Tag: Robert Flello

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has received from diplomatic representatives in the UK of states where the trade of dog meat for consumption is active subsequent to the debate in the House on the dog meat trade of 5 November 2015.

Mr Hugo Swire

Since the debate on 5 November my Department has not received any representations from any diplomatic missions in the UK on the dog meat trade, nor have Ministers made representations to their counterparts abroad. As highlighted during the debate by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge), I am contacting our Ambassadors in the countries concerned to review our activities in this area.

The Government is committed to raising the standards of animal welfare at home and abroad. I raised animal welfare issues during my visit to the region in February and will continue to make representations when appropriate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the National Audit Office report, Delivering major projects in Government, published on 6 January 2016, what steps his Department is taking to ensure all infrastructure projects are delivered on time and on budget.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Department for Transport (DfT) accounts for a whole life value of £92bn within the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP).

The DfT follows the Cabinet Office transparency policy by publishing the Department’s data in line with requirements, including the annual publication of GMPP data, SRO appointment letters and individual project cases.

The Department continually assures project delivery in relation to costs, timings and benefits through clear governance and project and programme management (PPM) requirements, which must be satisfied throughout the life cycle of a project. This includes investment board endorsement at key project planning and delivery stages, and independent assurance within the Department. Further external assurance is provided for example by the Infrastructure and Project Authority (IPA). The department uses a widely understood and highly regarded economic tool, known as WebTAG, for calculating costs.

In addition to individual project assurance, the Department works with the IPA on both GMPP and its own portfolio reporting requirements. The Department has been actively involved in work to improve the collection, collation and analysis of key areas of project delivery, including costs and benefits, in line with the recent IPA review and refresh of GMPP data collection.

As part of the Department’s internal governance, regular portfolio reporting on the aggregated performance and health of major projects is presented to the Department’s investment board. The Department has recently assessed the maturity of its portfolio reporting and has an action plan to further develop its capability in key areas.

The Department reports infrastructure projects that are £50m or more on the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) which details public and private infrastructure investment which is either forecast, being delivered, or completed. It is published on the Treasury’s website (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-infrastructure-pipeline-july-2015).

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he has had discussions with the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority after its authorisation of a licence for gene editing of human embryos by means of CRISPR-Cas9 on the process of ethical approval being granted for such a licence.

George Freeman

The Department has not had any discussions with the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) after its authorisation of a licence for gene editing of human embryos by means of CRISPR-Cas9 about the process of ethical approval being granted for such a licence.

The Francis Crick Institute, which made the licence application to the HFEA, is intending to place copies of the information given to patients or donors explaining this research on its website, once the final draft has been agreed.

There is no statutory requirement for ethical approval to be in place before an HFEA research licence can be granted. However, the HFEA has developed guidance for its licensing committee that such approval should be in place before a licence is granted and research is allowed to proceed.

In 2012, none of the three licences granted had ethical approval in place and a condition was therefore placed on each licence that licensed research could not proceed until such approval was in place. In 2013, five research licences were granted, all of which had ethical approval in place. In 2014, seven licences were granted, all of which had ethical approval in place. In 2015, one of the 15 licences granted did not have ethical approval in place and a condition was therefore placed on the licence that licensed research could not proceed until such approval was in place.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received about concerns identified by the Care Quality Commission at a British Pregnancy Advisory Service abortion clinic in Richmond; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison

One representation has been received in relation to the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) inspection of BPAS Richmond. The CQC is responsible for ensuring that requirements under the Health and Social Care (HSC) Act 2008 are met by the providers of termination of pregnancy services including meeting the fundamental standards of quality and safety as set out in Part 3 to the 2014 Regulations, and Regulation 20 of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009, which is specific to independent sector termination of pregnancy providers. The CQC is responsible for ensuring that the requirements under the HSC Act 2008 are maintained through a system of monitoring and, where appropriate, inspection visits. It is for the CQC and the provider to address required and recommended actions identified following an inspection.

Independent sector providers are also required to comply with the Department of Health’s Required Standard Operating Procedures.

Departmental officials meet regularly with representatives from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) but have not met since the CQC report on BPAS Richmond was published.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department provides to hospitals on discussing do not resuscitate orders with patients and next of kin.

