Tag: Royston Smith

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-04.

To ask the Rt. hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps the Commission is taking to (a) improve the productivity of House staff and (b) promote the efficient use of the parliamentary estate.

Tom Brake

Over the last Parliament the productivity of the House was increased through a cost reduction programme which saved 17% in real terms by 2014/15 against the 2010/11 Administration (Resource) Estimate of £231 million and by expanding the number and range of services provided.

The Executive Committee has instigated an efficiency review with a target of a 10% reduction of controllable resource spend over the life of this Parliament, which equates to £15.5m. One way this is to be achieved is by utilising the estate more effectively.

Following the recommendations of the Committee on Governance of the House of Commons, a restructure of services and approach is being undertaken. This is focused not just on running costs but on achieving more effective project management, facilitating improved delivery of projects. The Commission is, with the House of Lords, also examining the opportunities for further joint working between the Houses.

The House Service has a continuous improvement programme to review work processes and streamline ways of working to improve efficiency, quality of service and productivity. This includes better use of digital technology. In addition, the House People Strategy provides for a number of methods to enable staff to develop their capability and improve productivity. All staff are encouraged to review their job competence, using a diagnostic tool, to identify where their competence needs to improve. A learning programme offers all staff a range of opportunities to develop that competence. Our individual performance review process provides the means for individuals to work with their manager to ensure objectives are met and to improve their work performance. Finally staff are able to work flexibly to respond to the demands of the job.

Plans to restore and renew the Palace of Westminster could create opportunities to make better and more productive use of space. The Commission awaits the report of the Joint Committee on the future of the Palace; the Northern Estate Programme will target the optimisation of the existing buildings within its scope: seeking to improve the efficiency of the estate overall, support new ways of working, reduce running costs, and improve access and security for Members and their staff.

The current House of Commons accommodation policy states that House staff currently occupy buildings on the parliamentary estate primarily in open plan workspace to increase the capacity and flexibility of space and (where appropriate) promote better working. Workplace studies are routinely used when reviewing business requirements to ensure that available accommodation is optimised to support users in the most efficient manner feasible within the constraints of the existing buildings.

The Houses’ Digital strategy aims to improve efficiency and effectiveness through the delivery of highly available, secure and easy to use technology. The technology will support flexible and mobile working which will contribute to better use of the Estate and Parliamentary resources more generally. For example the wider adoption of laptops to promote flexible working is currently under consideration.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-08.

To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker’s Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what the (a) ethnicity and (b) gender is of each staff member employed by hon. Members.

Mr Charles Walker

As at 9 March 2016, 3,161 individuals were employed by MPs and paid through IPSA’s payroll. Of these, 1795 were female and 1366 were male.

IPSA does not collect or hold data on the ethnicity of MPs’ staff.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with community pharmacies on the proposals for a pharmacy access scheme.

Alistair Burt

Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service and can play an even greater role. In the Spending Review, the Government re-affirmed the need for the NHS to deliver £22 billion in efficiency savings by 2020/21 as set out in the NHS’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy is a core part of NHS primary care and has an important contribution to make as the NHS rises to these challenges. The Government believes efficiencies can be made without compromising the quality of services or public access to them. Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive and so we are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

The Government’s vision is for a more efficient, modern system that will free up pharmacists to spend more time delivering clinical and public health services to the benefit of patients and the public.

We have been in detailed discussions with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) since December 2015 regarding the Government’s proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond, including the proposal for a Pharmacy Access Scheme. In parallel, we also want to hear views on our proposals from across the sector and from patient groups. We published our open letter to the PSNC on 17 December 2015 and on 27 January 2016 we published a set of slides setting out the proposals with a foreword by the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer.

We announced on 16 March 2016 that the consultation period was to be extended to allow more time to develop the proposed changes with the PSNC and others. It will now close on 24 May 2016.

Once we have carefully considered the outcomes from the consultation, we are looking to communicate final decisions as soon as possible, so that pharmacy contractors are fully informed some months before the funding reduction starts from October 2016.

The role of the general practice pharmacist is distinct from the role of the pharmacist in a community setting. However, they are synergistic. Pharmacists working in general practice will, in the main, work with patients who have long term conditions to support them with their medicines and self-management of their condition by helping with the development and review of individual care plans. These patients will not generally be those with minor illnesses which can be treated by seeing a pharmacist in a community setting and for whom community pharmacy will remain the first, and most appropriate, option.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers in each of the last five years have been foreign nationals.

Nick Gibb

The information requested is not collected by the Department.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average cost is per patient attending at GPs’ surgeries nationally.

Alistair Burt

This information is not collected in the format requested. However, data from the Health and Social Care Information Centre shows that the total expenditure on General Practice in England in 2013/14 was £8,753 million. NHS England estimates that there are 340 million general practitioner consultations each year. As an average, this would work out as £25.74 per patient attendance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what mechanism is in place to allow drivers voluntarily to surrender their driving licence if assessed as unfit to drive.

Andrew Jones

Drivers who decide to stop driving may voluntarily surrender their driving licence by confirming this in writing and returning their licence to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). Alternatively, they may complete a form which is available on GOV.UK or from the DVLA.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 4 May 2016 to Question 35770, what technical and practical barriers will prevent the Electoral Commission implementing a registration look-up tool before the EU referendum.

John Penrose

As required by legislation, all applications to register to vote are assessed by Local Authority Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). There are around 360 EROs across the UK. EROs manage and maintain separate electoral registers for their areas on a variety of different software platforms. A national registration look-up tool would require access to all of these locally held and owned electoral registers, and, if it required the creation of a central national database, could require legislative changes and raise significant data protection concerns.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of (a) salaries, (b) pension contributions and (c) indemnity costs and other associated costs of running a GP practice.

Alistair Burt

The Health and Social Care Information Centre publishes an annual report on general practitioner (GP) earnings and expenses. The most recent report was published in September 2015 and covered 2013/14.

The report showed that the average income of a contractor GP working under a General Medical Services (GMS) contract, or a Personal Medical Services (PMS) contract in the United Kingdom in 2013/14 was £99,800. The average total expenses for GMS or PMS contractors in the UK in 2013/14 was £173,800.

Source: GP Earnings and Expenses 2013/14, Health and Social Care Information Centre. Figures are rounded to the nearest £100.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people (a) in general and (b) who have long-term health conditions are liable for prescription charges.

Alistair Burt

The information requested is not collected centrally. We estimate that 60% of people in England are not required to pay for their prescriptions, though it is not possible to indicate how many people on either side may have a long-term health condition. The prescription charge exemptions include exemption for those on low income, which is based on receipt of certain benefits or through the NHS Low Income Scheme. Where someone does not qualify for exemption from prescription charges, Prescription Prepayment Certificates are available. The three-month and 12-month certificates allow someone to claim as many prescriptions as they need for £29.10 and £104, respectively.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will hold discussions with on demand television providers on extending the provision of subtitles.

Matt Hancock

Yes. Furthermore, Ofcom, as the regulator for video on demand services, is currently consulting on the accessibility of on demand programme services and proposed steps to ensure their services are progressively made more accessible.

We have requested an update from broadcasters, content providers and platform operators in Spring 2017 setting out their progress in increasing the provision of access services on video on demand services.