Deportation: Somalia
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her policy is on returning to Somalia those without permission to remain in the UK. [191299]
James Brokenshire: Our aim is for those people who have no legal basis of stay in the UK to leave voluntarily and we may offer an assistance package to help them re-integrate into their home country. For those who choose not to do so, it becomes necessary to enforce their departure.
The Home Office will only enforce the return of individuals who they, and the courts, are satisfied are not in need of international protection and who do not elect to leave voluntarily.
All asylum claims, including those from Somali nationals, are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with the 1951 United Nations convention relating to the status of refugees and the European convention on human rights against the background of the latest country information and relevant case law.
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Entry Clearances: Married People
John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what average time is taken for a British citizen resident in the UK applying for a spousal visa for a non-EU citizen. [191095]
James Brokenshire [holding answer 11 March 2014]: The Home Office does not hold these data as it is not necessary to differentiate between British nationals and third country nationals when considering applications for spouse visas.
The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics including those for entry clearance visas granted under the spouse route within the quarterly Immigration Statistics release. A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics October-December 2013, will be placed in the Library of the House, and is available from:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release
Immigration
George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many immigrants arrived in the UK in each of the last five years. [191004]
Mr Hurd: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Glen Watson, dated March 2014:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigrants arrived in the UK in each of the last five years. [191004]
The best available calendar year estimates of immigration are the estimates of Long-Term International Migration (LTIM) which are produced by ONS primarily based on data from the International Passenger Survey (IPS), with adjustments made for asylum seekers, people whose intentions change with regard to their length of stay, and migration to and from Northern Ireland. LTIM estimates are based on the United Nations definition of a long-term international migrant, that is, someone who changes their country of usual residence for a period of at least one year.
In light of the results of the 2011 Census, ONS has published revised net migration estimates for the UK as components of change in revised population estimates from the year to mid-2002 to the year to mid-2012 for the United Kingdom. These include revisions to the net migration component, focused primarily on the middle part of the decade before improvements were made to the International Passenger Survey in 2009. However, these revised estimates are not published on a calendar year basis, and the question specifically relates to immigration not net migration.
The latest final calendar year LTIM immigration estimates are for the years 2008 to 2012 and are shown in Table 1. Provisional LTIM estimates for calendar year 2013 will become available on 22 May 2014.
| Table 1. Immigration to the UK, 2008-12 | ||
| Estimate | +/- 95% confidence interval | |
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| Source: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/migration1/migration-statistics-quarterly-report/february-2014/provisional-13q3.xls | ||
Members: Correspondence
Mr Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Walsall North of 11 February 2014 on behalf of a college in his constituency. [191274]
James Brokenshire: I wrote to the hon. Member on 11 March 2014.
Mr Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will arrange for the hon. Member for Walsall North to receive a reply to his letter to the interim Director General of UK Visas and Immigration of 3 February 2014 on behalf of a constituent, reference M1583/14. [191275]
James Brokenshire: The director general replied to the hon. Member on 11 March 2014.
Mr Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will arrange for the hon. Member for Walsall North to receive a reply to his letter to the Chief Executive of HM Passport Office of 3 February 2014 on behalf of a constituent. [191276]
James Brokenshire: Her Majesty's Passport Office replied to the hon. Member on 11 March 2014.
Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships
Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to open historic civil registers of births, marriages and deaths and transfer them from superintendent registrars' offices to county record offices. [191331]
James Brokenshire: There are no current plans to open historic civil registers of births, marriages and deaths and transfer them from superintendent registrars' offices to county record offices. We continue to look for opportunities to improve civil registration services in England and Wales, including access to historic records.
Special Constables: Rural Areas
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps she has been taking to recruit special constables in rural areas; and if she will make a statement. [190936]
Damian Green: The Special Constabulary is an important and cost-effective resource in policing.
Individual police forces are responsible for determining their own recruitment requirements in order to meet local policing needs. In line with the Government's commitment to increase the number of volunteers, they will continue to support the development of the Special Constabulary in England and Wales.
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Stalking
Mr Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers have been trained to deal with offences of stalking under sections 2A and 4A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 in each police force area; and if she will make a statement. [191335]
Damian Green: This information is not available centrally as most of the relevant training for police officers takes place within individual police forces.
Justice
Community Orders: Greater London
Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what change there has been in the number of supervisory staff as a result of the sub-contracting of community payback in London to Serco. [180965]
Jeremy Wright: Serco won the contract to deliver community payback in London because its bid offered the best value for the taxpayer, while providing continuity of service and performance. Serco manages almost 1,000 offenders per month and the contract to date has provided London with over a million hours of offender labour. It is performing above the national average on successful completion and enforcement of orders. At the point of transfer, 265 regularly-contracted staff were engaged in the delivery of community payback in London. In September 2013, 156 regularly-contracted staff were employed by Serco Group plc to deliver the community payback contract. This reduction reflects a significant fall not only in the overall number of sentences passed by the courts, but in particular in the number of community sentences.
