Tag: Rosie Cooper

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the article entitled Greed of the NHS fat cats published in the Daily Mail on 20 April 2015, whether he has instituted an investigation of salaries paid to NHS senior executives.

Alistair Burt

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote to all Chairs of NHS organisations on 2 June 2015 setting out a range of measures to ensure executive pay is proportionate and justifiable. He asked the Chairs urgently to review their policies on executive pay; to seek the views of Ministers before making any executive appointment paid more than £142,500 per year; to advise him of all current executive pay more than £142,500 and to provide a justification; to ensure that the HM Treasury guidance on off-payroll executive appointments is followed rigorously. He also announced his intention of introducing a limit on the rates payable to off-payroll interim executives; of introducing a national framework for deciding executive pay throughout the NHS; of clamping down on executives who retire and then return to NHS employment so that they do not gain financially from this; and set out his expectation that new redundancy terms should apply to all executive staff. We are taking this work forward.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much Professor Patricia Hart was paid in total as Chief Executive of South Tees Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; and how many days in total she worked in that post.

Alistair Burt

These are matters for the South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. We have written to Deborah Jenkins, Chair of South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, informing her of the hon. Member’s enquiry. She will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to encourage restraint in increases in senior NHS executive’s pay.

Alistair Burt

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote to all Chairs of NHS organisations on 2 June 2015 setting out a range of measures to ensure executive pay is proportionate and justifiable. He asked the Chairs urgently to review their policies on executive pay; to seek the views of Ministers before making any executive appointment paid more than £142,500 per year; to advise him of all current executive pay more than £142,500 and to provide a justification; to ensure that the HM Treasury guidance on off-payroll executive appointments is followed rigorously. He also announced his intention of introducing a limit on the rates payable to off-payroll interim executives; of introducing a national framework for deciding executive pay throughout the NHS; of clamping down on executives who retire and then return to NHS employment so that they do not gain financially from this; and set out his expectation that new redundancy terms should apply to all executive staff. We are taking this work forward.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the reasons for the difference between the water and sewerage charge per pupil in Lancashire and Kent; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart

Water and sewerage charges are set by water companies in line with the overall cap set by Ofwat on the amount that each water company may recover from their customers.

Water company charges vary across regions to reflect the cost of collecting or abstracting water and treating it to meet water quality standards; building and maintaining pipes to deliver water, remove sewerage and surface water; and treating sewerage to meet environmental standards. Due to the variations in demography and geography these processes and costs vary greatly by region.

Water charges include a surface water charge to cover the costs of removing and treating rainwater that drains away to public sewers. Some water companies share these costs equally across all their customers; four companies charge their non-household customers according to property size. Charging by this method better reflects the amount of rainwater draining into the public sewer.

The Government recognised that charging in this way can have a particular impact on community groups with property covering a large site-area and, in 2010, issued guidance to Ofwat and water companies on developing concessionary schemes for these groups. Our recent consultation on draft charging guidance to Ofwat recognised that concerns have subsequently been raised about the impact of site area charging on other groups, including schools. It recognised the importance of organisations taking a more sustainable approach to drainage, but said that area based charging should result in a recognisable benefit to customers as a whole and should not have an unduly negative impact on organisations that provide a wider benefit to society. We are currently considering the responses to this consultation, and whether we should review the guidance on concessionary schemes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2015-02-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the transfer of kidney dialysis commissioning to local clinical commissioning groups on future capital funding for maintenance and renewal of dialysis facilities and equipment.

Jane Ellison

Significant work has been undertaken by NHS England to analyse current specialised commissioning expenditure patterns at clinical commissioning group (CCG) level. This CCG level monitoring will continue in 2015/16 with the aim of improving commissioning decisions.

There is no planned transfer of renal dialysis budgets from NHS England to CCGs in either the current financial year or during 2015-16. It is for Ministers to decide, with independent advice, the conditions that should be on the specialised commissioning list.

