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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Douglas Carswell on Home Office.

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Damian Green

There have been no specific discussions with the Police and Crime Commissioner
for Essex on incidents involving knives in Clacton.

The Best Use of Stop and Search Scheme was announced by the Home Secretary on
30 April 2014, and the intention is to launch the Scheme in the summer. The
Scheme aims to achieve greater transparency and community involvement in the
use of stop and search by the police and support a more intelligence-led
approach leading to better outcomes, particularly improving the stop and search
to arrest ratio.

Only 9% of the 1.2 million stop and searches that took place in 2011/12 led to
an arrest. The adoption of an intelligence-led approach to stop and search by
the Metropolitan Police in January 2012 coincided with a fall of a third in the
number of recorded stop and searches taking place between 2011/12 and 2012/13,
while the proportion of resultant arrests increased from 8% to 12%. Meanwhile
in the same period, offences recorded by the Metropolitan Police involving
knives or sharp instruments fell by 20%.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Julian Huppert on Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

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Hugh Robertson

We are not aware of any recent action taken by the US against Bangladesh.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Duncan Hames on Home Office.

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Damian Green

This is an operational matter for the Metropolitan Police Commissioner.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Robert Halfon on Health.

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Norman Lamb

The Care Act will require local authorities to ensure all assessors are appropriately trained to carry out assessments. This builds on the statutory guidance Implementing Fulfilling and Rewarding Lives which followed the 2010 Adult Autism Strategy for England, and which required autism awareness training to be available to all staff working in health and social care and specialist training for those in key roles that have a direct impact on access to services for adults with autism. The Department is currently consulting on the regulations and statutory guidance that will support the implementation of the Care Act, and we will remind local authorities through this of this requirement in Implementing Fulfilling and Rewarding Lives.

Due to the complexities of assessing people who are deafblind, regulations under the Care Act will require their assessments to be carried out by a specialist assessor. One of the questions in the consultation document is whether specialist assessors should be required to carry out the assessment of people with other conditions, such as autism, and to explain why this should be the case. Based on the evidence we receive through the consultation we will consider if this requirement should be extended to other conditions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Adrian Sanders on Transport.

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Stephen Hammond

All Train Operating Companies (TOCs) are required under their franchise agreement to have in place a Passenger’s Charter which will include arrangements for compensation for passengers.

In connection with the severe weather related disruption earlier this year, the Department for Transport (DfT) sought to understand what First Great Western’s proposals on compensation were likely to be. Where discussions have taken place with other TOCs these will also have been to ensure that the DfT was aware of their intentions and not to seek to require these to be changed.

An improved system of compensation based on delays to individual journeys, known as Delay/Repay, is being introduced for all passengers in place of the system of poor performance discounts and optional Void Days for season ticket holders.　 Introduction is taking place as franchises are let following competitions and opportunities arise within Direct Awards and existing franchises.　 Where discussions have taken place between the DfT and TOCs these will have been in this context.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for David Hanson on Home Office.

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Karen Bradley

Combating cyber crime is a core part of the National Cyber Security Strategy,
which is underpinned by the National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP) with £860
million of new investment over five years. The NCSP funds a range of work to
tackle cyber crime, including strengthening law enforcement capabilities with
the establishment of the National Cyber Crime Unit in the National Crime
Agency, and cyber teams within each of the Regional Organised Crime Units
(ROCUs) across England and Wales, as well as developing the capability of local
police forces. It also funds the Cyber Streetwise campaign, and the Action
Fraud reporting system for cyber crime that is run by City of London Police.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for David Amess on International Development.

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Lynne Featherstone

The Department for International Development (DFID) will provide approximately £45.8m to Marie Stopes International (MSI) during the period 2014-15. DFID adheres to Development Co-Operation Directorate (OACD-DAC) expenditure coding requirements to allow comparison across donor spending towards attainment of the millennium development goal targets. This does not include the facility to calculate spend for individual components of sexual and reproductive health.

DFID assesses the value for money (VfM) of all its expenditure through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on an annual basis. Every project is subject to an annual review and a judgement is made as to whether the funding is achieving good VfM. More generally, investing in reproductive, maternal and newborn health is excellent value for money due to its low cost and far reaching benefits.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Naomi Long on Northern Ireland.

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Mrs Theresa Villiers

Like other UK Government departments, the Northern Ireland Office faces a significant reduction in its budget – of 11.15% in 2015/16. My department has therefore requested that all of its Arms-Length Bodies provide an impact statement on the practical measures that might be taken to meet such a reduction. I have not yet made any decision in respect of the Commission’s budget. I met the acting chair of the Commission last week.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Jim Murphy on International Development.

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Justine Greening

As we have already made clear, the UK recognises that the potential for migration to be a positive force for developing countries is increased when migration is safe, legal and through regular channels; and as such global migration can contribute to sustainable development. This language is included in the most recent draft goals and targets list released by the co-chairs of the Open Working Group (OWG) on 2 June.

The final targets in the post-2015 development framework will however be subject to international negotiations in the United Nations in which the UK will play an active role.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Ben Bradshaw on Justice.

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Simon Hughes

There has been a significant decrease in referrals to publicly funded family mediation since April 2013 when the legal aid reforms were implemented. This is in part due to fewer people visiting solicitors who previously would have directed clients to mediation.

Before April 2013, attendance at a Mediation Information Assessment Meeting (MIAM) was a pre-requisite for legal representation for people eligible to obtain public funding. We introduced a statutory MIAM in April 2014 as part of the Children and Families Act. This placed a legal obligation on an applicant to attend a MIAM for the purpose of considering mediation, before being permitted to issue court proceedings in certain private family law matters (children and financial disputes).

Legal aid remains available for mediation (and for legal help with mediation) for those who meet the eligibility criteria. We are keen to encourage mediation as an alternative to court both for those eligible for public funding and for privately funded cases.

We are aware that a small number of mediation services have closed or are in difficulty. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) is constantly monitoring the situation to make sure there is sufficient provision for client access to mediation services. While a decline in demand is a contributory factor in mediation service closures, another significant factor is poor and unsustainable business models. There is some evidence that a number of the mediation services which have closed following legal aid reforms were vulnerable to closure before the reforms took effect.

I have convened a Family Mediation Task Force, chaired by David Norgrove, which has considered many of the issues raised by the Member of Parliament for Exeter, including how to reverse the fall in referrals and engage the second party in the mediation process, and incentivising mediators and lawyers to work in partnership to support clients through the resolution of their dispute in compliance with the new legislation. A number of short-term financial options have been considered as well as the long term view for the future of dispute resolution services.

The Taskforce report will be published imminently. The Government will respond to the report in due course.