Tag: Valerie Vaz

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what costs his Department has incurred as a result of its policy change on (a) criminal court charges, (b) secure colleges, (c) the Saudi Arabian prison contract and (d) the closure of Just Solutions International.

Andrew Selous

I refer the honourable member to the answers given to PQ 19256 on 14 December 2015 (part a) and 13074 on 7 December 2015 (parts b, c and d). The closure of the JSi brand was also met from within the National Offender Management Service’s existing resources.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what (a) oral and (b) written communication, guidance and information there has been between his Department and Health Education England on implementation of changes to junior doctors’ contracts and terms and conditions.

Ben Gummer

The Department communicates on a regular basis with Health Education England (HEE) on a wide range of issues including the implementation of the new contract for doctors and dentists in training.

Departmental officials and I meet on a weekly basis to discuss the implementation of the new contract; the group includes representatives from NHS Employers, HEE and NHS Improvement.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department has given to New Alliance in respect of farming in Africa; and what criteria that organisation was assessed against to receive such support.

Mr Nick Hurd

In 2012 the UK pledged to support the New Alliance commitment to inclusive agriculture growth. The UK contributes to projects in six founding member countries. These projects aim to improve incomes from agricultural production, and strengthen the food security and nutrition of poor smallholders farmers.

The UK also supports the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (managed by the World Bank) and other international agriculture research and policy initiatives.

All DFID funding undergoes thorough scrutiny and is linked to performance. This includes the value for money proposition and poverty impact. Each project is subject to annual reviews that are posted on the DFID Development Tracker website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to continue payment of benefits through the Post Office Card Account for the next five years.

Priti Patel

Post Office Card Accounts provide a useful service to many people and there are no plans to change provision.

The Department recognises, however, that working age claimants may also be receiving wages. As the account does not receive wages or allow for direct debit or standing order facilities, Post Office Card Accounts are not suitable for all of their needs. Those claimants are therefore being encouraged to open main stream bank accounts including credit union accounts.

The Post Office Card Account contract was awarded from 01 December 2014 and expires on 30 November 2021 and there are no plans to amend that term.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the financial implications of removing the quality and outcomes framework indicator for seizure freedom (EP002) in 2014.

Alistair Burt

When the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) indicator EP002 was retired, all of the funding in relation to it was reinvested back into general practitioner (GP) contract core funding (global sum) payments and into new enhanced services to be delivered in general practice. The reduction in the number of QOF indicators was intended to reduce bureaucracy, unnecessary patient testing and unnecessary frequency of patient recall and recording. It was also to allow GPs to use their professional judgement to treat their patients according to best practice guidelines.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to change provision of the Post Office Card Account.

Priti Patel

Post Office Card Accounts provide a useful service to many people and there are no plans to change provision.

The Department recognises, however, that working age claimants may also be receiving wages. As the account does not receive wages or allow for direct debit or standing order facilities, Post Office Card Accounts are not suitable for all of their needs. Those claimants are therefore being encouraged to open main stream bank accounts including credit union accounts.

The Post Office Card Account contract was awarded from 01 December 2014 and expires on 30 November 2021 and there are no plans to amend that term.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people under the age of 18 have epilepsy.

Jane Ellison

The Department does not collect this information centrally. The Joint Epilepsy Council in Epilepsy prevalence, incidence and other statistics, (December 2011) estimated that around one in 220 (0.5%) children under the age of 18 have epilepsy in the United Kingdom.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans that the Post Office Card Account will be available until 2021.

Priti Patel

Post Office Card Accounts provide a useful service to many people and there are no plans to change provision.

The Department recognises, however, that working age claimants may also be receiving wages. As the account does not receive wages or allow for direct debit or standing order facilities, Post Office Card Accounts are not suitable for all of their needs. Those claimants are therefore being encouraged to open main stream bank accounts including credit union accounts.

The Post Office Card Account contract was awarded from 01 December 2014 and expires on 30 November 2021 and there are no plans to amend that term.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with NHS England on its decision not to renew the position of National Clinical Director for Adult Neurology from March 2016.

Jane Ellison

Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS England’s Medical Director, has undertaken a review of the National Clinical Director (NCD) resource designed to focus clinical advisory resources on areas where major programmes of work are currently being taking forward, or areas identified as priorities for improvement. As a result NHS England has proposed to change the way in which clinical advice is received in speciality areas in the future.

Where there will no longer be a specific NCD role, NHS England will secure expert clinical advice from its clinical networks, through its relationships with professional bodies and by appointing clinical advisors. For neurology, it is planned that advice will be provided through a range of sources such as: clinical leads and members of the NHS England-funded neurology clinical networks; the Neurology Clinical Reference Group; and the Royal Colleges. It is expected that these new arrangements will be in place from 1 April 2016.

The Neurology Intelligence Network (NIN) is a joint partnership programme between Public Health England (PHE) and NHS England to support the generation and dissemination of neurology-related health intelligence. The NIN, which is currently funded by PHE, faces no change to its current resource for the next financial year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the proportion of student loan borrowers who took out their loan after 2012 who have read the contract terms contained in a separate online document.

Joseph Johnson

All borrowers applying for support must sign a declaration to confirm that they have read and understood the terms and conditions that apply to their loans.