Tag: Rushanara Ali

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-04-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much funding Circle Housing Group and its subsidiaries have been provided by (a) the Homes and Communities Agency, (b) the Greater London Council and (c) other government agencies in each year since 2010.

Brandon Lewis

The Government has provided Circle Housing Group and its subsidiaries with the following grant funding to develop affordable housing:

a.) Through the Homes and Communities Agency:

	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16	Total
Grant	£25.3m	£5.3m	£5.5m	£8.8m	£4.6m	£2.2m	£51.7m

b.) Through the Greater London Authority:

	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16	Total
Grant	£50.3m	£86.4m	£38.1m	£10.2m	£15.6m	£5.1m	£205.7m

c.) We are not aware that any funding has been provided to Circle Housing Group and its subsidiaries through other government agencies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-06-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many cases referred to the Housing Ombudsman since 2015 have (a) not yet been concluded and (b) been awaiting consideration for more than 12 months.

Brandon Lewis

There are no cases which have awaited consideration for more than 12 months. Six cases over 12 months old have not yet been determined but are under active consideration.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on patients’ safety of removing working hours safeguards from junior doctors’ contract.

Ben Gummer

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has made clear his strong commitment to ensuring safe working in the National Health Service to support his ambition for the NHS to become the safest health care system in the world.

This includes guaranteeing that a new contract for junior doctors will not impose longer hours and that contractual safeguards will be strengthened – so that some junior doctors work less. For example:

– No junior doctor will be contractually required to work more than an average of 48 hours a week;

– The provisions of the Working Time Regulations will continue to apply, and even those who choose to opt-out (legally allowing them to work longer) will be limited to an average of 56 hours a week;

– Maximum of 72 hours in any week (lower than the current 91 possible under legislation;

– No shift rostered to exceed 13 hours;

– No more than five long shifts consecutively (long=more than 10 hours);

– No more than four night shifts consecutively (where at least three hours fall between 11pm and 6am; and

– No more than seven consecutive on-call periods.

To further support safety, a system of agreed work scheduling and reviews will be introduced which will give junior doctorsa contractual right to report exceptions where his or her day-to-day work varies from the work schedule. This includes concerns about hours spent in work (including rest breaks), or the agreed working pattern (including time made available for educational opportunities).

The contract will require the employer to assess any issues as they arise, and make timely adjustments through a ‘work schedule review’. In exceptional approved circumstances, doctors would be compensated for hours worked outside their work schedule.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the number of junior doctors who may leave the UK to work abroad as a result of the introduction of a new contract by the Government.

Ben Gummer

Many junior doctors spend a period of time working abroad before returning to complete their training in the National Health Service. This is something that can bring benefits back to the NHS. A final contract offer has not yet been made to junior doctors, but there will be no provisions designed to provide reason to increase the numbers of junior doctors working abroad.

The proposals for contract reform are about introducing a more professional and fairer contract for junior doctors that supports patient care, and supports doctors through their training. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State, in his letter of 8 October to Dr Johann Malawana, Chair of the junior doctors Committee of the British Medical Association (BMA), set out a series of cast iron guarantees for Junior Doctors about the reforms. The letter outlined his ambition to reduce, not increase, the number of hours junior doctors work, and committed to stronger safeguards to protect doctors and patients.

It also guaranteed that no savings will be made from the contract and that average pay will be maintained, and outlined how the Department wants Health Education England and the Royal Colleges to work with the BMA and NHS Employers to look at how the training experience can be improved.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the government of Burma on the possible postponement of elections in that country.

Mr Hugo Swire

None. Burma’s Union Election Commission consulted the main political parties on 13 October over the possibility of a postponement to the 8 November general election because of flooding, but decided against such a postponement shortly thereafter.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to support economic growth in the Palestinian Territories.

Mr Desmond Swayne

DFID is promoting private sector development which contributes to state and peacebuilding in the Occupied Palestinian Territories by supporting fiscal sustainability, and reducing unemployment and poverty. DFID’s focus is on increasing growth and employment in key sectors, such as manufacturing, tourism, IT, and agriculture. Our support is channelled through the Palestinian Market Development Programme which seeks to improve the competitiveness of the Palestinian private sector, and through our support to the Office of the Quartet which attempts to make it easier to trade by removing movement and access restrictions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed new junior doctor contract on the ability of female doctors to take time out of training for parental leave.

Ben Gummer

The proposed new contract will not affect the ability of doctors in training (male or female) to take time out for parental leave. All doctors will be treated the same.

There will be no change to the existing leave and pay entitlements for those taking a break for maternity or parental leave. Pay on return will be the same as that for other trainees at the same stage of training and/or responsibility. This is consistent with what happens for other public sector staff.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to improve the morale of junior doctors in the last 12 months.

Ben Gummer

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote to the Chair of the Junior Doctor’s Committee Dr Johann Malawana on 8 October providingfour cast iron guarantees on contract reform. He said that he was not seeking to make savings from the pay bill, he wished to have a contract that improves patient safety, that reduces not increases the number of hours junior doctors work each week and which ensures that in future the great majority of doctors will be at least as well paid as now. In particular, he referenced negotiations with the British Medical Association (BMA) consultants committee to make sure there is proper consultant cover at weekends so junior doctors are better supported. He also wanted Health Education England (HEE) and the Royal Colleges to continue working with the BMA and NHS Employers to look at how the training experience can be improved more generally for juniors to better support work life balance including leave arrangements and recognising that juniors often have family responsibilities and choose to work part time. He asked the Junior Doctor’s Committee to re-enter negotiations and to work with others on the wider work on improving the training experience.

Employers across the National Health Service are responsible for the morale of all their staff including junior doctors.

The Department commissions NHS Employers to help trusts improve staff morale through advice, guidance and good practice on staff experience (which includes staff engagement¹ and staff physical and mental health and wellbeing) which should lead to a happier workforce. The guidance they are promoting includes resources on medical staff engagement.

The work the Department commissions from NHS Employers is aimed at helping embed the rights and pledges staff should expect from their employers as set out in the NHS Constitution².

The Chief Executive of NHS England, Simon Stevens announced on 2 September a major drive to improve health in the NHS workplace.This includes creating a positive working environment that listens to frontline staff, tackles bullying and discrimination, reduces stress and promotes health and positive mental wellbeing.

[1] http://www.nhsemployers.org/

2 http://www.nhs.uk/choiceintheNHS/Rightsandpledges/NHSConstitution/Documents/2013/the-nhs-constitution-for-england-2013.pdf

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2015-02-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what public health grant was awarded to Tower Hamlets in each year from 2005-06 to 2013-14.

Jane Ellison

Tower Hamlets, in line with other local authorities, has only been in receipt of a public health ring fenced grant since 1 April 2013. In 2013/14 Tower Hamlets received a grant of £31,382,000.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2015-02-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much Barts’ Trust has paid for locum staff in each of the last five years.

Dr Daniel Poulter

The information is not available in the format requested. Total earnings for locum doctors, at Barts Health NHS Trust for the period April 2012 to October 2014 are shown in the following table.

	April 2012 to October 2012	November 2012 to October 2013	November 2013 to October 2014
All locum doctors	£3,808,133	£4,810,950	£4,037,180

Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre, Provisional NHS Staff Earnings Estimates.

Notes:

Data prior to April 2012, when the present merged Barts Health NHS Trust opened, are not available.

These figures represent payments made using the Electronic Staff Record system to National Health Service staff who are employed and directly paid by NHS organisations.