Tag: Virendra Sharma

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of NHS blood donation services.

Jane Ellison

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is operationally responsible for providing a safe and reliable supply of blood, blood products and expertise to hospitals in England. Each year, donors voluntarily give around 1.7 million units of blood to ensure that hospitals receive the 6,000 blood donations they need every day, to treat patients. There has not been a shortage of blood for many years.

NHSBT recruits around 200,000 new donors each year to replace those who can no longer donate for reasons such as ill health, pregnancy or foreign travel.

To meet an on-going overall drop in demand but a more complex need for specific blood groups, NHSBT is increasing donation from O negative blood donors, A negative platelet donors and donors from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities. To increase blood donation, NHSBT recently launched a BAME toolkit to be used by Members of Parliament seeking to increase blood and organ donors in their constituencies.

The toolkit can be found at:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/i5d5f93ppiqys38/AAB_Q44nwfOiRFMYUx9qKlH8a?dl=0

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the estimated value is of maps held by her Department.

George Eustice

Core Defra held a full set of hard copy Ordnance Survey Landranger maps. There are 204 maps in a full Landranger set.

The approximate second-hand sale value of all Core Defra hard copy maps is £1000.

Most of the mapping data that Defra uses is in electronic format.

Mapping data created by Defra, such as noise maps or maps of air quality, are made available as open data, without charge. As such, market value is difficult to ascertain.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions she has had with her ministerial colleagues on securing long-term funding for domestic violence services.

Karen Bradley

The Government has already announced £40m of funding for domestic abuse services between 2016 and 2020, as well as a £2m grant to Women’s Aid and Safelives to support early intervention.

We will shortly publish a refreshed cross-Government Violence Against Women and Girls strategy setting out how we will do more still to secure long-term funding for domestic violence services and support for all victims.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his Department’s wellness strategy is.

Brandon Lewis

The Department has a health and wellbeing strategy that reflects the wider Civil Service priorities of mental health, musculoskeletal disorders and promoting a healthy lifestyle.

An effective Occupational Health and Workplace Adjustment services, together with an Employee Assistance Programme, are in place. The Department has committed and strong staff networks, including a Health and Wellbeing network.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) policy and (b) other responsibilities are of each special adviser in her Department.

Karen Bradley

The Code of Conduct for Special Advisers sets out the role of special advisers and describes the range of activities they may undertake. Copies of the Code of Conduct are available in the Libraries of the House and on-line at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/468340/CODE_OF_CONDUCT_FOR_SPECIAL_ADVISERS_-_15_OCTOBER_2015_FINAL.pdf

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what the (a) policy and (b) other responsibilities are of each special adviser in his Department.

Stephen Crabb

I refer the hon Gentleman to the answer given by my hon Friend, the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, on 29 February 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department’s wellness strategy is.

Nick Gibb

The Department for Education has a range of policies, procedures and other materials to promote and support the health and wellbeing of its employees.

The Department’s Wellbeing Group runs regular events and campaigns to raise awareness of the importance of wellbeing. There is also a wellbeing week and an annual wellbeing award that recognises not just the promotion of wellbeing, but also how it has improved the wellbeing of others.

An Employee Assistance Programme is available to all staff and provides support, information, and advice on a range of issues, including health and wellbeing, problems at work, relationships, legal matters, debt management. Telephone and face to face counselling is also available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Leader of the House, what his Office’s wellness strategy is.

Chris Grayling

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 3 March 2016, to Question UIN 27925.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2016 to Question 25276, on unmanned air vehicles: safety, when he expects his Department to complete the detailed analysis of risks posed by drones.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The outcome of this risk assessment will be used to inform further research into and development of appropriate risk mitigation measures.

As stated in my previous answer this work is ongoing and is kept under constant review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether other government departments are required to provide evidence to her Department that official development assistance disbursed by that department tackling global challenges is in the national interest.

Sir Desmond Swayne

The UK Aid Strategy set out how the government’s aid budget will be restructured to ensure that it is spent on tackling the great global challenges from the root cause of migration and disease to the threat of terrorism and climate change, all of which impact the world’s poor and directly threaten Britain’s interests. The UK Aid Strategy sets out spending and reporting requirements.

All departments spending ODA will be required to put in place a clear plan to ensure that their programme design, quality assurance, approval, contracting and procurement, monitoring, reporting and evaluation processes represent international best practice. All UK ODA is administered with the promotion of the economic development and welfare of developing countries as its main objective, in line with the internationally agreed rules on ODA.

ODA-spending departments and funds must provide accurate and timely information on their ODA spending to DFID to meet OECD reporting requirements.