Convictions
Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of rape-flagged convictions were convictions for (a) rape or attempted rape, (b) any other kind of sexual assault, (c) a non-sexual offence against the person and (d) another offence in 2012-13 and each of the five preceding years. [190810]
Jeremy Wright: Information held centrally by the Ministry of Justice on the Court Proceedings Database does not contain information about the circumstances behind each case, beyond the description provided in the statute under which proceedings are brought. It is not possible to identify from this centrally held information convictions for offences where the prosecution was flagged as a rape. This detailed information may be held on the court record but due to the size and complexity is not reported centrally to the MOJ. As such, the information requested can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Prison Service
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average ratio of prison officers to inmates in prisons in England and Wales was in June (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011, (d) 2012 and (e) 2013. [182796]
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Jeremy Wright: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 2 September 2013, Official Report, column 192W, to the hon. Member for Darlington (Jenny Chapman).
Prisons
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which prisons closed since May 2010 were previously housing young adults. [190211]
Jeremy Wright: Prisons holding young adult prisoners (aged 18 to 20-years-old) that have operationally closed since May 2010 are set out in the following table. There have been no closures of institutions designated for sole use by young adults.
The table does not include the closure of wing(s) within prisons or accommodation temporarily taken out of use for maintenance or refurbishment work.
| Prison | Predominant function |
On 4 September 2013 the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling), announced the next steps to modernise the prison estate so that we always have enough prison places for those sentenced by the courts but at much lower cost and in the right places to deliver our ambitions for reducing our stubbornly high reoffending rates. The changes form part of plans to save over £500 million from the costs of running prisons by the end of this spending review period.
Temporary Employment
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been spent on recruitment of temporary staff by his Department and its agencies in each month since May 2010. [190150]
Mr Vara: Temporary employment within the Ministry of Justice falls into two categories. Fixed-term contract staff recruited and employed directly by the Department, and short-term interim and contingent staff employed by and engaged through a third party supplier.
Cost details for the recruitment of fixed-term contract staff engaged directly by the Department cannot be provided without incurring a disproportionate cost.
The Ministry of Justice uses the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) framework for the engagement of specialist contractors and interims. The framework provides contingent labour via three sources: management and specialist roles are supplied by Capita Business Services (CBS), administration and clerical roles by Brook Street and operational and support roles by Hays.
There are no direct costs to the MOJ in the engagement of interim and contract staff as costs in identifying and recruiting candidates is borne directly by the employing agency. These costs are then recouped through the monthly invoice paid for the candidate's services during the period of their assignment.
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Young Offenders
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what offences were committed by those aged 18, 19 or 20 years old found guilty of criminal offences in 2013. [189833]
Jeremy Wright: A list of offences committed by those aged 18, 19 and 20 in England and Wales for 2012 (latest available), can be viewed in the table.
Please note that court proceedings statistics for the year 2013 are planned to be published by the Ministry of Justice in May 2014.
| Offences committed by those aged 18, 19 and 20, England and Wales, 2012 | |
| Age | Offence |
|
4.6 Causing Death by Careless Driving when under the influence of Drink or Drugs | |
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|
Production, supply and possession with intent to supply a controlled drug—Class unspecified | |
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|
99A Driving licence related offences: Making false statements |
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|
814 Fraud, Forgery etc. associated with Vehicle or Driver Records | |
| Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice. | |
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many of those aged 18, 19 or 20 years old found guilty of criminal offences in 2013 had committed a previous offence that resulted in a custodial sentence; [189834]
(2) how many of those aged 18, 19 or 20 years old found guilty of criminal offences had (a) no previous convictions, (b) one to five previous convictions, (c) six to 10 previous convictions and (d) more than 10 previous convictions in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012 and (iv) 2013. [189835]
Jeremy Wright: The number of offenders found guilty at all courts, by age (18, 19, 20) that had committed a previous offence that resulted in a custodial sentence for the 12 months ending in September, which is the latest date for which data are available, is in Table 1.
A breakdown of the number of previous convictions for offenders found guilty of criminal offences for the 12 months ending in September by age (18, 19, 20) is in Table 2.
| Table 1: Number of offenders convicted for any offence, who have received at least one previous custodial sentence1, by age, 12 months ending September | |||||
| Age | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
| 1 Figures are based on counting the number of sentencing occasions for offences committed by offenders which were prosecuted by police forces in England and Wales including the British Transport Police. Offenders may appear more than once in each year, where they have been convicted on multiple occasions within the year. Note: Figures are based on counting the number of occasions on which offenders have previously received a conviction (with a custodial sentence) for any offences recorded on the Police National Computer, including some offences committed outside of England and Wales. Where there were multiple offences on the same occasion, only the primary offence as recorded on the Police National Computer would be counted. | |||||
| Table 2: Number of offenders convicted for any offence, by number of previous convictions1 and age, 12 months ending September | ||||||
| Age | Number of previous convictions | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
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| 1 Figures are based on counting the number of sentencing occasions for offences committed by offenders which were prosecuted by police forces in England and Wales including the British Transport Police. Offenders may appear more than once in each year, where they have been convicted on multiple occasions within the year. Notes: 1. Figures are based on counting the number of occasions on which offenders have previously received a conviction for any offences recorded on the Police National Computer, including some offences committed outside of England and Wales. Where there were multiple offences on the same occasion, only the primary offence as recorded on the Police National Computer would be counted. 2. These figures have been drawn from the police's administrative IT system, the police national computer, which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. | ||||||
Youth Custody
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) 18, (b) 19 and (c) 20-year-olds were held in the secure estate in England and Wales on 1 February 2014. [189911]
Jeremy Wright: The number of 18, 19 and 20-year-olds held in the secure estate in England and Wales as at 31 December 2013, the latest data available, can be seen in the following table.
