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.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to improve the quality of end of life (a) care and (b) provision in the NHS in England.
Ben Gummer
The Government is committed to making improvements in the quality of care people experience at the end of life.
In 2014, we set out five priorities for care of the dying person which should underpin the care being delivered to all dying people. The priorities for care state that an individual plan of care, which includes food and drink, symptom control and psychological, social and spiritual support, is agreed, co-ordinated and delivered with compassion.
The priorities also set out the critical importance of compassion, respect and dignity in delivering care to dying people and the implications, for staff, commissioners and providers, when making decisions about how end of life care services will meet the needs of local people. The new approach to care, based on these fundamental principles, is being used by clinicians across the country.
The Government’s forthcoming response to the independent Review of Choice in End of Life Care will set out further actions we are taking to achieve high quality, personalised end of life care.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will issue guidance to schools and teachers on not using terminology that describes as failures children who do not reach the national standard grade under reforms to Key Stage 1.
Nick Gibb
No child under any circumstance should be described as a ‘failure’ in relation to their achievements at the end of Key Stage 1 (KS1). We expect teachers not to use such vocabulary.
The standards for reporting children’s achievements at the end of KS1 have been carefully developed to avoid any negative connotations or suggestions of failure.
Children who are assessed as not ‘working at the expected standard’ at the end of KS1 should either be awarded the ‘working towards the expected standard’, or working at the ‘foundations for the expected standard’.
Teachers of Key Stage 1 pupils are required to provide a report to parents before the end of the summer term, covering the pupil’s achievements, general progress and attendance record.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress has been made on devolving local transport schemes to local enterprise partnerships (LEP); and if he will assess the effect of such policies on the work of the Solent LEP in developing Southampton’s infrastructure.
Andrew Jones
Funding for major local transport schemes is devolved as part of the Local Growth Fund to which the Department is contributing over £7billion. It is for LEPs to determine the priority projects in their areas. I understand that schemes that Solent LEP is undertaking in Southampton include the Cross Solent Connectivity Project, junction improvements near the Western Docks, and the recently completed Station Quarter scheme.