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Written Question
Police: Mental Health Services
Wednesday 14th May 2014

Asked by: John Leech (Liberal Democrat - Manchester, Withington)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish the final calculated cost per quality adjusted life year of each pharmacological treatment and associated indications which the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has recommended for cancer treatments; and which such treatments and indications have been recommended under the end-of-life criteria in (a) 2012, (b) 2013 and (c) 2014.

Answered by Norman Lamb

Information on National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal recommendations relating to cancer treatments published in 2012, 2013, and 2014, including the estimated size of the eligible patient population and the applicability of the end-of-life flexibilities, is provided in the attached table.

NICE has advised that it publishes a list on its website that includes information on its technology appraisal decisions on cancer treatments. The list, which is updated monthly, includes each appraisal number, year of publication, the appraisal process used, name ofthe technology, the disease or condition for which it has been appraised, the recommendation category and any comments. This information can be found at:

www.nice.org.uk/newsroom/nicestatistics/TADecisions.jsp?domedia=1&mid=CB611E43-19B9-E0B5-D471DEC569F73B12.

NICE does not operate a fixed cost per quality-adjusted life year threshold in its appraisals, but uses a range that allows other factors to be taken into account in deciding whether to recommend a treatment. We are advised that the most likely cost-effectiveness estimate, given as an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, is published on the NICE website and can be found in the ‘Summary of the Appraisal Committee's key conclusions' table within section four of each appraisal's final technology appraisal guidance documents. The same section of this document also sets out whether a treatment was considered under end-of-life criteria. Further information can be found at:

www.nice.org.uk


Written Question
Police: Mental Health Services
Wednesday 14th May 2014

Asked by: John Leech (Liberal Democrat - Manchester, Withington)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what (a) pharmacological treatments and (b) associated indications the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has recommended against in (i) 2012, (ii) 2013 and (iii) 2014.

Answered by Norman Lamb

Information on National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal recommendations relating to cancer treatments published in 2012, 2013, and 2014, including the estimated size of the eligible patient population and the applicability of the end-of-life flexibilities, is provided in the attached table.

NICE has advised that it publishes a list on its website that includes information on its technology appraisal decisions on cancer treatments. The list, which is updated monthly, includes each appraisal number, year of publication, the appraisal process used, name ofthe technology, the disease or condition for which it has been appraised, the recommendation category and any comments. This information can be found at:

www.nice.org.uk/newsroom/nicestatistics/TADecisions.jsp?domedia=1&mid=CB611E43-19B9-E0B5-D471DEC569F73B12.

NICE does not operate a fixed cost per quality-adjusted life year threshold in its appraisals, but uses a range that allows other factors to be taken into account in deciding whether to recommend a treatment. We are advised that the most likely cost-effectiveness estimate, given as an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, is published on the NICE website and can be found in the ‘Summary of the Appraisal Committee's key conclusions' table within section four of each appraisal's final technology appraisal guidance documents. The same section of this document also sets out whether a treatment was considered under end-of-life criteria. Further information can be found at:

www.nice.org.uk


Written Question
Bargain Booze: Post Offices
Wednesday 14th May 2014

Asked by: John Leech (Liberal Democrat - Manchester, Withington)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish the final calculated cost per quality adjusted life year of each pharmacological treatment and associated indications which the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has not recommended for cancer treatment in (a) 2012, (b) 2013 and (c) 2014.

Answered by Norman Lamb

Information on National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal recommendations relating to cancer treatments published in 2012, 2013, and 2014, including the estimated size of the eligible patient population and the applicability of the end-of-life flexibilities, is provided in the attached table.

NICE has advised that it publishes a list on its website that includes information on its technology appraisal decisions on cancer treatments. The list, which is updated monthly, includes each appraisal number, year of publication, the appraisal process used, name ofthe technology, the disease or condition for which it has been appraised, the recommendation category and any comments. This information can be found at:

www.nice.org.uk/newsroom/nicestatistics/TADecisions.jsp?domedia=1&mid=CB611E43-19B9-E0B5-D471DEC569F73B12.

NICE does not operate a fixed cost per quality-adjusted life year threshold in its appraisals, but uses a range that allows other factors to be taken into account in deciding whether to recommend a treatment. We are advised that the most likely cost-effectiveness estimate, given as an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, is published on the NICE website and can be found in the ‘Summary of the Appraisal Committee's key conclusions' table within section four of each appraisal's final technology appraisal guidance documents. The same section of this document also sets out whether a treatment was considered under end-of-life criteria. Further information can be found at:

www.nice.org.uk


Written Question
Bargain Booze: Post Offices
Wednesday 14th May 2014

Asked by: John Leech (Liberal Democrat - Manchester, Withington)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish the determined population size for each pharmacological treatment and associated indications which the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has (a) recommended for cancer treatment and (b) recommended for cancer treatment under the end-of-life criteria in (i) 2012, (ii) 2013 and (iii) 2014.

Answered by Norman Lamb

Information on National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal recommendations relating to cancer treatments published in 2012, 2013, and 2014, including the estimated size of the eligible patient population and the applicability of the end-of-life flexibilities, is provided in the attached table.