| Population aged 18-20 in custody, 31 December 2013, England and Wales | |
| Number | |
| 1Data sources and quality: These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. | |
Transport
A31
Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the most recent (a) volume and (b) speed measurements were taken for vehicles on the A31 in or around Four Marks; and what assessment he has made of trends in such measurements in the last three years. [191260]
Mr Goodwill: The Department publishes Average Annual Daily Flow (AADF) data for each major road link, for every year. Traffic is counted at two points (links) on the A31, in the vicinity of Four Marks; at Count Point No. 18707 (between its junction with the B3047 and its junction with Barn Lane), and at Count Point No. 46341 (between Barn Lane and its junction with the A32).
The AADFs for these Count Points, for 2010, 2011 and 2012 are shown in the following table:
| AADF year | AADF for CP18707 | AADF for CP46341 |
The most recent counts at the two links on the A31 took place on: 6 April 2011 (Count Point 18707), and 22 March 2010 (Count Point 46341).
The Department publishes statistics on average speeds on local ‘A' roads in England during the weekday morning peak (7 am to 10 am). These are available on the Department's website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/congestion-statistics-on-local-a-roads-england-oct-to-dec-2013
Speeds for the A31 road section, in Hampshire for each direction are presented as annual averages from the year ending July 2007 to the year ending December 2013. This road section includes A31 section at Four Marks. Across the last three years, annual average speeds for the A31 (in Hampshire) were broadly stable at around 50 mph in each direction.
A595
John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what total sum was spent on safety improvements on the A595 in each of the last four years; and what schemes have been completed using that funding. [191373]
Mr Goodwill: The Highways Agency has invested a total of £107,026 in safety improvement schemes along the A595 trunk road during the last four years. This is broken down as follows:
Driving: Licensing
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will raise the age of compulsory driving licence renewals to 80 years to reduce administration costs. [191415]
Stephen Hammond: Increasing the driving licence renewal age was proposed as part of the recent review of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
No detailed evaluation has been made about this proposal. Any such decision would not be taken until a full consultation had been carried out and supporting evidence considered.
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Shipping: Exhaust Emissions
Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) when he last estimated the existing stocks of low sulphur fuel available for use by commercial ships; [191249]
(2) what recent estimate he has made of the level of access to low sulphur fuel products for vessels working from UK ports in the short seas shipping sector in (a) 2014, (b) 2015 and (c) 2016. [191252]
Stephen Hammond: The Department has not assessed the level of access or the existing stocks of low sulphur fuel for ships.
The market for low sulphur fuel is determined by user demand and local fuel suppliers. We are not aware of anticipated problems with the availability of 0.1% sulphur fuel. We are actively working in the International Maritime Organisation to take forward a review of the availability in 2020 of 0.5% sulphur fuel.
Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to minimise the effect on seafarers' employment of the introduction of new sulphur dioxide emission limits for the shipping industry on 1 January 2015; and if he will make a statement. [191250]
Stephen Hammond: I have chaired two ‘round table' meetings for stakeholders from a range of industries-shipping, ports, abatement technology, oil refining, logistics-to discuss the way forward on sulphur. We are exploring the scope for securing EU finance for shipowners and ports who would like to invest in using an abatement technology or an alternative fuel. We are playing an active role in the European Sustainable Shipping Forum which the European Commission has established.
Our aim is to have a consistent, fair and proportionate enforcement regime across Europe, to ensure that UK industries do not suffer from any competitive disadvantages. Relevant evidence will be incorporated into the Department's impact assessment on the new sulphur regulations, which we will publish in draft in the next few weeks. An eight week public consultation will follow, which is expected to provide more detail on potential impacts. The impact assessment will also consider the economic cost to the UK as well as the benefits in terms of improved public health and reduced damage to the environment.
Stop and Search
Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many times the British Transport Police used stop and search powers under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 from that section's coming into force until it was repealed. [190993]
Stephen Hammond: The British Transport Police have 224,282 searches recorded under section 44 of the Terrorism Act.
Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many convictions there have been due to the use of stop and search powers under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 by the British Transport Police from that section's coming into force until it was repealed. [190994]
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Stephen Hammond: The British Transport Police have 1,002 persons recorded on their system as having been arrested and processed following searches under Section 44. There have been no arrests identified from the information held that individuals were processed for terrorism offences. In the main detainees were processed for being wanted on warrant, being in possession of controlled drugs or being in possession of offensive weapons.
Data on whether the detained persons were ultimately convicted of the offences for which they were arrested cannot be obtained without a detailed review of each case, and cross referencing to the criminal justice database.
