Asked by: Nick de Bois (Conservative - Enfield North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of 16 to 59 year olds in England are not exempt from the prescription charge.
Answered by George Freeman
This information is not collected centrally. However, we estimate 90% of prescription items are dispensed without charge.
Asked by: Nick de Bois (Conservative - Enfield North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average cost to the NHS of (a) a 12 minute GP consultation and (b) a walk-in accident and emergency visit without treatment was in the last period for which figures are available.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The estimated average unit cost of a general practitioner (GP) consultation (which can include treatment) lasting 11.7 minutes1 is £37; and an attendance at a type 4 Accident and Emergency department (National Health Service walk-in centres) requiring no admission to hospital, no investigation and no significant treatment has a unit cost of £33.
Sources:
Unit Costs of Health and Social Care 2013, Personal Social Services Research Unit University of Kent
2013-14 reference costs2, Department of Health
Notes:
1. Includes direct care staff costs but excludes qualification costs.
2. Reference costs are the average unit cost to National Health Service (NHS) trusts and foundation trusts of providing defined services in a given financial year to NHS patients.
Asked by: Nick de Bois (Conservative - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department issues to jobcentres on their obligation to provide interpreter services.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
To meet the Department’s duties under Equality Act 2010 we make suitable provision to communicate with claimants and customers who do not speak English or Welsh (for people residing in Wales), or who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired. We have policy and procedures in place for staff to provide an interpreter for claimants and customers where there is a requirement to do so.
The Department has issued internal communications to staff on Interpreting Services and has embedded the policy and procedures into internal guidance. Staff use this guidance to know how to recognise when a customer or claimant is in need of an interpreter and how to make the appropriate arrangements.
Asked by: Nick de Bois (Conservative - Enfield North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance his Department has issued to courts on their obligation to provide interpreter services.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
Guidance is available to all court staff which clearly outlines the circumstances under which the Department is obliged to provide interpreter services. The EU Right to Interpretation and Translation in Criminal Proceedings Directive require the criminal courts to take every reasonable step to identify whether a defendant needs interpretation.
The interpreting contract was introduced to tackle the inefficiencies and inconsistencies in the previous system. The contract has delivered significant improvements so far and we now have a system that is robust, sustainable and able to deliver a quality service at an affordable level. As a result of the contract, we have spent £27m less in the first two years it has been running, and it continues to reduce the burden on taxpayers.
Asked by: Nick de Bois (Conservative - Enfield North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department issues to the NHS on its obligation to provide interpreter services.
Answered by Norman Lamb
The provision of language support, including interpretation and translation, is driven by the requirement for all National Health Service organisations to comply with the public sector equality duty. As public sector organisations, NHS bodies have a duty to ensure that all people have equal access to the information and services that they provide.
The provision of interpretation and translation services by NHS bodies is a matter for local determination based on the composition of the communities they serve, and the needs and circumstances of their patients, service users and local populations.
Section 20 of the Equality Act 2010 also requires those who provide a service to the public or a section of the public to make a ‘reasonable adjustment’ so that disabled people are not placed at a ‘substantial disadvantage’ compared to non-disabled people, this includes communication and provision of information.
As part of their commitment to improving the experience of patients using NHS services, empowering people to be equal partners in their own care and help reduce unacceptable variation in the quality of reasonable adjustments, NHS England is developing an Information Standard for the provision of accessible, personalised information.
Asked by: Nick de Bois (Conservative - Enfield North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department issues to police forces on their obligation to provide interpreter services.
Answered by Mike Penning
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Code of Practice C (on the Detention, Treatment and Questioning of Persons by Police Officers) sets out the obligations of chief officers in respect of interpretation and translation services. Please refer to Section 13 of PACE in particular.Asked by: Nick de Bois (Conservative - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department issues to local authorities on their obligation to provide interpreter services.
Answered by Stephen Williams
In March 2013, my Department published new guidance for local authorities outlining how councils should stop translating and interpreting into foreign languages. As outlined in the Written Ministerial Statement of 12 March 2013, Official Report, Column 5WS, such interpretation and translation: weakens integration; discourages communities from learning English; undermines rather than strengthens equality goals; harms community relations; and is an expensive waste of taxpayers’ money at a time when councils need to be making sensible savings.
Asked by: Nick de Bois (Conservative - Enfield North)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps he has taken to (a) protect Energy Companies Obligation (ECO) funding to March 2017 and (b) ensure that the funding available through ECO is reaching (i) the most vulnerable households and (ii) pensioners and elderly people.
Answered by Amber Rudd
These regulations will ensure that for the first time we have a long-term certainty for the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) to 2017 and will support an additional 620,000 households, and includes solid wall de minimis.
ECO delivers energy efficiency measures that make a real difference to those at risk of fuel poverty. Affordable Warmth is targeted at low income and vulnerable households on certain means tested benefits, including pensioners in receipt of Pension Credit. This part of ECO alone has delivered around 380,000 measures to over 300,000 low income and vulnerable households between January 2013 and September 2014. Another element of ECO, the Carbon Saving Community Obligation (CSCO), supports households living in low income and rural areas. This has seen 270,000 measures delivered (including interim measures reported by energy companies).
Draft Regulations to establish the ECO to March 2017 have been laid and were debated in Parliament in late November.
Asked by: Nick de Bois (Conservative - Enfield North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost to the public purse was of prescriptions issued for paracetamol in England in each of the last two years; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Freeman
Information on the number and net ingredient cost of prescription items for paracetamol1 dispensed in the community in England is in the table.
Year | Prescription Items (000s) | Net Ingredient Cost (£000s) |
2012-13 | 21,963.2 | 73,793.9 |
2013-14 | 22,616.5 | 83,146.6 |
1Excludes combination medicines. Includes multiple packs per item and a range of formulations, including those produced specific to patient needs
Source: Prescription Cost Analysis system provided by the NHS Business Services Authority
Asked by: Nick de Bois (Conservative - Enfield North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many prescriptions have been issued for paracetamol in England in each of the last two years.
Answered by George Freeman
Information on the number and net ingredient cost of prescription items for paracetamol1 dispensed in the community in England is in the table.
Year | Prescription Items (000s) | Net Ingredient Cost (£000s) |
2012-13 | 21,963.2 | 73,793.9 |
2013-14 | 22,616.5 | 83,146.6 |
1Excludes combination medicines. Includes multiple packs per item and a range of formulations, including those produced specific to patient needs
Source: Prescription Cost Analysis system provided by the NHS Business Services Authority