Asked by: Iain Wright (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the costs of implementing the Teaching Excellence Framework.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
We recently published the Green Paper: “Fulfilling our potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice,” which sets out our proposals for delivering the Teaching Excellence Framework.
Once we have considered the consultation responses, and are in a position to publish our final proposals, we will publish a Regulatory Impact Assessment which will set out the costs of implementation.
Asked by: Iain Wright (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will ensure that adequate funding is provided to North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust to maintain a full range of services during the winter period.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees Clinical Commissioning Group received an additional £1,994,000 in its baseline in 2015/16 with the specific purpose of ensuring resilience throughout the year, of this funding around two-thirds was allocated to North Tees and Hartlepool Foundation Trust.
Asked by: Iain Wright (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the fit and proper test for individuals running care homes for the elderly; and what plans he has to make changes to that test.
Answered by Alistair Burt
All providers of regulated health and adult social care activities in England are required to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and to meet a set of registration requirements relating to safety and quality. The CQC has a range of enforcement powers that it can use when these standards are not met. These registration requirements include the fitness of service providers where the provider is an individual or partnership, as well as the fitness of registered managersand the fitness of staff. Since April 2015, the directors of all registered service providers have also been required to meet a fit and proper person requirement. The registered provider is responsible for ensuring that these requirements are met. The Department keeps the requirements for registration with the CQC under review. There are no current plans to make changes to the fit and proper person requirements that apply to registered providers.
Asked by: Iain Wright (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on the implementation of the recommendations made in the Innovation, Health and Wealth report, published by his Department in December 2011.
Answered by George Freeman
NHS England has advised that since the publication of One Year On in 2012, an update on the implementation of the Innovation Health and Wealth (IHW), there has been a great deal of progress made in many of the IHW work streams. Much of this has been incorporated into NHS England’s Innovation Into Action: Supporting delivery of the NHS Five Year Funding View, published in September 2015 and can be found at:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/nhs-inovation-into-action.pdf
Both the Department and NHS England remain committed to driving improvements in health through developing, testing and spreading innovation across the health system. Key developments include:
- The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Implementation Collaborative has been working with industry, the National Health Service, NICE and the medical Royal Colleges to provide practical solutions to overcome barriers to implementation of innovative treatments recommended by NICE.
- NHS England have launched Innovation Exchange a key platform to enhance the development and spread of innovation. Innovation Challenge prizes are now celebrating the ground breaking innovations developed in the NHS, and delivering better health outcomes for patients.
- In 2013 England became the first country in the world to implement a universal system of Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs). These act as system integrators linking all parts of the health landscape, including every commissioner and provider of health services in their geography, with industry and academia. Through their work to build a culture of partnership and collaboration, and to drive adoption of innovation into practice, AHSNs help to improve the health of their local populations.
- The Innovation Scorecard tracks uptake of NICE technology appraisals and helps the NHS to understand where there is variation in uptake across England. Further work is underway with industry to expand the number of medicines and devices included on the scorecard and to present data at a more granular level. Industry data is included in the scorecard where companies have provided it.
- The Five Year Forward View builds on this progress. Through its publication and implementation NHS England and its partners have committed to driving improvements in health through developing, testing and spreading innovation across the health system.
Asked by: Iain Wright (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many times the working groups on (a) public procurement, (b) international comparisons and (c) competitiveness and productivity have met since the Steel Summit on 16 October 2015; and what the actions and outcomes of each of those groups has been since their formation.
Answered by Anna Soubry
There have been three meetings of the International Comparisons Working Group, which has been examining the application of EU state aid rules in other EU member states and the issue of dumping of steel into the EU. A review of how other EU countries support their steel sectors showed that the UK was not missing an opportunity to provide assistance within the existing rules. It has also helped strengthen the partnership between industry and government, including on the evidence base on dumping of steel.
The Competitiveness and Productivity Working Group, which has met twice under the chairmanship of my Noble Friend Lord O’Neill of Gatley, has held discussions with steel industry representatives on the regulatory regime, energy costs and business taxation issues, as well as looking at broader issues around the future competitiveness of the steel industry. My Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister has already announced on 28th October during Prime Ministers Questions that we are, subject to state aid clearance, bringing forward compensation for the costs of Renewables Obligation for Energy Intensive Industries and have confirmed the steel industry will be able to take advantage of the available flexibilities under the Industrial Emissions Directive.
The Steel Procurement Working Group, chaired by my Rt Hon Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office, has met twice, looking at how better to take account of socio-economic considerations in procurement, at achieving better transparency of the pipeline of steel needs in future infrastructure projects, and at steel standards. Following the first meeting, the Government published on 30 October new guidelines for departments to apply on major projects when sourcing and buying steel. The new instructions will help steel suppliers compete on a level playing field with international suppliers for major government projects.
