Tag: Sarah Wollaston

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to increase cervical screening rates among (a) women with learning disabilities and (b) women in deprived communities.

Jane Ellison

There is a range of work going on to understand the reasons for the decline in cervical screening uptake amongst women aged 25 to 29 and to try to address them. They include:

a) Data and information – access to data, cleansing, benchmarking for providers, timely and useful information for commissioners;

b) Behavioural insight – communication with commissioners, providers, patients and public;

c) Commissioning levers – commissioning contracts in public health (S7a) and primary care;

d) Partnership work – relationships with commissioners and providers; and

e) Sharing best practice – what works well, evaluation and how to embed quality improvement

Public Health England (PHE) is working with colleagues in NHS England and Health and Social Care Information Centre to implement the Accessible Information Standard which is intended to improve access to services for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. Through the re-development of cervical Information Technology systems opportunities will arise to review how to help improve uptake.

PHE supports providers to help meet the Accessible Information Standard through the provision of high quality information for people with learning disabilities or sensory loss. A national group of experts and service users has been set up to oversee this work and will be updating the existing easy read leaflets and developing new materials over the next 18 months.

PHE is aware that there are a range of factors which may act as barriers in hindering women from attending cervical screening. It is hoped that through the STRATEGIC (Strategies to Increase Cervical screening uptake at first invitation) interventions will be identified to help minimise barriers and assist women to attend screening whilst increasing uptake across all quintiles. The STRATEGIC trial was completed in 2015 and researchers are expected to publish findings later this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many unanswered telephone calls the National Maritime Operations Centre has each day.

Mr John Hayes

Her Majesty’s Coastguard does not record the number of unanswered routine telephone calls at the National Maritime Operations Centre or at any of the Coastguard Operations Centres within the national network.

It should be noted that there is a robust system, in line with the Public Emergency Call Service (PECS) Code of Practice, to ensure that ‘999’ calls to Centres within the network are answered. This is through a cascade system across the network and if necessary to other emergency services.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the Chief Medical Officer’s recommendations that PSHE education be made a routine part of children’s education.

Jane Ellison

The Chief Medical Officer’s Annual Report for 2012, Our Children Deserve Better (published October 2013) included a recommendation that: ‘Public Health England, the PSHE Association and other leading organisations in the field should review the evidence linking health and wellbeing with educational attainment, and from that promote models of good practice for educational establishments to use.’

There was no recommendation as such that Personal, Social and Health Education be made routine or mandatory in schools; however the Department for Education is working with a group of head teachers and experts to improve the quality of PSHE.

The Department of Health’s Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England (2013) sets out our objectives and ambitions to improve the sexual health of all people, including young people. For young people the Framework highlights the importance of: building knowledge and resilience through good-quality sex and relationship education; access to confidential advice and support about wellbeing, relationships and sexual health; understanding consent (including sexual consent and abusive relationships), and understanding the benefits of delaying sex.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether regulations are in place to ensure that (a) town councils, (b) parish councils and (c) local communities have access to itemised expenditure on any associated administrative, legal, design, preparatory or maintenance works associated with individual highways infrastructure works within their areas on which Section 106 contributions have been spent.

Brandon Lewis

Section 106 agreements are negotiated and agreed between a local planning authority and a developer and/or landowner along with other interested parties in the land, such as mortgage providers. National planning policy makes clear that Section 106 requirements, modifications and discharges should be transparent and available for inspection.

Local planning authorities are expected to use all of the funding they receive through planning obligations in accordance with the terms of the individual planning obligation agreement. This is to ensure that new developments are acceptable in planning terms; benefit local communities and support the provision of local infrastructure.

Planning decisions should be based on Local Plan policy unless material considerations indicate otherwise. Representations from interested third parties may constitute material considerations. Town councils, parish councils and local communities can influence infrastructure and other considerations in Local Plans through the consultation process.

The Community Infrastructure Levy was introduced to provide a faster, fairer and more transparent approach to collecting developer contributions toward infrastructure. The Government launched a review of the Levy in 2015. This review will consider a range of issues, including the relationship between the Levy and Section 106 planning obligations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-07-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether legislative changes will be required to remove the NHS bursary for healthcare students by September 2017; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer

The proposed reforms to healthcare education funding for introduction on 1 August 2017 will not require amendments to the legislation under which the National Health Service bursary is provided.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many fully-trained coastguard staff working at the National Maritime Operations Centre in Fareham were on the daytime watch covering the south coast from Plymouth to Selsey Bill on (a) 2 May 2015, (b) 9 July 2015, (c) 24 May 2016, (d) 29 May 2016 and (e) 4 June 2016.

