Tag: Stewart Jackson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-10-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) maximum and (b) average recorded waiting time was for an EU passport holder at customs at London Stansted airport on each day of September 2015; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire

The maximum and average queuing times for EU passport holders at Stansted during the month of September 2015 are given in the attached table. Passenger waiting times at passport control are influenced by a number of factors. These include so called ‘flight bunching’, where a large number of flights arrive within a short period of time, and passengers using non-machine readable documents, which inevitably take longer for Border Force Officers to process. Such documents, which do not have a biometric reader and have a long history of being abused by imposters, need to be manually checked by Border Force Officers.

Border Force and Stansted Airport have jointly invested in 15 new generation E-Gates which are helping to reduce passenger waiting times. Both organisations continue to work together to further improve the passenger experience at Stansted.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to assist local authorities to safeguard the residential amenity of urban residential locales with high numbers of private sector lettings; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis

A local housing authority can, through licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation and other privately rented properties (selective licensing), impose conditions relating to the management of the premises so its use does not adversely impact upon its vicinity. Since 27 March 2015 an authority can make a selective licensing scheme in an area where (a) it has recently, or is experiencing, a high level of migration into the private rented sector and (b) the scheme will help preserve or improve the social or economic well-being of that area.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with armed forces charities on the payment of lump sum compensation payments to veterans with mesothelioma; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster

The Government has continuously made compensation available under the War Pensions Scheme (WPS) for injuries, illness or disease caused by service before 6 April 2005, including mesothelioma. The scheme provides veterans who have mesothelioma with the maximum income stream and additional supplementary allowances, and, where appropriate, entitlement to dependent’s benefits.

During the last Central Advisory Committee on Compensation (CAC) Meeting on 17 June ex-Service organisations were updated on our consideration of whether any flexibility could be provided for future mesothelioma claimants under the WPS. Detailed consideration has continued, including discussion with other Government Departments, and we expect to update the charities at the forthcoming CAC Meeting in December.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made towards full disregard of military compensation payments for veterans in respect of their care costs; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt

Armed forces veterans receive payments either through the War Disablement Pension (WDP) or the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS). The AFCS applies to veterans injured from April 2005. It has always been the case that personal injury compensation payments have been disregarded in when assessing how much a person can contribute towards the cost of local authority arranged care and support. Since October 2012 Guaranteed Income Payments made under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme have also been disregarded. The Department of Health has been in discussion with the Royal British Legion about how WDP payments are currently treated.

The Government is in the process of considering the future funding of social care as part of the current spending review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to reduce barriers preventing tenants in shared ownership properties from staircasing up to increase the share of the property they own; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis

This Government is determined to extend home ownership to anyone who aspires to own their own home.

Shared ownership has proven to be extremely popular and has played an important role in helping families who are otherwise priced out of the market. This is why between April 2010 and March 2015 we have delivered 41,000 new shared ownership homes through the Affordable Homes Programme.

The Government is committed to ensuring that shared ownership continues to be effective at helping hard working families meet their aspiration to own their own home. This is why earlier this year we consulted on a range of possible proposals to streamline the process for selling on shared ownership properties.

As a result we have simplified the process for resale of shared ownership properties by removing the pre-emption right, or right of first refusal for housing providers, from those former shared ownership homes where the owner has ‘staircased’ to 100% ownership.

But there is more that can be done and the Government is currently looking at how we can make shared ownership even more accessible as a route to full home ownership.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many deaths related to respiratory disease there were in (a) Peterborough constituency and (b) the UK in each year since 2001.

Mr Nick Hurd

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons his Department’s Outcomes Strategy for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases and Asthma in England, published in 2011, does not include an implementation programme timetable; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison

NHS England intends to continue to fund the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) audit as part of the NCAPOP (National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme).

The COPD and asthma outcomes strategy was published by the Department around the time of the National Health Service transition to the current structures. It was designed to help NHS commissioners understand the key evidence based and cost effective interventions which would improve the quality of care for patients with COPD. As such, it was not intended to be supported by an implementation plan.

In May 2012, the Department published the NHS Companion Document to the Outcomes Strategy, setting out how the NHS can implement changes at a local level.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps so that Public Health England introduces a case-finding spirometry test component as part of the NHS Health Check for people aged between 40 and 74.

Jane Ellison

Public Health England (PHE) is responsible for advising the Department on potential content changes to the NHS Health Check programme. The agency has established an Expert Scientific and Clinical Advisory Panel to oversee this process. The panel includes representation from the National Screening Committee, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and wider experts.

It is not feasible to make frequent changes to the programme. PHE reviews new content proposals every 12 months and will consider spirometry when it next begins this process in the winter of 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much funding will be designated for basic and applied research into respiratory disease in 2014-15; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Daniel Poulter

The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funds a range of applied clinical research, but does not fund fundamental laboratory-based research, which is funded by other organisations including the Medical Research Council (MRC) and medical research charities.

The usual practice of the NIHR and of the MRC is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics: research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available.

The Department’s NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including respiratory disease. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and the National Health Service, value for money and scientific quality. In all disease areas, the amount of NIHR funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity.

Spend on research funded directly by the Department’s NIHR from 2010-11 to 2012-13 in respiratory disease is shown as follows. The complete information on NIHR spend in 2013-14 is not currently available. These figures do not take account of NIHR expenditure on research infrastructure and systems where spend cannot be attributed to health categories.

Health category	2010-11 £	2011-12 £	2012-13 £
Respiratory	18,192,188	20,234,850	24,692,314

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce premature mortality from respiratory disease in Peterborough constituency.

Jane Ellison

The NHS Outcomes Framework 2014/15 sets out the Department’s priority areas for the National Health Service. It includes reducing deaths from respiratory disease as a key indicator and highlights the need to reduce unplanned hospital admissions due to asthma.

The Mandate for NHS England, set by the Government, requires NHS England to improve outcomes, including the prevention of premature deaths from respiratory disease and to support people with long term conditions.

Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) plan, develop and improve local NHS services for their population, taking into account local priorities. We are advised by NHS England that reducing premature mortality from respiratory disease is included in one of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG’s key priorities – reducing coronary heart disease. Activity is concentrated in the more deprived areas of Cambridgeshire, including Peterborough.