Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for visas for business events her Department has received in each of the past 3 years; how many of those applications were successful in that time period; what the (a) shortest, (b) average and (c) longest time was for a visa to be processed in that time period; and how much revenue was raised from those applications.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The requested data is not centrally held by the Home Office, and could only be collated and verified for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has had recent discussions with the owners of the M6 toll road on the potential merits of removing toll barriers.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
M6 Toll is a privately-owned asset. My Department is aware that Midland Expressway Limited (MEL), which is a private consortium responsible for building and operating the M6 toll road, has ambitions for removing toll barriers which would potentially require creating a specific legislation or amendment via regulation to existing PCN legislation. MEL may offer proposals that highlight the merits of removing toll barriers and meet the challenges of doing so.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) membership is and (b) terms of reference are of the NHS England Independent Patient Choice and Procurement Panel; and whether that panel will be guided by the public procurement rules on value for money.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Independent Patient Choice and Procurement Panel is a non-statutory administrative arrangement established to help resolve disputes about the application of the Provider Selection Regime. The membership of the panel is publicly available at the following link:
The panel has its own terms of reference, which were agreed by NHS England, the Department, and the Cabinet Office, and which are publicly available at the following link:
Whilst the Provider Selection Regime and the panel's terms of reference do not specifically reference the public procurement rules on value for money, value for money is a central pillar of the Provider Selection Regime, with requirements for integrated care boards (ICBs) to consider the value for money of healthcare services and the procurement approach they pursue. Where relevant, the panel takes this into consideration. If the panel finds that an ICB has not acted consistently with the regulations, it advises on the proportionate steps to remedy the issue.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the NHS (a) has received and (b) is outstanding in charges from foreign nationals in each year that data is available.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
For this answer, we have taken ‘foreign nationals’ to mean chargeable overseas visitors.
The Department publishes data on the income identified from chargeable overseas visitors in England in its Annual Report and Accounts. The consolidated National Health Service provider accounts published the cash payments received in-year by the NHS from overseas visitors. NHS charges can be recovered up to six years from the date of invoice, and therefore the amount recovered in a year does not necessarily mean it was identified in the same financial year. The following table shows the income identified and cash payments received in-year between 2019 to 2024:
Year | Income identified in-year | Cash payments received in-year |
2018/19 | £91,000,000 | £35,000,000 |
2019/20 | £93,000,000 | £39,000,000 |
2020/21 | £61,000,000 | £21,000,000 |
2021/22 | £67,000,000 | £25,000,000 |
2022/23 | £100,000,000 | £32,000,000 |
2023/24 | £123,000,000 | £42,000,000 |
Source: The Department’s Annual Report and Accounts and Consolidated NHS provider accounts.