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101028

registered interest
date	27/10/2014
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Working Tax Credit: Merseyside
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many children aged eight to 17 years old there are in Merseyside in households in receipt of working tax credit and earning below £16,000.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Mr Frank Field
uin	212143
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/11/2014 answer text As of April 2014, there were 37,100 children aged eight to seventeen years old in families from the Merseyside Local Authority area in receipt of Working Tax Credit with a household income below £16,000.<p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>This figure includes children from families in receipt of both Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. Not all families included in this figure will have received the same level of entitlement, as the Working Tax Credit element is tapered away if the household income is greater than £6,420.</strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Witham answering member printed Priti Patel question first answered 13/11/2014 13:22:32 answering member 4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

100819

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	Ghana
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with her Ghanaian counterparts on the use of UK aid to support small-scale farmers in that country.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Mr Frank Field
uin	211766
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/10/2014 answer text <p>I spoke to the President of Ghana and others in Government when I visited Ghana earlier this year about furthering economic development in the country. Those discussions included how we could help to foster growth in the agricultural sector in ways that will benefit poor farmers. I visited sites where DFID is supporting initiatives to do this.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In Ghana, DFID has three projects whose primary aim is to enable poor farmers to earn more income. One is centred on two irrigation schemes that will benefit thousands of small-scale farmers. Another is an investment fund to help agricultural businesses. The third provides support to improve the way that markets work for poor people, concentrating on six agricultural products. DFID aims to ensure that 30,000 poor producers in Ghana have improved access to services by March 2016.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hornsey and Wood Green answering member printed Lynne Featherstone question first answered 28/10/2014 16:31:15 answering member 1531 label Biography information for Baroness Featherstone
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

100369

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Livestock: Antibiotics
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to prevent the overuse of antibiotics on farm animals.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Mr Frank Field
uin	211636
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>In September 2013 the Government published the UK Five Year Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Strategy 2013 to 2018 which is led by the Department of Health, Public Health England and Defra. An annual progress report and implementation plan for the strategy is due for publication in November. This report will describe progress in implementing the strategy. It will include the further measures on animal health to be taken over the next four years to respond to the risk of AMR and to promote the responsible use of antibiotics.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Camborne and Redruth answering member printed George Eustice question first answered 29/10/2014 15:39:34 answering member 3934 label Biography information for George Eustice
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

100395

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Hong Kong
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Chinese government on the recent demonstrations in Hong Kong.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Mr Frank Field
uin	211516
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p>I refer the right hon. Member to my answer of 14 October 2014 (PQ 210244).</p> answering member constituency East Devon answering member printed Mr Hugo Swire question first answered 27/10/2014 14:39:42 answering member 1408 label Biography information for Lord Swire
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

100396

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Bahrain
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the government of Bahrain on its human rights record.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Mr Frank Field
uin	211637
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>Our Ambassador and his team regularly discuss human rights and political reform with the Government of Bahrain at the highest levels. We are supportive of the reforms underway in Bahrain and commend the steps taken by the Bahraini government to implement the recommendations set out in the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry and UN Universal Periodic Review. Whilst progress has been made in a number of areas, we are clear that more needs to be done. I will continue to encourage the Government of Bahrain to ensure that the recommendations are fully implemented.</p> answering member constituency Bournemouth East answering member printed Mr Tobias Ellwood question first answered 29/10/2014 16:04:36 answering member 1487 label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

