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  • Anas Sarwar – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Anas Sarwar – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anas Sarwar on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much of the emergency response fund for the Central African Republic has so far been dispersed; and which international agencies have received such funding.

    Lynne Featherstone

    DFID has contributed a total of £23m in humanitarian aid to the crisis in the Central African Republic since mid-2013, with £700,000 remaining to be distributed according to humanitarian priorities in the coming months.

    DFID allocated £5m to support NGOs in CAR in November 2013 which was increased in February 2014 to £7 million in light of growing needs. The bulk of funding was awarded to five NGOs: Mentor, Save the Children, Solidarites, Mercy Corps and International Medical Corps. Since DFID makes quarterly payments to NGOs, not all funds have been disbursed.

    In addition, DFID allocated humanitarian funds to the ICRC, Common Humanitarian Fund, UNHAS, UNHCR and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

  • Anas Sarwar – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Anas Sarwar – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anas Sarwar on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will publish details of alternative proposals for fire fighter pensions which have been considered by his Department.

    Brandon Lewis

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 June, Official Report, Column 152W.

  • Greg Knight – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Greg Knight – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance he has given local authorities on ensuring that road safety is not compromised by street lighting being switched off; and if he will make a statement.

    Brandon Lewis

    Street lighting plays an important role in road safety, as well as ensuring the personal safety of pedestrians.

    As I stated in my answer to the rt. hon. Member for Leeds Central, (Hilary Benn), on 13 May 2014, Official Report, Column 535-536W, there is no prescriptive Whitehall guidance on street lighting, and any assessment will depend on local circumstances and local views. In addition, Manual for Streets, while out of date in certain areas (e.g. on parking and density), contains some useful guidance on getting the balance right when providing street lighting, taking into account the different issues around safety, crime prevention, street clutter and light pollution. It can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/manual-for-streets.

    “

  • Greg Knight – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Greg Knight – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect on air quality of the escape of methane and other gases from disused mine workings in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire; and if he will make a statement.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Coal Authority is responsible for dealing with reported cases of escaped gases from disused mine workings, including monitoring concentrations where necessary. Consequently, Defra has made no assessment of the impact on air quality of the escape of methane and other gases from disused mine workings.

  • Greg Knight – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Greg Knight – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cats have been used in experiments in Britain in each of the last five years.

    Norman Baker

    The following table contains information on the number of cats used in procedures undertaken between 2008 and 2012.

    Table 1 Number of cats used in scientific procedures in Great Britain between 2008 and 2012
    Year Procedures
    2008 176
    2009 172
    2010 152
    2011 153
    2012 202
    Source: Home Office

    “

  • Greg Knight – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Greg Knight – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason scientific experiments on cats are permitted.

    Norman Baker

    Cats, along with some other species, are given special protection by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 and may only be used if no other species is suitable or it is not practicable to obtain animals of any other species that are suitable for the purposes of the relevant programme of work. It is my objective to minimise the use of cats as far as possible.

    Cats are primarily used in the development of veterinary medicines and techniques, and in neurological research. Much of the veterinary research is for the benefit of cats, for example in developing vaccines for feline diseases and improved diets for cats.

  • Greg Knight – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Greg Knight – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects work on the electrification of the railway line between Hull and Selby to begin.

    Stephen Hammond

    Feasibility work on the project continues. Subject to further development and implementation funding and confirmation of the business case the scheme’s promoter, First Hull Trains, anticipates that certain physical works could commence in 2015.

  • Liz Kendall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Liz Kendall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much NHS trusts have spent (a) on agency and contract staff and (b) on all staff in each financial year since 2009-10.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    As part of the response to the issues in Mid-Staffordshire hospital, and following the recommendations of the Francis report, many trusts have increased agency spend in the short-term to protect patients and improve patient care. Over the longer term, a key objective for the NHS is to keep agency spend to a minimum, an increase in the number of permanent front-line staff is vital to both improving patient care and delivering value for money. The number of frontline clinical staff has increased by more than 16,300 since 2010.

    In 2013-14, NHS foundation trusts planned to spend £523 million on agency and contract staff and spent £1,373.0 million. NHS trusts spent £1,209.1 million, how much they planned to spend is not available.

    Sources: for NHS trusts – unaudited data in NHS trust summarisation schedules; for NHS foundation trusts – quarterly monitoring information.

    Plans are in place in Better Procurement to reduce by £450 million spend on agency and contract staff by the end of 2016.

    NHS Trusts spent £1,209.1 million on agency and contract staff n 2013/14.

    Source: Unaudited data in NHS Trust Summarisation Schedules.

    Amounts for 2009-10 to 2012-13 were not separately identified from other non-permanent staff.

