Tag: Parliamentary Question

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

    Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS spent on late-stage Lyme disease treatment in each of the last three years.

    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.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-05-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 32639, how much of the investment in energy efficiency measures referred to in (a) the 2010 to 2015 Parliament and (b) the current Parliament is classified as direct government investment.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The vast majority of spending on energy efficiency is delivered through Government obligations on energy suppliers and is thus not classified as direct Government investment.

    Of the £7.4bn estimated spend last parliament, around £150m is classified as direct Government investment [1] (around 2% of the total); this parliament around £100m of the £3.6bn spend (also around 2%) falls into this category.

    [1] Green Deal Home Improvement Fund, Cashback and Green Deal Communities

  • Nigel Dodds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Nigel Dodds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many police officers there are per head of population (a) in Northern Ireland, (b) in the Metropolitan Police Service area and (c) on average for all police forces in the UK.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    There is currently 1 PSNI officer per 273 of the population in Northern Ireland.

    The answers for part (b) and (c) are matters for the Home Office.

  • Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the first F35 Joint Strike Fighters are planned to be operational.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Initial Operating Capability for the UK’s F-35B Lightning aircraft is scheduled for December 2018.

    The most recent US Selected Acquisition Report (SAR 2015) estimates that the production, sustainment and support revenue generated by the global F-35 fleet through the life of the programme will be over one trillion US dollars. The UK manufactures approximately 15% of each F-35 aircraft, however as the F-35 programme is still determining its Global Support Solution footprint, we are not yet in a position to determine the potential revenue for UK industry.

    The programme is expecting to procure over 3,000 aircraft across the F-35 Partner Nations. This will be further supplemented by Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. FMS engagement and future sales projections are managed by, and are a matter for, the US Government.

  • David Amess – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the suitability of individual funding requests for preventive treatments and the criteria to demonstrate exceptional clinical circumstances in relation to such requests.

    George Freeman

    NHS England has advised that if there is a commissioning policy in place for a treatment, and the patient fulfils the treatment criteria contained within this, then an individual funding request (IFR) is not required, as the treatment will be routinely funded. It is only if the patient’s treatment falls outside of the criteria that an IFR would be appropriate or if there is no policy in place for the treatment/indication.

    Neither the Department nor NHS England has made any assessment of the suitability of IFRs for preventative treatments.

  • Liz Saville Roberts – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Liz Saville Roberts – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Saville Roberts on 2015-11-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people from each constituent part of the UK used the Welsh Language Unit of HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Gauke

    The details of the numbers of people from each constituent part of the UK who use the Welsh Language Unit of HM Revenue and Customs are not recorded.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her ministerial colleagues on the Hunting Act 2004.

    Rory Stewart

    The Secretary of State regularly discusses all relevant polices with her ministerial colleagues as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

  • Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many meetings have taken place between NHS Improvement and NHS trusts to agree plans to improve their financial position since 15 January; which providers have had such meetings with NHS Improvement; and when each such meeting took place.

    Ben Gummer

    Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority (NHS TDA) (becoming NHS Improvement from 1 April 2016) engage with National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts on a daily basis and staff regularly meet with these organisations to review and support their plans to improve their financial positions.

    Since 15 January, senior representatives have met with seven trusts for face to face meetings and have also attended events, with a number of trusts represented, to discuss the 2015/16 financial year and financial planning for 2016/17. In addition, senior representatives have also met with NHS Providers to discuss these issues and fed into their communications to the provider sector on these topics.

    All trusts will be submitting draft financial plans for 2016/17 to Monitor and the NHS TDA in due course. Monitor and the NHS TDA will continue to engage further with trusts as appropriate.

  • Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications to the National Enterprise Allowance scheme were rejected in each of the last five years.

    Priti Patel

    The New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) is a voluntary scheme. Eligible claimants will be referred to one of our contracted NEA providers who will assess their business idea for viability and sustainability. Claimants who are not accepted onto the scheme can be re-referred at a later date.

    We do not hold the data on how many people are rejected by our providers.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent progress his Department has made on allowing interns who successfully complete the Summer Diversity Internship Programme to pass straight to the Fast Stream assessment centre on the basis of having successfully completed that internship.

    Matthew Hancock

    We have been working closely with the Civil Service Commission to provide a mechanism for fast tracking those who have been on the internship to the Fast Stream assessment centre, based on positive appraisal of the intern’s placement performance and completion of the initial internship selection testing.

    This initiative is therefore for interns who are successful during the internship programme and we are currently working through the implementation plan.

    In the last 5 years 778 have undertaken the programme (2011 – 73; 2012 – 115; 2013 – 161; 2014 – 173; 2015 – 256), with a further 300 anticipated this year. The estimated conversion rate into Fast Stream is 10-15%. Accurate tracking of success into Fast Stream will be achievable for 2016, using an updated applicant tracking approach.

    A number of criteria are used to measure socio-economic status, however the metric that is now used to designate lower socio-economic background is parental occupation (aligning with Office of National Statistics methodology). This approach is currently under review following a recent social mobility research study by the Bridge Group.

    This internship allowance is taxable and the amount of tax paid will depend on which tax code the intern is put on before they start.