Neither NHS England specialised commissioners nor CCGs have control over capital funding for dialysis facilities and maintenance. Capital funding for renewal of dialysis facilities and equipment remains with the incumbent providers. Ensuring that these facilities are of appropriate quality is achieved through the application of detailed service specifications which form part of the contract with providers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2014-07-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many Lancashire residents were admitted to a mental health unit that was not their nearest facility in urgent or emergency situations because of a lack of beds since April 2012; how many such patients lived in West Lancashire constituency; and how much has been spent on private sector provision for such patients.

Norman Lamb

The data is not collected centrally.

Information on out of area placements for mental health patients in Lancashire and the costs of private sector provision for such patients may be obtained from NHS England’s Cheshire, Warrington and Wirral Area Team.

Patients may be referred out of area for specialised mental health treatment for a number of reasons. In all cases, places will be found in the nearest possible facility.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2014-07-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken to (a) process claims for personal independence payments and (b) receive a work capability assessment appointment.

Mr Mark Harper

Claimants to employment and support allowance (ESA) are not being asked to claim personal independence payment (PIP). PIP was introduced in April 2013 to replace disability living allowance (DLA) for working age people (between 16 and 64 years old) and operates an entirely separate assessment from the work capability assessment used for ESA claims. From October 2013 we have begun inviting some existing claimants of DLA to claim PIP. The current arrangements for this can be found on the gov.uk website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-personal-independence-payment-toolkit-for-partners/the-personal-independence-payment-pip-toolkit-for-partners .

We are continuously looking at ways to increase the number of decisions made on PIP claims and to improve the claims process.

Internal DWP processes and the assessment part of the process are taking longer than expected and some claimants are taking longer than anticipated to return their claim forms but we are working closely with both PIP assessment providers as part of our plans to speed up the end to end claimant journey. We have introduced improvements in communications to claimants about the type of evidence they can supply to speed up their claim and we are taking action to support the assessment providers in clearing backlogs of work.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2014-07-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the main reasons for the time taken to process personal independence payment claims.

Mr Mark Harper

Claimants to employment and support allowance (ESA) are not being asked to claim personal independence payment (PIP). PIP was introduced in April 2013 to replace disability living allowance (DLA) for working age people (between 16 and 64 years old) and operates an entirely separate assessment from the work capability assessment used for ESA claims. From October 2013 we have begun inviting some existing claimants of DLA to claim PIP. The current arrangements for this can be found on the gov.uk website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-personal-independence-payment-toolkit-for-partners/the-personal-independence-payment-pip-toolkit-for-partners .

We are continuously looking at ways to increase the number of decisions made on PIP claims and to improve the claims process.

Internal DWP processes and the assessment part of the process are taking longer than expected and some claimants are taking longer than anticipated to return their claim forms but we are working closely with both PIP assessment providers as part of our plans to speed up the end to end claimant journey. We have introduced improvements in communications to claimants about the type of evidence they can supply to speed up their claim and we are taking action to support the assessment providers in clearing backlogs of work.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2014-07-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in West Lancashire constituency have waited more than nine months to receive a work capability assessment interview in the last three years.

Mr Mark Harper

This information is not reported to us by Atos.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2014-07-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department made of the staffing levels required to efficiently process the transfer of employment and support allowance claimants to the personal independence payments claims.

Mr Mark Harper

Claimants to employment and support allowance (ESA) are not being asked to claim personal independence payment (PIP). PIP was introduced in April 2013 to replace disability living allowance (DLA) for working age people (between 16 and 64 years old) and operates an entirely separate assessment from the work capability assessment used for ESA claims. From October 2013 we have begun inviting some existing claimants of DLA to claim PIP. The current arrangements for this can be found on the gov.uk website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-personal-independence-payment-toolkit-for-partners/the-personal-independence-payment-pip-toolkit-for-partners .

We are continuously looking at ways to increase the number of decisions made on PIP claims and to improve the claims process.

Internal DWP processes and the assessment part of the process are taking longer than expected and some claimants are taking longer than anticipated to return their claim forms but we are working closely with both PIP assessment providers as part of our plans to speed up the end to end claimant journey. We have introduced improvements in communications to claimants about the type of evidence they can supply to speed up their claim and we are taking action to support the assessment providers in clearing backlogs of work.

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