We are also informed by Monitor that an original budget for the remaining costs was agreed at approximately £7,000,000.

    That total figure of £7,000,000 can be broadly broken down as follows:

    – Cost of the TSAs and supporting team to run the Trust – £1,500,000;

    – Cost of delivering the transaction – £2,100,000; and

    – Cost of splitting the Trust – £3,400,000.

    The team running the trust will be required to remain in place up to the point at which the trust is dissolved.

  • Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts on 2014-06-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the future population level of each English region, in the light of the Office for National Statistics’ mid-year forecast of the population of England by 2034.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will bring forward proposals to give employers the choice of (a) having either a direct Government contract for apprenticeships and (b) accessing funding support through their chosen training provider.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Government has consulted on different options for routing apprenticeship funding via employers. The consultation closed on 1 May 2014. We are currently analysing the responses and are committed to designing a system that works for employers of all sizes and in all sectors. Next steps will be announced in the autumn.

  • Catherine McKinnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Catherine McKinnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2014-06-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what performance indicators he has agreed with National Savings and Investments (NS&I) on the delivery of tax-free childcare; how often NS&I will be benchmarked against such indicators; how often the results of this benchmarking will be made available; what penalties have been agreed for poor performance against these indicators; and if he will make a statement.

    Nicky Morgan

    On the 23 May the Government published a further consultation on the delivery of childcare accounts within Tax-Free Childcare. The consultation will be open until 27 June and the Government will consider the responses alongside those to the first consultation before it makes its decision on the provision of childcare accounts.

  • Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of public libraries open for more than 10 hours a week provided access to online catalogues in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The detail requested is not held centrally by this Department and nor is it collected by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy as part of the annual public library statistics provided by individual library authorities.

  • 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, if he will place in the Library a copy of the final investment approval for Project Teutates.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    I am unable to place a copy of the business case that sought investment approval for project Teutates in the library as the document contains classified information.

  • 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 plans to publish the terms of reference for its review of the resolution of disagreements for people with education, health and care needs under the Children and Families Act 2014.

    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.

  • Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the progress made by the President of Iran towards granting greater civil rights to religious minorities; and if he will make a statement.

    Hugh Robertson

    The UK welcomed President Rouhani’s comments in 2013 that all Iranians, including religious minorities, should “feel justice.” Unfortunately, there has been little noticeable change in the approach taken by Iran’s security and judicial authorities.

    The UK has repeatedly called on the Iranian government to end all persecution of individuals on the basis of their faith, and to guarantee the human rights of all Iranians.

  • Tracey Crouch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tracey Crouch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tracey Crouch on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of how many non-clinical dementia specialist professionals are currently working across the health and care sector.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    People with dementia receive care and support from many groups of professionals across the health and social care sector. By October 2013, 108,000 National Health Service staff had received Tier 1 training on dementia, enabling them to spot the early symptoms of dementia, know how to interact with people with dementia and ensure that patients receive the most appropriate care. The Government’s refreshed Mandate to Health Education England, published on 1 May 2014, builds on this by setting an ambition for a further 250,000 NHS staff to receive Tier 1 training on dementia by March 2015, with the tools and training opportunities being made available to all staff by the end of 2018.

    The size of the adult social care workforce is 1.5 million people and research in 2010 indicated that over 40% of this workforce is involved in supporting people with dementia. Skills for Care estimate that over the past year over 100,000 social care workers have received some form of dementia awareness training through workforce development funding from local authorities and care providers.

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that ambulance crews and dispatch staff are able to access meaningful supervision; and if he will assess the merits of introducing rapid response units similar to those operating in Northern Ireland.

    Jane Ellison

    Decisions about workforce issues, such as the supervision of ambulance staff, are a local matter and it remains up to ambulance trusts to decide how this is managed.

    However, the Department expects trusts to ensure all their staff are supported in their roles and for there to be effective management arrangements.

    Ambulance services, including emergency response services, are commissioned by clinical commissioning groups, which have a responsibility to ensure that appropriate services are provided to their populations.

    It is the decision of individual ambulance trusts as to how resources are used to meet local demand.

    The Department recognises that having a rapid response vehicle (RRV) to carry clinical equipment and get a clinician to the patient as quickly as possible is beneficial to the care of a patient.

    In addition, clinicians using RRVs to arrive first on the scene are able to conduct an assessment of the patient to determine how they should be managed or may be in advance of an ambulance to begin treatment and stabilisation prior to transport.

    We are aware that most ambulance trusts utilise RRVs daily as part of their emergency response.

    As part of the Urgent and Emergency Care Review, being led by Sir Bruce Keogh, an Ambulance Task Group has been established to look at new models of delivery of care. The first phase of the Review was published last November; and we expect NHS England to be publishing further reports later this year.