Asked by: Graham Stringer (Labour - Blackley and Broughton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether capacity market auctions take into account future growth projections for electric vehicles.
Answered by Jesse Norman
National Grid, as System Operator, is responsible for recommending a target capacity for Capacity Market auctions. This recommendation is based on National Grid’s assessment of different scenarios for the level of electricity demand and takes account of projected changes in electricity use. National Grid’s recommendation is scrutinised by an independent Panel of Technical Experts before my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy decides on the final target.
Asked by: Graham Stringer (Labour - Blackley and Broughton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has undertaken to ensure the capacity of the electricity grid to respond to current and future demand for electric vehicles.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has set out its ambition for almost all cars and vans to be zero emissions by 2050. By setting a long-term target, the Government is seeking to ensure that there is time to ready the grid for the mass transition towards cleaner, more efficient vehicles. Existing mechanisms, such as the Capacity Market and network operator business planning, can be used to ensure that network and generating capacity will stay in step with growing electric vehicle demand. Through further work to increase the flexibility in electricity demand and supply, including through promoting smart charging, we aim to ensure that electric vehicle demands are managed efficiently.
Asked by: Graham Stringer (Labour - Blackley and Broughton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of greenbelt land in (a) Greater Manchester, (b) the North West and (c) England the public has access to.
Answered by Lord Barwell
The Government does not collect this information, but our National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that local authorities should seek to enhance public access and to provide opportunities for outdoor sport and recreation on Green Belt land. Relevant local authorities should have information on public footpaths and rights of way, on registered commons, and on the playing fields, parks and other open spaces they own or manage within their Green Belt. However, most Green Belt land is agricultural and privately owned.
Asked by: Graham Stringer (Labour - Blackley and Broughton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department's policy is on requiring NHS trusts to record avoidable deaths; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Philip Dunne
NHS Improvement and NHS England wrote to all National Health Service providers on 17 December 2015 to ask them to conduct a self-assessment of their rate of avoidable mortality.
On the same date, my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave a Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS421) to the House in which he announced that the Care Quality Commission would undertake a wider review into the investigation of deaths and how the NHS learns from them across all types of NHS trust (acute, mental health and community trusts) in different parts of the country.
We intend to respond to the publication of that review setting out our plans for ensuring that the NHS reports and learns from such incidents, including how avoidable mortality is recorded and generates learning at a local level.
Asked by: Graham Stringer (Labour - Blackley and Broughton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which clinical commissioning groups fund homeopathy treatments; and if he will provide a list of those groups.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Information on which clinical commissioning groups fund homeopathy treatment is not held centrally.
Asked by: Graham Stringer (Labour - Blackley and Broughton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of avoidable deaths linked to poor quality care in (a) Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, (b) North Manchester General Hospital, (c) the Royal Oldham Hospital, (d) Fairfield General Hospital and (e) Rochdale Infirmary by clinical department in each of the last five years.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Department has made no such estimate. It is the responsibility of the respective Trust Boards, their commissioners and their regulators, and of the clinicians who work at Trusts, to ensure that the expected standards of care quality are being met.
The Care Quality Commission is carrying out a review of how National Health Service acute, community healthcare and mental health trusts investigate deaths and learn from their investigations. Information on this review is available at:
https://www.cqc.org.uk/content/our-review-how-nhs-trusts-investigate-and-learn-deaths
Asked by: Graham Stringer (Labour - Blackley and Broughton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the extent of high consumption of alcohol by men in the UK relative to such consumption in other EU states.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Department does not hold this information. The only international data on alcohol consumption per head can be found in the World Health Organization (WHO), Global status report on alcohol and health 2014 and the levels of consumption section in the WHO Global Information System on Alcohol and Health at:
http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alcohol_report/en/
and
http://apps.who.int/gho/data/?showonly=GISAH&theme=main-euro
Asked by: Graham Stringer (Labour - Blackley and Broughton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the evidential basis for new guidelines on alcohol limits in respect of proposed metabolisation of alcohol by men and women.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Government asked Dame Sally Davies, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), to oversee a review of the alcohol guidelines, to ensure these are founded on the best science and so that the guidelines help people at all stages of life to make informed choices about their drinking.
The Guidelines Development Group considered questions of individual variation, of which one issue is variations in the rates at which individuals metabolise alcohol. Their advice is clear that the weekly guideline is advice for the general population, which individuals need to consider in the light of their own individual characteristics.
A “List of supporting evidence” on the consultation page (where all the documents, such as the reports and evidence papers are listed) can be downloaded at:
https://app.box.com/s/wlludrmim3gd83r28c4oqb3upj68cqia
Asked by: Graham Stringer (Labour - Blackley and Broughton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the national trend in the consumption of alcohol (a) in total, (b) by men and (c) by women since 2005; and what estimate he has made of the number of (i) men and (ii) women who are drinking above the level recommended by Chief Medical Officer alcohol guidelines.
Answered by Jane Ellison
HM Revenue and Customs alcohol factsheet October 2013 provides data on alcohol consumption. The trends on alcohol consumption since 2005 can be found in Section 2 – Clearances, 2.3 Alcohol Clearances per Adult at:
https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutyBulletins.aspx
An estimated 6,746,000 men and 3,549,000 women were drinking above the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officer’s alcohol guidelines prior to the recent revision, using Health and Social Care Information Centre, Health Survey for England 2014 data.
Asked by: Graham Stringer (Labour - Blackley and Broughton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Chief Medical Officer's new alcohol consumption guidelines on future levels of heavy alcohol consumption.
Answered by Jane Ellison
No assessment has been made of the potential effect of the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ alcohol guidelines on future levels of heavy alcohol consumption.
The guidelines have been developed to provide accurate information and clear advice about alcohol and its health risks to enable people to make informed choices.