The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Listowel on 2016-07-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many care leavers under the age of 25 in each local authority area in England received Discretionary Housing Payments in 2015–16.
Lord Freud
The information requested is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase the number of (a) doctors and (b) nurses recruited by the NHS.
Mr Philip Dunne
The responsibility for recruitment and staffing rests with National Health Service organisations as they are best placed to ensure they have the right staff, in the right place, at the right time to provide safe and effective care for their patients.
On 4 October 2016 the Secretary of State for Health announced that from September 2018, the Government will fund up to 1,500 additional undergraduate medical places through university medical schools each year.
In November 2015 reforms to nursing, midwifery and allied health pre-registration training was announced, the reforms aim to increase the number of training places by up to 10,000 by the end of the Parliament.
As outlined in its Workforce Plan for 2016-17, Health Education England has increased the overall volume of education and training with, in excess of, 38,000 new training places in 2016-17 for nurses, scientists, and therapists, and there are now over 50,000 doctors and dentists currently in training.
The latest workforce statistics published by NHS Digital for June 2016 show that since May 2010, there are now almost 22,700 more professionally qualified clinical staff working in NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups, including over 8,500 more doctors and 4,600 more nurses and midwives.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to encourage higher donor registration among (a) all people and (b) mixed ethnicity donors to the UK stem cell and bone marrow register.
Jane Ellison
Since 2012, the Department has provided nearly £19 million to improve the provision of stem cells in the United Kingdom for all people. This funding has enabled the recruitment of over 75,000 young male donors who are more likely to be able to donate bone marrow and we continue to expand the pool of young male donors.
The stem cell improvement programme has directly addressed the difficulty faced by patients from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community and those with mixed ethnicity through targeted recruitment. The Department also continues to support the work of the National BAME Transplant Alliance. The programme has also funded the collection of umbilical cord blood samples, which has a specific target to achieve 40% of samples come from BAME and mixed ethnicity births.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2015-12-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether non-academic employees of a UK university are considered to be public officers for the purposes of misconduct or malfeasance in public office.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
This is a matter of interpretation for the courts to pronounce upon in the context of a relevant case, and it would not be appropriate for the department to provide a general legal opinion.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2016-01-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons he ended the insolvency exemption from the 2012 Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act on 17 December 2015.
Dominic Raab
Since the passage of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) 2012, it has always been the government’s stated intention that the exemption for insolvency cases would be temporary. Commencement of Part 2 of LASPO’s conditional fee (or ‘no win no fee’) arrangement reforms for insolvency, was announced in December and will apply from April this year. The aim of LASPO’s reforms was to control the cost of civil litigation.
Ministry of Justice Officials discussed Professor Walton’s report with him, but the Ministry of Justice did not agree with his conclusions. Officials have also met representatives of insolvency practitioners who use no win no fee arrangements to fund these cases, as well as those who fund them in other ways.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-02-22.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report by Sir Stephen Bubb The Challenge Ahead and his proposal for a Commissioner to protect and promote the rights of people with learning difficulties.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The Government welcomes Sir Stephen Bubb’s report Time for Change – the Challenge Ahead which focuses on improving the experience of care and outcomes for people with learning disabilities. Sir Stephen’s report acknowledges the real progress that has been made in the last year.
The Department will consider the recommendations in Time for Change – the Challenge Ahead in our development of a Learning Disability Action Plan. However, new statutory roles and legislation are not necessarily the answer to achieving the changes envisaged by the Steering Group. We believe that we can make more rapid and meaningful progress by ensuring that the rights that exist under current laws and statutes are properly understood, implemented and exercised by those with learning disabilities and/or autism.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to Best in Class, published by the CBI in December 2015, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of Swedish four box grid approach to analysing the attractiveness of international markets.
Anna Soubry
In CBI’s Best in Class report, the reference to the Swedish four box grid approach was part of a wider recommendation on allocating overseas resources for business support.
The UK Government recognises that it has a crucial role to play in supporting businesses that export and invest in international markets.
The Government is committed to focusing UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) overseas resources for business support in those markets that can deliver greatest benefit for the UK. UKTI uses similar publicly-available market data to Sweden (including GDP growth, political risk and the ease of doing business) in its assessment of export markets, but importantly this is just one input into the opportunity-focused, five-year rolling business planning process being developed to guide resource decisions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-04-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will issue a response to EDM 1338, Selection of United Nations Secretary General.
James Duddridge
We welcome the work of the 1 for 7 Billion campaign. Last week’s informal hearings by the UN General Assembly with currently declared UN Secretary-General candidates were a key part of our campaign to reform the selection process. We want greater transparency, a structured process and a gender diverse field. The General Assembly and the Security Council have committed to providing opportunities for engagement and dialogue between candidates and member states and last week’s hearings were the first step. We will encourage further direct engagement throughout the process.
Our efforts on the process are designed to ensure we get the best person for the job. Any successful candidate needs integrity, a proven track record, first class communication skills, suitable and relevant experience and unimpeachable character. They should be committed to transparency and accountability, have strong leadership skills, a bold vision for an activist UN at the heart of the rules-based system, and be committed to cost-effective management and reform.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2016-05-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the next set of National Diet and Nutrition Survey data is planned to be published.
Jane Ellison
The next report of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey is being prepared and will be published as an Official Statistic; the publication date will be announced in advance in accordance with the Official Statistics Code of Practice.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Faulkner of Worcester on 2016-07-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have for revising the terms of reference for the Sports Grounds Safety Authority to ensure that they encompass disabled access requirements at licensed sports stadia.
Lord Ashton of Hyde
As set out in our Sports Strategy, we will enable the Sports Grounds Safety Authority to take on a more formal role in helping sports grounds reach the required standards for accessibility. We are currently in discussions with the SGSA on what role they will play in delivering accessible sports grounds.