Every parliamentary written question tabled by Clive Jones this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 281–300 of 511 · this parliament
What estimate the UK Statistics Authority has made of the number of small businesses in Wokingham constituency in January (a) 2021, (b) 2022, (c) 2023, (d) 2024 and (e) 2025.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 21st February is attached.
If he will make it his policy to provide GPs with training to diagnose brain tumours.
The standard of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), which is an independent statutory body. The GMC has the general function of promoting high standards of education and co-ordinating all stages of education to ensure that medical students and newly qualified doctors are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for professional practice The curriculum for general practitioner (GP) specialty training is set by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), and has to meet the standards set by the GMC and be formally approved by them. Whilst the curriculum may not necessarily highlight a specific condition, it instead emphasises the skills and approaches a GP must develop to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients. This is assessed by the Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners Examination.The RCGP provides several resources on cancer prevention, diagnosis and care for GPs, relevant for the primary care setting.
Innovation and Technology, if he will make it his policy to conduct a lessons learned review following the negotiations with AstraZeneca for investment in Speke.
AstraZeneca’s decision not to invest in Speke is deeply disappointing. The Government regularly reviews it’s grant process and routinely seeks applicant feedback. The Government also continues to engage positively with AstraZeneca, including on the new Industrial Strategy and Life Sciences Sector Plan, due to be published in late Spring. This will set out a comprehensive plan of how the Government intends to drive growth in the sector. Support includes the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund, which will allocate up to £520 million to deliver economic growth and build health resilience.
If she will take steps with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to ensure that written Parliamentary questions are answered on time.
Parliament has a right to hold Ministers to account. I have written to all members of Cabinet to remind Ministers of their responsibilities to provide helpful and timely responses to Members' PQs.The Procedure Committee monitors individual department’s PQ performance and it recently published a report into performance in the 2023–24 Session (available at: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/8673/written-parliamentary-questions-departmental-performance-in-session-202324/publications/). I look forward to working with the Committee on this and other matters.I encourage hon. Members to raise any specific issues they may have with myself and my office.
Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February to Question 29747 on AstraZeneca, if he will place a copy of the requested letter in the House of Commons Library.
Due to commercial confidentiality considerations, we are unable to place the requested letter in the House of Commons Library. As with any application for Government grant funding of this nature, all cases undergo rigorous due diligence, which assesses whether the investment represents good value for money for the taxpayer.The Government remains committed to improving the business environment for Life Sciences companies. We continue to engage positively with AstraZeneca on the new Industrial Strategy and Life Sciences Sector Plan, due to be published in late Spring. This will set out a comprehensive plan of how the Government intends to drive growth in the sector.
What steps she is taking to improve the reliability of signalling on the Great Western Main Line out of Twyford.
Ministers have met with both Great Western Railway and Network Rail on operational performance which is the Secretary of State’s key focus for improvement. Recent performance for Network Rail has improved including the infrastructure on the mainline around Twyford. Improving signalling is part of an ongoing project between Network Rail western region and Great Western Railway.
If she will make an estimate of the number of eligible pensioners who were not claiming Pension Credit in Wokingham constituency on 31 January 2025.
Published DWP Pension Credit Take-up statistics estimate that up to 760,000 households who were entitled to receive Pension Credit did not claim the benefit. These statistics are only available at Great Britain level and cannot be broken down to smaller geographical areas. The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics for Great Britain cover the financial year 2022 to 2023 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2023 - GOV.UKLatest caseload statistics show that as of August 2024, there were 1,359,773 people in receipt of Pension Credit in Great Britain, of which 798 were in Wokingham constituency. This data is available via DWP Stat-Xplore.
If she will make it her policy to extend the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund beyond March 2025.
I refer the hon. Member for Wokingham to the answer of 29 January 2025 to Question 26025.
Pursuant to the Answer of 18 February 2025 to Question 30436 on GPs, what proportion of the 38,000 additional roles recruited through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme are GPs.
Over 38,000 direct patient care roles such as pharmacists and physios have been recruited into practices and primary care networks (PCNs) from March 2019 to December 2024. This data does not include general practitioners (GPs) employed through the scheme. PCNs have been able to recruit newly qualified GPs through the scheme since October 2024. Information on the number of recently qualified general practitioners for which primary care networks are claiming reimbursement via the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme is currently being collated but is not yet published. We are working to collate and verify the data and establish its reliability, which is necessary before any dataset can be published.
What steps his Department is taking to promote awareness of kidney cancer awareness month.
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to the Hon. Member for Strangford on 23 January 2025 to Question 24851.
What steps his Department is taking to promote awareness of oesophageal cancer month.
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to the Hon. Member for Strangford on 23 January 2025 to Question 24851.
Pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2025 to Question 29713 on radiotherapy machines, when he plans to publish the funding allocation for the £70 million investment for replacing older radiotherapy machines.
NHS England will be writing shortly to those trusts which have been allocated funding for a replacement machine. There are currently no plans to publish full details of the funding allocation.
What steps his Department is taking to promote prostate cancer awareness month.
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to the Hon. Member for Strangford on 23 January 2025 to Question 24851.
Pursuant to the Answer of 18 February 2025 to Question 30436 on GPs, what progress he has made of recruiting more than 1,000 GPs through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme.
When the Government became aware of the reports of general practitioner (GP) unemployment amongst newly qualified GPs, we acted immediately and identified £82 million of additional funding to allow for newly qualified GPs to be employed through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, as a first step in addressing the issues of GP unemployment and increasing capacity so that patients can access appointments.Information on the number of recently qualified GPs for which primary care networks are claiming reimbursement via the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme is currently being collated, but is not yet published. We are working to verify the data and establish its reliability, which is necessary before any dataset can be published.
What steps his Department is taking to promote awareness of brain tumour awareness month.
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to the Hon. Member for Strangford on 23 January 2025 to Question 24851.
Pursuant to the Answer of 28 January to Question 25057 on Workforce freezes, whether he plans to publish an Answer following engagement with NHS England.
We have increased specialty training places for key roles, such as radiologists, radiographers, and other diagnostic professionals, alongside initiatives to improve retention and reduce reliance on outsourcing. These efforts are part of our continued commitment to building a resilient, sustainable service capable of meeting rising demand and improving patient outcomes.We are aware of cases where trusts have put recruitment restrictions in place in diagnostic services. Systems and trusts need to manage their expenditure within the budgets they have been allocated for the year. Information regarding proportion of trusts is not currently available.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2025 to Question 18874 on Leasehold: Ground Rent, what the Government's timetable is for (a) publishing its response to the consultation entitled Modern Leasehold: Restricting Ground Rent for Existing Leases, which closed on 17 January 2025, and (b) bringing forward legislative proposals.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 18874 on 17 December 2024
If he will hold discussions with (a) people that use catheters, (b) clinicians and (c) manufacturers on the potential impact of the proposals set out in the document entitled, Proposals for updating Part IX of the Drug Tariff: Medical Devices available for prescribing in Primary Care, published in October 2023, on (i) the ability of clinicians to prescribe the most appropriate product for patients, (ii) patient (A) experience and (B) outcomes and (iii) costs to the NHS.
Officials in the Department have been engaging with people that use catheters, clinicians, and manufacturers on the proposals to update Part IX of the Drug Tariff. We will continue to do so as the work progresses. Following the consultation on proposed updates to Part IX of the Drug Tariff, the Department commissioned a patient survey and focus groups with people that use products available for prescribing, including catheters. This has been hugely important in gathering input from patients about what features they value in medical devices used outside of hospital. A report is currently being compiled on the findings and will be shared with interested parties.Eight Expert Reference Groups covering the range of medical devices available on Part IX of the Drug Tariff, including urological care, were established to gather input from experts, including clinicians. In addition to the consultation, since August, manufacturers have been invited to comment on the draft iterations of the recategorization work and assessment framework. Now that the recategorization work is nearly finalised, with a view to resharing with stakeholders, the analysis is being updated to assess any impact on costs to the National Health Service. This work does not change the fact that Part IX of the Drug Tariff is a list of available products for prescribing and clinicians can still select the most appropriate product for patients. The aim is to increase comparability of the many thousands of products available for prescribing.
If he will publish all responses to the consultation entitled Proposals for updating Part IX of the Drug Tariff: Medical Devices available for prescribing in Primary Care, published in October 2023.
The response to the Part IX Drug Tariff Consultation was issued in August 2024 to the target audience. The response to the consultation summarises the responses and sets out the Government’s response and the next steps. Given the potentially commercially sensitive information in the responses to the consultation, the Department will not publish the individual responses.
For what reason the consultation on the review of Part IX of the Drug Tariff was restricted; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that the review does not lead to the removal of access to the most clinically-appropriate products for patients who intermittently self-catheterise.
The Part IX Drug Tariff Consultation was open between October 2023 and January 2024, and was targeted rather than public, owing to its complex subject matter. The consultation was sent to trade associations and companies with listings on Part IX of the Drug Tariff, National Health Service commissioners, clinical groups, and patient representative groups. There are 825 intermittent catheters listed on Part IX with approximately £176 million spent on them annually. The amendments that were consulted on intend to increase meaningful choice, not to decrease choice for clinicians and patients, intend to increase comparison between products, which can increase awareness of different brands amongst prescribers, and support the adoption of innovation that can improve patient outcomes and quality of life.