100400

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	Pancreatic Cancer
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that the NHS improves the diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Mr Frank Field
uin	211514
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>Achieving earlier diagnosis of cancer is key to our ambition to save an additional 5,000 lives per year by 2014-15. We are investing £450 million to achieve early diagnosis of cancer through better public awareness, better screening and better access to key diagnostic tests. However we know that early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer can be very difficult as the symptoms are shared with a wide range of benign conditions.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer (2005) are available to help general practitioners assess when it is appropriate to refer patients for suspected cancer, including pancreatic cancer. NICE is in the process of updating the guidelines to ensure that these reflect latest evidence and can continue to support general practitioners (GPs) to identify patients with suspected cancer symptoms and urgently refer them as appropriate. NICE’s anticipated publication date for the revised guidelines is May 2015.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We understand that NHS England has asked NICE to develop a clinical guideline and quality standard on pancreatic cancer.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>At a local level, it is for individual clinical commissioning groups to promote and enhance the diagnostic capability to deliver better outcomes. Surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatments that may be used for pancreatic cancer are commissioned at the moment by NHS England. NHS England’s pancreatic cancer service specification clearly defines what it expects to be in place for providers to offer evidence-based, safe and effective pancreatic cancer services. This service specification has been developed by specialised clinicians, commissioners, expert patients and public health representatives to describe core and developmental service standards.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>NHS England has also committed to make up to £6 million available over the next three years to support six trials by Cancer Research UK into the use of Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR), an innovative radiotherapy treatment. This will allow patients to receive SABR treatment now, where clinicians think they could benefit. At the same time doctors can fully assess the effectiveness of these treatments so that in future, if it proves to be effective, they will be available for all relevant patients on the NHS. One of these six trials will be on pancreatic cancer.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p>The Department published Improving Outcomes for Upper Gastro-Intestinal Cancers in 2001, which describes best practice in the delivery of services for patients with all types of upper gastro-intestinal cancer, including pancreatic cancer.<br> <br> NICE has recommended gemcitabine as a treatment option for pancreatic cancer in technology appraisal guidance published in May 2001, subject to certain clinical criteria and is currently appraising a number of other pancreatic cancer drugs. Patients have the right to drugs and treatments that have been recommended by NICE technology appraisal guidance for use in the National Health Service, where their doctor believes they are clinically appropriate. <br> <br> A number of drugs to treat pancreatic cancers are also available through the Cancer Drugs Fund.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Battersea answering member printed Jane Ellison question first answered 29/10/2014 16:58:52 answering member 3918 label Biography information for Jane Ellison
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

100401

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	Motor Neurone Disease
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that the NHS is meeting the communication needs of people with motor neurone disease.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Mr Frank Field
uin	211515
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>Since 1 April 2013 NHS England has been responsible for commissioning Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) aids for patients with complex disability whose needs require specialised assessment, including for patients with motor neurone disease. Commissioning of non-specialised AAC aids is the responsibility of local clinical commissioning groups.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>NHS England has published a service specification for specialised AAC aids that sets out what should be in place for providers to offer evidence-based, safe and effective services. The specification can be found at:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><a href="http://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/d01-com-dis-equ-alt-aug-comm-aids.pdf" target="_blank">www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/d01-com-dis-equ-alt-aug-comm-aids.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>NHS England has identified an additional £22.5 million funding for AAC and Environmental Controls in 2014-15. They have been working closely with the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) to ensure this funding is equitably distributed across England in a fair and consistent manner. The MNDA are representing all patients on the panel which is reviewing this funding allocation.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Norfolk answering member printed Norman Lamb question first answered 29/10/2014 17:16:16 answering member 1439 label Biography information for Norman Lamb
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

100408

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	NHS: Temporary Employment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the staff budgets of NHS trusts and foundation trusts consisted of expenditure on contract and agency staff in each of the last five financial years.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Mr Frank Field
uin	211594
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p>Following the Francis report[1] many trusts increased their spend on temporary staffing to meet safe staffing levels.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department expects trusts to have a strong grip on their finances, and manage their contract and agency[2] staffing spend responsibly through effective and efficient workforce planning and management.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The proportion of National Health Service foundation trusts staff budgets that consisted of expenditure on contract and agency staff in each of the last five financial years is set out in the following table:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Proportion</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013-14</p></td><td><p>5.3%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>4.5%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011-12</p></td><td><p>4.0%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010-11</p></td><td><p>4.4%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009-10</p></td><td><p>5.0%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The proportion of NHS trusts staff budgets that consisted of expenditure on contract and agency staff in 2013-14 is 6.3%. Previous years are not available as agency and contract staff were not identified separately from other non permanent staff[3].</p><p> </p><br /><p>[1] <a href="http://www.midstaffspublicinquiry.com/" target="_blank">http://www.midstaffspublicinquiry.com/</a></p><p> </p><p>[2]The definition of Contract / Agency staff is: “Agency” employee payments for the employment of staff where the staff remain employees of the agency and “Contract staff” where the NHS trust has control over numbers and qualifications of staff (in contrast to a service obtained under contract) .</p><p> </p><p>[3] non-permanent staff are defined as “others engaged on the objectives of the organisation including staff on inward secondment or loan from other organisations, bank/agency/temporary staff and contract staff.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Central Suffolk and North Ipswich answering member printed Dr Daniel Poulter question first answered 27/10/2014 16:40:13 answering member 3932 label Biography information for Dr Dan Poulter
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