Ben Gummer

The Department has not itself issued guidance on this subject, but has commended to National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts guidance for healthcare professionals prepared jointly by the British Medical Association, the Resuscitation Council (UK) and the Royal College of Nursing entitled Decisions relating to cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The latest version of the guidance was published in October 2014 and took account of the Court of Appeal’s judgment, handed down in June 2014, in the case of R (on the application of Tracey) v (1) Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (2) Secretary of State for Health. The Court of Appeal concluded that there was duty to consult a patient, or those close to the patient, about a Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation decision unless that consultation is likely to cause physical or psychological harm to the patient.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-10-19.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has not been given access to HM Revenue and Customs’ freight transport data system.

Jane Ellison

HM Revenue and Customs has no record of a request by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Association and would be happy to give such a request full consideration.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Ministers have made to their counterparts abroad or to their diplomatic representatives in the UK on the practice of consuming and selling dog meat for consumption subsequent to the debate in the House on the dog meat trade of 5 November 2015.

Mr Hugo Swire

Since the debate on 5 November my Department has not received any representations from any diplomatic missions in the UK on the dog meat trade, nor have Ministers made representations to their counterparts abroad. As highlighted during the debate by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge), I am contacting our Ambassadors in the countries concerned to review our activities in this area.

The Government is committed to raising the standards of animal welfare at home and abroad. I raised animal welfare issues during my visit to the region in February and will continue to make representations when appropriate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the National Audit Office report, Delivering major projects in Government, published on 6 January 2016, what steps his Department is taking to increase transparency of costs, times and benefits of infrastructure projects.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Department for Transport (DfT) accounts for a whole life value of £92bn within the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP).

The DfT follows the Cabinet Office transparency policy by publishing the Department’s data in line with requirements, including the annual publication of GMPP data, SRO appointment letters and individual project cases.

The Department continually assures project delivery in relation to costs, timings and benefits through clear governance and project and programme management (PPM) requirements, which must be satisfied throughout the life cycle of a project. This includes investment board endorsement at key project planning and delivery stages, and independent assurance within the Department. Further external assurance is provided for example by the Infrastructure and Project Authority (IPA). The department uses a widely understood and highly regarded economic tool, known as WebTAG, for calculating costs.

In addition to individual project assurance, the Department works with the IPA on both GMPP and its own portfolio reporting requirements. The Department has been actively involved in work to improve the collection, collation and analysis of key areas of project delivery, including costs and benefits, in line with the recent IPA review and refresh of GMPP data collection.

As part of the Department’s internal governance, regular portfolio reporting on the aggregated performance and health of major projects is presented to the Department’s investment board. The Department has recently assessed the maturity of its portfolio reporting and has an action plan to further develop its capability in key areas.

The Department reports infrastructure projects that are £50m or more on the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) which details public and private infrastructure investment which is either forecast, being delivered, or completed. It is published on the Treasury’s website (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-infrastructure-pipeline-july-2015).

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that information given to patients or donors explaining research to which they have consented on genome editing in human embryos by means of CRISPR-Cas9 will be publicly available.

George Freeman

The Department has not had any discussions with the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) after its authorisation of a licence for gene editing of human embryos by means of CRISPR-Cas9 about the process of ethical approval being granted for such a licence.

The Francis Crick Institute, which made the licence application to the HFEA, is intending to place copies of the information given to patients or donors explaining this research on its website, once the final draft has been agreed.

There is no statutory requirement for ethical approval to be in place before an HFEA research licence can be granted. However, the HFEA has developed guidance for its licensing committee that such approval should be in place before a licence is granted and research is allowed to proceed.

In 2012, none of the three licences granted had ethical approval in place and a condition was therefore placed on each licence that licensed research could not proceed until such approval was in place. In 2013, five research licences were granted, all of which had ethical approval in place. In 2014, seven licences were granted, all of which had ethical approval in place. In 2015, one of the 15 licences granted did not have ethical approval in place and a condition was therefore placed on the licence that licensed research could not proceed until such approval was in place.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that safeguarding policies at British Pregnancy Advisory Service abortion clinics reflect national guidance on sexual exploitation of children and risks of female genital mutilation.

Jane Ellison

In May 2014, the Department published updated requirements (Procedures for the Approval of Independent Sector Places for the Termination of Pregnancy (Abortion)) which the providers of independent sector abortion services, including the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, must agree to comply with to be approved by the Secretary of State to perform abortions. This includes compliance with legal requirements and having regard to any statutory guidance relating to children, young people and vulnerable adults and having policies and protocols in place for dealing with these groups. A copy of the guidance is attached.

All clinical staff working in abortion services should be trained to at least level 3 of the intercollegiate framework, Safeguarding Children and Young people: roles and competences for health care staff.