Asked by: Iain Wright (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting time is for autistic diagnosis in each clinical commissioning group area.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Department has discussed with NHS England the difficulties that people on the autistic spectrum can have in getting an appropriate diagnosis in a timely manner. With support from the Department, NHS England and the Association of Directors of Social Services will undertake a series of visits to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to gather information that can be shared between areas that have arrangements in place to meet National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard 51 Autism: support for commissioning, and those that do not, with the aim of supporting more consistent provision. These NICE guidelines already recommend that there should be a maximum of three months between a referral and a first appointment for a diagnostic assessment for autism. We expect the National Health Service to be working towards meeting the recommendations.
NHS England has also been working with the Health and Social Care Information Centre to develop the Mental Health Minimum Data Set. This will include provision for the diagnosis of autism to be recorded. This mandatory data set will, for the first time, provide data about diagnosis rates. The data will be published and available for everyone to use to support and develop services. NHS England has a commitment, over the next five years, to improve waiting times and this data will be invaluable for this. Information on average waiting times for autistic diagnosis in each clinical commissioning group area is not collected centrally.
The Department issued new statutory guidance in March this year for local authorities and NHS organisations to support the continued implementation of the 2010 Autism Strategy, as refreshed by its 2014 Think Autism update. This guidance sets out what people seeking an autism diagnosis can expect from local authorities and NHS bodies including general practitioners.
We are due to consult on how we set the mandate to NHS England prior to publication of the mandate itself. The mandate will be published following the Government’s Spending Review which is due to complete on 25 November.
Asked by: Iain Wright (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to introduce a target of a maximum of three months between being referred for a diagnostic assessment for autism and a first appointment.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Department has discussed with NHS England the difficulties that people on the autistic spectrum can have in getting an appropriate diagnosis in a timely manner. With support from the Department, NHS England and the Association of Directors of Social Services will undertake a series of visits to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to gather information that can be shared between areas that have arrangements in place to meet National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard 51 Autism: support for commissioning, and those that do not, with the aim of supporting more consistent provision. These NICE guidelines already recommend that there should be a maximum of three months between a referral and a first appointment for a diagnostic assessment for autism. We expect the National Health Service to be working towards meeting the recommendations.
NHS England has also been working with the Health and Social Care Information Centre to develop the Mental Health Minimum Data Set. This will include provision for the diagnosis of autism to be recorded. This mandatory data set will, for the first time, provide data about diagnosis rates. The data will be published and available for everyone to use to support and develop services. NHS England has a commitment, over the next five years, to improve waiting times and this data will be invaluable for this. Information on average waiting times for autistic diagnosis in each clinical commissioning group area is not collected centrally.
The Department issued new statutory guidance in March this year for local authorities and NHS organisations to support the continued implementation of the 2010 Autism Strategy, as refreshed by its 2014 Think Autism update. This guidance sets out what people seeking an autism diagnosis can expect from local authorities and NHS bodies including general practitioners.
We are due to consult on how we set the mandate to NHS England prior to publication of the mandate itself. The mandate will be published following the Government’s Spending Review which is due to complete on 25 November.
Asked by: Iain Wright (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on continuing free school meals for children between the ages of four and seven; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The continuation of universal infant free school meals was a commitment in the Conservative Party’s election manifesto.
The government is currently conducting a Spending Review across all its programmes.
Asked by: Iain Wright (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans to publish the Government response to the Industry Training Boards review, announced on 23 September 2013; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Boles
The Triennial Review of the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) and Film Industry Training Board (FITB) took place under the Coalition Government. However it was not possible to publish the report before the May 2015 general election.
In the Budget on 8 July 2015, the new Government announced that it will introduce a levy on large UK employers to fund post-16 apprenticeships. The Government is now consulting on how the levy should be implemented, including its interaction with the existing sector levies.
“Given these skills funding policy changes, there have been delays in publication as we consider how the sector levies interact with the apprenticeship levy.”
Asked by: Iain Wright (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the utilisation rate of (a) Hartlepool and (b) Teesside magistrates' courts was in each of the last five years; and what the average utilisation rate in magistrates' courts in England and Wales was in each of those years.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
Utilisation rates for Hartlepool, Teesside and England and Wales are provided below:
Property Name | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 |
Hartlepool Magistrates’ Court and County Court | 70% | 43% | 50% | 44% | 49% |
Teesside Magistrates’ Court
| 78% | 76% | 80% | 68% | 58% |
England and Wales Magistrates' Court average | 59% | 63% | 63% | 51% | 46% |
This shows that nationally Magistrates’ Courts are used for less than half of their available hearing time.