The below Parliamentary question was asked by Byron Davies on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many consumers and organisations have made representations on the Chief Medical Officer’s revised guidelines on alcohol consumption.
Jane Ellison
We have received 1,017 responses to the UK Chief Medical Officers’ alcohol guidelines consultation, including responses as part of a campaign and responses that did not answer some or any of the specific consultation questions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Lord Steel of Aikwood on 2016-07-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the comments by Lord Mance in the Supreme Court’s judgment in R (on the application of Bancoult (No 2)) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs [2016] UKSC 35 that a refusal to allow resettlement of the Chagos Islands could be judicially reviewed as potentially irrational
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
In the last Parliament, the Cabinet asked for further detailed work to understand the uncertainties around cost and demand for resettlement of the British Indian Ocean Territory. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for International Development and the Ministry of Defence, have refined uncertainties around costs, and a 12 week public consultation was carried out to clarify demand. The results of the consultation were published in January 2016. Officials are now carrying out remaining work on the options available before the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), takes a final decision on the policy. There is no date yet when an announcement on possible resettlement will be made. Developments will be announced to Parliament and the public in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been charged with terrorism offences committed overseas on their return to the UK in each of the last three years.
Mr Ben Wallace
The Government takes the threat posed by UK nationals who travel overseas to engage in terrorist activity extremely seriously. We are particularly concerned about those who travel to Syria and Iraq to fight. People seeking to travel to engage in terrorist activity should be in no doubt we will take the strongest possible action to protect our national security.
The number of individuals suspected of involvement in acts of terrorism or criminal matters who are arrested and then formally charged is recorded and collated in the Home Office Quarterly Statistical Bulletin which was last published on 22 September 2016. These statistics do not disaggregate arrests, charges and convictions relating exclusively to overseas returnees.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what review his Department has conducted of homelessness in the West Midlands; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Marcus Jones
One homeless family is one too many. We have provided more than £500 million to local authorities to prevent homelessness since 2010, which has resulted in 935,800 households, including 121,400 in the West Midlands region, being prevented from becoming homeless. The Department will continue to work with local authorities and the voluntary sector to tackle homelessness.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the number of people who will spend Christmas alone; and what assessment he has made of the effect of loneliness at that time of year on mental health needs.
Alistair Burt
The Department does not carry out an assessment of the number of people who will spend Christmas alone.
Loneliness can have a significant impact on someone’s mental health. It can contribute to mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression. It can also have a negative impact on a person’s general health. The Campaign to End Loneliness report Loneliness: the State We’re In (2012) identified research which shows that loneliness has an effect on mortality that is similar in size to smoking 15 cigarettes a day, is worse for us than obesity, and is also associated with conditions such as cardiovascular disease.
The Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework does have a measure which shows the percentage of local authority funded adult social care users and carers who have as much social contact as they would like. For 2014/15, it showed that 45% of service users and 39% of carers reported having as much contact as they would like.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Promoter’s response to the High Speed Rail (London – West Midlands) Committee’s First Special Report of Session 2014-15, June 2015, paragraph 160, how many cases have been received for exceptional consideration; how many such applications have been (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful; and how many such applications remain under consideration.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Since June 2015 HS2 Ltd and DfT have received one retrospective compensation requests under the Atypical property and special circumstances approach. This is currently under consideration.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to raise awareness among parents of the six-week postnatal check.
Jane Ellison
All pregnant women are informed about the mandated six week post-natal check by health visitors at their ante-natal visit (around 28 weeks of pregnancy) and at the post-birth review by the health visitor (at 10-14 days following delivery). At this time there is also a general practitioner check for both mother and baby.
Public Health England’s Start4Life Information Service for Parents provides help and advice to encourage new and expectant parents to develop behaviours that support a healthy pregnancy and healthy start for children, including the maintenance of parental health.
This subscription email and text service sends an email to all new subscribed mothers when their baby is five weeks old to advise them that their six week post natal check is due. The email includes a link to further online content – text and video – explaining what the check will cover.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-03-08.
To ask the Prime Minister, what discussions he had with the President of the French Republic on Anglo-French co-operation on nuclear weapons during his visit to France on 3 March 2016.
Mr David Cameron
President Hollande and I discussed our shared interest in building on our strong bilateral defence co-operation, but on this occasion, did not discuss nuclear weapons issues in any detail.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that the post-treatment recovery package is adapted to meet the specific needs of blood cancer patients.
Jane Ellison
The independent Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World Class Cancer Outcomes: A Strategy for England 2015-2020, in July 2015, and recognised the need to improve care and support for people living with and beyond all types of cancer, including blood cancers. In September 2015, we announced that by 2020, the 280,000 people diagnosed with cancer every year will benefit from a tailored recovery package. The packages will be individually designed to help each person, including those with blood cancer, live well beyond cancer. In April 2016, we also published guidance for commissioners on commissioning and implementing the recovery package effectively. Support for patients living with and beyond cancer should be tailored specifically to the needs of every patient.
In addition the strategy called for every person with cancer to have access to a clinical nurse specialist or other key worker from diagnosis onwards. NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to determine how best to take forward the recommendations of the Cancer Taskforce, and has appointed Cally Palmer CBE as National Cancer Director. A National Cancer Transformation Board is overseeing the implementation of the strategy, and an implementation plan will be published shortly. An independent Cancer Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Harpal Kumar, the Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK and Chair of the independent Cancer Taskforce, is advising and scrutinising the work of the Transformation Board.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether patients on assessment and treatment units have access to independent mental health advocates.
Alistair Burt
Access to an independent mental health advocacy (IMHA) is a statutory right for people detained under most sections of the Mental Health Act, subject to Guardianship or on a community treatment order. We would expect Assessment and Treatment Units to follow their statutory obligations to ensure patients have access to an IMHA where appropriate.
The Learning Disability Assuring Transformation statistics data shows that of the 2,565 inpatients at the end of April 2016, 600 patients had a main diagnostic category of mental illness on admission.
Data on the numbers of formal complaints made about patient care; the management of assessment and treatment units; access to autism-specialist services and access to occupational and speech and language therapy are not held centrally. However, NHS England, Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and Local Government Association, published in October 2015, a Service Model for commissioners of health and social care services. This model sets out that when people are admitted to inpatient settings services should seek to minimise their length of stay and any admissions should be supported by a clear rationale of planned assessment and treatment with measurable outcomes. We would therefore expect all patients, irrespective of inpatient setting, to have access to the treatment and therapeutic interventions they require.