    Spend by NHS Foundation Trusts on agency and contract staff is in the following table.

    Year

    £ million

    2009/10

    764.1

    2010/11

    854.7

    2011/12

    907.0

    2012/13

    1,101.0

    2013/14

    1,373.0

    Notes: For 2009/10 – 2012/13 actual figures are based on gross staff costs as per notes in the NHS FT consolidated accounts. The figures from the consolidated accounts may differ to the Board reports due to adjustments made on redundancy, early retirement, capitalisation of staff costs and costs of R&D staff. 2013/14 figures are from quarterly monitoring information.

    Information available about spend on all staff is set out in the tables below.

    NHS Trusts

    Year

    £ million

    2009/10

    18,225.1

    2010/11

    18,929.5

    2011/12

    19,839.5

    2012/13

    19,344.7

    Source: NHS (England) Summarised Accounts 2009/10, 2010/11; NHS Trust Audited Summarisation Schedules 2011/12, 2012/13.

    Note: Total staff costs for 2013/14 are not yet available.

    NHS Foundation Trusts

    Year

    £ million

    2009/10

    17,599.7

    2010/11

    19,442.9

    2011/12

    23,046.0

    2012/13

    24,709.0

    2013/14

    26,246.0

    Notes: For 2009/10 – 2012/13 actual figures are based on gross staff costs as per notes in the NHS FT consolidated accounts. The figures from the consolidated accounts may differ to the Board reports due to adjustments made on redundancy, early retirement, capitalisation of staff costs and costs of R&D staff. 2013/14 figures are from quarterly monitoring information.

  • Liz Kendall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Liz Kendall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much NHS trusts (a) planned to spend and (b) spent on agency and contract staff in 2013-14.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    As part of the response to the issues in Mid-Staffordshire hospital, and following the recommendations of the Francis report, many trusts have increased agency spend in the short-term to protect patients and improve patient care. Over the longer term, a key objective for the NHS is to keep agency spend to a minimum, an increase in the number of permanent front-line staff is vital to both improving patient care and delivering value for money. The number of frontline clinical staff has increased by more than 16,300 since 2010.

    In 2013-14, NHS foundation trusts planned to spend £523 million on agency and contract staff and spent £1,373.0 million. NHS trusts spent £1,209.1 million, how much they planned to spend is not available.

    Sources: for NHS trusts – unaudited data in NHS trust summarisation schedules; for NHS foundation trusts – quarterly monitoring information.

    Plans are in place in Better Procurement to reduce by £450 million spend on agency and contract staff by the end of 2016.

    NHS Trusts spent £1,209.1 million on agency and contract staff n 2013/14.

    Source: Unaudited data in NHS Trust Summarisation Schedules.

    Amounts for 2009-10 to 2012-13 were not separately identified from other non-permanent staff.

    Spend by NHS Foundation Trusts on agency and contract staff is in the following table.

    Year

    £ million

    2009/10

    764.1

    2010/11

    854.7

    2011/12

    907.0

    2012/13

    1,101.0

    2013/14

    1,373.0

    Notes: For 2009/10 – 2012/13 actual figures are based on gross staff costs as per notes in the NHS FT consolidated accounts. The figures from the consolidated accounts may differ to the Board reports due to adjustments made on redundancy, early retirement, capitalisation of staff costs and costs of R&D staff. 2013/14 figures are from quarterly monitoring information.

    Information available about spend on all staff is set out in the tables below.

    NHS Trusts

    Year

    £ million

    2009/10

    18,225.1

    2010/11

    18,929.5

    2011/12

    19,839.5

    2012/13

    19,344.7

    Source: NHS (England) Summarised Accounts 2009/10, 2010/11; NHS Trust Audited Summarisation Schedules 2011/12, 2012/13.

    Note: Total staff costs for 2013/14 are not yet available.

    NHS Foundation Trusts

    Year

    £ million

    2009/10

    17,599.7

    2010/11

    19,442.9

    2011/12

    23,046.0

    2012/13

    24,709.0

    2013/14

    26,246.0

    Notes: For 2009/10 – 2012/13 actual figures are based on gross staff costs as per notes in the NHS FT consolidated accounts. The figures from the consolidated accounts may differ to the Board reports due to adjustments made on redundancy, early retirement, capitalisation of staff costs and costs of R&D staff. 2013/14 figures are from quarterly monitoring information.

  • Ben Wallace – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ben Wallace – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Wallace on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the extension of the lease for Diego Garcia Airbase.

    Mark Simmonds

    We welcome the US presence on Diego Garcia, and we have said we want to see it continue. The current agreement does not conclude until December 2016, and we have not yet held substantive discussions with the US about this subject. I expect my officials to begin doing so later this year.