Tag: Steve McCabe

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the 12 Portas Pilots.

Mr Marcus Jones

I chair a refocused Future High Street Forum to lead an ambitious programme of town centre restructuring. The Forum runs the Great British High Streets Awards which champion innovation, sharing best practice around the country.

Entries to this year’s competition have come from a number of the 27 former Portas pilots. One of these – Rotherham – won the accolade of best town centre. And I congratulate them.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page nine of her Department’s response to the Education Committee’s Fifth Report of Session 2014-15, Life Lessons: PSHE and SRE in schools, published in July 2015, CM 9121, when her Department plans to report back to the Committee on its full consideration of the arguments made by the Committee on introducing PSHE and SRE as statutory subjects in primary and secondary schools.

Edward Timpson

The Government wants all young people to leave school prepared for life in modern Britain. High quality personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) teaching has an important role to play in providing young people with a ‘curriculum for life’, which equips them with the skills and understanding they need to manage their lives, to succeed and to stay safe.

We have committed to improving the quality of PSHE and intend to make significant progress on this issue during this Parliament. The Department for Education is currently working with headteachers and other experts to identify how we can improve the quality of PSHE for every pupil.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recourse is available to patients who believe they have undergone poor or harmful NHS psychotherapy treatment.

Alistair Burt

Complaints about poor or harmful National Health Service psychotherapy treatment are handled through the NHS complaints process. Details are available at the following link:

http://www.nhs.uk/choiceintheNHS/Rightsandpledges/complaints/Pages/NHScomplaints.aspx

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-02-11.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will exempt people from the extra three per cent stamp duty charge on second properties who have moved home because of flooding and are unable to sell their primary home within the 18 month eligibility period for a refund.

Mr David Gauke

The Government has consulted on the changes to ensure they are introduced in a fair way, and is now carefully analysing the consultation responses received. The final policy design will be confirmed at the Budget on 16 March 2016, before the new rules come into effect on 1 April this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) unaccompanied children and (b) partners of refugees who had already been granted asylum in the UK (i) applied for and (ii) were granted asylum in the UK in each of the last three years.

James Brokenshire

The Home Office publishes quarterly figures on asylum claims from Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) in the Immigration Statistics release. This includes information on applications received, decisions made by sex, age and country of nationality.

The Home Office does not centrally record the number of people that apply for asylum who have a partner in the UK who has already been granted. This could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much financial support his Department has given to people affected by HIV or hepatitis C through treatment with NHS-supplied blood or blood products in each year since 1988.

Jane Ellison

Since 1988 the Government has voluntarily provided ex gratia support for people affected by HIV and/or hepatitis C through treatment with NHS-supplied blood or blood products. To date, over £390 million has been paid out through the schemes, in the United Kingdom.

The Department only holds finance data for payments under the schemes back to 2007. This information is provided below.

2014-15 £22,278,096

2013-14 £27,043,569

2012-13 £22,052,458

2011-12 £27,192,232

2010-11 £39,805,667

2009-10 £22,461,057

2008-09 £19,240,337

2007-08 £20,532,461

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what powers she has to shorten the term of a Police and Crime Commissioner elected in May 2016 in order that the role is subsumed by a Metro-Mayor.

Mike Penning

If a local area were to make the case to transfer Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) functions to an elected mayor, secondary legislation would set out the details of the transfer of powers and the relevant timescales based on discussions between the local area and central government.

These powers are provided for in Section 107F of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 (as amended by the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016), which sets out the Secretary of State’s necessary order making powers to enable the transfer of PCC functions to an elected mayor.

Local areas can put forward a proposal to transfer PCC functions at any time and, as stated in response to the honourable member’s earlier question on this issue [32271], any proposal submitted by a local area for an elected mayor to take on PCC functions would be considered on its merits, on a case-by-case basis. The timing of any transfer of powers would also form part of this consideration.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2016 to Question 29817, whether her Department holds information on the number of children who have been further assessed after the strength and difficulties questionnaire score suggested that there may be a problem with that child’s mental health.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The Department does not hold information on the number of children who have undergone further assessment following the completion of a Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).

The Government has made available £1.4 billion over five years to implement the blueprint set out in Future in mind to transform children’s mental health services, including for those looked after and other vulnerable groups. Together with the Department of Health and working with NHS England and others we are establishing an expert group to develop care pathways that will support an integrated approach to meeting the mental health needs of looked-after children.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2016 to Question 31226, on how many occasions his Department has found a local authority to be non-compliant with (a) the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 and (b) the Local Government Transparency Code 2015.

Mr Marcus Jones

My Department has recently completed compliance testing of local authorities with the Local Government Transparency Code 2015, which entailed checking the websites of 103 authorities, a 25% sample of authorities to which the Transparency Code applies, for the data they are required to publish. We are currently analysing the initial results, including to ascertain whether where expected information has not been found on an authority’s website this is an accurate reflection of the authority’s circumstances or due to non-compliance.

Principal local authorities will not be required to comply with the provisions of the Local Audit and Accountability Act until 1 April 2018 [and Health and smaller bodies from 1 April 2017]. Compliance is currently monitored by Public Sector Audit Appointments Ltd, a transitional body appointed to manage existing audit arrangements until they expire.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of clinical commissioning groups in England are working together on implementation of NICE guidelines on fertility treatment.

Jane Ellison

Information about clinical commissioning groups’ approach to commissioning fertility services is not collected centrally.

The Department has not made any estimate of the proportion of children conceived in the United Kingdom using in-vitro fertilisation relative to those countries mentioned.

The Department has no plans to instruct NHS England to commission fertility treatment centrally. Fertility services do not meet the criteria set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to be nationally commissioned by NHS England.