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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • 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.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of passport renewal applications have been upgraded from a standard application to the premium service in each of the last six months.

    James Brokenshire

    Historical data on the number of upgrades from a standard application to a
    premium service is not collated centrally.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many applications for Judicial Review in England and Wales the defendant has successfully challenged the claim as an Aarhus claim since 1 April 2013.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The information requested cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost. The data is not held centrally and providing information at the level of detail sought would require a review of many manual files.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Attorney General, what recent steps his Department has taken to increase the number of rape convictions.

    Oliver Heald

    Increasing the number of rape convictions continues to be a priority in the criminal justice system. On 6 June 2014, a Rape Action Plan was jointly published by the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which sets out a series of actions designed to improve the criminal justice response in rape cases. This followed a Rape National Scrutiny Panel led by the Director of Public Prosecutions and the National Policing lead for rape, which considered the investigation and prosecution of rape cases including their referral from the police to the CPS. The Action plan can be found on the CPS website at; http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/equality/vaw/rape_action_plan.pdf

    “

  • Mike Weir – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Mike Weir – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Weir on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what estimate he has made of the total costs incurred (a) in his Department and (b) in the Government of the creation and production of the booklet, What staying in the United Kingdom means for Scotland.

    David Mundell

    The total UK Government cost to-date of ‘What Staying in the United Kingdom Means for Scotland’ is £723,501 (plus VAT).

    This works out at the equivalent of 30p per household for the entire process of design, production and delivery. Further detail will be published in the usual fashion in the Cabinet Office transparency returns.

    The Scotland Office incurred no costs in the production or creation of the booklet. Staffing costs were taken from existing Scotland Office budgets.

  • Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the additional costs to claimants living in rural communities of travel to attend jobcentre interviews for (a) fortnightly signing and (b) other interviews and advisory meetings.

    Esther McVey

    The department has not made an estimate regarding the additional costs for claimants living in rural communities. Providing such an estimate would require the DWP to differentiate the costs to rural claimants from those elsewhere. This can only be done at disproportionate cost to the department. However, the department does have some flexibility to meet the needs of those living in rural areas: for example, postal signing can be offered and claimants attending interviews on days outside their normal day of attendance can have their travelling expenses reimbursed. Additionally, Work Coaches are also able to use the Flexible Support Fund and issue Travel Discount Cards to help claimants with travel expenses.

  • Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what progress he has made in providing funding to assist East Ayrshire Council with the restoration of former open-cast sites in East Ayrshire; and if he will make a statement.

    Michael Fallon

    Proposals have been put to me by Scottish Government Ministers asking Her Majesty’s Government to provide a financial contribution towards the costs of restoring abandoned opencast coal mining sites in East Ayrshire and other areas of Scotland. I continue to give consideration to those proposals against the backdrop of other issues currently affecting the coal industry and of spending priorities more generally.