Tag: Steve McCabe

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the average change in the level of financial support given to a person over (a) five, (b) 10 and (c) 30 years under his Department’s proposals to reform financial support for people affected by HIV or hepatitis C through treatment with NHS-supplied blood or blood products if compensation is not linked to inflation.

Jane Ellison

The proposal to uncouple the link between annual payments and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was contained in in the consultation document “Infected Blood: Reform of financial and other support”. The aim of this proposal was to provide certainty about the amount of the annual payment and no estimation of the average change in the payments made to an individual claimant was made. No decisions have yet been made and details of the shape and structure of a reformed scheme, including the link to the CPI, will be decided following the end of the public consultation, which closed on 15 April.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the range of prices charged by fertility units within the NHS in England is to provide (a) a cycle of IVF and (b) a cycle of intracytoplasmic sperm injection.

Jane Ellison

The level of provision of infertility treatment, as for all health services they commission, is decided by local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and will take into account the needs of the population overall. The CCG’s decisions are underpinned by clinical insight and knowledge of local healthcare needs. As such, provision of services will vary in response to local needs.

CCGs have a legal duty to have regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. As such, NHS England expects that all those involved in commissioning infertility treatment services to be fully aware of the importance of having regard to the NICE fertility guidelines.

Following a meeting with Fertility Fairness in December 2015, officials from the Department and NHS England are considering options for addressing variation in the prices that CCGs are currently paying for in vitro fertilisation treatment.

Information about the costs of individual treatments is not collected centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-05-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 19 April 2016 to Question 34024, whether the matter of family ties to the UK being considered only after substantive interview is in compliance with the Dublin Regulations.

James Brokenshire

Following an application for asylum in the UK, the first stage in the asylum process is the Screening process, which includes collection of fingerprints and bio data, travel history, health, summary of claim, security checks and family background. If at this first stage evidence emerges that an applicant’s asylum application should be more correctly dealt with by another European state in accordance with the Dublin Regulation, then, we would seek to transfer the applicant to the member state responsible for deciding the application.

It is, however, possible that evidence concerning responsibility of another state emerges after the screening process, in which case a request to another state to take responsibility under the Dublin Regulation can be made, providing that the Regulation’s time limits for making requests are met. In cases involving family unity Article 17(2) of the Regulation make special provision for requests to take responsibility to be made at any time before a first decision is made on the substance of the asylum claim.

For individuals who claim asylum in another EU member stage and who seek to rely on family connections to the UK as part of their application, application and compliance with the Dublin Regulation would be a matter for the individual state concerned.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government’s policy is on the future of the Chagos Islanders.

James Duddridge

The Government concluded an independent feasibility study in February 2015, and carried out a twelve week public consultation, the results of which we published in January this year. The Government is still considering its policy in this area and will announce developments to Parliament and the public in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-06-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Answer of 24 May 2016 to Question 37689, if he will indicate where in that document details are provided on the (a) potential effect on the triple lock pension policy and (b) value of state pensions for people who retire before 6 April 2016 of a potential reduction in economic growth in the event of the UK voting to leave the EU.

Mr David Gauke

The document entitled HM Treasury analysis: the immediate economic impact of leaving the EU provides more detail on the impact that leaving the EU would have on GDP, CPI inflation and on average real wages, in Section 2, Part 3 of the document.

In addition, the Treasury has published further analysis of the impact that leaving the EU would have on pensioner incomes in Effects on pensioners from leaving the EU. Details on the effect on the value of State Pension and the triple lock are included in the section entitled Effects on pensioner incomes on pages 2-3.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-06-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will bring forward regulations to prevent drug manufacturers excessively raising the cost of drugs to the NHS when they are the sole or dominant supplier.

George Freeman

The Department is already referring cases to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). To strengthen our work in this area we are considering putting measures in place to routinely and systematically monitor significant price increases of generic medicines and take action where appropriate, including the possible referral of suspected excessive pricing to the CMA, while taking into account the potential impact of any such action on the availability of medicines.

The CMA is currently conducting a number of investigations into anti-competitive practices in the pharmaceutical industry. It imposed fines totalling £45 million in one case (currently subject to appeal at the Competition Appeal Tribunal), and expects to reach a final decision by late summer in another. It opened two more cases in March and April 2016 in which it expects to decide in late summer whether there are grounds to take each investigation further.

The CMA is also considering evidence of other potential cases of anti-competitive practices in the sector, and may well open further investigations in the coming months.

The CMA is independent of Ministers and we cannot interfere in either the substance or the procedures of its decision-making.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on allowing more refugees the opportunity to reach the UK safely and legally.

Mr Robert Goodwill

We operate several resettlement schemes that provide safe and legal routes to the United Kingdom for the most vulnerable refugees, including Gateway, Mandate, the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme and the Vulnerable children at risk schemes. In addition, we support the principle of family unity and have several routes to enable refugees and their families to be reunited.

We are under no obligation to consider asylum claims lodged outside UK territory and it would not be appropriate to do so. Those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach – that is the fastest route to safety.

We believe that seeking protection in the first safe country allows vulnerable people to receive help more quickly rather than risking their lives on hazardous journeys into and across Europe or falling victim to criminal gangs who are exploiting the situation. Providing humanitarian support in the region and working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on resettlement programmes remains the best way to provide much needed support to the majority of those facing persecution who remain in the region.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department’s funding of free early education of the conclusions of the report of the Family and Childcare Trust, Driving High Quality Childcare: the role of local authorities, published on 11 August 2016, on the proportion of local authorities which use such funding to encourage graduate-led care.

Caroline Dinenage

We recognise that high quality childcare improves children’s long-term educational outcomes and helps close the gap in attainment between the most disadvantaged children and their peers. We want to enable all children, whatever their background and individual needs, to access high quality early education. Investment has an important part to play in achieving continued improvements in quality. We have committed over £1 billion more per year by 2019-20 to fund the early years entitlements – this includes £300 million per year from 2017-18 for a significant increase to the rate paid for the two, three and four year old entitlements.

We know that high quality childcare has the most significant impact on those from disadvantaged homes. Therefore it is important that funding is targeted at those areas and children who need it most. This is why we propose an additional needs factor in the early years national funding formula, on which we are currently consulting. This will channel funding towards local authorities with a higher relative proportion of children with additional needs.

Whilst we know funding plays a role in the quality of childcare, we also recognise the importance of the early years workforce in improving quality and delivering better outcomes for children. That is why we are committed to publishing an early years workforce strategy. The Government currently delivers early years initial teacher training places in England. We fund eligible graduates to undertake the training, and provide student bursaries. Information about training routes is available on the Get into Teaching website at: https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 25 July 2015 to Question 42913, on Yemen: Armed Conflict, what representations he has received from Saudi officials on the timescale for that investigation.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK welcomes the release by Joint Investigation Assessment Team of the outcome of eight investigations into incidents of alleged breaches of international humanitarian law in Yemen.

The UK regularly encourages the Saudi-Arabian led Coalition to conduct thorough and conclusive investigations into reports of alleged violations of international humanitarian law.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of staff employed by his Department are non-UK nationals.

Joseph Johnson

All Government Departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose.

More broadly, the Government will be consulting in due course on how we work with business to ensure that workers in this country have the skills that they need to get a job. But there are no proposals to publish lists of the number or proportion of foreign workers.