Tag: Parliamentary Question

David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many Government-sponsored new social and council houses were built between (a) 1997 and 2010 and (b) 2010 and 2016.

Brandon Lewis

The numbers of dwellings completed by houisng associations and local authorities in England between 1997 and 2015 were as follows:

Year	Housing associations	Local authorities
1997	20,970	290
1998	19,900	240
1999	17,780	50
2000	16.680	90
2001	14,500	160
2002	13,310	180
2003	12,820	180
2004	16.600	130
2005	17,540	180
2006	20,660	280
2007	22,180	250
2008	26,470	430
2009	26,990	360
2010	22,650	790
2011	25,940	2,230
2012	25,440	1,410
2013	21,590	840
2014	23,780	1,180
2015	30,200	1,640

Statistics on new build housing starts and completions in England, and in each local authority district, are published on the Department’s website at:

http://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-building

01/01/2023

Lord Mancroft – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mancroft on 2016-04-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what impact assessment they made of the introduction of CQUIN scheme BI1 Improving HCV Treatment Pathways through ODNs, and whether they will publish a copy of that assessment.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence specifically requires Operational Delivery Networks to prioritise hepatitis C patients on the basis of clinical need, as part of a progressive rollout of treatments over the next five years and the Commissioning for Quality and Innovation scheme (CQUIN) enables and ensures this take place. There is no separate assessment of impact. NHS England recognises that there is a very significant improvement in inequalities as a result of roll-out treatment for hepatitis C.

01/01/2023
Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 May 2016 to Question 37536, on Govia Thameslink Railway Reforms Standards, what the predefined contractual change referred to in that Answer is; and what changes have been made to the cancellation and train operating company Minute Delay benchmarks.

Claire Perry

When competing for the Thameslink Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) franchise the Department for Transport gave all bidders certain assumptions to use in relation to the train services to be provided until December 2015 and informed them where it would be a Change to the Franchise Agreement if the actual position was different. As a result of the Change, the benchmarks were reviewed.

01/01/2023
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.

01/01/2023
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.

01/01/2023
Ms Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Margaret Ritchie on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking with the College of Emergency Medicine to help attract middle-grade and senior doctors to local hospitals.

Ben Gummer

Health Education England is working with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine to ensure they have a skilled, trained and motivated workforce in urgent and emergency care. This has included recruiting an additional 75 trainee emergency medicine doctors commissioned per year in 2014-2016, recruiting and appointing 29 international doctors in 2015 and supporting development of the multi-professional workforce.

National Health Service organisations are best placed to determine the size and skill mix of the workforce they need to deliver safe care and how, through local campaigns, they attract middle-grade and senior doctors to local hospitals.

01/01/2023
Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-12-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the Exchequer was of disposing of illegal fuel in each of the last three years.

Damian Hinds

HMRC does not have specific figures for disposing of illegal fuel.

HMRC fights fraud on a wide range of fronts, from special units performing thousands of roadside checks to raiding laundering plants. The UK has recently announced, jointly with Ireland, an improved new marker for rebated fuel, which will make it much harder to launder marked fuel and sell it at a profit.

01/01/2023
Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for providing unmonitored mobile and internet communications to the people of North Korea as a contribution to breaking that country’s information blockade.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The provision of mobile and electronic communications are strictly controlled by the North Korean government. Supplying the population with mobile and internet equipment would require the consent and cooperation of the regime. Establishing an alternative system without the agreement of the North Korea government could be viewed as a violation of local laws; all our Missions overseas must abide by the law of their host countries and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. We regularly raise human rights concerns and freedom of expression.

01/01/2023
Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if officials in his Department will have discussions with officials in the Department of Health on the establishment of a ring-fenced fund for local authorities to be able to disregard military compensation payments in financial assessments for social care.

Mr Marcus Jones

Armed forces veterans injured in service receive payments through the War Disablement Pension or the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme. The latter applies to veterans injured from 6 April 2005. These payments are divided into a personal injury compensation element and other payments. Traditionally, only the personal injury compensation payment has been fully disregarded.

Since October 2012, Guaranteed Income Payments made to veterans under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme have been disregarded. The Department of Health has been in discussion with the Royal British Legion about how War Disablement Pension payments are treated. Currently, the first £10 per week of these payments is disregarded. The Government is considering how these payments to veterans should be treated in the financial assessment for social care charging in future.

It is not the policy of this Government to ring-fence funding for particular purposes. This is to allow local authorities the flexibility to manage their own resources in the most efficient manner.

01/01/2023
Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Efford on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has had discussions with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) sporting stakeholders on setting up an independent body to fund research into anti-doping in sport; and if he will make a statement.

David Evennett

The World Anti-Doping Agency, to which the UK pays an annual fee, conducts research into anti-doping in sport that is utilised by national anti-doping organisations including UK Anti-Doping.

01/01/2023