Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the rollout of the new submarines for the replacement Trident programme does not disrupt the Government’s commitment to having a constant at-sea deterrent.

    Harriett Baldwin

    As set out in the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, we are taking steps to manage the defence nuclear enterprise and ensure the Successor submarines are delivered to time and budget. As part of this, we have established a new Director-General Nuclear to act as single and accountable focal point within the Ministry of Defence for all aspects of the defence nuclear enterprise. We are also establishing a new submarine delivery body for the procurement and in-service support of all nuclear submarines, including the Successor submarines. We have deliberately moved away from a traditional single ‘Main Gate’ approach, to a staged investment approach with multiple control points. This will enable us to better regulate and control programme funding and delivery.

    The rollout of the Successor submarines supports the programme to maintain a Continuous at Sea Deterrent.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when and by whom the decision was taken to give heroin to heroin addicts in line with his Department’s policy set out on page 31 of Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, published by his predecessor in March 2016.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The prescribing of injectable opioids, such as methadone or diamorphine (pharmaceutical heroin) as substitutes for illicit heroin, as outlined in the Government’s Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, published in March by the then Home Secretary, has been an option for many years but since the late 1960s, prescribing of diamorphine for the management of addiction has been restricted to licensed addiction specialists.

    The decision to prescribe injectable diamorphine for the treatment of dependence is a clinical matter, for a clinician to take in conjunction with the patient. Advice to guide these decisions is contained in Chapter 5 and Annex 8 of the 2007 UK Guidelines on the Clinical Management of Drug Misuse and Dependence. The guidelines advise that:

    – “injectable opioid treatment may be suitable for a small minority of patients who have failed in optimised oral treatment.”;

    – “clinicians providing injectable opioid treatment should encourage patients not to regard it as a lifelong treatment option and should regularly review their patients and the continuing necessity for this unusual and expensive treatment”; and

    – The use of diamorphine “alone does not constitute drug treatment…it should be seen as on element or pathway within wider packages of planned and integrated drug treatment”.

    The guidelines are currently being reviewed by an Expert Working Group, to take into account developments in the evidence base. In July 2016, the Expert Working Group published their draft update for consultation. The consultation has closed and the responses are being considered by the Expert Working Group.

    Diamorphine is licensed as a medicine by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Clinicians wishing to legally prescribe it for the treatment of dependence need to obtain a licence for that purpose from the Home Office and to comply with all other legislation relevant to the safe management, use and supply of medicines which are controlled drugs.

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made an assessment of the report Four Nations – How Evidence-based are Alcohol Policies and Programmes Across the UK? published in November by the Alliance for Useful Evidence, and if so, what lessons they have drawn for their own plans to reduce alcohol-related harm.

    Lord Bates

    We have noted the report. It misrepresents the Government’s position on minimum unit pricing and health as a licensing objective. Minimum unit pricing will remain under review whilst we monitor carefully the legal developments and the implementation of this policy in Scotland. We have consulted on health as a licensing objective and will continue to look at its feasibility.

    Our assessment of alcohol-related harm is that it costs society over £21 billion per year. To address this we will build on the 2012 Alcohol Strategy to tackle alcohol as a driver of crime and support people to stay healthy, while working with partners at a local and national level to reduce the impact of alcohol misuse.

  • Jenny Chapman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jenny Chapman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jenny Chapman on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many prisoners were awaiting initial psychiatric assessment (a) on the last date for which figures are available and (b) in each month of the last three years.

    Alistair Burt

    Data are not collected centrally on the number of prisoners waiting for an initial psychiatric assessment. Data on prisoners in receipt of an assessment and awaiting transfer to secure hospitals under sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act 1983 are collected by NHS England since April 2015, through Health and Justice Indicators of Performance (HJIPs) and available data are shown in the attached table, Health and Justice Indicators of Performance – Mental Health Secure Assessment and Transfer. NHS England intends to publish HJIP data online from April 2016.

  • Angela Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Angela Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Eagle on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of replacing maintenance grants on the ability of the Government to reach its target of doubling the proportion of people from disadvantaged backgrounds entering higher education between 2009 and 2020.

    Joseph Johnson

    An Equality Analysis of changes to the living costs support package for full-time students in 2016/17 was published on the GOV.UK website on 3rd December 2015. Ministers considered the evidence in the analysis to assess the impact on particular groups and to inform their decisions on changes to the student support system.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Chairman of Committees, further to the Written Answer by the Chairman of Committees on 11 February (HL5625), whether agency staff are paid the London Living Wage for the first eight weeks of their employment; and if not, what hourly rate are they paid.

    Lord Laming

    In accordance with the terms of the House’s London Living Wage accreditation, all agency staff are paid at least the London Living Wage rate from day 1 of week 9 if they are working on parliamentary premises and employed for at least two hours of work in a week, for 8 consecutive weeks in a year.

    The Administration does not hold information about specific hourly rates paid by agencies in weeks 1-8 as we pay a rate to the agency not the individuals; however, our recruitment framework agreement contractual terms stipulate that our contractors pay a rate that is at least the national minimum wage, and wherever possible we want agency staff to receive a salary commensurate with that which would have been paid to a permanent member of staff.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects the 2014 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey to be published.

    Alistair Burt

    The 2014 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey is currently scheduled to be published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre in September 2016.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many (a) mortgages, (b) leaseholds and (c) properties overall are registered with the Land Registry in (i) Hampstead and Kilburn constituency and (ii) London.

    Anna Soubry

    The information will take time to collate. I will place this in the Libraries of the House as soon as the information is available.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with which individuals and organisations his Department is consulting to inform the life chances strategy.

    Priti Patel

    As is customary in the development of any Strategy, we have engaged in discussions with a range of organisations and individual experts as we develop the Life Chances Strategy.

  • David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to promote the Fast Track Giant Cell Arteritis pathway piloted by Southend University Hospital.

    David Mowat

    Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for the provision of services for people with giant cell arteritis (GCA). Whilst it would not be appropriate for NHS England to direct CCGs to adopt a particular clinical pathway, it continues to ensure that the innovative approach developed at Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (FT) is shared and made available to clinicians.

    There are a number of clinical guidelines that are available to support the prompt diagnosis and referral of patients with suspected GCA, including one produced by the Royal College of Physicians, which Professor Bhaskar Dasgupta, who developed the GCA pathway at Southend University Hospital NHS FT, helped to produce. This guidance provides a framework for disease assessment, immediate treatment and referral to specialist care. Furthermore, both the British Society for Rheumatology and the British Health Professionals in Rheumatology published guidelines on the management of polymyalgia rheumatica, a related condition, for general practitioners and rheumatologists. These encourage the prompt diagnosis and urgent management of GCA, helping to minimise GCA related vision loss.

    The Specialised Rheumatology Clinical Reference Group at NHS England has developed proposals to establish local rheumatology networks. These are being implemented over a three year period to support consistent access to clinically effective therapies and to share good and innovative practice across the country. In addition, NHS England’s innovation team has invited Professor Dasgupta to contribute to the NHS Innovation Exchange Portal to ensure that this knowledge is shared.

    On 24 June 2016, NHS England recently facilitated a webinar presented by Professor Dasgupta, which aimed to show how the fast-track pathway has significantly reduced the number of patients suffering sight-loss as an avoidable complication of GCA and, in addition, presents a case that this model is cost-saving, results in an increased patient quality of life, and successfully reduces the time to diagnosis in line with established clinical guidelines. NHS England promoted the webinar across the musculoskeletal community as well as to CCGs and patient groups through a wide range of communications channels.