Tag: Royston Smith

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that reforms of the welfare system are communicated clearly to recipients of welfare payments.

Justin Tomlinson

DWP communicates reforms of the welfare system to recipients of welfare payments in advance of the change and using the most appropriate channel including on-line, face to face, telephone and in writing.

To ensure that these communications are clear we follow pre-defined standards that meet accessibility requirements, are readable and easy to act on. We test products to confirm this.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has for the role of the local education authority in the provision of state education after the conversion of state-maintained schools to academies.

Edward Timpson

As set out in the Department’s recently published White Paper, ‘Educational Excellence Everywhere’, in a fully academised system, local authorities (LAs) will have more clearly defined responsibilities in representing the interests of pupils and parents. LA’s education responsibilities will focus on:

• Ensuring every child has a school place

• Ensuring the needs of vulnerable pupils are met

• Acting as champions for all parents and families

Further information on the fully academised system and the role of local authorities can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/educational-excellence-everywhere

“

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of NHS funding was provided to GP surgeries in each of the last five years

Alistair Burt

NHS England has confirmed that the funding it invests in general practice will increase by an average of 4.5% each year from 2016/17 to 2020/21.

The below table shows the proportion of spend on general practice for each of the last five years for which data is available. The figures for spend on general practice are taken from the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s Investment in General Practice 2011-2015 report, which is the most comprehensive source of data on investment in general practice. The NHS Revenue Expenditure data is taken from the Department’s accounts.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if her Department will take steps to ensure that (a) the UK is energy secure and independent and (b) reliance on foreign gas supplies and cross border electrical connections coupled with decommissioning of UK energy resources does not result in an energy shortage in the UK in the next 10 years.

Andrea Leadsom

Energy security is my top priority. The Department will take the steps needed to ensure hard working families and business have the energy they need, including from overseas where this adds to the diversity and cost effectiveness of our energy supplies.

Interconnection provides greater security of supply as we import from a diverse generation mix, allowing us to access, for example, Norway’s large amounts of hydropower.

The UK has an open and competitive gas market in which gas is traded freely. Gas enters the UK system from a range of sources including the UK Continental Shelf, Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as the LNG imports. This diverse and flexible range of domestic and foreign supplies ensures security of supply, encourages competition and helps to lower energy costs for British consumers and industry.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what representations he has made to the Electoral Commission on resolving recent problems with registration on aboutmyvote.co.uk related to the EU referendum.

John Penrose

Cabinet Office officials have worked closely with colleagues at the Electoral Commission to ensure the messaging on aboutmyvote.co.uk informs electors that they do not need to re-register for the EU referendum.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many medical consultations took place in GP practices in the Southampton City Clinical Commissioning Group area in the last five years.

Alistair Burt

The information requested is not collected centrally.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the cost to the NHS of people with long-term health conditions not taking their prescribed medication.

Jane Ellison

It is estimated that over 15 million people in England live with at least one long term medical condition.

No estimate has been made of the cost to the National Health Service of people with long term conditions not taking their prescribed medication.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2016 to Question 41004, what the cost to the NHS was of financing free prescriptions in 2015-16.

David Mowat

Assuming that for each prescription item a prescription charge would have been paid, the revenue foregone from providing free prescriptions during 2015-16 was £8 billion. However, as many people could limit their total prescription costs by purchasing a Prescription Prepayment Certificate in the event that they were no longer exempt, we estimate that the actual revenue foregone was in the region of £2 billion.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the (a) average and (b) total cost incurred by a Government department was of replying by letter to hon. Members raising matters of policy or casework with that Department in each of the last three years.

Matthew Hancock

This information is not held and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that all primary school children are IT literate by the end of Key Stage 2.

Nick Gibb

The new computing curriculum, introduced in September 2014 and compulsory for ages 5-16, has a greater focus on how computers work including the basics of computer science as well as covering digital literacy and the application of information technology. In primary school, pupils will be looking at topics such as: creating and debugging programs; using technology purposefully to create, organise, store, manipulate and retrieve digital content; and using technology safely, respectfully and responsibly. Through studying these topics, pupils are gaining insight into how the digital technologies that they use every day actually work, allowing them to become active creators, not just passive consumers.

The Government has spent more than £4.5 million over the past three years to support schools in delivering high quality computing teaching. This includes £3 million for Computing At School to build a national network of over 10 regional university centres and 300 ‘Master Teachers’ in Computer Science whom schools can commission to provide training for their teachers. A further £1 million was given to Computing At School to create online resources (Barefoot Computing) targeting primary school teachers specifically to help develop their computing subject knowledge, deliver in-school workshops, and set up computing self-help groups.