Tag: Royston Smith

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applications her Department has received from grammar schools proposing to expand since the introduction of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.

Nick Gibb

The records that are held and maintained by the department indicate that since April 2012 there have been 17 grammar schools that have applied to extend their school. These figures relate to grammar schools that have converted to academy status. We are not able to verify the records for expansions at selective academies before 2012. Maintained grammar schools would apply to their local authority when seeking to expand and this data is not held by the department.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to ensure diabetes (a) care and (b) information provided by Southampton City CCG is responsive and relevant to the needs of the patient.

Jane Ellison

We are advised by NHS England that the Southampton City Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) commissions diabetes services in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines across primary, community and secondary care. All services are regularly reviewed and service providers are required to report service level data to ensure that the provision is meeting the NICE quality standards. We understand this will include service access data and patient reported satisfaction. The CCG commissions an integrated pathway of diabetes care of which 80% is delivered in primary care.

We are also informed that the Diabetes Community Team provides support into primary care and sees more complex patients as appropriate, it also provides professional education and training and structured education for patients which is in line with the NICE guidelines. NHS England advises that the Southampton City CCG’s acute in-patient team provides care for those admitted into hospital with more acute needs and also provides appropriate out-patient services, professional education and support for patients who access the insulin pump service.

Additionally, in April 2016 the CCG advises it will be implementing a new integrated foot care pathway that will meet the needs of those with low, moderate and increased risk of foot complications and for those with active foot disease.

In regards to providing people with diabetes with information to improve self-management and promote better health and wellbeing, the CCG confirms it works closely with organisations such as Diabetes UK in order to do this. The CCG has engaged with local patients, more recently this engagement has focused on the foot care provision, building on the evidence from the Patient Experience of Diabetes Services Survey in 2013.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the savings to the public purse of young carers supporting their families instead of the local authority doing so.

Edward Timpson

Young carers are this country’s unsung heroes, selflessly providing support for the people they love. Yet, for the most noble of reasons, they can often overlook their own needs. This government recognises the enormous contribution that young carers make and that’s why we are improving support for carers of all ages and developing a new cross-government carers strategy.

No official assessment has been made of the savings to the public purse of young carers supporting their families.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to increase stem cell donations from the 16 to 30 age group.

Jane Ellison

Since 2010, the Department has provided £19 million funding to improve the provision of stem cells in the United Kingdom. As part of this investment, the Department has supported the work of our delivery partners, NHS Blood and Transplant and the charity Anthony Nolan, to recruit young male donors, who are approximately 10 times more likely to be asked to donate. The cohort of young male donors, known as the Fit Panel, currently has 66,365 registered donors. Funding from the Department in the current financial year is supporting the recruitment further 20,000 young male donors.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the discretionary housing payments scheme in preventing households in exceptional circumstances having to pay the under-occupancy penalty.

Justin Tomlinson

For 2015/16 we have provided £60 million in Discretionary Housing Payment funding to help protect individuals affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy and we have protected this support at £60 million for 2016/17

Since 2013, £25 million of the Discretionary Housing Payment funding for the removal of the spare room subsidy has been allocated to support disabled people living in significantly adapted accommodation, including any adaptations made for disabled children. This funding support remains unchanged for 2016/17.

In the last financial year, the majority of local authorities spent less than or 100 per cent of their funding which indicates that they had sufficient funds to meet demand.

In the first six months of this financial year (2015/16) the majority of local authorities had spent less than 50 per cent of their Discretionary Housing Payment allocation.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will issue guidance to schools on the terminology used for children who do not reach the national standard grade under the proposed reforms to Key Stage 2.

Nick Gibb

Schools have been informed that pupil outcomes will be described as meeting or not meeting the expected standard in the Key Stage 2 (KS2) tests. Pupils who do not meet the expected standard in the teacher assessment of writing will be awarded one of a number of standards: Foundations for the expected standard, Early development of the expected standard, Growing development of the expected standard or Working towards the expected standard. The Standards and Testing Agency will provide additional guidance on scaled scores in July 2016.

Schools are required to report to parents of year 6 children their child’s scaled scores for the KS2 tests; whether they have met the expected standard or not; and their teacher assessed standards for English writing, English reading, mathematics and science. Schools are also required to give parents more general information about the child’s achievements, general progress and attendance record. This is intended to give a more comprehensive view of a child’s overall achievements at the end of the key stage than just their attainment in the national curriculum assessments. The Department does not prescribe the terminology to be used in these reports.

We expect schools to ensure that children’s achievements are reported in a professional and appropriate manner.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of the introduction of driverless cars on UK roads on levels of insurance premiums.

Andrew Jones

We know that the insurance industry is keen to recognise and reward technologies that will make vehicles safer; the latest safety features, like autonomous emergency braking, can help reduce insurance premiums. As highly automated, and fully automated, vehicle technology should help reduce collisions, we believe this should be reflected in insurance premiums.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure changes to supported housing will not adversely affect vulnerable people.

Brandon Lewis

We understand the importance of ensuring that those people living in supported accommodation, who are generally the most vulnerable members of our society, receive appropriate protections.

The supported housing sector provides valuable support to some of our country’s most vulnerable people.

We have commissioned an evidence review of the supported housing sector which we expect to report shortly. Building on this review, we will continue to work with and listen to providers as part of developing a long-term sustainable funding regime.

In the meantime we have put in place a one-year exception for all supported accommodation from the social rent reduction measures and the Local Housing Allowance cap, so there will be no material change in this financial year.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information the Government has provided to British citizens living abroad who are eligible to vote in the EU referendum on that referendum.

Mr David Lidington

Before the purdah period began, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) supported the Electoral Commission’s global campaign to encourage eligible British citizens living abroad to register to vote, using its network of posts to reach British nationals around the world.

The Government has made its position on the UK’s membership of the EU clear. It has published a number of papers analysing the choice facing the British people. These were made available on Gov.UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average cost to the public purse was of an appointment to see a GP in (a) Southampton City, (b) NHS West London, (c) NHS North Manchester and (d) West Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group in 2015-16.

Alistair Burt

This information is not collected centrally.