NICE has advised that it publishes a list on its website that includes information on its technology appraisal decisions on cancer treatments. The list, which is updated monthly, includes each appraisal number, year of publication, the appraisal process used, name ofthe technology, the disease or condition for which it has been appraised, the recommendation category and any comments. This information can be found at:

www.nice.org.uk/newsroom/nicestatistics/TADecisions.jsp?domedia=1&mid=CB611E43-19B9-E0B5-D471DEC569F73B12.

NICE does not operate a fixed cost per quality-adjusted life year threshold in its appraisals, but uses a range that allows other factors to be taken into account in deciding whether to recommend a treatment. We are advised that the most likely cost-effectiveness estimate, given as an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, is published on the NICE website and can be found in the ‘Summary of the Appraisal Committee's key conclusions' table within section four of each appraisal's final technology appraisal guidance documents. The same section of this document also sets out whether a treatment was considered under end-of-life criteria. Further information can be found at:

www.nice.org.uk


Written Question
Eswatini: Non-governmental Organisations
Wednesday 14th May 2014

Asked by: John Leech (Liberal Democrat - Manchester, Withington)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many full-time equivalent staff were employed to work on cancer policy in his Department in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14.

Answered by Jane Ellison

The number of full-time equivalent staff (FTE) in the Department working on cancer policy for each of the past three years has been presented in the following table:

Year

FTE staff

2010-11

18.3

2011-12

17.1

2012-13

16.7

2013-14

3.5

Other Departmental staff work on related issues, such as cancer prevention, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance and the Cancer Drugs Fund. From 1 April 2013, NHS England (rather than the Department) has been responsible for delivering improvements in all cancer services, with Public Health England (PHE) responsible for aspects of cancer screening, immunisation, prevention and symptom awareness.

To reflect new structures, a number of posts were created in NHS England and PHE, taking on some of the responsibilities of the previous Departmental Cancer Policy team.


Written Question
Eswatini: Diplomatic Service
Wednesday 14th May 2014

Asked by: John Leech (Liberal Democrat - Manchester, Withington)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by NHS England to work on cancer policy at a national level in each of the last two years.

Answered by Jane Ellison

The information requested on staffing levels is not held centrally. Prior to 1 April 2013, staffing levels for both clinical networks, including cancer networks, and strategic health authorities, including staff working specifically in cancer networks, were a matter for local National Health Service organisations.

NHS England does not employ people to work on disease-specific policy areas. It is structured according to five domains of the NHS Outcomes Framework. Only National Clinical Directors (NCD) are employed to work on specific conditions. There is one NCD for cancer employed on a 0.4 full-time equivalent basis. It is likely that most directorates will have roles contributing to improved outcomes for people with, and at risk of cancer, but NHS England does not record staff time in a way which would make this quantifiable.


Written Question

Question Link

Thursday 8th May 2014

Asked by: John Leech (Liberal Democrat - Manchester, Withington)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to introduce a cap on data charges which can be imposed by mobile telephone operators.

Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot

On 3 December Government announced it had reached agreement with the mobile network operators and other telecommunications providers(1) as part of the Telecoms Consumer Action Plan (2). Working with Government and Ofcom, major telecoms companies have agreed to reduce the risk of unexpectedly high bills. As a result, all of the main operators now provide ‘near data allowance' alerts to help consumers manage their data usage. They have also increased the visibility and usability of other usage monitoring tools, such as apps. Some operators also offer spend caps to help limit any out of allowance charges that consumers may incur.

In addition, customers who use data while abroad are protected by the Roaming Regulations. These limit the amount that operators can charge for data roaming within the EU. They also require all mobile operators to apply a cut-off limit once consumers have used €50 (excluding VAT) of data per month (within or outside of the EU), unless the consumer has opted for another limit. The provider must send an alert when the consumer has reached 80 per cent and then 100 per cent of the agreed data roaming limit, and must stop charging at the 100 per cent point unless the consumer consents to continuing to use data.

(1) 3, BT, EE, Sky, TalkTalk, Virgin Media and Vodafone

(2) https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-vows-to-end-unfair-consumer-bill-and-subscription-practices


Written Question

Question Link

Monday 31st March 2014

Asked by: John Leech (Liberal Democrat - Manchester, Withington)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many of the people imprisoned in 2012 for non-payment of fines relating to television licence evasion had other unpaid fines for other offences; and how many outstanding fines on average such people had.

Answered by Shailesh Vara

It is not possible to identify from Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals systems the original offences of people sent to prison for non payment of fines or how many other fines they may have had. This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost as identifying this would require a manual search of all closed and live fine accounts.


Written Question

Question Link

Monday 24th March 2014

Asked by: John Leech (Liberal Democrat - Manchester, Withington)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to take steps to ensure that employers with employees who earn less than £10,000 per year will be legally obliged to provide those employees with an auto-enrolment pension scheme.

Answered by Steve Webb

Jobholders who earn less than the automatic enrolment earnings trigger of £10,000 and who are not eligible for automatic enrolment may opt in to pension saving. Employers are legally obliged to enrol anyone who opts into an automatic enrolment qualifying scheme and to pay the required employer contribution.