The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-12-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any decision has been made about the introduction of the new Long Service medal proposed by the Secretary of State for Defence in March.
Earl Howe
I can confirm that officials are currently working on the eligibility criteria for a new Long Service Medal. Details will be made available in 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on Tata Steel’s recent announcement on job losses.
Stephen Crabb
The recent announcement of job losses at Port Talbot is another hammer blow to the industry and the wider South Wales economy.
I have had regular contact with the Welsh Government Minister for Economy, Science and Transport since the announcement. With the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise, I have offered the UK Government’s full commitment to working collaboratively with the Welsh Government.
My Ministerial colleague, Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, has also accepted an invitation from the Welsh Government to be part of a High Level Task Force charged with supporting everyone affected by the job losses at Port Talbot.
Our immediate priority is to support those who have suffered job losses and to ensure the industry has a sustainable future in Wales.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the salaries are of the directors of each clinical commissioning group in Leicestershire.
Alistair Burt
Information about the salaries of the directors of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) is published in each CCG’s annual report, which are available on the CCGs’ websites.
East Leicestershire and Rutland CCG’s annual report can be found at:
https://eastleicestershireandrutlandccg.nhs.uk/about-us/publications/reports-and-plans/
West Leicestershire CCG’s annual report can be found at:
http://www.westleicestershireccg.nhs.uk/page/corporate-documents
Leicester City CCG’s annual report can be found at:
https://www.leicestercityccg.nhs.uk/about-us/strategies-and-reports/
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-03-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Annual Report of the National Clinical Audit for Rheumatoid and Early Inflammatory Arthritis, published on 22 January 2016, what steps he is taking to ensure that patients with suspected inflammatory arthritis have their first specialist appointment within the three weeks recommended by NICE.
Jane Ellison
National Clinical Audits are commissioned and managed on behalf of NHS England by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP). Audits help drive improvement by providing local trusts with individual benchmarked reports on their performance against a range of measures, feeding back comparative findings to help participants identify necessary improvements for patients
The first annual report of the national clinical audit of rheumatoid and early inflammatory arthritis was published on 22 January 2016. The report identifies that although most services offer prompt educational support and agree targets for treatment with their patients, performance against criteria for referral and assessment could be improved. Since the audit, HQIP has reported that a number of trusts have successfully reconfigured their services in order to improve patient care. More information can be found at the following link:
www.hqip.org.uk/national-programmes/a-z-of-nca/arthritis-rheumatoid-and-early-inflammatory
To help clinicians to identify the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and make prompt referrals to specialists, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published Rheumatoid arthritis: The management of rheumatoid arthritis in adults, in 2009. This best practice guideline sets out the signs and symptoms of the disease and emphasises the need for early diagnosis with urgent referral to a specialist rheumatologist on suspicion of RA. For those diagnosed with the condition, the guidance also recommends they should be offered the opportunity to take part in educational activities, including self-management programmes.
The NICE RA quality standard (QS), published in 2013, is based on the NICE guideline, and one of the seven quality statements recommends that people with suspected RA are assessed in a rheumatology service within three weeks of referral. However, whilst providers and commissioners must have regard to these standards in planning and delivering services, they do not provide a comprehensive service specification and are not mandatory.
Regarding the establishment of early arthritis clinics, the configuration of services, including decisions to such arthritis clinics, is a matter for the local National Health Service.
The latest monthly workforce statistics published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre showed that, as of November 2015, there were 563 full time equivalent rheumatology consultants employed in the NHS. This is an increase of 119 (26.8%) since May 2010. The recruitment and retention of staff is matter for local NHS services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking before the introduction of new guidelines on the recognition and treatment of Lyme disease expected by July 2018 to ensure that people with that disease are diagnosed quickly.
Jane Ellison
As services for the treatment of Lyme disease are commissioned locally information on the costs associated with laboratory testing and treatment of late stage Lyme disease is not collected centrally. Nor is information collected centrally on the average time to diagnose cases of Lyme disease.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is developing a clinical guideline on Lyme disease and reports progress on its website. NICE recently consulted on a draft scope for the guideline, and expects to publish final guidance in July 2018.
Public Health England and NHS Choices publish information on their websites to raise awareness of Lyme disease and encourage timely medical consultation because early diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease is the best way of limiting complications from infection. Given the need to maintain public awareness these or similar mechanisms are expected to continue beyond 2018. Increased awareness is likely to encourage early consultation but no information on the time taken to seek medical advice is available.
There are no plans to set targets for diagnosis and treatment as most cases of Lyme disease are diagnosed empirically by general practitioners using their clinical judgement rather than relying on a laboratory test, thus treatment can start immediately. Diagnosis of patients with late or complicated Lyme disease can be difficult and the National Health Service will continue to provide care taking account of the existing evidence base.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-05-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much funding the Government provided for the EU battlegroup in each year since 2010.
Michael Fallon
None.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2016-07-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will list the prison establishments that currently run drug treatment programmes for inmates with addictions; and what estimate he has made of the annual cost of running such programmes.
Ben Gummer
All prisons in England are required to have drug treatment programmes for inmates with addictions.
NHS England has allocated approximately £405 million for health expenditure in the adult prison estate in 2016/17, with spending on substance misuse services expected to amount to approximately 20% of this.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2016-09-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will extend the Help to Buy scheme to enable first-time buyers to buy property off-plan in order to avoid being priced out by foreign investors.
Gavin Barwell
The Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme has enabled over 81,000 households to purchase a new-build home, to March 2016. The Government has committed a further £8.6 billion to the scheme, to provide up to 145,000 further homes by March 2021. Under London Help to Buy, which was launched in February 2016, equity loans of up to 40% are now supporting increasing numbers of first time home buyers.
Under the scheme, buyers can already make reservations up to 9 months before sale completion of a home. In practice, they can buy off-plan, before the property has actually been built. In line with usual industry practice, they can also take on a mortgage offer up to 6 months before completion.
Homes can only be purchased through Help to Buy for a primary residence: they can only be bought by persons who will live in the home. They cannot be bought by investors who live abroad and then leave homes empty or sub-let them.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many miles of local authority road are in a poor structural condition in (a) England outside London and (b) London.
Andrew Jones
The Department for Transport does not hold information on how many miles of local authority roads are in a poor structural condition in England or London.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what modelling his Department conducted on the effect of the Apprenticeship Levy prior to its announcement.
Nick Boles
HM Treasury and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, conducted internal modelling on which rate and scope would result in sufficient levels of income to fund growth in high-quality apprenticeships up until 2020. It will continue to conduct analysis and have an open dialogue with employers to understand the cost and benefits of the apprenticeship levy.