Health
Abortion
Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what scrutiny measures are in place to identify illegal abortion referrals; whether the competence for such scrutiny rests with the chief medical officer alone; and if he will make a statement. [190304]
Jane Ellison: Abortion is only legal if it is carried out within the terms of the Abortion Act 1967. Two doctors must be fully satisfied that any abortion is lawful, and that must be based on understanding the facts of a woman's case.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is responsible for monitoring the providers of abortion services in England, to make sure they comply with the regulations set out under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (HSCA).
If a CQC inspection identifies instances of non-compliance with the HSCA and Regulations then appropriate regulatory action will be taken.
The Department is responsible for administering the provisions of the Abortion Act. The Act places specific responsibilities on the Secretary of State and the chief medical officer. Departmental officials continue to monitor compliance with the Abortion Act through scrutiny of HSA4 forms.
An allegation of an illegal abortion should be reported to the police.
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department considers cleft palate to be a serious disability for the purposes of establishing the legality of abortions. [190390]
Jane Ellison [holding answer 6 March 2014]:The Abortion Act 1967 sets out the criteria for abortion which include the ground that
“there is a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped”.
Parliament did not define serious handicap and chose to leave this to the expert judgment of two doctors, based on the merits of each individual case.
Mr Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether it is necessary for a doctor to see a pregnant woman in order to make a judgement in good faith that she qualifies for an abortion under ground C of the Abortion Act 1967; [190721]
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(2) how many and what percentage of HSA4 forms did not specifically indicate whether the certifying doctors had seen or examined the patient in each of the last three years; [190799]
(3) whether failure properly to disclose on an HSA1 form whether a patient has been seen by the two certifying doctors constitutes a breach of the regulations governing abortion. [190801]
Jane Ellison: Since the 1967 Abortion Act was passed, the law has required that two doctors certify in good faith that there are lawful grounds for any abortion. Doctors must be fully satisfied that any abortion is lawful, and that must be based on understanding the facts of a woman's case.
From the data routinely collected from the HSA4 form, it is not possible to specify in how many cases the certifying doctor has seen and/or examined the woman seeking the abortion. This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
HSA1 forms are not submitted to the chief medical officer but are held locally for three years. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is responsible for monitoring the providers of abortion services in England, to monitor compliance with the regulations set out under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (HSCA). If a CQC inspection identifies instances of non-compliance with the HSCA and regulations, or other legislation, then appropriate regulatory action will be taken.
Breast Cancer
Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the efficacy and quality of care of patients with breast cancer in (a) Gillingham and Rainham constituency, (b) Medway, (c) Kent and (d) England; and if he will make a statement. [190975]
Jane Ellison: On 30 August 2013, NHS England published the national report of the 2013 Cancer Patient Experience Survey. The survey provides an invaluable insight into cancer patients' experience of care, treatment and support. The survey report includes the responses of over 68,000 patients, 13,916 of which had breast cancer. Nationally, patients with breast cancer reported the most positive experience of care.
Medway NHS Foundation Trust and Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust are the two providers covering the areas for Gillingham and Rainham constituency, Medway and Kent.
Medway NHS Foundation Trust is ranked 51st out of 155 trusts providing adult cancer care in England (with 1 being the best). Specifically on breast cancer, Medway Maritime performs slightly below average overall compared national scores. Although the Trust scores particularly well on questions relating to awareness of and participation in cancer research, it score less well on some questions relating interactions with doctors, patient experience of nurses on the ward and for patients being able to talk to a member of staff about their worries and fears.
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells is ranked 105th out of 155 providing adult cancer care in England. Specifically on breast cancer, Maidstone also performs slightly below average overall when compared national scores. In common with Medway, it scores particularly well on questions
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relating to cancer research, but below the national average on questions on patient experience of nurses on the ward, respect and. dignity, the provision of post- discharge information and support, help to deal with the side effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy and on provision of emotional support.
Trust level reports are helping to drive improvement locally, enabling commissioners to directly challenge and incentivise improvements and providers to benchmark their performance against one another. NHS England is also working with high performing trusts in the survey to identify best practice that can be shared and developed into toolkits and will then work with trusts with poorer scores to review how they use insights gained from the survey to develop service improvement plans.
Both national and trust level reports are available on the website of the survey provider, Quality Health, at the following links.
www.quality-health.co.uk/resources/surveys/national-cancer-experience-survey/2013-national-cancer-patient-experience-survey/2013-national-cancer-patient-experience-survey-reports/301-2013-national-cancer-patient-experience-survey-programme-national-report/file
www.quality-health.co.uk/resources/surveys/national-cancer-experience-survey/2013-national-cancer-patient-experience-survey-reports/south-east-strategic-health-authority/112-rnedway-nhs-foundation-trust/file
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust:
www.quality-health.co.uk/resources/surveys/national-cancer-experience-survey/2013-national-cancer-patient-experience-survey-reports/south-east-strategic-health-authority/110-maidstone-and-tunbridge-wells-nhs-trust/file
Diabetes
Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to better integrate care for people with diabetes across health and social care settings. [R] [190914]
Jane Ellison: The Department's approach to health and social integration is not condition-specific; rather we are supporting and facilitating joined-up care for citizens with any medical conditions or social care needs.
