The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2016-04-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what role her Department had in the selection of appointed local authority heads of social services departments from 1985 to 2015.
Karen Bradley
The Home Secretary has not had any involvement in appointing local authority heads of social services departments.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people with (a) Crohn’s disease and (b) ulcerative colitis have been treated with biological drugs in each of the last five years.
George Freeman
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended four different biological drugs for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the collective term for Crohn’s disease and colitis, for use after the failure of conventional therapies or in patients for whom such therapies are not appropriate. The National Health Service is legally obliged to fund medicines and treatments recommended by NICE’s technology appraisals.
Although information concerning the exact number of people with IBD who have been treated with biological drugs in each of the last five years is not available, and no specific assessment of access has been made, some data are collected as part of the IBD audit. The IBD audit programme is commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership on behalf of NHS England and Wales (with additional funding from Healthcare Improvement Scotland), as part of the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme, and carried out by the Royal College of Physicians.
The biological therapies part of the IBD audit aims to assess nationally: the efficacy of biological therapies in the treatment of IBD; the safety of biological therapies in the treatment of IBD; and IBD patients’ views on their quality of life at defined intervals throughout their use of biological therapies. The latest round of audit findings, published in September 2015, showed treatment continued to be effective and that patients were receiving treatment with biological therapies at earlier stages of disease. More information can be found at the following link:
www.rcplondon.ac.uk/projects/ibd-biological-therapy-audit
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Lister of Burtersett on 2016-07-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they propose to lay regulations concerning the right to security of tenure for victims of domestic violence under the Housing and Planning Act 2016, and whether they will first consult organisations working with victims of domestic violence.
Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
We have introduced fixed term tenancies for all new council tenancies to ensure we get the best use out of our social housing stock and focus this valuable resource on those who need it the most for as long as they need it. This is essential with 1.24 million households on council waiting lists. The changes will apply to new tenants, but will not apply to existing lifetime tenants who remain in their own home.
We are preparing the regulations which will set out the circumstances in which local authorities may exercise discretion to offer tenants seeking transfer further lifetime tenancies in limited circumstances. These will include where tenants downsize into a smaller home, move for work or to escape harm, including domestic violence. We will ensure that relevant organisations including those working with victims of domestic abuse will be able to feed in their views into the draft regulations.
We aim to lay the regulations in the Winter.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with Parkinson’s disease have been transferred from long-term disability living allowance to personal independence payment in the last three years.
Penny Mordaunt
As at February 2016 (the latest data available), I estimate there were about 4,600 working age people in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) whose main disabling condition is recorded as Parkinson’s disease on the DLA computer systems, and who will be invited to apply for Personal Independence Payment in the future, or may have been invited to claim within the past 6 months.
As at July 2016, there were 1,300 claimants in receipt of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) who have been reassessed in the last three years, having previously been in receipt of DLA, and whose main disabling condition is recorded as Parkinson’s disease or Parkinson’s syndrome on the PIP computer systems.
The length of a PIP award is based on an individual’s circumstances. For some of the most severely disabled claimants, a review could be as long as ten years after the initial award, at which point only a light-touch review, rather than a face-to-face assessment, will be necessary.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Leader of the House, if he will consult political parties on proposals to change the sitting days of the House during party conferences.
Chris Grayling
The sitting days of the House are kept under review and I would welcome representations on the issue the hon. Gentleman raises, either from individual Members or political parties.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2015-11-18.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of people in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK aged under 18 earning £3.87 per hour.
Mr Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people within each of the four Universal Credit North West Pathfinder jobcentres who meet the eligibility criteria for claiming universal credit under the Pathfinder programme have started a claim for jobseeker’s allowance since the launch of universal credit in each of those jobcentres.
Priti Patel
The information requested is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with the Chinese government on the sale of wildlife from Zimbabwe.
Rory Stewart
The UK is working in close cooperation with China on the illegal wildlife trade. In the UK-China Joint Statement on Building a Global Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for the 21st Century, issued on 22nd October on the occasion of the State Visit of President Xi Jinping, the UK and China recognised the importance and urgency of combating the illegal wildlife trade, and committed to take active measures to tackle this global challenge. We warmly welcome the recent announcement by China that it intends, in due course, to close its legal domestic market for ivory, and will continue to work with China to encourage this to happen as soon as feasible.
Through our Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, we are also supporting projects which address the rising demand for illegal wildlife trade products in China.
Defra has had no discussions with China over the sale of wildlife from Zimbabwe.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many lorries were (a) routinely searched and (b) searched for illegal immigrants at English ports in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement.
James Brokenshire
This information is not held centrally.
Border Force operates a multi-layered search regime using a range of interventions to screen all freight vehicles entering the UK through the juxtaposed ports.
This includes the use of specialist technologies such as Passive Millimetre Wave Imaging devices, heartbeat monitors and carbon dioxide detectors as well as physical searches by sniffer dogs, Border Force staff and specialist search contractors.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hannah Bardell on 2016-03-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the reason is for the time taken to publish the final version of the report on pregnancy and maternity-related discrimination and disadvantage.
Nick Boles
The final reports on pregnancy and maternity-related discrimination in the workplace were published on 22 March 2016, together with the Government response to recommendations made by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. We had intended to publish the final reports in December 2015, but this did not prove possible as the research reports were extensive and took longer than expected to finalise.