The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the value of EU funding was for the Great Western Main Line electrification programme on the most recent date for which figures are available.
Claire Perry
I have been informed by Network Rail that as of 26 February 2016, the total value of EU funding that has been awarded for the Great Western Mainline Electrification is € 11,085,000.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recommendations in the Royal College of Nursing’s report, Connect for Change: an update on learning disability services in England, published in February 2016; and if he will make a statement.
Ben Gummer
Health Education England (HEE) is working with NHS England and other national partners to set out a far-reaching plan to transform services for people with a learning disability, to make significant and lasting improvements to their care and lives. This work is currently focused on supporting the transforming care programme and spreading the lessons learnt from engagement with fast-track sites.
HEE is predicting an increase of between an additional 1,126 and 1,778 whole time equivalent (WTE), learning disability nurses by 2020 being available to the National Health Service. The range between these figures is the uncertainty over employer’s ability to retain the current workforce. Both of these figures are in addition to the baseline 3,904 WTEs working in the NHS, resulting in a forecast supply of between 5,030 and 5,682 WTEs by 2020. This is in excess of the forecasts made by NHS employers as to the number they believe they will need and therefore could meet demand from other sectors.
The Department commissioned Skills for Health, Skills for Care and HEE to develop a Learning Disabilities Core Skills Education and Training Framework, which will be launched in May and is aimed at all health and social care workers who have not received training in learning disabilities, especially those nurses from other fields of nursing such as adult, children and mental health nurses.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eilidh Whiteford on 2016-04-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department provides to health care professionals on applying the power in regulation 35 of the Employment Allowance Regulations 2008 to award employment and support allowance to claimants in the support group in exceptional circumstances.
Priti Patel
Healthcare professionals who carry out the Work Capability Assessment are trained in all aspects of their role including the application of Regulation 35. They are also issued with written guidance on all aspects of the Work Capability Assessment including the application of Regulation 35.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Clwyd on 2016-05-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions the Government has had with the Burmese government on repealing or amending provisions of that country’s (a) penal code, (b) Peaceful Assembly Act, (c) Unlawful Associations Act 1908, (d) Telecommunications Act 2013, (e) Official Secrets Act 1923 and (f) other laws that affect the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association.
Mr Hugo Swire
Burma’s new Government have made rule of law a priority of their administration. It is clear that this will entail significant legislative reform and the, newly formed, Legal Affairs and Special Cases Assessment Commission has identified 142 priority laws for repeal or amendment. Both The Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) have offered Aung San Suu Kyi whatever assistance her Government requires as they set about the process of democratic reform.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-07-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy to reduce the number of military planes flying over Hull particularly at night.
Mark Lancaster
The Ministry of Defence takes its responsibilities to the general public very seriously indeed and would prefer not to cause any disturbance to the general public, including to those in Hull. However, there are no uninhabited areas of the UK large enough to cater for essential training needs.
Flying operations in the UK Military Low Flying System are avoided within major built-up areas (generally those with a population of over 10,000), although it is not always possible to avoid flying over the outskirts of towns and villages. A range of measures are in place to provide a balance between military training requirements and the need to avoid excessive noise on the ground. These include restrictions placed on the height, speeds and operating procedures of military aircraft in the UK Military Low Flying System.
Realistic training at night is essential to ensure aircrew are proficient in the necessary skills and to exploit our technological edge. The amount of night low flying remains proportional to the operational requirement.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what meetings he has had with manufacturers in the North East on the (a) immediate effect of the outcome of the EU referendum and (b) short- and long-term effect of the UK leaving the EU.
Mr David Jones
We are determined to hear from all sectors as we work to build a national consensus around our negotiating position. As part of this we will listen and talk to as many organisations, companies and institutions as possible – all over the country – alongside a series of roundtables with key sectors. This will ensure that all views and specific regional considerations are reflected in our analysis of the options for the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Office for National Statistics plans to include in quarterly migration figures the number of Syrian refugees resettled in the UK under the Government’s relocation scheme.
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 Jess Phillips on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans NHS England has to use capacity in independent sector hospitals to reduce waiting lists in 2015-16.
Jane Ellison
Decisions about whether to use independent sector capacity are made at local level according to local need, as part of the operational management of capacity and demand.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Morris of Aberavon on 2015-12-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Home Secretary will discuss with the police whether a protocol should be agreed to rationalise and improve on the present system of names of persons interviewed by the police but not charged being made public on a case by case basis.
Lord Bates
The decision to release the name or details of a suspect in an investigation is an operational one for the police to take.
The College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice (APP) ‘Guidance on ‘Relationships with the Media’, which was developed in full consultation with the police, makes clear that decisions on releasing the names of those who are arrested or suspected of a crime should be made on a case by case basis and that the police should not do so unless there are clearly identified circumstances to justify it, such as threat to life or the prevention or detection of crime. This guidance will be reviewed by the College early in the New Year.
It is the Government’s position that, in general, there should be a right to anonymity before the point of charge. However, there are circumstances where the police decide it is in the public interest that an arrested suspect should be named.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to ensure that clinical commissioning groups (a) improve access to, (b) provide training to health professionals on and (c) increase the number of healthcare professionals working in perinatal mental health.
Alistair Burt
This Government is committed to improving access to perinatal mental health services for women during pregnancy and in the first postnatal year. In January 2016 the Government set out that an additional £290 million will be made available over the next five years to 2020/21, over and above the money identified in the Spring Budget, to invest in perinatal mental health services. This is funded from within the Department’s overall Spending Review settlement and means that in total from 2015/16 to 2020/21 £365 million will be invested in perinatal mental health services.
We are aware that there is unacceptable variation in the levels of access to high quality, NICE-recommended specialist perinatal mental health care for women across England. A 2014 census identified that 40% of women in England have no access to specialist perinatal mental health services and that is why we have confirmed this additional investment. The funding should enable significant progress towards closing this gap and will help to enable women across the country to access evidence-based specialist support, in the community or through inpatient mother and baby services, closer to their home, when they need it. It is anticipated that, by 2020/21, around 30,000 more women should be able to access appropriate specialist support.
This new funding, together with the recommendations of the forthcoming report of the independent Mental Health Taskforce, will enable NHS England to work with partners to design a longer-term transformation programme to build capacity and capability in specialist perinatal mental health services over the next five years. This will include setting detailed plans for how the additional investment will be targeted over the period to 2020/21 and setting clear outcome measures and metrics to monitor the impact of the funding on perinatal mental health provision.
In 2015/16 work is already underway to lay the foundations for this longer-term work programme through targeted funding of activities to build capacity in specialist services. This will include, for example, a £1 million investment in strengthening clinical networks across the country. It is also expected to include the provision of national and regional benchmarking data and analytical support to regions, and work to develop clinical leadership capacity. Work will also continue to support the development of specialist mother and baby units in the regions identified as most in need of new services.
To ensure the workforce are available and appropriately trained, NHS England is working closely with Health Education England and key stakeholders to better understand the future workforce commissioning requirements and how it is best to meet multi professional education and training needs.