Local national health service and local authorities, through health and wellbeing boards, are responsible for meeting the needs of their communities, which will differ from place to place. That said, many people we expect to benefit from greater integrated care will have multiple long-term conditions, including diabetes, the prevalence of which has increased in recent years and is forecast to continue (the Department’s evidence for the Public Accounts Committee in 2012 showed that the percentage of the population diagnosed with diabetes doubled between 1994 and 2009; and the number of people with diabetes is expected to rise to from 3.1 million to 3.8 million by 2020).
The Department is supporting better joined-up health and social care in a number of ways. The 14 health and social care pioneers announced in November 2013 will be at the forefront of developing and showcasing innovative practice. From 2015-16 we will introduce a £3.8 billion pooled budget for better care across the country, for
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which local NHS organisations and local authorities will need to have joint plans in place from April 2014 to drive improvements from 2014-15.
Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of diabetes in social care settings; and what guidance he issues to commissioners on improving care for people with diabetes in social care. [R] [190915]
Jane Ellison: The treatment of individuals with diabetes, whether in national health service or social care settings, is the responsibility of local medical professionals acting in accordance with relevant professional guidelines and standards. The Care Quality Commission is responsible for inspecting care homes (as well as general practitioners surgeries and other NHS bodies) to ensure people receive safe, effective, compassionate and high-quality care, whatever their medical condition.
The Department has therefore not made any specific assessment of the effect of diabetes in social care settings, nor issued guidance to commissioners relating to people with diabetes in such settings.
Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the work of cardiovascular disease clinical networks and their role in improving diabetes care. [R] [190916]
Jane Ellison: Strategic Clinical Networks (SCNs) are managed by 12 locally based support teams which build and oversee effective network arrangements for their area, helping SCNs develop an annual programme of quality improvement in local services. Each SCN has an oversight group that monitors progress against the annual programme, of quality improvement.
There are 12 Cardiovascular Disease Strategic Clinical Networks. 10 of these have now appointed dedicated diabetes clinical leads. Diabetes UK is helping to support meetings between the NHS England National Clinical Director for Obesity and Diabetes, and the diabetes clinical leads and associate directors of the SCNs. This will ensure that best practice is shared across all 12 regional networks.
Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will report annually on progress against delivering the objectives within Action for Diabetes; [R] [190917]
(2) against what measures his recently published Action for Diabetes document will be assessed; [R] [190918]
(3) whether he plans to publish an implementation framework to accompany Action for Diabetes. [R] [190983]
Jane Ellison: Action for Diabetes sets out the broad vision and direction for how NHS England will support improvements in outcomes for people with and at risk of diabetes in the coming years, as a direct commissioner and as support to the commissioning system.
Outcomes for people with diabetes will continue to be measured through the NHS Outcomes Framework and the Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Indicator Set, which are both updated and published annually. Outcomes for people with diabetes will also be assessed
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via the National Diabetes Audit, which includes the core audit, the national inpatient diabetes audit, the national diabetes pregnancy audit, the national patient experience of diabetes services survey, and the national diabetes foot audit, due to be launched this summer.
There are currently no plans to publish an implementation framework to accompany Action for Diabetes.
Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to extend diabetes testing to people who are not eligible for the NHS Health Check Programme. [190984]
Jane Ellison: At this time, there are no plans to extend the eligible age range for the NHS Health Check programme. However, in some local areas where there is a high representation of vulnerable or high risk groups, local authorities may choose to extend the eligibility age range to target these groups.
Where an individual is not eligible for an NHS Health Check, it is at the discretion of the health professional to determine whether an assessment of diabetes should be undertaken.
Currently, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends that health professionals should encourage people aged 25-39 of South Asian, Chinese, African-Caribbean, black African and other high-risk black and minority ethnic groups, as well as adults with a condition that increases the risk of type 2 diabetes to complete an diabetes assessment.
Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many local authorities have prioritised (a) obesity and (b) diabetes in their (i) joint strategic needs assessments and (ii) joint health and wellbeing strategies to date. [R] [190985]
Norman Lamb: The Department does not systematically collect information on the priorities of local authorities, or the content of their joint strategic needs assessments (JSNAs) and joint health and wellbeing strategies (JHWSs).
JSNAs and JHWSs are locally-led processes, led by the Health and Wellbeing Board, through which local areas identify the current and future health and wellbeing needs of the local population.
They therefore offer valuable opportunities to lead efforts to reduce obesity and to prevent and treat diabetes in the local population. However, the Department has not highlighted any care group or area of need over another as this would risk undermining-the purpose of JSNAs being an objective, comprehensive and most importantly—a locally-owned process.
Advice from Public Health England (PHE) is that Directors for Public Health, responding to a survey issued by PHE and the Association for Directors for Public Health, reported that tackling child and adult obesity remains a priority, with the majority (97%) stating that child obesity was a priority in their local strategies.
Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he is taking to raise awareness of diabetes amongst black, Asian and minority ethnic and other hard to reach groups; [190986]
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(2) what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of the symptoms of diabetes. [190989]
Jane Ellison: The NHS Health Check programme raises awareness of diabetes and its symptoms among participants by assessing and discussing, among others, the risk factors for this disease with participants.
A key aim of the programme is to ensure equitable uptake of the NHS Health Check. To achieve this, local authorities focus particularly on groups that experience the greatest health inequality or that are known to be at higher risk of disease such as black, Asian and other high risk groups, and people who live in vulnerable circumstances.
In addition, Ministers support charities focusing on diabetes in black, Asian and minority ethnic groups to help raise awareness in Parliament and in the media.
NHS Improving Quality is working to produce material to promote better practice between local authorities. The focus of this material is the promotion and delivery of the NHS Health Check and the transition to an intervention post NHS Health Check for those groups described as “seldom seen and seldom heard”, with a particular focus on addressing health inequalities.
Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of diabetes have been diagnosed as a result of the NHS Health Check programme in each year since that programme's inception. [190987]
Jane Ellison: The number of diabetes cases diagnosed as a result of the NHS Health Check Programme is not currently recorded nationally. Economic modelling has demonstrated the potential for the programme to prevent 4,000 people a year from developing diabetes and detect at least 20,000 cases of diabetes or kidney disease.
The recent NHS Health Check Implementation review recommended taking action to improve the flow of data across the system, improve evidence and the evaluation of the programme. Public Health England are currently developing a research and evaluation strategy that will be published later this year.
Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people with diabetes who are unaware of their condition are tested for diabetes. [190988]
Jane Ellison: NHS England is putting a real emphasis on screening for high risk or the presence of Type 2 diabetes through NHS health checks. The NHS Health Check programme is a risk assessment and management programme, for those aged 40 to 74, aimed at raising awareness and preventing a range of illnesses, including Type 2 diabetes.
Delivery of the NHS Health Check programme has been mandated to local authorities from April 2013, and NHS England has an objective in its Mandate from the Department to work with Public Health England to support local government in this work.
Beginning on 23 September 2013, and supported by NHS England and Public Health England, Diabetes UK launched the largest ever Type 2 diabetes awareness campaign. The campaign aimed to raise awareness of the risk factors of Type 2 diabetes and enable people to
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understand their risk of developing the condition. Advertising was used to drive people to Diabetes UK's online risk score or into pharmacies for an assessment with information on what people should do next, depending on their risk level, including visiting their general practitioner (GP) if recommended. The charity wrote to all GP surgeries across the United Kingdom as well as professional organisations to advise about the campaign.
First Aid
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of potential ways to increase the number of people trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and using automated external defibrillators. [190948]
Jane Ellison: No recent assessment has been made of potential ways to increase the number of people trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and using automated external defibrillators.
However, NHS England is working with the British Heart Foundation and the Resuscitation Council to help drive up training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, identify the location of public access defibrillators and establish a national database.
The British Heart Foundation is also working successfully with industry partners to increase the public availability of defibrillators.
Health: Screening
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment has been made of the implementation of the NHS Health Check programme in England. [190949]
Jane Ellison: An implementation review of the NHS Health Check programme was published in July 2013. The review made 10 recommendations which are being addressed through the implementation of Public Health England's NHS Health Check 10 point action plan.
Recent data reported by local authorities confirmed that between April and December 2013, 13.2% of the eligible population (2,022,063 people) had been offered an NHS Health Check. Of those offered 48.1% (973,093 people) had received an NHS Health Check. This compares with 11.7% and 48.5% for offers and uptake respectively for the same period in 2012.
For the first time since the programme's implementation in 2009, the quarter three NHS Health Check data confirmed that all upper tier local authorities are now delivering the programme.
Heart Diseases
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how implementation of the Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes Strategy is monitored and evaluated; [190900]
(2) what recent steps NHS England has taken to incentivise and support primary care to consistently provided good management of people with, or at risk of, cardiovascular disease; [190947]
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(3) with reference to Action 4 of his Department's publication, Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes Strategy, what progress has been made by NHS England on developing new tools to support the improvement of detection rates for cardiovascular disease in primary care. [190991]
Jane Ellison: Outcomes for people with and at risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) are measured through the NHS Outcomes Framework and Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Indicator Set. NHS England has also established a working group with Public Health England which meets quarterly to discuss progress on the recommendations of the CVD Outcomes Strategy.
NHS England's future commissioning of primary care services will be informed and guided by the development of the primary care workstream of the Call to Action on the future of the NHS. This workstream is considering how best to drive and encourage better management of people with, or at risk of, all long-term conditions, including CVD.
NHS Improving Quality (NHS IQ) has developed the 'GRASP Suite' of primary care audit tools to help general practitioners (GPs) improve the detection and management of two cardiovascular conditions-atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF). Each of these toolkits contains a case finder, which helps GPs identify patients presenting with symptoms which may indicate the presence of AF or HF which has not been diagnosed, and a management audit tool comparing current management with National Institute for Health Care Excellence guidelines.
NHS IQ monitors the uptake and use of these toolkits, and currently over 2,600 practices in England have run and uploaded data from the AF toolkit. The HF toolkit will be formally launched later this year, though it is already available for use and is being promoted by NHS IQ.
