Tag: Royston Smith

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps law enforcement agencies can take to ensure that community resolution agreements are honoured.

Mike Penning

A community resolution is a voluntary agreement between the victim and offender to a low level crime where the offender has admitted responsibility and as such is unenforceable.

If an officer has concerns at the outset that the offender may not comply an alternative course of action should be taken.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps is he taking to make a career in general practice more attractive to medical graduates.

Alistair Burt

The ‘General Practice Forward View’, published by NHS England in April 2016, sets out actions to double growth in the general practitioner (GP) workforce. This includes work by Health Education England (HEE) to increase the number of medical school graduates choosing general practice. HEE is working with the Medical Schools Council, higher education institutions, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the British Medical Association’s General Practitioners Committee to increase the profile of general practice in medical schools. A working group, chaired by Professor Valerie Wass OBE, will publish recommendations in summer 2016.

HEE and the RCGP will continue to develop the current recruitment campaign to raise the profile of general practice as a career. The campaign showcases the variety of different opportunities and the flexibility of the specialty, as well as the central role that GPs play in the community and their patients’ care. HEE has recruited and trained 35 campaign ambassadors and advocates to support and promote national and regional activities including attendance at recruitment events and through social media.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which five health conditions required the greatest (a) financial and (b) time commitment from GP services in the last five years.

Alistair Burt

The requested information is not held.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what provision is available to help people with multiple sclerosis access the care and support they need.

David Mowat

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance Multiple sclerosis: management of multiple sclerosis in primary and secondary care, updated in October 2014, sets out best practice on the diagnosis, treatment, care and support of people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The guidance makes a range of recommendations on the drug based treatments for MS, but also highlights the importance of involving professionals who can meet the needs of the patient in the best way, such as physiotherapists and occupational therapists.

NHS England commissions specialised neurological services nationally to meet the needs of patients with complex neurological conditions such as MS. NHS England has published a service specification setting out what providers must have in place to deliver specialised neurological care. This supports equity of access to high quality services for patients wherever they live. Although much of the routine care people with MS receive will be provided by local primary, community and secondary care services via local clinical commissioning groups, elements of their care may be provided by specialists subject to their needs. Specialised neurological care can include access to specialist nurses, orthoptists, dieticians and speech and language therapists, psychologists, continence and pain relief services, services provided jointly with specialists in rehabilitation medicine, spasticity management services and clinics for the assessment for and monitoring of disease modifying therapies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the employment rate was for adults in Southampton with (a) mental health, (b) physical health and (c) no declared health conditions in each year since 2010.

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 Royston Smith on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will estimate the cost to small and medium-sized enterprises of implementing the national living wage.

Nick Boles

The Government’s Impact Assessment for the introduction of the National Living Wage estimates the cost of the initial £7.20 rate will be just under £530 million in total for small, micro and medium sized businesses.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will estimate the proportion of the working population in Southampton which was working in small retail outlets over the last three years.

Anna Soubry

Official statistics are not sufficiently detailed to answer this question directly. However a rough estimate may be possible by combining sources.

The ONS Business Registers and Employment Survey shows that the retail sector accounted for 10 – 11% of employment in Southampton in each year between 2012 and 2014.

Furthermore BIS Business Population Estimates suggest that across the UK as a whole small firms (those below 50 employees) account for around 29% of employment in the retail sector.

Applying this assumption we could estimate that small retailers accounted for around 3% of employment in Southampton in 2012-2014.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee.

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 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2016 to Question 30139, what steps she plans to take to expand grant funding projects to other local authorities to support young carers under the age of 16, similar to that provided by Suffolk family carers.

Edward Timpson

My Department will make decisions about grant funding for further work to support young carers on the basis of:

• the quantitative research report on young carers in England;

• the evaluation reports of the programmes of work carried out by Suffolk Family Carers and Carers Trust; and

• evidence submitted to the Government’s carers strategy call for evidence https://consultations.dh.gov.uk/carers/how-can-we-improve-support-for-carers

The research and evaluation reports are due this year.

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

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure institutions and organisations in receipt of public funds do not express a corporate opinion on the forthcoming EU referendum.

John Penrose

The rules on campaigning at the referendum are set out in the European Union Referendum Act 2015 and the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. There is no general restriction on institutions and organisations in receipt of public funds expressing a corporate opinion on the European Union Referendum. However, there are restrictions on organisations whose expenses are met wholly or mainly from public funds publishing certain material relating to the referendum in the final 28 days.

As the independent regulator for charities in England and Wales, the Charity Commission published guidance for charities on 7 March 2016 regarding the forthcoming EU referendum. This clearly sets out the threshold necessary to justify any charitable activity on this specific issue.