Asked by: Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what measures NHS England uses to assess GP service provision to an area.
Answered by Alistair Burt
NHS England is statutorily accountable for ensuring that patients have access to a general practitioner (GP) practice. In the event of a practice closure, NHS England will assess the need for a replacement provider before dispersing a list when a GP surgery closes. A decision to disperse a list will be made on the basis that there is capacity in neighbouring practices to absorb the additional patient numbers.
To assess GP service provision in an area, NHS England works with the Care Quality Commission and local clinical commissioning groups. The Primary Care Outcomes Framework is published nationally and is derived from data submitted by individual practices on service levels and outcomes alongside national patient survey data on patient satisfaction. In terms of overall strategy, the provision of primary care will be part of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) which is published in each local authority area and reported through the local Health & Well-being Board. The JSNA will identify any gaps and risks in the provision of primary care to the local population which, in turn, will then inform commissioning strategies for that area.
There is no national guidance on the ratio of patients to doctors in GP practices. In recent years, the development of the wider primary care teams (with nurses, healthcare assistants, pharmacists and therapists) means that a focus on the ratio of patients to doctors has less meaning than in previous years. The national workforce survey allows NHS England to benchmark individual practices in terms of the staffing to patient ratio.
Asked by: Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidelines have been issued to GP practices on the safe ratio of patients to doctors in GP practices.
Answered by Alistair Burt
NHS England is statutorily accountable for ensuring that patients have access to a general practitioner (GP) practice. In the event of a practice closure, NHS England will assess the need for a replacement provider before dispersing a list when a GP surgery closes. A decision to disperse a list will be made on the basis that there is capacity in neighbouring practices to absorb the additional patient numbers.
To assess GP service provision in an area, NHS England works with the Care Quality Commission and local clinical commissioning groups. The Primary Care Outcomes Framework is published nationally and is derived from data submitted by individual practices on service levels and outcomes alongside national patient survey data on patient satisfaction. In terms of overall strategy, the provision of primary care will be part of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) which is published in each local authority area and reported through the local Health & Well-being Board. The JSNA will identify any gaps and risks in the provision of primary care to the local population which, in turn, will then inform commissioning strategies for that area.
There is no national guidance on the ratio of patients to doctors in GP practices. In recent years, the development of the wider primary care teams (with nurses, healthcare assistants, pharmacists and therapists) means that a focus on the ratio of patients to doctors has less meaning than in previous years. The national workforce survey allows NHS England to benchmark individual practices in terms of the staffing to patient ratio.
Asked by: Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many GP surgeries have closed in (a) Sheffield, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) England in the last three years.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Comprehensive data is not held centrally. Practices may close for a variety of reasons, including mergers with neighbouring practices or the retirement of general practitioners from single-handed practices.
Asked by: Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) primary and (b) secondary school budgets have been spent on tackling mental health problems in each of the last five years; and if the Government will take steps to protect such spending in future.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The most recent prevalence survey estimated that 1 in 10 children have a diagnosable mental health disorder, and more have lower level problems. This is why the Government has made good mental health, character and resilience a high priority. The Department of Health is commissioning a new prevalence survey to update this estimate for a wider range of ages, from 2-19. It is due to report in 2018. We do not routinely collect data that allows us to measure the amount schools spend specifically on addressing mental health issues.
We are committed to better understanding what schools are doing on this matter, which is why my department is commissioning an extensive survey. This survey will provide a robust national picture of mental health support provided by schools and colleges.
It is for head teachers to determine how they spend their individual school budgets to best meet the needs of all their pupils. In the Spending Review we announced that the core schools budget will be protected in real terms through this Parliament. We are also protecting the Pupil Premium, which many schools use to fund mental health provision, at current pupil rates. Within these protections, we announced in December 2015 that an additional £92.5 million will specifically be provided in the high needs element of the Dedicated School Grant (DSG) next year.
We have also made £1.4 billion available over the next five years to transform local children and young people’s mental health services to deliver more integrated and accessible services. Clinical Commissioning Groups have been required to work with others services locally, including schools, to produce plans that set out how they will transform children and young people’s mental health services locally to make them more accessible and increase the focus on prevention.
We are also contributing to a £3 million joint pilot with NHS England for training single points of contact in schools and specialist mental health services, to ensure that children and young people have timely access to specialist support where needed. There are 22 pilot areas covering more than 200 schools across 27 CCGs.
Asked by: Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has allocated funding for primary and secondary schools to employ a dedicated mental health practitioner to provide services to pupils on site.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The most recent prevalence survey estimated that 1 in 10 children have a diagnosable mental health disorder, and more have lower level problems. This is why the Government has made good mental health, character and resilience a high priority. The Department of Health is commissioning a new prevalence survey to update this estimate for a wider range of ages, from 2-19. It is due to report in 2018. We do not routinely collect data that allows us to measure the amount schools spend specifically on addressing mental health issues.