The case finding elements of GRASP-AF and HF will have an impact on the recorded prevalence of these conditions, and the GRASP toolkits will allow us to monitor the increase in recorded prevalence of each of these conditions over time. The data collected also allow NHS IQ to monitor the management of AF and HF against NICE guidelines, and track future improvement in this management.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made by the national cardiovascular intelligence network in bringing together existing cardiovascular disease data. [190901]
Jane Ellison: Early National Cardiovascular Intelligence Networks (NCVIN) deliverables include a web portal—www.ncvin.org.uk—a series of factsheets with information and data about cardiovascular risk factors and disease areas and profiles presenting a baseline position for Strategic Clinical Groups (SCNs); clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and local authorities (LAs) geographies.
As well as bringing together data into a range of tools and resources, NCVIN will invest in supporting health professionals such as CCGs, LAs and clinicians in ensuring that this knowledge and evidence translates into quality improvement. NCVIN has invested in a programme of masterclasses developed and delivered
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with the NHS England SCNs and national audit programme partners. They will provide practical interpretation and increased understanding of the knowledge and evidence available across the cardiovascular family of diseases.
A key strategic priority of NCVIN will be to bring together the rich clinical data currently collected through a range of national clinical audit programmes which sit in organisations including the Royal College of Physicians, the Renal Registry, Health and Social Care Information Centre and National Institute for Cardiovascular Outcomes Research. These organisations are significant partners in the NCVIN.
In order to facilitate data sharing and opportunities for data linkage, Public Health England (PHE) has invested in NCVIN Clinical Leads embedded within the national audits. The NCVIN Partnership Board and NCVIN Clinical Leads will drive the work programme, identifying joint collaborative projects. A strategic goal of the NCVIN is to develop a cardiovascular population view from across the data sources. PHE is working with partners to understand what infrastructure and information governance frameworks will be required to ensure that this is achieved.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent assessment he has made of the efficacy of the processes for identifying (a) familial hypercholesterolemia and (b) sudden cardiac death and inherited cardiac conditions; [190938]
(2) what steps have been taken by the National Clinical Director for Heart Disease to spread good practice on identifying people who may have (a) familial hypercholesterolemia, (b) inherited sudden cardiac death or (c) another inherited heart condition. [191043]
Jane Ellison: No recent assessment has been made of the efficacy of the processes for identifying familial hypercholesterolemia, sudden cardiac death or familial hypercholesterolemia.
The National Clinical Director for Heart Disease (NCD) at NHS England is currently working with the Cardiovascular Disease Strategic Clinical Networks to promote cascade testing for the relatives of people who have familial hypercholesterolemia, sudden cardiac death or another inherited heart condition.
In addition, the NCD for Cardiac Care met with the Chief Coroner who agreed to send out a letter to all coroners highlighting the importance of offering appropriate information to families when a young (<40 years) member of their family is thought to have died from an inherited cardiac condition. The information is supplied by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), and both BHF and the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young offer support and advice regarding referral for specialist advice.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of cardiovascular disease in the last 12 months. [190945]
Jane Ellison:
Public Health England (PHE) and the national health service have taken steps to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of cardiovascular disease. At an individual patient level, health care professionals
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will use their judgment to provide clinically appropriate information and advice on the signs and symptoms of cardiovascular disease.
Specific information on cardiovascular disease, its signs and symptoms can also be accessed by the public through the NHS Choices website. Information on cardiovascular disease was also shared directly with just over 2,022,063 people between April and December 2013 as part of the NHS Health Check invitation. Over the same period, 973,093 people also benefited from a discussion about cardiovascular disease as part of the NHS Health Check.
At a population level, PHE has continued to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of stroke through the Act FAST (Face Arms Speech Time) campaign. PHE has also launched two pilot campaigns, one on breathlessness and one on high blood pressure, both of which are symptoms of cardiovascular disease. These pilots aim to improve early diagnosis by encouraging people to visit their doctor to check for these signs and symptoms of cardiovascular disease. PHE will be evaluating the pilot's performance by collection and analysis of clinical data.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people with coronary heart disease have a co-morbidity in England. [190950]
Jane Ellison: These data are not collected centrally. The Long Term Conditions Compendium (Third Edition), which was published in 2012, stated that 33% of people with one long-term condition have at least one other condition. The Long Term Conditions Compendium is available online at the following weblink:
www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/216528/dh_134486.pdf
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to paragraph 37 of his Department's Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes Strategy, what steps Public Health England has taken to work with NHS England and the Health and Social Care Information Centre on risk factors for cardiovascular disease. [191040]
Jane Ellison: Public Health England (PHE) has established a national cardiovascular intelligence network (NCVIN) with a range of organisations including NHS England, the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), the custodians of cardiovascular national audit programmes and various charities. Further information can be found at:
www.ncvin.org.uk
Working with both the HSCIC and NHS England, PHE routinely provides data and intelligence on the range of risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Early deliverables have included:
a series of sourced and referenced key facts on risk factors for cardiovascular disease published through NCVIN;
publication of the Public Health Outcomes Framework indicators through a web portal, with specific indicators relating to CVD risk factors, found at:
www.phoutcomes.info/
health profiles providing a snapshot overview of health for each local authority in England to inform joint strategic needs assessments and health and wellbeing board priorities and
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working with NHS England and NHS Right Care to develop Commissioning for Value CVD focus packs for all clinical commissioning groups in England.
In collaboration with NHS England and HSCIC, PHE continues to develop and establish robust datastreams for CVD risk factors.
