Asked by: Lord Luce (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they propose to announce the appointment of a new Governor of Gibraltar.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
We are completing the internal processes for confirming the appointment of the new Governor. An announcement will be made once that process is complete.
Asked by: Lord Luce (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why the last Governor of Gibraltar, General Davis, retired from his role before a new Governor had been appointed.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
A new Governor was selected before Lieutenant General Edward Davis' contract expired and we are completing the process for confirming that appointment. It is not unusual for there to be a gap between Governors. The current Deputy Governor has been sworn in as Governor and will hold that position until the new Governor is ready to assume the functions of their office.
Asked by: Lord Luce (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what efforts they have made during their chairmanship of the Commonwealth Heads of Government to ensure that the history of the Commonwealth is taught in UK schools.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The history curriculum gives teachers and schools the freedom and flexibility to use specific examples from history to teach pupils about the history of Britain and the wider world.
There are opportunities within the themes and eras of the history curriculum for teachers and schools to teach about the history of the Commonwealth at Key Stages 1-3. Schools can teach about the Commonwealth at Key Stage 1, when teaching about events beyond or within living memory that are significant nationally or globally, and at Key Stage 2, within a study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066. There are also opportunities at Key Stage 3, within the ‘ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain, 1745-1901’ and ‘challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day’ themes. ‘Indian independence and end of Empire’ is one of the example topics in this latter theme. The Commonwealth also falls within the scope of the subject content set out for GCSE history.
The government shared a Commonwealth Education Pack for teachers in 2018, in support of the UK’s hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting that year. The pack is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/department-for-education-launches-commonwealth-education-pack, and has been attached.
Asked by: Lord Luce (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made in discussions with the government of Mauritius on an overall resolution to the issues concerning (1) the future of the Chagos Islands, and (2) the resettlement of the Chagos Islanders, since the Prime Minister met the Prime Minister of Mauritius on 20 January.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Prime Minister had a discussion with Prime Minister Jugnauth, which included the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), when he attended the UK-Africa Investment Summit in London in January. We remain open to dialogue with Mauritius on matters of shared interest, including BIOT and its Marine Protected Area (MPA).
We have no doubt about our sovereignty over the territory of BIOT, which has been under continuous British sovereignty since 1814. We have made a long-standing commitment to cede sovereignty of the territory to Mauritius when it is no longer required for defence purposes. We stand by that commitment.
In November 2016, the UK Government announced that resettlement of Chagossians could not be supported on the grounds of feasibility, defence and security interests, and cost to the British taxpayer. There remains no right of abode in BIOT. While resettlement is unrealistic the UK Government is providing a significant package of assistance to Chagossians to help boost their life chances and provide increased opportunities to participate in a rolling programme of heritage visits to the Territory
Asked by: Lord Luce (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made on the implementation of the decisions taken in London in April 2018 by the Commonwealth Heads of Government.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Over the past two years, the UK - as Chair-in-Office - has worked closely with our Commonwealth partners to drive collective delivery of the commitments agreed at the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. The work is supported by over £500 million of projects to support the Commonwealth in achieving these goals, which are already delivering benefits for member states. For example, over 3,000 women-owned businesses have now received training from the Commonwealth SheTrades project, supporting inclusive economic growth and prosperity. 31 Member States have committed to take action on marine plastic pollution as part of the Commonwealth Clean Ocean Alliance. Also, the Pacific Nationally Determined Contribution Hub was officially opened by the Prime Minister of Fiji last week, helping Pacific Island Countries tackle climate change. The Government will publish a detailed update on the UK's period as Chair-in-Office in the coming months.
Asked by: Lord Luce (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average waiting time for patients to see a NHS physiotherapist.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Physiotherapy services are commissioned locally by clinical commissioning groups. This includes agreeing and monitoring the waiting time to access services rather than this being set nationally.
A count of first outpatient attendances and the average (mean and median) waiting time in days, where the treatment specialty is physiotherapy, is shown in the following table. Data is for the 2018-19 financial year.
Year | First attendances | Mean waiting time (days) | Median waiting time (days) |
2018-19 | 1,404,639 | 36.7 | 25 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (NHS Digital)
Asked by: Lord Luce (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the target waiting time for an appointment with an NHS physiotherapist.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Physiotherapy services are commissioned locally by clinical commissioning groups. This includes agreeing and monitoring the waiting time to access services rather than this being set nationally.
A count of first outpatient attendances and the average (mean and median) waiting time in days, where the treatment specialty is physiotherapy, is shown in the following table. Data is for the 2018-19 financial year.
Year | First attendances | Mean waiting time (days) | Median waiting time (days) |
2018-19 | 1,404,639 | 36.7 | 25 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (NHS Digital)
Asked by: Lord Luce (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many physiotherapists are employed by the NHS.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics for England. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), but not staff working in primary care, local authorities or other providers.
As at September 2019, the latest available data, there were 19,977 full time equivalent physiotherapists employed in National Health Service trusts and CCGs.
Asked by: Lord Luce (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many physiotherapists are required by the NHS.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Following publication of the interim People Plan on 3 June 2019, a full NHS People Plan is in development. This will set out the workforce implications for all staff groups, including physiotherapists, in delivering the NHS Long Term Plan priorities.
Asked by: Lord Luce (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of physiotherapists employed in the private sector.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
NHS Digital publishes data biannually on staff in some independent sector healthcare organisations in England, mainly data from large organisations. The latest available data as at March 2019, shows that there are 2,270 full time equivalent (FTE) physiotherapists in 56 independent sector organisations which provided data. The data presented for the independent healthcare provider workforce does not represent the entire workforce employed across the whole of this sector and does not only show the staff providing National Health Service-commissioned services. These statistics relate to the workforce directly employed in a range of independent healthcare provider organisations in England and may include staff on maternity leave and career breaks.
Independent healthcare provider workforce: qualified staff working within the care setting 'physiotherapy' as at 31 March 2019, experimental statistics.
All qualified staff working within the care setting 'physiotherapy' | 2,270 |
Consultant therapist/scientist in physiotherapy | - |
Manager in physiotherapy | 178 |
Therapist in physiotherapy | 2,080 |
Instructor/teacher in physiotherapy | 9 |
Tutor in physiotherapy | 3 |