Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Baroness Walmsley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Walmsley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Walmsley on 2016-10-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action is being taken to build local primary care leadership to challenge variation, and drive quality improvement, in the detection and management of atrial fibrillation.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England’s Sustainable Improvement Team is taking action to promote the use of GRASP-AF (Guidance on Risk Assessment and Stroke Prevention for Atrial Fibrillation) within general practitioner (GP) practices in England. GRASP-AF is an audit tool developed by and trialled in the National Health Service which greatly simplifies the process of identifying patients with Atrial Fibrillation (AF) who are not receiving the right management to help reduce their risk of stroke.

    The Sustainable Improvement Team is also working with NHS RightCare, a programme committed to improving people’s health and outcomes, to help promote the use of GRASP-AF in the programme’s 65 first wave clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). NHS RightCare’s ‘Commissioning for Value’ packs help CCGs identify priority areas such as AF, and the GRASP AF tool provides a practical method of addressing any inequalities. NHS England’s intention is that the work with NHS RightCare will increase the number of CCGs using GRASP-AF in a systematic way.

    Anonymised data from GRASP-AF can be uploaded to CHART Online, a secure web enabled tool that helps practices improve performance through comparative data analysis. This allows practices and CCGs to benchmark their management of AF with other practices across England and so help identify and reduce any variation in practice.

    The use of GRASP-AF is voluntary and its use therefore varies across CCGs. Currently 2,248 GP practices have uploaded data from GRASP-AF to CHART online across 151 out of the 209 CCGs. Of these, 19 CCGs have all GP practices in their area uploading data.

    In addition to the NHS action outlined above, all local authorities in England are required to offer the NHS Health Check programme, with the large majority commissioning general practice to provide them on their behalf. More than 15 million people aged 40-74 are, have been or will be eligible for an NHS Health Check between 2014 and 2018. The programme’s best practice guidance recommends that a pulse check is carried out as part of the process of taking a blood pressure reading and those individuals who are found to have an irregular pulse rhythm should be referred for further investigation.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rachel Reeves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2015-11-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of tax credit claimants receive 30 hours of free childcare per week once the childcare costs disregard for housing benefit has been accounted for.

    Damian Hinds

    This Government is committed to moving from a high welfare, high tax, low wage economy to a lower welfare, lower tax, higher wage society. As the Chancellor made clear, the Government will set out at Autumn Statement how we plan to achieve the same goal of reforming tax credits, saving the money we need to save to secure our economy, while at the same time helping in the transition.

    As announced at Summer Budget, the Chancellor announced that free entitlement childcare would be doubled from 15 hours to 30 for working parents. This will not be rolled out until September 2017, with early implementation in some areas in September 2016.

    Information about the age, gender and number of children in receipt of tax credits can be found in HMRC’s Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics, April 2015. Available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-tax-credits-provisional-statistics-2013-to-2009

  • Kirsten  Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he is satisfied that the Financial Conduct Authority’s minimum professional indemnity insurance requirements for Independent Financial Advisers provide investors with adequate protection for medium and long-term investments.

    Harriett Baldwin

    This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent from Government.

    This question has been passed on to the FCA. They will reply directly to the Honourable Member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

  • Greg Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Greg Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure that the manufacturers of electric and hybrid cars which utilise charging points adopt a common charging connection for all such vehicles; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Jones

    Industry has been slow to deliver pan-European standardisation on chargepoint connectors with different vehicle manufacturers advocating their own preferred standards. However there are signs that this is now changing. The recent EU Directive 2014/94/EU on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure will standardise provision of connectors for rapid chargepoints across Europe. In the UK we have already sought to address this by requiring that all government funded rapid chargepoints must work with all available types of ultra low emission vehicle (ULEV). All Government-funded slower chargepoints must also have a Type 2 inlet on them – no other sockets are permitted. This position is supported by the vehicle manufacturers, all of whom agree that Type 2 is the most appropriate standard for public charging in the UK.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-02-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will commission an assessment of the effect on victims of domestic abuse and their families of the use of common entrances at family courts for both the perpetrators and victims of that crime.