PHE also worked with NHS England to publish and deliver on the NHS Health Check 10 point action plan. Further to this PHE is now progressing a joint programme of activity to improve clinical follow-up and management.
Hospitals: Waiting Lists
Julie Hilling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many operations were cancelled on or after the day of admission in each NHS trust in England in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [191000]
Jane Ellison: The information has been placed in the Library.
Human Papillomavirus: Gillingham
Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in Gillingham and Rainham constituency have received the human papillomavirus vaccine since its introduction. [190929]
Jane Ellison: Data are available from September 2008 to August 2013 and available only at the old primary care trust (PCT) level. The constituency of Gillingham and Rainham falls within the boundaries of Medway PCT.
Since September 2008, at least 10,426 girls were reported from Medway PCT to have received the completed course of three doses of human papillomavirus vaccine. This figure will be an underestimate due to some girls receiving their vaccine after the data submission date.
Malnutrition
Sarah Newton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent estimate he has made of the number of hospital admissions for malnutrition; and if he will make a statement. [191006]
Jane Ellison: A count of finished admission episodes for patients with a primary or secondary diagnosis of malnutrition in England in 2012-13 showed 5,499 admissions. This is not a count of patients as the same patient may be admitted more than once in a financial year.
The Government are helping to raise awareness of malnutrition among individuals and carers though NHS Choices and we are funding a pilot led by the Malnutrition Taskforce to reduce malnutrition among older people in health and care settings and the community.
Medical Records: Databases
Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether any companies with contracts to receive NHS patient data approved by the former NHS information centre are still being provided with data updates by the new Health and Social Care Information Centre. [190888]
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Dr Poulter: There are data sharing agreements that were in place prior to 1 April 2013 and therefore agreed by the NHS Information Centre, which permit the use of data after 31 March 2013, and therefore during the existence of the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC). There are also agreements approved by the NHS Information Centre which permit the provision of additional data post 31 March 2013.
On 5 March 2014 the HSCIC Board agreed four important steps to improve the transparency of its decision-making and build public trust in its actions. The measures included writing to all recipients of HSCIC data to remind them of their responsibilities under their data sharing agreements, the HSCIC's right to audit use of the data released to them, and the HSCIC's intention to publish details of their access.
Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Health and Social Care Information Centre will be liable to legal action initiated by companies to which they have refused to supply patient data under the care.data scheme. [190932]
Dr Poulter: As data controller, the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) is legally responsible for the data it collects and can decide to provide them to third parties or not.
A third party could sue HSCIC for breach of contract but could not force the HSCIC to release data where HSCIC was concerned about the purpose of the use of the data.
Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 25 February 2014, Official Report, column 275W, on medical records: database, what remedial action for breach of contract would involve. [190940]
Dr Poulter: Extracts have not yet begun, therefore, NHS England has not finalised what remedial action would be taken for a breach of contract. Focus is on supporting general practitioner practices to ensure that patients understand how their information is shared for these purposes and the choices they have available to them.
Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the value is of the care.data contract with Atos. [190943]
Dr Poulter: There is no care.data contract in place with Atos.
Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which companies bid for the care.data contract. [190944]
Dr Poulter: There is no care.data contract.
Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons his Department awarded the care.data contract to Atos. [190946]
Dr Poulter: There is no care.data contract in place with Atos.
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Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what auditing procedures are in place to monitor the use of NHS patient data which has been provided to companies. [190951]
Dr Poulter: Where identifiable data, ‘red data’, or de-identified data for limited disclosure or access, 'amber data', have been provided to a third party, the Health and Social Care Information Centre will draw up a data sharing agreement. This agreement will include the right to undertake an audit of the licensee to ensure that the terms of the agreement are being followed.
The Health and Social Care Information Centre will only release data if there is a legal basis to do so, for the good of health and care and patient privacy will be respected.
Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether patient data can be retrieved after it has been extracted under care.data. [190952]
Dr Poulter: If a patient objects to the use of their personal information for purposes other than direct care following an extraction, they can instruct the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) to stop processing their identifiable information in the different data collections the HSCIC is responsible for. They can do this by completing an appropriate form available on the HSCIC website and providing proof of their identity.
If a patient objects and the identifiable information is removed, the HSCIC can continue to use the information that relates to the individual, but has been anonymised, to compile statistics and reports. This is because information that does not identify an individual is neither personal nor private and the Data Protection Act 1998 no longer applies to it, therefore the law allows its use. Anonymised data, which reveal no personal information about patients, are immensely helpful to the national health service, public health and social care.
Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether companies will be permitted to use patient data extracted under care.data for profit-making activities. [190953]
Dr Poulter: The Health and Social Care Information Centre will only disseminate information for the purposes of the provision of health care or adult social care or the promotion of health.
Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he will take to ensure that patient data extracted as part of care.data will not be sent outside the UK. [190954]
Dr Poulter: In accordance with the Information Commissioner's Office, personal data can be transferred to countries within the European economic area (EEA) on the same basis as transferring data within the United Kingdom. The Health and Social Information Centre may only release information under its general dissemination powers if for the purposes of health and care or adult social care provision, or the promotion of health.
Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has carried out a risk assessment on care.data. [190955]