The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-10-26.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of migrants residing in the UK who claim benefits on behalf of children living abroad by country of residence of the child.
Damian Hinds
I refer the hon Member to the answer that I gave to the hon member for East Ham (Stephen Timms) on 16 June 2015:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2015 to Question 12065, which EU and US regulators and which representatives from the UK are assessing the Comparing Motor-Vehicle Crash Risk of EU and US Vehicles report; and whether that assessment will take account of the report’s finding that there is 33 per cent greater risk in front-end collisions of US vehicles compared to EU vehicles.
Anna Soubry
The report is being assessed by the European Commission’s Directorate General for GROWTH, and the US regulator National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The report will help inform negotiations, but is the first side-by-side comparison of predicted risk for EU-regulated and US-regulated vehicles. It recommends further work to replicate results, identify patterns, and establish links between results, design and regulatory differences.
The European Commission has commissioned its own research into vehicle safety and has published the findings so far on its website. Negotiators will look to use all of the evidence available to ensure we capture the trade benefits without compromising EU safety standards.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether a representative of HM Prisons Service sits on the Mental Health Task Force.
Alistair Burt
The Mental Health Task Force does not include a representative of HM Prison Service amongst its membership.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many trees the Government plans to plant during the current Parliament; and if she will make a statement.
Rory Stewart
A total of £31m per year of new Rural Development Programme funding will be spent on forestry, with £13m being spent on woodland management and £18m on new planting. By investing in woodlands, Countryside Stewardship will help us fulfil the Government’s manifesto commitment to plant another 11 million trees by supporting the creation of around 24,711 acres of new woodland.
I will keep the House updated on our progress.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on what date he expects the publication of new Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Indicator Set (2016-2017) indicators.
George Freeman
The 2016/17 Clinical Commissioning Group Outcome Indicator set will be published if new indicators are selected for 2016/17. NHS England are currently reviewing the process for new indicators for 2016/17 in light of wider work to assess local health systems, as detailed in the recent publication by The King’s Fund, Measuring the performance of local health systems. A publication date will not be set until the process for 2016/17 is agreed.
The King’s Fund publication can be viewed at:
http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/articles/measuring-performance-local-health-systems.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps (a) his Department and (b) NHS England is taking to ensure that autism diagnosis waiting times for (i) children and (ii) adults in Lancaster and Fleetwood comply with NICE guidance.
Alistair Burt
The Department does not collect clinical commissioning group (CCG) data for routine accountability purposes as it is for NHS England to assess the performance of each CCG to ensure that they are commissioning safe, high quality and cost effective services, to achieve the best possible outcomes for patients. Public Health England is however commissioned by the Department to collect self-assessment data from local authorities and their partners on how the Autism Strategy is being implemented locally. The next exercise will commence in the spring of 2016 and this will include consideration of waiting times in local authority areas.
NHS England has been working with the Health and Social Care Information Centre to develop the Mental Health Services Data Set. This will include provision for the diagnosis of autism in children to be recorded. This mandatory data set will, for the first time, provide ‘real time’ data about diagnosis rates. The data will be published and available to support and develop services. NHS England has a commitment, over the next five years, to improve waiting times and this data will be invaluable for this.
For details of the position in Fleetwood and Lancaster in relation to autism diagnostic waiting times I refer to the answer given on 28 October 2015 to Question 12595.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Hertfordshire Constabulary’s reserves have been subject to CIFPA auditing for the 2014-15 financial year.
Mike Penning
Hertfordshire Constabulary’s final 2014/15 Statement of Accounts are published on the force website. The accounts have been independently audited and include the force’s level of reserves for 2014/15.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of annual income has been held in reserve by Herefordshire Constabulary in each of the past five years.
Mike Penning
It is up to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and Chief Constables to decide how to allocate their resources, including the efficient use of reserves, based on local priorities.
Herefordshire is covered by the West Mercia police force area. The total amount of revenue funding received by the West Mercia PCC (formerly West Mercia Police Authority) and the total amounts of usable reserves, taken from publically available force area accounts are included in the following table.
This includes total core Government funding area from the Home Office, Legacy Council Tax Grants and locally raised precept income. It excludes specific grants such as the Innovation Fund and other locally raised income.
|
Year |
Reserves £m |
Revenue funding (government grant+precept) £m |
Reserves as % of total revenue funding |
|
31 Mar 2011 |
43.8 |
212.6 |
20.6% |
|
31 Mar 2012 |
37.8 |
206.9 |
18.3% |
|
31 Mar 2013 |
46.1 |
204.6 |
22.5% |
|
31 Mar 2014 |
53.1 |
201.6 |
26.4% |
|
31 Mar 2015 |
63.9 |
198.5 |
32.2% |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dr Poulter on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans her Department has to support electricity grid interconnections between the UK and other countries.
Andrea Leadsom
Electricity interconnection can lower consumer bills, improve security of supply and contribute towards decarbonisation.
A number of interconnection projects are already progressing under Ofgem’s regulatory regime1, designed to bring forward interconnection investment in the interest of GB consumers. This includes projects to France, Belgium, Norway, Denmark and Ireland, which have been assessed by Ofgem as offering over £11.8bn in consumer benefits. The Government has also supported a number of mature interconnector projects to benefit from access to European grant funding as Projects of Common Interest.
Together these projects represent billions of pounds of infrastructure investment and aim to more than double our interconnection capacity by the early 2020s. This will make Britain more energy secure and will help lower consumer bills.
[1] Source, Ofgem: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/decision-roll-out-cap-and-floor-regime-near-term-electricity-interconnectors
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dr Poulter on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans her Department has to support proposals for an electricity grid interconnector between the UK and Denmark.
Andrea Leadsom
Government is committed to increasing electricity interconnection that delivers benefits to GB consumers, and the Department is aware of the VikingLink project which proposes to connect GB to Denmark1. Ofgem have assessed the project as offering £2.6bn in consumer benefits and has granted it initial approval on this basis. Government has also supported it to gain access to European development funding as a Project of Common Interest.
[1] Source, Ofgem: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/decision-initial-project-assessment-fab-link-ifa2-and-viking-link-interconnectors
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