Tag: Tom Blenkinsop

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the relationship between the use of (a) illegal drugs and (b) legal high in prisons and incidents of violence against prison staff.

Mr Sam Gyimah

Prisons should be places of safety and reform. Improving safety and decreasing violence is an urgent priority for the Government.

The increase in psychoactive substances in prisons has contributed to a rise in prison violence, making offenders more volatile and their reactions more difficult to judge and manage.

We have introduced legislation to restrict the supply and possession of psychoactive substances in prisons, and put in place new penalties for possession of a psychoactive substance in custody. Following a successful trial in 34 prisons over the summer, we have introduced an innovative new programme of mandatory drug testing for psychoactive substances in all prisons.

We will be setting out our plans for prison safety and reform in more detail, including our plans to reduce prison violence, in a White Paper in the coming weeks.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the time the DVLA takes to process reapplications for a driving license after a suspension of that license for medical reasons.

Andrew Jones

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency does not hold specific information about the processing times for driving licence applications, which were submitted following the revocation of a licence for medical reasons.

The DVLA aims to complete 90% of all cases that require further medical investigations within 90 working days and is working hard to identify ways of improving the time taken to deal with these cases. Additional caseworkers and medical advisers have been employed and new processes introduced to speed up the time it takes to receive the necessary information. Longer term, the DVLA is considering digital solutions to improve the service it provides in this area.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will provide additional funding to South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and South Tees Clinical Commissioning Group for improvements and new facilities at Guisborough Primary Care Hospital.

Alistair Burt

We are making additional resources available to the National Health Service by backing the NHS Five Year Forward View with £10 billion a year real terms additional funding by 2020-21, compared to 2014-15, with £3.8 billion real terms growth in 2016-17.

It is for the local NHS to determine how best to use the funds available to it to improve local services. In 2016-17, the South Tees Clinical Commissioning Group will receive £413.3 million – a cash increase of 3.05%.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-04-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the (a) gender, (b) age and (c) ethnicity of people who have served on juries.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service does not collect the information requested.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to increase accessibility to university buildings for disabled students.

Joseph Johnson

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone with the potential has the opportunity to benefit from higher education, irrespective of their background or mode of learning. In the last academic year we saw record entry rates to higher education, including among those from disadvantaged backgrounds

Higher Education Institutions have responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to support their students, including those with disabilities. They have a clear legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people to ensure they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled students.

To support Higher Education (HE) providers to prepare for the changes to Disabled Students’ Allowances that come into effect from academic year 2016/17, the Department has supported the establishment of a sector-led group ofstakeholders. The group’s focus is to communicate with senior leaders of HE providers, to help provide information about institutions’ responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments for disabled students, and to encourage HE providers to develop inclusive learning environments.

In addition, universities expect to spend more than £745 million through access agreements agreed with the Director of Fair Access on measures to improve access and success for students from disadvantaged groups, including disabled students – up significantly from £404 million in 2009.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the number of health and safety incidents which have taken place in the mining industry when employees were working on shift patterns of more than (a) eight, (b) 10 and (c) 12 hours.

Penny Mordaunt

The Health and Safety Executive does not hold such information.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average Fire and Rescue response times were to incidents in (a) England, (b) the North East, (c) Redcar and Cleveland and (d) Middlesbrough in each of the last five years.

Brandon Lewis

National Statistics on Fire and Rescue response times are published annually, including response times for other types of fire incident. The most recent publication, for 2014/15, was published in 2015 and can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-incidents-response-times-england-2014-to-2015

Accompanying data tables can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fire-statistics-data-tables

The next publication on fire and rescue response times for 2015/16 is due for release in late 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2015-10-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to address the reported shortfall of £107 million in the Department’s 2015 budget and the consequent imbalance in funding for mental health services.

Alistair Burt

With the financial controls package and help from system leads, we are working towards delivering a balanced position against the overall spending controls in this financial year, despite an unprecedented level of deficit in the National Health Service provider sector.

The NHS must now put in place cost-control measures we have introduced, like clamping down on agency spend, limiting the use of management consultants and making sure trusts have to justify the pay package of any manager who is paid more than the Prime Minister, while we continue to work with hospitals on ways to improve productivity and reduce waste.

This year, we are investing £173 million of additional money in mental health, including £30 million for services for young people with eating disorders. We are taking a targeted and phased approach to the additional investment, to enable local areas to develop additional capacity and a collaborative approach across health, education and children’s services. This is what is needed to make a real difference.

We remain committed to providing the additional £1.25 billion investment in mental health services over the next five years, as announced in the Budget 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2015-10-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve tests for Lyme disease to ensure early diagnosis.

Jane Ellison

Public Health England regularly review new tests for Lyme disease and participate in a Europe wide Quality Assurance programme to ensure that the most suitable tests available are used.