Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many times the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has met officials of the Cabinet Office to discuss improving diversity in the Senior Civil Service in the last six months.

    Matthew Hancock

    Promoting diversity in the Senior Civil Service is a ministerial responsibility of the Minister for the Cabinet Office. Details of my Ministers meetings with external organisations are published routinely and can be found on Gov.uk. Details of internal meetings are not disclosed.

  • Steve Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Steve Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the methodology used by his Department to calculate the distribution of the Transitional Grant announced in the local government finance settlement 2016-17.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Secretary of State has published an explanatory note setting out the method of calculation of the Transition Grant. It is available to view at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/510870/Explanatory_note_on_the_allocation_of_the_Transition_Grant.pdf

  • Peter Dowd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Peter Dowd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Dowd on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to local authority social care budgets on the demand for health services.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government is aware of the important link between social care and the health service. This is why it has given local authorities access to up to £3.5 billion of new support for adult social care by 2019/20. This should mean local government has access to the funding it needs to increase social care spending by the end of the Parliament. This funding includes an additional £1.5 billion a year for the Better Care Fund by the end of the Parliament.

    The Better Care Fund creates a local single pooled budget to incentivise the National Health Service and local government to work more closely together, placing people’s wellbeing as the focus of health and care services, and shifting resources into social care and community services for the benefit of the people, communities and health and care systems. Integrated care is the right way to deliver a sustainable health and social care system that can provide better quality care and improve outcomes for individuals.

  • Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of whether the Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services had a role in the recent deaths of student protestors.

    James Duddridge

    We are deeply concerned by the deaths of two students during recent protests, including allegations of the National Intelligence and Security Service’s involvement. We have raised our concerns with the Government of Sudan and believe that a full and transparent investigation should be undertaken to ensure those responsible are held to account.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Sri Lankan government on water pollution from the Chunnakam Oil Plant in the Jaffna Pensinsula.

    Alok Sharma

    The British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka visited Jaffna in June and raised concerns about water contamination with the local authorities. He received assurances that they were aware of the issue and were addressing it. They also discussed water quality in general and longer term plans for providing water through desalination.

  • 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 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding his Department allocates to supporting people with mental health issues who are employed in traditionally male-dominated industries.

    Nicola Blackwood

    We are committed to supporting people with mental health problems to stay in work and the Department of Health and the Department for Work and Pensions established a joint Work and Health Unit to look at these matters.

    Improving access to mental health services for those who need them is important and we are increasing access to talking therapy services so that 1.5 million people per year will be able to access support by 2020.

    We will shortly be publishing a Green Paper on work and health, which will include a focus on mental health as we know that people with mental health conditions fare poorly in the labour market. Our aim is to help transform the lives and prospects of disabled people and those with a health condition.

    We know that the stigma surrounding mental health can create barriers to people seeking and receiving support. We have recently announced £20 million of additional funding to the national Time to Change anti-stigma programme, in conjunction with Comic Relief and the Big Lottery Fund, which works with employers to support them in tackling the stigma in the workplace associated with poor mental health. This next phase of Time to Change places a particular focus on stigma experienced by men.

  • Andrew Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of total NHS expenditure spending on maternity services represented in each of the last 10 years.

    Ben Gummer

    Not all of the information requested is collected centrally. Data for primary care trusts (PCTs) secondary healthcare commissioning spend on maternity services for the years 2005/06 to 2012/13 is shown in the tables below. Maternity services may also be commissioned in primary care environments. However, it is not possible to separately identify the amount of primary care expenditure on maternity services from the statutory accounting data collected by the Department.

    Table 1: 2005/06 to 2007/08. NHS expenditure figures on a pre-Clear Line of Sight resource budgeting basis.

    Year

    Maternity services commissioned by PCTs 2005/06 to 2012/13
    ( £ billion)

    Spend on maternity services as % of NHS revenue expenditure

    2005/06

    1.67

    2.25%

    2006/07

    1.62

    2.06%

    2007/08

    1.79

    2.07%


    Source:     NHS (England) Summarised Account (2005/06 to 2010/11)

    Table 2: 2008/09 to 2012/13. NHS expenditure figures on an aligned basis following the HM Treasury’s Clear Line of Sight programme.