We are committed to better understanding what schools are doing on this matter, which is why my department is commissioning an extensive survey. This survey will provide a robust national picture of mental health support provided by schools and colleges.
It is for head teachers to determine how they spend their individual school budgets to best meet the needs of all their pupils. In the Spending Review we announced that the core schools budget will be protected in real terms through this Parliament. We are also protecting the Pupil Premium, which many schools use to fund mental health provision, at current pupil rates. Within these protections, we announced in December 2015 that an additional £92.5 million will specifically be provided in the high needs element of the Dedicated School Grant (DSG) next year.
We have also made £1.4 billion available over the next five years to transform local children and young people’s mental health services to deliver more integrated and accessible services. Clinical Commissioning Groups have been required to work with others services locally, including schools, to produce plans that set out how they will transform children and young people’s mental health services locally to make them more accessible and increase the focus on prevention.
We are also contributing to a £3 million joint pilot with NHS England for training single points of contact in schools and specialist mental health services, to ensure that children and young people have timely access to specialist support where needed. There are 22 pilot areas covering more than 200 schools across 27 CCGs.
Asked by: Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the rates of mental illness among school-age children.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The most recent prevalence survey estimated that 1 in 10 children have a diagnosable mental health disorder, and more have lower level problems. This is why the Government has made good mental health, character and resilience a high priority. The Department of Health is commissioning a new prevalence survey to update this estimate for a wider range of ages, from 2-19. It is due to report in 2018. We do not routinely collect data that allows us to measure the amount schools spend specifically on addressing mental health issues.
We are committed to better understanding what schools are doing on this matter, which is why my department is commissioning an extensive survey. This survey will provide a robust national picture of mental health support provided by schools and colleges.
It is for head teachers to determine how they spend their individual school budgets to best meet the needs of all their pupils. In the Spending Review we announced that the core schools budget will be protected in real terms through this Parliament. We are also protecting the Pupil Premium, which many schools use to fund mental health provision, at current pupil rates. Within these protections, we announced in December 2015 that an additional £92.5 million will specifically be provided in the high needs element of the Dedicated School Grant (DSG) next year.
We have also made £1.4 billion available over the next five years to transform local children and young people’s mental health services to deliver more integrated and accessible services. Clinical Commissioning Groups have been required to work with others services locally, including schools, to produce plans that set out how they will transform children and young people’s mental health services locally to make them more accessible and increase the focus on prevention.
We are also contributing to a £3 million joint pilot with NHS England for training single points of contact in schools and specialist mental health services, to ensure that children and young people have timely access to specialist support where needed. There are 22 pilot areas covering more than 200 schools across 27 CCGs.
Asked by: Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to encourage building on brownfield sites.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Government will require local authorities to have a register of available brownfield land that is suitable for new homes. We also intend to create a Fund to unlock homes on brownfield land for additional housing. We will continue to support the regeneration of brownfield land through a range of measures, including £200 million to help create Housing Zones outside London and releasing enough public sector land for over 150,000 homes by 2020.
Asked by: Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will set a target for tree planting by 2020.
Answered by Rory Stewart
As promised in our manifesto, we have committed to planting 11 million trees during this Parliament, which we plan to do primarily through the Rural Development Programme’s Countryside Stewardship scheme. This scheme aims to invest £18 million on new woodland planting each year.
We are also encouraging more tree planting in several other ways. For example, by attracting private investment in woodland creation through the Woodland Carbon Code and looking for ways to improve the Environmental Impact Assessment process. We are also helping to increase demand for wood by supporting forestry businesses to further increase their competitiveness, productivity and innovation, through other schemes under the Rural Development Programme.
We also remain strongly supportive of sector-led initiatives, such as Grown in Britain and the Roots to Prosperity strategy, in their work to grow demand for wood by further developing and strengthening the woodland economy from ground level up.
Asked by: Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to protect mature trees in urban areas; and what support his Department provides to local authorities for such protection.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
Local planning authorities have the power to make a Tree Preservation Order to protect trees of amenity value in urban areas. With limited exceptions, it is an offence to cut down, top, lop, uproot, or wilfully damage or destroy a tree protected by an Order, without the authority’s permission. Our web-based planning guidance, Tree Preservation Orders and trees in conservation areas, supports authorities in the exercise of these powers.
Asked by: Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the removal of onshore windfarm subsidy on business growth in the wind energy sector over the next five years.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
As part of the Parliamentary process, the Department will shortly publish an Impact Assessment that considers the potential effects of its proposals for closing the Renewables Obligation to onshore wind. This will be made available on the Department’s website.