Tag: Tania Mathias

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has taken steps to recover costs to the NHS resulting from the actions of Hungarian journalist Ani Horvath as part of an investigation of fraud in the European Health Insurance Cards scheme.

Ben Gummer

The Department is undertaking a major piece of work to examine and identify areas for improvement in all the administrative systems relating to European Economic Area healthcare payments (incoming and outgoing), including the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) scheme.

If an EHIC is used fraudulently, the Department will seek to recover the full cost of treatment from the card holder.

The Department takes any allegations of fraud and abuse seriously and has been working with the NHS on an on-going basis to detect and tackle any suspected fraud and error since the introduction of the online EHIC application system in 2006.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase border security at ferry ports.

James Brokenshire

This Government has taken a number of steps to bolster the security of the border across different modes of transport, including ferry travel.

Border Force carries out 100 percent checks of all passengers and drivers arriving at all ferry ports against police, security and immigration watchlists. It works closely with the police and other law enforcement organisations to deliver effective and intelligence-led responses to a range of security threats. Officers use hi-tech equipment and an array of search techniques to combat immigration crime and detect banned and restricted goods – including drugs, firearms and tobacco – that smugglers attempt to bring into the country. Border Force has started to roll out its Advanced Freight Targeting Capability to ferry traffic. This will equip Border Force’s intelligence to target suspicious freight consignments arriving into the UK via ferries in a more effective and efficient fashion.

In 2015, Border Force connected to the European watch list system, SIS II. As a result of this step, Border Force has been able to access data pertaining to thousands of European Arrest Warrants, thus allowing more fugitives to be detained and arrested when they arrive at ferry ports and points of arrival in the UK.

Exit Check data on those leaving the UK has been collected from passengers on scheduled commercial international air, sea and rail routes from 8 April 2015 and this is already providing the police and security services with more information on the movements of known or suspected criminals, supporting the wider work already taking place across government and law enforcement.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what research her Department is (a) carrying out and (b) encouraging into extending the use of materials that biodegrade more quickly.

Rory Stewart

In October 2014, Defra commissioned the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) project on biodegradable plastic carrier bags – solutions through innovation. The project is contracted to the plastic packing manufacturer Aquapak Polymers Ltd, and is due to report in December this year. The project is testing the biodegradability of a hydrophilic polymer under simulated composting and anaerobic digestion conditions, and in experiments simulating natural conditions, and testing the impact on aquatic life.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) models and (b) criteria his Department is using to make a cost and benefit analysis of the effect of the proposed Northwest runway at Heathrow Airport on economic growth and the environment.

Mr John Hayes

The Airports Commission shortlisted three airport expansion schemes, two at Heathrow and one at Gatwick. The Government accepted the Commission’s shortlist in December 2015 and is considering all of the evidence very carefully before reaching a view on its preferred scheme. The Government is not providing a running commentary on this work and nor would it be appropriate to outline specific pieces of evidence before an announcement on its preference. Any work to inform an announcement will be set out in subsequent publications and associated consultation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional resources are being provided for post-16 students who are required to resit English and mathematics GCSEs.

Robert Halfon

Funding for the study of English and maths, including GCSE resits, is provided through the 16-19 national funding formula. The formula incorporates disadvantage funding for providers including a funding uplift of up to £960 per full time student per year to provide for the additional costs incurred for teaching students who have low prior attainment, as indicated by not achieving English and/or maths GCSEs at grade C or above by the end of year 11 (typically age 16). This additional funding is not intended to solely fund maths and English qualifications, but to fund support for students to achieve their learning goals, including maths and English.

For the past three years the Government has also invested in programmes to support improvements in the teaching of maths and English in Further Education (FE) settings. This year, funding will provide up to 13,000 training opportunities for FE practitioners to improve their subject knowledge and confidence in their teaching of maths or English, fund bursaries for 300 graduates to train to become maths or English teachers in FE settings and further build evidence on evidence of what constitutes effective delivery and teaching of English and maths for students aged 16 to 18 that have not yet achieved level 2 English and maths.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when all NHS patients will be able to access their medical records online; and when the NHS will implement a secure unified email system.

George Freeman

From April 2015 patients have had online access to summary information in their general practitioner (GP) records relating to allergies, adverse reactions and medications. By the end of March 2016, general practices are required to offer online access to coded information, such as problem diagnoses, procedures and test results in GP clinical records.

The National Health Service has used a secure email service, NHSmail, for the last 12 years. This service is available for use by organisations commissioned to deliver NHS health and care or related activities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-02-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with his European counterparts about EU proposals to block public access to Mandatory Occurrence Reports; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect of those proposals on public confidence in aircraft safety.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The reporting, analysis and follow-up of occurrences in civil aviation is governed by Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 which was adopted on 3 April 2014 and became applicable on 15 November 2015.

The open reporting of safety occurrences is vital to help ensure that significant issues can be identified and addressed before they lead to an accident. To foster open reporting the Regulation aims to create a just culture in which occurrences can be reported without fear of any detriment. To support the just culture the Regulation requires that reports be given an appropriate level of confidentiality and that information derived from occurrence reports shall be used only for safety related purposes. However, the Regulation does permit information to be released on request to interested parties that have a genuine safety related need for the information.

The Regulation also recognises the need to keep the public informed on aviation safety matters. It requires Member States to publish, at least annually, a safety review setting out the type of occurrences and safety-related information that has been reported, any trends that have been identified and any corrective action taken. In addition, the European Aviation Safety Agency is required to include information about the analysis of occurrence reports in its annual safety review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to support prisoners with mental health problems.

Andrew Selous

Providing appropriate treatment at the right time is vital to improve outcomes for people with mental health problems. All new prisoners accepted by a prison are assessed on reception by a health care professional on arrival at the prison. Where appropriate, prisoners may be referred to a range of individual or group mental health interventions. In the most serious cases, prisoners may be transferred to secure hospital on the recommendation of two psychiatrists

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, in which month he plans to make an announcement on airport expansion.

Mr John Hayes

The Government remains fully committed to delivering the important infrastructure projects it has set out, including delivering runway capacity on the timetable set out by Sir Howard Davies.

The Government will carefully consider all the evidence before reaching a view on its preferred scheme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the effects on the cardiovascular health of local residents of continuous noise from aircraft taking off and landing.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government will evaluate existing evidence and future studies in the area of aircraft noise and its impacts on health including cardiovascular disease in considering future policy implications.