    Year

    Maternity services commissioned by PCTs 2005/06 to 2012/13
    ( £ billion)

    Spend on maternity services as % of NHS revenue expenditure

    2008/09

    1.97

    2.25%

    2009/10

    2.41

    2.55%

    2010/11

    2.53

    2.60%

    2011/12

    2.62

    2.61%

    2012/13

    2.58

    2.52%


    Source:     NHS (England) Summarised Account (2005/06 to 2010/11) and the Department of Health Annual Report and Accounts (2011/12 and 2012/13).

    Notes:

    1. Commissioning expenditure on maternity services relates to the payments made by commissioners to providers for delivery of maternity services.
    2. The Clear Line of Sight HM Treasury alignment project simplified financial reporting to Parliament by ensuring improved consistency between accounts and HM Treasury budgeting rules.

    Following the abolition of PCTs and strategic health authorities at 31 March 2013, NHS England became responsible for the commissioning of healthcare in England via the network of individual clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). The Department does not collect data on maternity services spend by CCGs.

    NHS England has published expenditure on ‘maternity and reproductive health’ services commissioned by CCGs for 2013/14, which was estimated to be £2.8 billion (4% of total CCG expenditure). CCG spend represents a proportion of overall NHS expenditure on maternity services. NHS England also commissions some services that were previously included within PCT estimates, such as antenatal screening services. NHS England is currently reviewing the data on direct commissioning expenditure and plans to publish this when finalised.

  • Crispin Blunt – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Crispin Blunt – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Crispin Blunt on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with veterinary experts on the use of colistin and colistin resistance in animals, food and humans.

    George Eustice

    I discussed the issue of colistin resistance on 1 December with the Chief Executive of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate following the publication of a report on the issue in relation to China.

    In November, the UK Government attended an EU workshop on the impact on public health and animal health of the use of antibiotics in animals, which included the use of colistin. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate has also held initial discussions on the use of colistin and colistin resistance with other experts across government, including the Food Standards Agency, Department of Health and Public Health England, and key industry bodies.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on research being undertaken to assist those severely affected by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

    George Freeman

    The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funds a wide range of research relating to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

    Major investments include a £2.2 million programme of research with an overall aim to set up a primary care COPD cohort including the full range of disease severity, as a platform for testing novel health service interventions.

    The NIHR Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit at Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College London has a £0.8 million research area in COPD, including severe COPD. Details of this research are available on the unit’s website at:

    www.rbht.nhs.uk/research/our-research/brus/research-areas/chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease/

    Current studies relating to severe COPD delivered by the NIHR Clinical Research Network include:

    – a study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of two doses of benralizumab in patients with severe to very severe COPD with a history of COPD exacerbations;

    – a study to evaluate the effect of 52 weeks of once daily treatment of orally inhaled tiotropium and olodaterol fixed dose combination compared with tiotropium on COPD exacerbation in patients with severe to very severe COPD; and

    – a study to optimise dose selection and evaluate safety after treatment with the Holaira™ Lung Denervation System in patients with moderate to severe COPD.

    “

  • Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-02-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Department of Health has begun to carry out a survey of pregnant women where either partner has been to Brazil or other neighbouring countries where there has been a significant outbreak of the Zika virus.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Public Health England (PHE) is actively exploring the feasibility of working with other parts of the United Kingdom to undertake the systematic collection of data on pregnant women presenting to National Health Service maternity services where they have travelled to a country with active Zika virus transmission during pregnancy or within four weeks of conception. The aim of such work would be to measure the impact of Zika virus on obstetric services and on pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes for women.

    PHE has been working with appropriate Royal Colleges to provide updated guidance for healthcare professionals, including midwives, on the management of any symptomatic patients (particularly pregnant women) returning from affected countries. A copy of this guidance is attached.