Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether it is a requirement that grants paid by his Department to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) are held in a separate account by ASH to avoid those funds being spent on non-agreed activities.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 28 March to Question 69025.
In financial year 2012/13, the Department grant awarded to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) (under Section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968) was included in a sample of grants that was reviewed in an internal audit of the grant management arrangements of the Department. The audit included visits to the charities that formed part of the sample to test the information they provided to the Department and to garner their views on how the Department engaged with them. ASH was included in the work because its grant fulfilled the sample criteria.
The internal audit was not a review of the organisation and the way that it operated, its focus was on the Department’s grant management. It found that, at the time, there were satisfactory arrangements in place in the Department. The audit report did not raise any adverse comments about ASH or include any recommendations in relation to them. It is not normal practice to place copies of Internal Audit reports in the Library.
Minutes of annual review meetings with ASH are available on request from the Department. These documents are held for six years in line with Cabinet Office guidance.
There is no requirement in the grant award for funding to be held in a separate account; however, the grant must be identified in annual accounts.
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 place in the Library, copies of all audits and reviews conducted by his Department in respect of the spending of grants to Action on Smoking and Health.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 28 March to Question 69025.
In financial year 2012/13, the Department grant awarded to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) (under Section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968) was included in a sample of grants that was reviewed in an internal audit of the grant management arrangements of the Department. The audit included visits to the charities that formed part of the sample to test the information they provided to the Department and to garner their views on how the Department engaged with them. ASH was included in the work because its grant fulfilled the sample criteria.
The internal audit was not a review of the organisation and the way that it operated, its focus was on the Department’s grant management. It found that, at the time, there were satisfactory arrangements in place in the Department. The audit report did not raise any adverse comments about ASH or include any recommendations in relation to them. It is not normal practice to place copies of Internal Audit reports in the Library.
Minutes of annual review meetings with ASH are available on request from the Department. These documents are held for six years in line with Cabinet Office guidance.
There is no requirement in the grant award for funding to be held in a separate account; however, the grant must be identified in annual accounts.
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 28 March 2017 to Question 68965, on Action on Smoking and Health, what controls and checks are in place to ensure that none of the grant funds provided are used to fund lobbying activities.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 28 March to Question 69025.
In financial year 2012/13, the Department grant awarded to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) (under Section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968) was included in a sample of grants that was reviewed in an internal audit of the grant management arrangements of the Department. The audit included visits to the charities that formed part of the sample to test the information they provided to the Department and to garner their views on how the Department engaged with them. ASH was included in the work because its grant fulfilled the sample criteria.
The internal audit was not a review of the organisation and the way that it operated, its focus was on the Department’s grant management. It found that, at the time, there were satisfactory arrangements in place in the Department. The audit report did not raise any adverse comments about ASH or include any recommendations in relation to them. It is not normal practice to place copies of Internal Audit reports in the Library.
Minutes of annual review meetings with ASH are available on request from the Department. These documents are held for six years in line with Cabinet Office guidance.
There is no requirement in the grant award for funding to be held in a separate account; however, the grant must be identified in annual accounts.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps have been taken to ensure that no part of the grant provided by his Department to Action on Smoking and Health is spent on lobbying and political activities.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The conditions applicable to grants awarded to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) are set out in the grant award letters, including a specific clause that the award has been made under the provisions of Section 64 and may not be used for lobbying.
ASH’s compliance with the conditions of the grant is assessed at the grant monitoring meetings held between the Deputy Director of tobacco control and representatives from ASH as well as in the final full year grant monitoring and governance reports.
Information concerning the staff salaries and job titles in connection with this grant is withheld, as this is considered commercially sensitive and personal information.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what (a) proportion and (b) amount of grant paid by his Department to Action on Smoking and Health has been spent on staff salaries; and what the job titles were of each such staff.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The conditions applicable to grants awarded to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) are set out in the grant award letters, including a specific clause that the award has been made under the provisions of Section 64 and may not be used for lobbying.
ASH’s compliance with the conditions of the grant is assessed at the grant monitoring meetings held between the Deputy Director of tobacco control and representatives from ASH as well as in the final full year grant monitoring and governance reports.
Information concerning the staff salaries and job titles in connection with this grant is withheld, as this is considered commercially sensitive and personal information.
Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with Action on Smoking and Health on potential grant funding for 2017-18; and whether his Department has received a formal request for such funding from that organisation.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Departmental officials have held no discussions with Action on Smoking and Health on potential grant funding for 2017-18. No formal request for such funding has been received.
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 6 February 2017 to Question 62473, on Action on Smoking and Health, for what reason his Department does not hold records of complaints concerning that organisation.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Department does not hold a record of any complaints about Action on Smoking and Health (ASH). As ASH is a charity any complaints should be raised with the Charity Commission.
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 to the hon. Member for Shipley of 25 January 2017 to Question 43975, on Action on Smoking and Health: complaints, what information his Department holds on whether it has received any complaints about that organisation since June 2016.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Department does not hold a record of any complaints about Action on Smoking and Health (ASH). As ASH is a charity any complaints should be raised with the Charity Commission.
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 (a) complaints, (b) Freedom on Information requests and (c) Parliamentary Questions concerning the group Action on Smoking and Health his Department has dealt with in each year since 2010.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The information is shown in the following table. The Department does not hold records of any complaints concerning Action on Smoking and Health (ASH). Information on the number of written Parliamentary Questions received specifically regarding ASH prior to June 2014 is not held in the format requested and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Statistics on Freedom of Information requests and Parliamentary Questions concerning the group Action on Smoking and Health dealt with by the Department of Health 2010-17
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
Freedom of Information Requests | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 21 | 1 |
Parliamentary Questions | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 0 | 16 | 35 | 0 |
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 oral contribution of the Prime Minister of 12 October 2016, Official Report, column 300, when he expects the relative per capita underfunding for (a) Nene Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and (b) Corby CCG against the national picture to have been corrected.
Answered by Philip Dunne
NHS England is responsible for making decisions on how to distribute available resources between commissioning organisations.
We are advised by NHS England that it is working to move clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) towards their target fair share of funding, but has to take a finely balanced decision between making quick progress on pace of change, and at the same time maintaining stability in the system.
We understand that NHS England has targeted those CCGs that were more than 5% above or below their target funding. Nene and Corby CCGs have therefore received a cash increase of 5.21% and 9.4% respectively in 2016/17, compared to 2015/16 – above the England average in terms of overall CCG growth, and bringing them both within 5% of their target allocation.
Allocations over the next few years will continue to move the CCGs closer towards their funding target.