Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • 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.

  • Nadine Dorries – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Nadine Dorries – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2014-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many complaints she has received about UK visa applications processed by TPContact in (a) Israel, (b) Russia, (c) South Africa and (d) Ukraine to date.

    James Brokenshire

    Any failure against the contractual critical service levels may result in
    deductions against their submitted invoices. In the event of continuous and
    unacceptable failures the Department has the ability to terminate the contract.

    The performance of Teleperformance as with all of our contracts is subject to
    close Home Office scrutiny. The governance processes include regular meetings
    at all levels, from local operational teams up to senior official levels, to
    allow in-depth reviews of performance against the service standards set out in
    the contract, and to provide an escalation route to resolve any issues that may
    arise. We also expect suppliers to provide continuous improvement in delivery
    of customer services over the course of the contract, which is also monitored
    through these processes.

    The Department withheld payment of the contractual transitional payment until
    transition was complete in each country where Teleperformance operates. This
    has now been has now been approved for payment in countries where visa
    application centres (VACs) are operational but withheld in locations still to
    be transitioned. Ongoing contractual payments will be subject to the service
    credit process outlined above.

    The data required to judge performance against contractual service standards is
    not yet available. We are not aware of any withdrawn applications linked to
    delays in processing at the identified visa application centres since they took
    over this service. The Home Office is currently collating data on complaints
    for the period since Teleperformance commenced operations and it is not
    available for publication.

    UK Visas & Immigration has worked closely with Teleperformance from the point
    at which contracts were awarded to prepare for live operations, including the
    summer peak. Annual and monthly application volumes and forecast figures for
    2014 were provided to Teleperformance as part of the tender process and local
    discussions have taken place to determine the number of appointment slots
    available. Opening hours have been extended and appointment availability has
    been increased in a number of locations to prepare for the summer period. Where
    VACs are open every day, the availability of appointment slots is continually
    monitored, with further measures being taken if appointments are consistently
    fully booked.

  • John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to his letter of April 2014 sent to small businesses on employment allowance, if he will clarify who was meant by the use of we in the third paragraph; and whether he has discussed the neutrality of such a phase with the Electoral Commission.

    Mr David Cameron

    As set out in the Programme for Government, this Government has a long-term plan to a build a new economy, which supports sustainable growth and enterprise. The Employment Allowance was introduced to promote both growth and employment, particularly among small businesses. I have had no discussion with the Electoral Commission on the letter.