Mr John Hayes

The operational concepts and procedures that underpin Her Majesty’s Coastguard’s national network mean that the Coastguard Centres within it no longer have fixed geographic boundaries. This enables Coastguards at either the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC) or any of the 9 Coastguard Operations Centres (CGOC) to coordinate any incident anywhere around the UK coast irrespective of their location. As a result workload is now managed on a national basis rather than Centre by Centre as was previously the case. National capability and Coastguard staff from any Centre are now available to provide additional support to any individual Centre within the network when it is considered necessary by senior operational managers.

Therefore the national network had the following fully trained coastguard staff on daytime watch for the following dates:

• 2 May 2015 – Total network staff 25 (national network in transition: Network Centres – NMOC, Falmouth, Holyhead, Milford Haven, Humber. Centres still to transition – Belfast, Stornoway, Shetland, Aberdeen, London and Dover)

• 9 July 2015 – Total network staff 37 (national network in transition: Network Centres – NMOC, Falmouth, Holyhead, Milford Haven, Humber. Centres still to transition – Belfast, Stornoway, Shetland, Aberdeen, London and Dover)

• 24 May 2016 – Total network staff 46 (Full national network)

• 29 May 2016 – Total network staff 41 (Full national network)

• 4 June 2016 – Total network staff 45 (Full national network)

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for how long people under the age of 18 who were transferred to a place of safety under section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 were detained on average in (a) a police cell and (b) a police vehicle in England and Wales in each of the last 10 years.

Mike Penning

The information requested is not held centrally.

However, the use of police cells as a place of safety for all persons detained under section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 has more than halved since 2011/12 (when figures were first collated) as shown in the following table. A joint inspection by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC); Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP); the Care Quality Commission (CQC); and Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) (published in 2013) found that the average time that each such person spent in police custody was 10 hours 32 minutes.

The Government intends to make provision in the Policing and Crime Bill, to be introduced in Parliament soon, to prohibit the use of police cells as places of safety for people under the age of 18, and to further limit their use in the case of adults. The maximum period for which a person may be detained pending a mental health assessment will also be reduced.

Table 1: number of times a police station was used as a place of safety for people detained under Section 136 Mental Health Act 1983 (England only)

Year	Section 136 detentions in police stations	Percentage reduction year on year (to nearest whole number)
2011-12	8,667	N/A[1]
2012-13	7,881	-9%
2013-14	6,028	-24%
2014-15	3,996	-34%

Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre

[1] No data on use of police stations is available for 2010-11.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether regulations are in place to ensure that (a) town councils, (b) parish councils and (c) local communities receive regular updates from highways authorities about (i) the sum total for Section 106 contributions for highways infrastructure works promised and delivered within their areas each year and (ii) a breakdown of expenditure on individual works within their areas.

Brandon Lewis

Section 106 agreements are negotiated and agreed between a local planning authority and a developer and/or landowner along with other interested parties in the land, such as mortgage providers. National planning policy makes clear that Section 106 requirements, modifications and discharges should be transparent and available for inspection.

Local planning authorities are expected to use all of the funding they receive through planning obligations in accordance with the terms of the individual planning obligation agreement. This is to ensure that new developments are acceptable in planning terms; benefit local communities and support the provision of local infrastructure.

Planning decisions should be based on Local Plan policy unless material considerations indicate otherwise. Representations from interested third parties may constitute material considerations. Town councils, parish councils and local communities can influence infrastructure and other considerations in Local Plans through the consultation process.

The Community Infrastructure Levy was introduced to provide a faster, fairer and more transparent approach to collecting developer contributions toward infrastructure. The Government launched a review of the Levy in 2015. This review will consider a range of issues, including the relationship between the Levy and Section 106 planning obligations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-07-20.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Government’s plans are for the implementation of the soft drinks industry levy; and if he will publish a timetable for the implementation of that levy.

Jane Ellison

The Soft Drinks Industry Levy consultation was launched on 18^th August 2016. At the Budget in March, the Government announced that it would consult on the Levy during the summer and legislate in Finance Bill 2017, for implementation from April 2018. This timetable remains in place.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times the National Maritime Operations Centre in Fareham turned down requests from other Category 1 Responders for assistance in the last two years; and for each such request (a) what type of request it was, (b) what reason was recorded for it being turned down and (c) which coastguard station turned it down.

Mr John Hayes

Her Majesty’s Coastguard does not specifically record occurrences when other Category 1 Responders or any other service requests assistance. Information may be held within the text narrative of an incident record but this would require a check of tens of thousands of records over the last two to five years.