Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lisa Cameron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lisa Cameron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Cameron on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had to ensure that chronic pain management is adequately included in the education of healthcare professionals and medical students.

    Jane Ellison

    Health Education England is responsible for providing national leadership on education, training and workforce development in the National Health Service in England. The professional regulators, such as the General Medical Council, set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricula. Higher Education Institutions are responsible for ensuring the programmes they provide allow students to meet these standards and outcomes. Royal colleges, such as the Royal College of General Practitioners also have responsibility for developing curricula for doctors and nurses, in particular postgraduate curricula. This process ensures that healthcare professionals have the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care, including in pain management, which is a required competency of all healthcare professionals.

    Many patients with chronic pain can be successfully supported and managed through routine primary and secondary care pain management services. It is important that patients with the most serious pain management issues are able to access specialist care. A patient whose pain is particularly difficult to manage may be referred to a specialised pain management service. Under the care of an expert multidisciplinary team, patients may be offered specialised pain management programmes specifically and more complex drug treatments.

    To support clinicians in the management of pain, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published several clinical guidelines on the treatment and management of different types of pain, such as migraine and back pain, as well as technical guidance on specific treatments, such as the use of opiates in palliative care and deep brain stimulation for chronic pain.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many state playing fields were sold in each year since 2010.

    Edward Timpson

    This government will only give local authorities and schools permission to dispose of school playing fields if the sports and curriculum needs of the school can continue to be met. All proceeds of any sales must be put back into improving sports or educational facilities

    It is not the government or the department that instigates the disposal of school playing fields. It is the schools themselves and their local authorities that propose to convert these often surplus or unused fields to invest in school sport or education.

    Details of school playing field sales are not held centrally. Schools and local authorities only need to seek consent from the department to dispose of a school playing field. Disposal includes leasing to a third party provider. We have published a list of departmental decisions on applications for consent to dispose of school playing field land since May 2010, which can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-land-decisions-about-disposals

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  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what buildings owned by his Department are empty or vacant.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department own three buildings that are empty or vacant; all are part of the Department’s retained estate.

    They are the former Harperbury Hospital, the former Little Plumstead Hospital and 100 Churchill Rd, Wisbech.

    The future use of all sites is subject of active consideration, which is at different stages.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department routinely collects on the nationality, gender and pass rate of applicants for the Life in the UK and Knowledge of Language test; and if she will make it her Department’s policy to publish data providing a breakdown of such data by nationality, gender and pass rate.

    James Brokenshire

    Pass rates for the Life in the UK Test are already published quarterly under transparency arrangements. The most recent are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/temporary-and-permanent-migration-data-february-2016

    As part of the registration process each applicant’s nationality is recorded. Information is not recorded with regard to gender. There are no plans to include a breakdown by nationality or gender in future publications.

    Pass rates for language tests are held in individual approved supplier systems and are not currently published. There are no plans to publish this data.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the campaign by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service to raise awareness of the importance of parental orders for new parents and surrogates.

    Jane Ellison

    Surrogacy is a complex issue, the legislation about which has not been significantly addressed by respective administrations since the Surrogacy Arrangements Act was introduced in 1985. The Government recognises the arguments for the need for a review, and we have therefore asked the Law Commission, as part of the consultation on its 13th work programme this summer, to consider including a project on surrogacy.

    The Department has not issued guidance about surrogacy to professional groups or the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS). The Government recognises surrogacy as an important option for some people wishing to start a family and is currently considering how best to clarify the current legal arrangements for intended parents, surrogates and their families. The CAFCASS campaign to increase awareness of Parental Orders is ongoing and targeted at health workers, local authority registration staff and surrogacy agencies. It will be evaluated in full upon completion in autumn 2016; in-campaign monitoring indicates its messaging is reaching the target audience.

  • Baroness Lister of Burtersett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Lister of Burtersett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Lister of Burtersett on 2016-07-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect to publish the evaluation of the moving on period for those granted refugee status, announced during the passage of the Immigration Act 2016.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    We are working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that new recognised refugees apply promptly for any welfare benefit for which they may be eligible and receive the first payment of any benefit for which they qualify before their Home Office support ends.

    We plan to publish our evaluation of this work later this year and will bring forward a change to the current 28-day move-on period if the evaluation shows that to be necessary.

  • Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are paid as personal independence payment assessors in Scotland.

    Penny Mordaunt

    378 people were working as Personal Independence Payment Health Assessors in Scotland (6 October 2016).

  • Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of fixing recoverable costs in medical negligence cases to a maximum of £250,000 on a claimant’s ability to pursue a case.

    Ben Gummer

    Over the past 10 years claimant legal costs as a percentage of damages paid by the National Health Service have increased from 32% to 52%. We believe that claimant legal costs are disproportionate to the value of the damages paid, sometimes representing up to 299% for lower value claims, and disproportionate to the defendant costs. Ultimately this all comes out money for front line services. The proposal for fixed recoverable cost in lower value clinical negligence claims was suggested by Lord Justice Jackson in his report Reform of Civil Litigation Funding and Costs in England and Wales.

    The Department is working closely with partners and interested parties to develop a proposal to introduce fixed recoverable costs for clinical negligence claims. The Department’s proposal in the consultation is a maximum threshold level of £250,000, based on Lord Justice Jackson’s original proposal and with a view to covering at least 80% of all claims. We welcome views on the proposal from all sectors. The results of a pre-consultation exercise with a number of key stakeholders, including representatives of claimant lawyers, and the consultation documentation, including the Impact Assessment, will be published early 2016 subject to relevant Committee clearances.

    The level of potential savings will ultimately depend upon the final maximum threshold level proposed. By making legal costs proportionate to the damages paid we would hope to save circa £80 million per annum. The Department is also working with various clinical groups looking at how the current level of incidents can be reduced. In terms of maternity our target to reduce avoidable harm by 50% and save 6,000 lives.

    The Department sees the fixed recoverable cost work as part of an overall strategic approach aimed at improving patient safety, improving customer care and improving litigation. Improving patient safety and reducing the incidents of harm is a key element of this.

  • Dawn Butler – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dawn Butler – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will publish its equality impact assessment of the Immigration Bill.

    James Brokenshire

    The Government has already published a number of equality impact assessments relating to the Immigration Bill covering residential tenancies, driving, banks, appeals and support. They can be found online:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-bill-2015-16

    Further equality statements in relation to labour market enforcement and the English language requirement in the public sector will be published in the New Year together with the Government’s responses to the recent public consultations on these subjects.

  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will take steps to assist with the backlog of Disclosure and Barring Service applications.

    Karen Bradley

    The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) aims to process all certificates within 56 calendar days and nationally DBS meets this target. The vast majority of applicants do receive their certificates in a timely manner and in December the average processing time for DBS applications was 15.3 days.

    It is important that checks undertaken are thorough and sometimes the DBS needs to refer an application to one or more local police forces as part of the enhanced certificate checking process. Unfortunately, a small number of forces have been experiencing difficulties in completing their checks within expected timescales.

    DBS has been working closely with forces who are not meeting performance targets to ensure that their performance improves as quickly as possible. The Home Office is taking a keen interest in this work.