Asked by: Jon Cruddas (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reasons there is not a lead official for allergy in his Department.
Answered by Steve Brine
Since 1 April 2013, NHS England has been responsible for securing high quality outcomes for people with long term conditions, including allergies. Departmental staff support ministers on a wide range of issues, including those concerning allergies, and work closely with NHS England to secure the necessary expertise when needed.
Asked by: Jon Cruddas (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department provides to clinical commissioning groups on the allergy quality standard.
Answered by Steve Brine
The Department provides no specific advice to clinical commissioning groups about either the Drug Allergy Quality Standard, published in July 2015, or the Food Allergy Quality Standard, published in March 2016.
Quality Standards, published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) are important in setting out to patients, the public, commissioners and providers what a high quality service should look like in a particular area of care. Quality standards are based on NICE guidance and other NICE-accredited sources and NHS England promotes their use in local service delivery.
National Health Service organisations must have regard to NICE Quality Standards in planning and delivering services as part of a general duty to secure continuous improvement in quality. However, the quality standards do not provide a comprehensive service specification and are not mandatory.
Asked by: Jon Cruddas (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the fishing industry's compliance with the Eels (England and Wales) Regulations 2009; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
Compliance with the Eel (England and Wales) Regulations 2009 is assessed against the provision of: catch data for eels less than 12cm long; recorded consignments of live eels from aquaculture businesses; and 60% of live eels (12 cm or less) placed onto the market. The Environment Agency 2016/17 assessment of industry compliance received 390 catch returns from 452 authorised fishers and is pursuing the remainder. All other data was provided.
Asked by: Jon Cruddas (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the level of knowledge which doctors are expected to have on allergies; and whether that level of knowledge is tested both at undergraduate and postgraduate level examinations.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Department does not set curricula for the education and training of the health and social care workforce and therefore does not hold the information requested.
The standards around the education of healthcare professions are set by the appropriate regulatory body. In the case of doctors this is the General Medical Council (GMC), while the Nursing and Midwifery Council sets the standards for the education of nurses and midwives, including health visitors.
The GMC sets the educational standards for all United Kingdom doctors through undergraduate and postgraduate education and training. It ensures that this reflects the needs of patients, medical students and doctors in training, and the healthcare systems across the UK.
Asked by: Jon Cruddas (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that health visitors, midwives, community doctors and nurses are allergy-aware.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Department does not set curricula for the education and training of the health and social care workforce and therefore does not hold the information requested.
The standards around the education of healthcare professions are set by the appropriate regulatory body. In the case of doctors this is the General Medical Council (GMC), while the Nursing and Midwifery Council sets the standards for the education of nurses and midwives, including health visitors.
The GMC sets the educational standards for all United Kingdom doctors through undergraduate and postgraduate education and training. It ensures that this reflects the needs of patients, medical students and doctors in training, and the healthcare systems across the UK.
Asked by: Jon Cruddas (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which Minister of his Department leads on policy relating to allergies.
Answered by Steve Brine
As the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Primary Care, I am responsible for policy relating to long term conditions, including allergies.
Asked by: Jon Cruddas (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the report Three years on: an independent review of Local Council Tax Support Schemes by Eric Ollerenshaw OBE, published in March 2016, whether his Department plans to take steps to better understand the effect of Local Council Tax Support Schemes on individuals and councils.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
Eric Ollerenshaw's independent report recognises the successful implementation of Local Council Tax Schemes by local government and makes a number of recommendations to improve their efficiency and effectiveness, whilst remaining a local discount. The Department for Communities and Local Government will consider these recommendations carefully.
Asked by: Jon Cruddas (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the report Three years on: an independent review of Local Council Tax Support Schemes by Eric Ollerenshaw OBE, published in March 2016, if he will commission in-depth academic research on the effect of Local Council Tax Support Schemes within the wider context of other welfare and socio-economic changes.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
Eric Ollerenshaw's independent report recognises the successful implementation of Local Council Tax Schemes by local government and makes a number of recommendations to improve their efficiency and effectiveness, whilst remaining a local discount. The Department for Communities and Local Government will consider these recommendations carefully.
Asked by: Jon Cruddas (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the report Three years on: an independent review of Local Council Tax Support Schemes by Eric Ollerenshaw OBE, published in March 2016, whether he plans to implement the recommendation to identify how much funding for Council Tax Support is provided to local authorities through the Revenue Support Grant.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
Eric Ollerenshaw's independent report recognises the successful implementation of Local Council Tax Schemes by local government and makes a number of recommendations to improve their efficiency and effectiveness, whilst remaining a local discount. The Department for Communities and Local Government will consider these recommendations carefully.