Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government who is responsible for developing and updating clinical guidance on the treatment of men with erectile dysfunction in England.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has included guidance on erectile dysfunction in the following guidelines:

    – Chronic heart failure in adults: management (CG108) published in August 2010;
    – Type 1 diabetes in adults: diagnosis and management (NG17) published in August 2015; and
    – Type 2 diabetes in adults: management (NG28) published in December 2015.

    Copies of these documents are attached.

    It is for NHS England to commission NICE to develop a specific clinical guideline on the management and treatment of erectile dysfunction.


  • Paul Scully – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paul Scully – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Scully on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness and adequacy of mental health support available to stroke survivors.

    Jane Ellison

    Access to stroke specific psychological support is vital to diagnosing and managing many of the unseen effects of stroke. The Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme has recently conducted an audit of the provision of services to people with stroke once they have left hospital. The audit found that around 42% of Early Supported Discharge teams and 44% of longer term community rehabilitation teams had some access to psychologists. There are also physiotherapists, nurses and occupational therapists on these teams who often address psychological issues.

    We know that there are improvements to be made in providing psychological support for stroke survivors. Clinical commissioning groups are encouraged to consider how the needs of these patients might be met when commissioning services.

  • Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-07-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department plans to begin its review of driving sentences and penalties.

    Dominic Raab

    The government is aware of concerns about a number of sentencing issues and is committed to making sure sentencing for driving crimes is proportionate within the context of our wider sentencing framework. It is our intention to commence a consultation before the end of the year which will look at driving offences and penalties.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-09-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to reunite with their families the 387 child refugees in Calais camps identified by Citizens UK who are eligible to come to the UK.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    UK Government officials have confirmed that the Citizens UK list has been passed to the French authorities, who are primarily responsible for migrants on French territory.

    We continue to work with the French authorities and others to speed up exist-ing family reunification processes or implement new processes where necessary. We will shortly be seconding another official to the French Interior Ministry to support these efforts.

    We have established a dedicated team in the Home Office Dublin Unit to lead on family reunion cases for unaccompanied children. Transfer requests under the Dublin Regulation are now generally processed within 10 days and children transferred within weeks. Over 120 children have been accepted for transfer this year from Europe; over 70 of these are from France.

    It is important that the due processes under the Dublin Regulation are followed. This position was recently confirmed in a Court of Appeal judgement (“ZAT and others”). Families are only contacted once a transfer request has been made and a family link has been established. When we accept a request to transfer an unaccompanied minor we liaise with Local Authorities and the child’s family.

    A new scheme to allow community groups to directly sponsor a refugee family was launched by the Home Secretary and Archbishop of Canterbury on 19 July. The Full Community Sponsorship scheme enables community groups including charities, faith groups, churches and businesses, to take on the role of supporting resettled refugees in the UK. A ‘Help Refugees in the UK’ web-page has also been developed on GOV.UK to make it easier for the public to support refugees in the UK and allow local authorities to focus support on the goods and services that refugees need.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their policy regarding the licensing of arms, including British-made military aeroplanes, to the Saudi Arabian-led coalition which is conducting airstrikes in Yemen.

    Lord Maude of Horsham

    All licence applications are rigorously assessed on a case by case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Export Licensing Criteria. A licence would not be granted if to do so would be a breach of the Criteria.

  • Emma Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Emma Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of how long it would take on average for a nurse to pay off a student loan.

    Ben Gummer

    No estimate has been made as this will vary between individuals and is dependent upon a number of factors. Currently student loans are paid back over a maximum 30 year period and repayment is contingent on earnings. Graduates do not begin to pay back their loans until the April after they graduate, and then only 9% of their earnings over £21,000 per year.

    If their income drops below £21,000 for any reason (part-time working, career break) their repayments cease.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department has taken to develop protocols with (a) the Department for Work and Pensions, (b) the Home Office and (c) other government departments and agencies to improve the quality of decision making to reduce the number of assessments overturned on appeal.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Following a successful pilot, the practice in the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal has been for judges to provide a brief summary of reasons for their decision. This is helping the Department for Work and Pensions with decision making. In the Immigration and Asylum Chamber, and in other tribunals, judges routinely give full written reasons for their decisions and Ministry of Justice officials regularly meet with colleagues from the Home Office and other government departments to discuss any underlying reasons that may be contributing to high overturn rates.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to increase levels of blood donation.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) provide blood donation services to the National Health Service, supplying a reliable, efficient supply of blood in England and North Wales. To secure a consistent donor base, NHSBT runs donor recruitment campaigns throughout the year to attract new donors, for example last year’s Missing Types Programme which featured the removal of the letters of A O B from famous locations and high street brands. NHSBT also ran the #BleedForEngland campaign around the World Cup using rugby celebrities which led to 100,000 new donor registrations. The recently completed New Year 2016 recruitment campaign also saw more than 30,000 people register to give blood.

    On 1 February 2016 NHSBT confirmed that more than one million people are now registered to book blood donation appointments online.

    NHSBT is also taking specific action to increase the number of blood donors from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic community, particularly from Black African, Black Caribbean, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian communities.

  • Ben Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ben Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Bradshaw on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the terms of reference for the blood donations review will be approved by the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs.

    Jane Ellison

    The Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood Tissues and Organs (SaBTO) is carrying out a review of blood donor selection criteria. Currently a working group is being formed. The process will fully involve stakeholders, similar to the previous 2011 SaBTO review, and contacting stakeholders inviting their contribution to the review will begin imminently. The terms of reference will include input from stakeholders and be published once approved by SaBTO which will be at their next meeting. The review will be holistic and evidence relating to the risks of blood-borne infections in people who have previously injected drugs or received money or drugs for sex will be included. The review will be incremental, with published progress reports and any intermediate advice.

    It is anticipated that the group will publish its final report in 2017.

  • Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make it his policy to prevent companies using local numbers from which calls are forwarded abroad for the purposes of marketing and other nuisance calls.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Based on an analysis of reported concerns, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has previously estimated that approximately 12% of nuisance calls carry ‘spoofed’ Calling Line Identification (CLI), but this does not mean that all the calls have originated from overseas. The Government has recently consulted on making it a requirement for direct marketing callers to provide valid CLI. The Government plans to bring this measure into force in due course.