100412

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	Dementia
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that people with dementia receive an early diagnosis.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Mr Frank Field
uin	211631
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>Improving dementia diagnosis is a key component of the Prime Minister’s Challenge on dementia. NHS England has set the first ever national ambition to improve dementia diagnosis. By March 2015, our aim is that two-thirds of the estimated number of people with dementia receive a diagnosis and appropriate post diagnostic support.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We have taken the following steps in order to ensure that people with dementia receive a timely diagnosis;</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>- We have put in place a new Dementia Directed Enhanced Service which has had over 80% take up by general practitioners (GPs) to reward practices for facilitating timely diagnosis and support for people with dementia. NHS England has allocated £5 million to fund an additional enhanced service for GPs to run between October 2014 and March 2015 to drive improvements in dementia diagnosis.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>- On 10 September 2014 NHS England published a new Dementia Toolkit aimed at helping GPs making a more timely diagnosis and what they can do in terms of vital post-diagnostic support.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>- In the hospital setting, through the Dementia Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) reward (introduced from April 2012), with around 4,000 referrals a month, it is clear that more people with dementia in hospitals are being identified and assessed.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>- All National Health Service staff looking after people with dementia will go through a dementia awareness programme. Health Education England will provide Tier 1 training to an additional 250,000 staff by March 2015, and will ensure that the tools and training opportunities are available to all staff by the end of 2018.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Norfolk answering member printed Norman Lamb question first answered 29/10/2014 15:00:31 answering member 1439 label Biography information for Norman Lamb
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

100413

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	Prostate Cancer
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Mr Frank Field
uin	211632
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>Achieving earlier diagnosis of cancer is key to our ambition to save an additional 5,000 lives per year by 2014-15. We are investing £450 million to achieve early diagnosis of cancer through better public awareness, better screening and better access to key diagnostic tests.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer (2005) are available to help general practitioners (GPs) assess when it is appropriate to refer patients for suspected cancer, including prostate cancer. NICE is in the process of updating the guidelines to ensure that these reflect latest evidence and can continue to support GPs to identify patients with suspected cancer symptoms and urgently refer them as appropriate. NICE’s anticipated publication date for the revised guidelines is May 2015.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>At a local level, it is for individual clinical commissioning groups to promote and enhance the diagnostic capability to deliver better outcomes. Surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatments that may be used for prostate cancer are commissioned at the moment by NHS England. NHS England’s prostate cancer service specification clearly defines what it expects to be in place for providers to offer evidence-based, safe and effective prostate cancer services. This service specification has been developed by specialised clinicians, commissioners, expert patients and public health representatives to describe core and developmental service standards.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>NICE published an updated clinical guideline on the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer in January 2014. NICE has recommended docetaxel, abiraterone and enzalutamide as treatment options for some types of prostate cancer, subject to certain clinical criteria and is currently appraising a number of other prostate cancer drugs. Patients have the right to drugs and treatments that have been recommended by NICE technology appraisal guidance for use in the National Health Service, where their doctor believes they are clinically appropriate. A number of drugs to treat prostate cancer are available through the Cancer Drugs Fund.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>This Government is also investing in innovative radiotherapy treatments to improve outcomes for those with cancer. NHS England has also committed to make up to £6 million available over the next three years to support six trials by Cancer Research UK into the use of Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiotherapy (SABR). This will allow patients to receive SABR treatment now, where clinicians think they could benefit. At the same time doctors can fully assess the effectiveness of these treatments so that in future, if it proves to be effective, they will be available for all relevant patients on the NHS. Two of these six trials will be on prostate cancer.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We have also invested £23 million across 50 United Kingdom centres aimed at increasing the capacity of radiotherapy centres in England to deliver Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT). We committed to achieving the ambition of 24% of all radiotherapy to be delivered through more accurate IMRT, and we are now seeing 35% of all radical radiotherapy treatments delivered using this method compared to 5% in 2010.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The National Prostate Cancer Audit (NPCA) began collecting data in April 2014 and is due to publish the first of four annual reports during November 2014. The NPCA is the first national clinical audit of the care that men receive following a diagnosis of prostate cancer. It is designed to collect information about the diagnosis, management and treatment of every patient newly diagnosed with prostate cancer in England and Wales, and their outcomes. The findings from the audit will contribute to changes in clinical practice ensuring that patients receive the best care possible and experience an improved quality of life. The audit is funded by the Department and has been commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Battersea answering member printed Jane Ellison question first answered 29/10/2014 16:57:06 answering member 3918 label Biography information for Jane Ellison
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead