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 people in England and Wales have been arrested following the issue of a warrant by the Police Service of Northern Ireland in each year since 2010.
Damian Green
Arrest warrants issued by the Police Service of Northern Ireland are a devolved
matter and the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eric Ollerenshaw on 2014-05-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to prevent over-prescribing or mis-prescribing of psychotropic drugs 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.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Annette Brooke on 2014-05-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department plans to take to improve information and support for GPs regarding ME or chronic fatigue syndrome; and if he will take steps to improve access to specialist services for people with those conditions.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Goudie on 2014-05-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they are collaborating with the Global Partnership for Education to ensure that more children with disabilities can access quality basic education.
Baroness Northover
DFID is collaborating with the Global Partnership for Education on the design of their new funding model to incentivise countries to improve their collection and use of data on children with disabilities. Currently there are very limited data in most developing countries. GPE will also work to strengthen the quality of education sector plans – particularly on how they address disability issues.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Addington on 2014-05-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the changes to the Disabled Students Allowance, what level of assistance institutes of higher education will be required to give to those with specific learning difficulties or dyslexia to enable them to complete their studies.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) will be expected to provide reasonable adjustments under the duties placed upon them by the Equality Act 2010. Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) will remain available where additional support is required to enable disabled students to access their studies successfully.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the recommendations in the report commissioned by the EU Committee of the Regions on Policy instruments for adaptation to climate change in big European cities and metropolitan areas.
Dan Rogerson
I have been asked to reply.
We have noted the report’s recommendations and recognise the complex challenges cities face from climate change.
Defra published the first National Adaptation Programme (NAP) report last July. This sets out a wide range of actions to developthe UK’s resilience to climate change and associated severe weather events. In developing this report, the Government worked with the Core Cities Group (comprising the largest eight cities in England), London Councils and the Greater London Authority to agree the NAP Cities Commitment. We continue to work closely with these cities to support this commitment to action, including through a recent inward secondment to Defra from Newcastle City Council.
The Mayors Adapt initiative recently launched by the European Commission under the EU Adaptation Strategy also provides a vehicle through which cities across Europe can network and share their experiences on adaptation.