Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he plans to take to involve small and medium-sized enterprises in the proposed digital apprenticeship system.

    Nick Boles

    We are developing the digital apprenticeship service to support apprenticeships in England. It will help all employers to select an apprenticeship framework or standard, choose a training provider, choose an assessment organisation and post apprenticeship vacancies. By 2020, all employers will be able to use the service to pay for training and assessment for apprenticeships and we will help smaller employers to prepare for this.

    We continue to work with a wide range of employers to develop, test and improve the digital apprenticeship service.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the annual budget is of the NHS England EU Transition Team; and what the remit of that team is.

    David Mowat

    The annual budget for the NHS England European Union Transition Team has not yet been determined. The purpose of the team will be to understand possible implications for the National Health Service from the negotiations with Europe. The details of how this team will work with the Department will be set out in due course.

  • Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2016-10-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the reported growth in reliance on the employment of locum doctors in GP practices and the extent, if any, to which the employment of full-time doctors in GP practices has declined.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The latest statistics, published on 27 September, as at 31 March 2016, show that the total full time equivalent general practitioners (GPs), including locums was 34,914, an increase of 323, compared to September 2015.

    The same statistics showed that on 31 March 2016, there were 601 locums recorded as working in GP practices on that one day. On the day of 30 September 2015, 537 locums were recorded working in GP practices.

    Locum doctors cover a variety of roles, including vacancies and absences such as maternity, training and annual leave. Not all practices completed returns or provided detailed information on the type of GP that was working in the practice, on either 30 September and/or 31 March, which means that it is not possible to compare the data of September 2015 and March 2016.

    The data that NHS Digital publish on the general practice workforce is labelled provisional, experimental statistics, as they use a new methodology/data set and collection vehicles. These statistics replace the traditional GP census. The new data set, introduced in September 2015, collected information on locum doctors for the first time.

  • Nick Hurd – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Nick Hurd – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Hurd on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance her Department is providing to countries which have not yet developed a national eye care plan.

    Grant Shapps

    In 2013, the World Health Assembly approved the Global Action Plan for the Prevention of Avoidable Blindness and Visual Impairment 2014-2019 – Towards Universal Eye Health. This is a roadmap for WHO Member States and international partners with the aim of achieving a measurable reduction of 25% of avoidable visual impairments by 2019. One of the three key objectives of the plan is the development and implementation of integrated national eye health policies, plans and programmes to enhance universal eye health. The UK has signed up to the plan and existing UK programmes on avoidable blindness are contributing to achieving its objectives.

  • Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2015 to Question 18122, (a) how many times and (b) on what grounds Palestinian academics have not been given permission to attend academic conferences in the UK in the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

    James Brokenshire

    Acquiring information on the number of times academics of Syrian nationality have been refused entry to attend an academic conference would involve examining each individual case record held by UK Visas and Immigration for the category. To do so would incur a disproportionate cost.

    In order to safeguard an individual’s personal information and comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 the Home Office is limited in what information it can provide when the request is made by someone who is not the applicant. The Home Office is therefore unable to provide information on the reasons for refusing entry to the UK.

    All applications are considered on their individual merits and in line with the Immigration Rules.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will ask NHS England to publish the (a) work completed by, (b) current work programme of and (c) future topics that are due to be considered by the Clinical Reference Group on Interventional Radiology.

    Jane Ellison

    It is for NHS England to determine what information it publishes in relation to the work of the Clinical Reference Groups (CRGs) and it has advised that the CRG work programmes will not be published. However, it has provided the following information on the work of the CRGs on interventional radiology and vascular disease respectively.

    The CRG on interventional radiology has, in conjunction with the hepatobiliary and cancer programmes, produced clinical policy on selective interventional radiotherapy (SIRT), and the commissioning through evaluation programmeon SIRT to collect further evidence on effectiveness.This work is continuing.

    The CRG’s current work programme is to support work across the medical and surgical CRGs where policy and service specifications include interventional radiological procedures.

    The role of CRGs across specialised imaging, interventional radiology and Positron emission tomography–computed tomography is being reviewed. Once this is agreed, the work programme for 2016/17 will be developed.

    NHS England has previously published a service specification and polices for vascular disease, which can be found at:

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/group-a/a04/

    It has also developed quality metrics.

    The CRG on vascular disease work programme for 2015/16 includes:

    – reviewing policies in line with changing practice;

    – revision of the service specification has been produced;

    – assessing specialised providers against the key quality indicators within the service specification; and

    – working with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on technology appraisals relating to specialised vascular services.

    NHS England is currently working with stakeholders to identify potential areas to be included within the 2016/17 work programme for the CRG on vascular disease.

    “

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students were entered for (a) GCSE and (b) A levels in (i) Arabic, (ii) modern Greek, (iii) Japanese, (iv) Urdu, (v) Bengali, (vi) modern Hebrew, (vii) Punjabi, (viii) Polish, (ix) Dutch, (x) Persian, (xi) Turkish, (xii) Albanian, (xiii) Cantonese and (xiv) Mandarin in (A) total and (B) each region in (1) 2011, (2) 2012, (3) 2013, (4) 2014 and (5) 2015; and if she will make a statement.

    Nick Gibb

    It is not possible to identify pupils entered for Mandarin Chinese from data held by the Department. The Department does hold information on the number of entries into GCSE Chinese which includes Mandarin Chinese and other Chinese subjects, including Cantonese.

    There is no GCSE or A level qualification in Albanian.

    The table attached provides information on the number of GCSE and A level entries for the stated subjects in each region between 2010/11 and 2014/15. [1][2]

    [1] Coverage is for all state-funded schools (including academies and CTCs) in England.

    [2] Figure has been suppressed due to low numbers (1 or 2 pupils) or where secondary suppression has been applied.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his North Korean counterpart on the reported recent execution of Ri Yong-gil in that country.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We are aware of reports of the execution of General Ri Yong-gil, the Chief of Staff of the Korean People’s Army, on Wednesday 10 February 2016. Due to the closed nature of the regime in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), we cannot verify the accuracy of these reports. The UK, working with the EU and Japan, has ensured that annual UN resolutions consistently call on the DPRK to end its use of the death penalty and adhere to international standards on judicial procedures. We also use our diplomatic relations to raise our concerns directly with North Korea officials in London and Pyongyang.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she has had discussions with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew on the potential role of that organisation in advising the UN and other institutions on desertification.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The UK Government maintains a close dialogue with the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew on tackling international environmental and conservation issues, with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) leading HMG’s relationship with Kew. As a world leading organisation and a holder of the Red List for Plant species, Kew Gardens is already providing valuable information which supports action on desertification, including work by the UN in relation to the Global Goal indicators. Kew Gardens has received funding from the UK government’s Darwin Initiative to improve understanding of the link between conservation and poverty alleviation.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials in his Department have applied for special leave to carry out work for non-governmental departments in the last 12 months.

    Matthew Hancock

    The information requested is not held.