    Mike Penning

    Every family court has a system to support vulnerable court users. Protective measures are put in place whenever a court is aware that an individual involved in a case may be violent. These can include separate waiting areas, additional security and the use of separate entrances where appropriate.

    Information on the number of children or women injured by a perpetrator of domestic violence after a Family Court decision relating to child contact is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost by manually checking case files in criminal and family courts and matching records.

    The family court takes the issue of domestic violence extremely seriously. Where domestic violence or abuse is admitted or proven, any child arrangements order put in place must protect the safety and wellbeing of the child and the parent with whom the child is living, and not expose them to the risk of further harm. In particular, the court must be satisfied that any contact ordered with a parent who has perpetrated violence or abuse is safe and in the best interests of the child.

    Where the court does conclude that direct contact is safe and beneficial for the child, it can impose conditions such as supervised contact to protect the child.

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Thai government on the (a) charges facing and (b) return of the British passport belonging to Andy Hall.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We have taken a number of actions to support Mr Hall. Most recently, the Permanent Under-Secretary of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Sir Simon McDonald, raised his case with the Thai Vice Foreign Minister during his visit to Bangkok on 3 February. He emphasised the importance of proceedings against Mr Hall being conducted in a fair, open and transparent manner.

    We have requested the return of Mr Hall’s passport from the Thai courts. However, we have no jurisdiction to interfere in other countries’ judicial processes, which include a court’s ability to set its own bail conditions. We stand ready to provide further consular assistance should Mr Hall require it.

  • Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his oral contribution of 21 March 2016, Official Report, column 1284, whether an impact assessment has been carried out on the effect of social security reform on employees in his Department.

    Priti Patel

    Ministers consider all of their statutory duties in considering new policies and impact assessments are published as is appropriate. A number of impact assessments have been published during the passage of the recent Welfare Reform Act. These use the whole population as a base but do not focus specifically on DWP employees.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people from non-EU countries were refused entry to the UK in each of the years between 1990 and 2005.

    James Brokenshire

    The table below provides the total number of nationals of EU and non-EU member states that have been initially refused entry to the UK since 2004. Information prior to 2004 is not available.

    Year

    Total EU refusals (3,4)

    Total non-EU refusals

    2004

    6,342

    32,049

    2005

    635

    29,375

    Notes:

    1) Information prior to 2004 is not available.

    2) Passengers initially refused entry relates to non-asylum cases dealt with at ports of entry.

    3) Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU on 1 January 2007.

    4) Croatia joined the EU on 1 July 2013.

    Figures for 2014 and 2015 are provisional.

    The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of passengers initially refused entry by country of nationality within Immigration Statistics. The data are available in the latest release, Immigration Statistics: October to December 2015, table ad.04 from GOV.UK on the statistics web pages at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release.

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the implications for the provision of services of the findings of the report, entitled Hidden Hurt: violence, abuse and disadvantage in the lives of women, published by Agenda in January 2016; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    Officials at the Department met with Agenda in February to discuss the findings of the report, Hidden Hurt. Subsequently, Agenda were able to link with a range of work being undertaken in the Department, NHS England, Public Health England and other Government departments to prevent and to improve the response to extensive violence, abuse and disadvantage faced simultaneously by some women and which requires a concerted response from multiple services.

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many domestic fire deaths were recorded in (1) 2013, (2) 2014, and (3) 2015.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Data from the Fire Incident Recording System are published by financial year. There were 216, 195 and 229 fire-related fatalities in dwellings in England in financial years 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 respectively. The latest figures were published in August in the Fire Statistics Monitor, which can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-statistics-monitor-april-2015-to-march-2016 while detailed tables can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fire-statistics-data-tables