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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Bill Wiggin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Bill Wiggin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applications for free school status from applicants which already have premises have been refused.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education does not hold the information in the form requested.

    Whether applicants already have premises for their proposed school, and who provides those premises, are not, on their own, material factors in the decision to approve or reject a free school application. Rather, that decision is based principally on an assessment of the need for the school, the strength of the applicants’ education plans and their ability to deliver a school that is financially viable and likely to be judged “good” or “outstanding” by Ofsted.

  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what research her Department has undertaken on the relationship between levels of street lighting and the incidence of (a) burglaries, (b) offences against the person and (c) other crimes.

    Norman Baker

    The Home Office has not undertaken any recent research into the relationship
    between levels of street lighting and the incidence of crimes.

  • Andy Sawford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andy Sawford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the threat to human rights defenders and journalists in Honduras.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The Government attaches great importance to the support of human rights and democracy around the world. The human rights situation in Honduras is undoubtedly of concern, particularly in regard to human rights defenders and journalists, who have been known to face particular threats. The limited investigative capacity of judicial institutions in Honduras means it is often difficult to determine who is responsible for such crimes. However, Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Honduras set out in a recent statement to mark Press Freedom Day on 3 May, the British Government is working to support the efforts of the Honduran Attorney General’s Office and other institutions to tackle impunity human rights abuses, including crimes perpetrated against journalists and human rights defenders.

  • Nigel Dodds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Nigel Dodds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many officers have been seconded to the Police Service of Northern Ireland from police forces in England and Wales in each year since 2010.

    Damian Green

    The Home Office does not hold this information centrally.

  • Eric Ollerenshaw – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Eric Ollerenshaw – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eric Ollerenshaw on 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what data his Department collects on prescriptions dispensed to prisoners.

    Norman Lamb

    Information on the number of prisoners who are prescribed a particular medicine or class of medicine is not collected centrally, nor are data held relating to prescription items dispensed in prisons.

    NHS England commissions all pharmacy services in prisons in England. It is responsible for the quality of service and for ensuring that good practice guidelines are followed in relation to the prescribing, safe use and treatment following withdrawal of psychotropic drugs treatments, including benzodiapines and Z-drugs. Where healthcare professionals have concerns about prescribing decisions in relation to psychotropic drug treatment in prisons, they should record these as medication safety incidents and report them to the local medicines management committee for possible further investigation. NHS England commissioners also require healthcare providers to report these incidents in patient safety contract monitoring.

    Prison pharmacy services currently follow guidelines set out in A Pharmacy Service for Prisoners, issued by the Department in 2003. NHS England is currently reviewing this guidance, and updated guidance will be published in due course. A copy of the current guidance has already been placed in the Library.

    Detailed guidance on benzodiazepine detoxification for prisoners is included in Clinical Management of Drug Dependence in the Adult Prison Setting, published by the Department in 2006. A copy has already been placed in the Library. Clinicians are expected to follow this and other relevant guidance such as that published by the Royal College of General Practitioners’ Secure Environments Group on Safer Prescribing in Prisons.

  • Annette Brooke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Annette Brooke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Annette Brooke on 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will bring forward proposals for regulations to ensure that ME and chronic fatigue syndrome are included in all pre- and post-registration training of (a) GPs and (b) other healthcare professionals.

    Norman Lamb

    In 2007, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) produced the clinical guidance, Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy): Diagnosis and management of CFS/ME in adults and children. This guidance set out best practice on the diagnosis, treatment care and support of children and adults with CFS/ME. Information on CFS/ME diagnosis and treatment can also be accessed via the NHS Evidence and NICE Clinical Knowledge summaries websites.

    The content and standard of healthcare professional training is the responsibility of regulators, such as the General Medical Council, which are independent statutory bodies. They have the general function of promoting high standards of education, working with the Royal Colleges, and co-ordinating all stages of education to ensure that students and newly qualified professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for professional practice.

    The Government has mandated Health Education England (HEE) to provide national leadership on education, training and workforce development in the National Health Service. HEE is responsible for ensuring that the future workforce has the right numbers, skills, values and behaviours to meet patients’ needs today and tomorrow, and will work with stakeholders to influence training curricula as appropriate.

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has issued guidance to Atos on how to prioritise work capability assessments between reassessments and new claimants for employment and support allowance.

    Mike Penning

    The Department does not issue guidance to Atos Healthcare on how to prioritise Work Capability Assessments.

  • Baroness Thomas of Winchester – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Thomas of Winchester – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Thomas of Winchester on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to close the employment gap for disabled people since the ending of the quota system in 1995; and how progress is being monitored.

    Lord Freud

    The disability employment gap has reduced. The Quarterly Labour Force Survey data is used to measure the employment rate gap between working age disabled people and the total working age population.

    The Government is committed to ensuring that all disabled people have the opportunities and support that they need to get a job and to remain in work. There is a range of provision to provide this support including the Work Programme, Access to Work and Work Choice programmes. Further, in December 2013, the Government published ‘the disability and health employment strategy: the discussion so far’.

    A new Health and Work Service (HWS) is being developed to provide occupational health advice and support for employees, employers and GP’s to help individuals with a health condition to stay in or return to work.The intention is to introduce the service by the end of 2014.

    In July 2013, The Prime Minister launched the Disability Confident Campaign to help increase employer confidence in recruiting and retaining disabled people as part of a diverse workforce, and to provide opportunities for employers and organisations to share learning and good practice.

  • Lord Mawson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Mawson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mawson on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how often ministers of the Department of Health visit local communities across the country to verify that the figures in relation to health and social care on which policy is based equate with the facts that people experience on the ground.

    Earl Howe

    Ministers in the Department frequently undertake visits to a wide range of health and social care settings across the country during which they meet a large numbers of staff, service users and patients.

    Since May 2010 Ministers in the Department have undertaken a total of 646 official visits.

  • Lord Quirk – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Lord Quirk – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Quirk on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to mitigate any reduction in staffing provision, acquisitions, and essential services in the British Library resulting from reductions in funding since 2010.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has an arm’s length relationship with its sponsored bodies such as the British Library, and operational and management decisions are therefore a matter for the Board and Executive. In the Spending Review of 2010, funding for the British Library was protected by limiting resource cuts to 15% in real terms over four years, and at the Spending Round of 2013, the 5% reduction in capital and resource budgets was below average. The Chancellor signalled in his 2014 Budget announcement that there would not be any further reductions to departmental spending at this time, so that sponsored bodies will maintain current levels of planned spending in 2014/15 and 2015/16.