Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment NHS England has made of the level of need for specialist renal services to deal with the complications and emergencies associated with dialysis; and how such services will be commissioned from April 2015.
Answered by Jane Ellison
NHS England has advised that they are in dialogue with key stakeholders about both the opportunities and challenges of transferring responsibility for renal services. The head of the Specialised Services Task Force in NHS England recently met stakeholders from renal service representative groups and heard their concerns directly.
The Department intends to launch a public consultation by the end of 2014 on the recommendations put forward by the independent clinically-led advisory group (Prescribed Specialised Services Advisory Group) to transfer commissioning responsibility for renal services from NHS England to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs).
This public consultation will specifically be asking key stakeholders involved in the provision of renal dialysis what NHS England would need to do to ensure a safe transfer of commissioning responsibilities to CCGs. This consultation will also be asking stakeholders specifically whether the current proposed timescales for the transfer of services are feasible.
A new Task & Finish group is being established by NHS England through the NHS Commissioning Assembly. This group will look specifically at what support CCGs would require to be able to safely and effectively commission services devolved to them.
NHS England is committed to issuing commissioning guidance for the safe transfer of services from national NHS England responsibility to local CCG responsibility.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 13 January 2014 to Question 181067, how many identified victims of trafficking who (a) participated and (b) did not participate in criminal proceedings were granted discretionary leave to remain on the grounds of personal circumstances in 2013; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by James Brokenshire
In 2013, 52 people who had been granted discretionary leave due to being recognised as victims of trafficking participated in criminal proceedings by assisting the police with their investigations into human trafficking.A further 35 individuals were granted discretionary leave but did not
participate in criminal proceedings.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many copies of her Department's publication Modern Slavery: how the UK is leading the fight have been printed to date; at what cost; and to whom that publication has been distributed.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The ‘Modern Slavery: how the UK is leading the fight’ booklet was published in the summer as part of our wider communications campaign to raise awareness that slavery exists in the UK. The booklet provides details of the Government’s comprehensive programme of activity to tackle modern slavery, including: information about how the Modern Slavery Bill will both help law enforcement to fight the crime more effectively and enhance protection and support for victims; detail of how we will ensure relevant partners will play their part; additional work being undertaken to improve victims identification, protection and support; work to safeguard child victims; partnerships with the private sector; and how we our developing our international response.
600 copies of the booklet have been printed at a cost of £192.84.The booklet has been distributed widely to Parliamentarians, civil society groups, and youth Parliament members. All copies printed to date have been distributed. The booklet is also available online via the GOV.UK website and PDF copies have additionally been distributed.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 4 February 2014 to Question 902388, how many victims of human trafficking received pre-trial therapy and counselling in accordance with the victims' code service in each of the last three years; what the cost to the public purse was of such therapy; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The Government funds the Adult Human Trafficking Care and Co-ordination contract which ensures that potential victims of trafficking receive
appropriate care and support once they have been identified. As part of this contract and in compliance with our international obligations (Council of Europe Convention and the EU Directive on Trafficking in Human Beings), the Home Office has made it a core requirement for the Contractor to provide access to a range of specialist services, including therapy and counselling, to victims of trafficking who request or require it.
Such services are not necessarily related to pre-trial circumstances. Most victims of trafficking who are assisting the police are usually called to trial after they have left the service. As a result, pre-trial therapy and counselling would be received from other sources and not under the contract. For this reason, the Home Office does not collect the requested information.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) training and (b) financial assistance the Government has provided to local authorities to tackle human trafficking and modern slavery in each year from 2011 to 2014 to date.
Answered by Karen Bradley
No training or financial assistance has been provided directly to local authorities, by the Home Office, to tackle human trafficking and modern slavery in the years 2011-2014.
In 2013, three Non-Government Organisations were awarded total grant funding of approximately £75,000 by the Home Office to provide training to a range of local professionals, including those working in local authorities.
