Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, where in the NHS approvals process Kettering General Hospital's bid for an urgent care hub has reached; and what the next stages are in that process.
Answered by Philip Dunne
We understand that the Trust submitted a draft Outline Business Case (OBC) to its board in November 2017. The final OBC will go to the Trust Board on Friday 22 December for sign off, after which time the OBC will be submitted to NHS Improvement for assessment. This will consider value for money, affordability, and whether it is able to proceed with a procurement.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 8 November 2017 to Question 110843, for what reasons the figure for funding from his Department to Action on Smoking and Health in the financial year 2016-17 is different by £30,000 to that given in the Answer of 5 September 2017 to Question 6854; how that discrepancy came about; and if he will fully investigate the funding and grant-making processes of his Department in respect of that organisation.
Answered by Steve Brine
In my answer of 5 September 2017 I stated that a grant of £160,000 was awarded to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) under section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968 in financial year 2016/17. In my answer of 6 November 2017 I referred to a table confirming that grant payments totalling £195,000 were made to ASH during the financial year in 2016/17. Both responses are accurate. The 6 November response which referred to £195,000 highlighted all payments made to ASH during the financial year 2016/17. This is different from the value of the grant for that year because payments are made once ASH has demonstrated successful delivery of grant objectives, after each quarter. The final payment for each year of the ASH grant is made in the subsequent financial year. The attached table is designed to clarify the apparent discrepancy.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 8 November 2017 to Question 110843, for what reasons the grant was awarded for supporting the Tobacco Control Plan in the period when no Tobacco Control Plan was in place.
Answered by Steve Brine
The Department has ongoing tobacco control responsibilities. The previous Tobacco Control Plan ran from March 2011 to March 2016. Although the Plan had expired, work to continue delivering on its goals was ongoing and funding was needed to support that work.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 4 September 2017 to Question 6854, whether his Department has provided funding from non-section 64 sources to the organisation Action on Smoking and Health in the 2017-18 financial year or any of the last 10 financial years.
Answered by Steve Brine
In the past 10 years, the Department has paid Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) a total of £16,016.40 in non-grant funding for help in implementing additional strategies targeted at tackling health inequalities.
Grant funding has also been given to ASH as in the attached table . Any payment to ASH in respect of activity for 2017-18 will depend upon the outcome of a competitive process to secure support for delivery of the Tobacco Control Plan. The Department’s financial records do not provide the level of detail to confirm whether funding was made under the legal power Section 64 of the Health and Public Services Act 1968 for all of this period. However, local records can confirm only Section 64 has been used since the financial year 2012/13.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 4 September 2017 to Question 6854 on Action on Smoking and Health, if he will list those contracts his Department has issued to date that have been competitively tendered and that will utilise section 64 funding and those contracts his Department plans to issue over the next 12 months.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The attached document contains tables provided by the Department to show all funding awarded or proposed, on a competitive basis, utilising section 64 of the Health and Public Services Act 1968.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which organisations have been contracted by the World Health Organization in support of its international smoking programme funded by his Department.
Answered by Steve Brine
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many officials from the UK are currently (a) employed, (b) contracted or (c) seconded by the World Health Organization on its international smoking programme funded by his Department; what the (i) job titles and (ii) roles are being undertaken including in respect to which country; and whether the costs or salaries of those officials are being reimbursed.
Answered by Steve Brine
One United Kingdom official has been seconded from the Department to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Secretariat to lead work on the FCTC 2030 project funded by the Department. That official’s job title is Team Leader - Development Assistance and the staffing costs are funded by the Department.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding his Department provided to Action on Smoking and Health in 2016-17; what funding his Department plans to provide to that group over 2017-18; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Steve Brine
The Department has issued a grant of £160,000, under section 64 of the Health and Social Care Act 1968, to Action on Smoking and Health for financial year 2016/17. From 2017/18, Cabinet Office guidelines require that any section 64 funding must be awarded on a competitive basis.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will encourage NHS England to recruit more GPs for (a) the Borough of Kettering and (b) England.
Answered by Steve Brine
We have committed to an extra 5,000 doctors in general practice by 2020. NHS England and Health Education England (HEE) are working together with the profession to increase the general practitioner (GP) workforce across the country. This involves efforts to boost both recruitment and retention of GPs.
In 2016 HEE recruited the highest number of GP trainees ever, and is working with NHS England on additional measures to encourage GPs to return to practice, and address the reasons why experienced GPs are leaving the profession.
Both Northamptonshire clinical commissioning groups, Nene and Corby, are working with NHS England to address local challenges relating to GP recruitment and retention. For example, GPs in the Nene/Corby area are participating in the local GP Retainer Scheme.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he has agreed to a request for funding for the financial year 2017-18 from Action on Smoking and Health; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Steve Brine
The Department has received no request for funding for the financial year 2017-18 from the charity Action on Smoking and Health. Any grant funding awards agreed in this financial year will be made on a competitive basis in line with Government guidelines.