Home Office funding of £420,000 is being provided to Barnardo’s to fund independent child advocacy service trials for a period of twelve months in 23 local authorities.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what procedures her Department has in place to ensure that reliable victim evidence can be gathered and presented in court during prosecutions for trafficking.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The Government funds the Adult Human Trafficking Care and Co-ordination contract which ensures that potential victims of trafficking receive
appropriate care and support once they have been identified. As part of this contract and in compliance with our international obligations (Council of Europe Convention and the EU Directive on Trafficking in Human Beings), the Home Office has made it a core requirement for the Contractor to provide assistance to victims at appropriate stages of criminal proceedings against offenders. The Contractor is also required to cooperate with the police and judicial service in order to assist in the prosecution of potential offenders particularly when requests for information are made.
Such assistance includes:
• explaining to victims the relevant procedures relating to the prosecution of offenders;
• encouraging victims to cooperate with any police enquiries and with the wider justice system.
• explaining to victims where relevant, what role they will have in court proceedings; and
• facilitating access to independent legal support for victims and where appropriate assisting victims to apply for Legal Aid.
In addition, the police have raised awareness amongst its officers about the need to ensure that victims are at the centre of any modern slavery
investigation, this awareness includes how to conduct interviews with traumatised potential victims in order to ensure that they are able to provide
the most comprehensive information required to assist in prosecutions.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department has spent on (a) raising greater public awareness of modern slavery, (b) providing detailed information on the numbers and locations of victims of trafficking and traffickers and (c) specific police forces' campaigns to tackle modern slavery.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The Home Office is spending £2.3million on a modern slavery publicity campaign to raise greater public awareness of modern slavery and encourage reporting to the new modern slavery helpline, launched on 31 July. This includes the costs of all planning, media buying, agency fees and production.
Detailed information on the numbers and locations of victims of trafficking and traffickers is provided by the Salvation Army and the National Crime Agency. Specific funding is not provided by the Home Office for this purpose; it is funded through existing resource costs.
The Home Office does not hold information on the costs of specific police force campaigns. This information is held by the individual police forces.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, who is invited to her Department's Modern Slavery Operation meetings; what the purpose of those meetings is; when the last such meeting was; and if she will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of that meeting.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The Modern Slavery Operational Leads meeting is held monthly and is chaired by myself.
The purpose of the meeting is to engage with law enforcement agencies to ensurethat effective investigations are carried out which can lead to successful prosecutionsand it is an opportunity for law enforcement agencies to update the Home Office on recent operations to tackle modern slavery.
The following organisations are invited to attend the meeting:
• Home Office officials including from the Modern Slavery Unit, UK Border
Force, Immigration Enforcement, and Strategy & Delivery Unit;
• Cabinet Office officials;
• College of Policing;
• Crown Prosecution Service;
• Gangmasters Licensing Authority;
• GCHQ;
• HMRC officials;
• Metropolitan Police Service – Human Trafficking and Kidnap Unit;
• National Crime Agency;
• National Policing Lead for Modern Slavery.
The most recent meeting took place on 16 October, and the previous meeting was on 8 September. Due to the sensitive nature of the discussions, copies of the minutes will not be published.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure the independence of the planned Anti-Slavery Commissioner.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The independent Anti-slavery Commissioner will encourage good practice in the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of modern slavery offences and the identification of victims.
They will have the freedom and independence to look at the law enforcement response to modern slavery without fear or favour, and make reports which will highlight where improvements can be made.
The Commissioner’s reports will be independent and the Commissioner’s annual report will be laid before Parliament.
Asked by: Lord Evans of Rainow (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on improving access to GPs.
Answered by Dan Poulter
The Prime Minister’s £50 million Challenge Fund is currently improving general practitioner access for over two million patients across England. This includes offering evening and weekend appointments, as well as better use of technology, such as telehealth, to look after patients. By January, 7.5 million patients will be covered.
And, we have recently announced another £100 million of funding for next year to improve access for even more patients.