The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 31 of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, when he plans for the Apache helicopter upgrade to take place.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Apache Capability Sustainment Programme is currently in the Assessment Phase and the investment decision is anticipated in summer 2016 to enable orderly upgrade of our existing fleet as they reach their out-of-service date.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2015-12-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of age assessments for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children have been completed within the new timetable for upon local authorities in each month since March 2015.
James Brokenshire
All unaccompanied asylum seeking children are referred to the Refugee Council’s panel of advisers.
Age-assessments of unaccompanied asylum seeking children are conducted by local authorities. The guidance to local authority practitioners states that most assessments should be completed within 28 days, however the timescale for assessment should be responsive to the needs of the child or young person. The Home Office does not collect statistics on how many and what proportion are carried out within this timescale.
Statistics on the number of age disputes raised and resolved for asylum applicants for each quarter from January 2010 to September 2015 are available on GOV.UK at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/476915/asylum3-q3-2015-tabs.ods
The Home Office does not keep a record of the number of appeals against age assessments conducted by local authorities.
Home Office policy is not to return unaccompanied asylum seeking children whose claim has been refused unless there are safe and adequate reception arrangements in place. Statistics on the number of children removed from the UK in 2014 are available on Gov.UK at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/476919/removals1-q3-2015-tabs.ods
However, these statistics include all nationalities and non-asylum cases.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people employed by the Metropolitan Police Service are former employees of News International.
Mike Penning
The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the number of people employed by the Metropolitan Police Service who were former employees of News International.
Individual police forces in England and Wales are responsible for deciding when and how they run their recruitment and selection processes.
Decisions on whether to recruit individuals are for the chief officer of the police force concerned.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2016-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the cost has been of provision of free school meals by region in each of the last three years.
Mr Sam Gyimah
Schools in England fund free school meals out of the overall resources available to them. Since September 2014, all infant pupils in maintained schools in England have been entitled to free school meals, regardless of parental income. The government does provide specific funding to schools to pay for meals for infant pupils who are not eligible for benefits-related FSM. The breakdown of this funding is available at school level for financial year 2014-15 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-infant-free-school-meals-uifsm-provisional-funding-allocations-2014-to-2015; and for financial year 2015-16 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-infant-free-school-meals-uifsm-funding-allocations-2015-to-2016.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2016-03-10.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) Government’s net contribution to EU institutions and (b) UK’s current account balance with those institutions in 2014; and what estimate the European Commission has made of that contribution and that account balance.
Mr David Gauke
Both Government and European Commission outturn figures for the UK’s net contribution to the EU Budget in 2014 can be found in European Union Finances 2015 (Cm 9167), Tables 3A and 3C respectively. Since outturn figures are available there is no estimate. The difference between the two figuresis primarily due to the fact that Government figures include only receipts administered by UK Government Departments. The European Commission figures include both these receipts and also those which are paid directly to UK private sector beneficiaries such as universities and small and medium sized enterprises.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-04-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect on claimants of the time which elapses between a claim for universal credit and the first payment of that benefit.
Priti Patel
Many people who claim Universal Credit have come from the world of employment and have final earnings or other income to support themselves until their first benefit payment. With Universal Credit all claimants can get help with budgeting and those in financial need can ask for a Universal Credit advance.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-05-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on the imprisonment of Ingabire Umuhoza Victoire in Rwanda; and if he will make a statement.
James Duddridge
We have been clear in our public and private dialogue with the government of Rwanda that the social and economic progress it has delivered must be mirrored by gains in civil and political rights for its people. This means cultivating a society where a strong opposition and vibrant civil society can flourish. Opposition parties, and their leaders, must be able to operate freely holding the government to account and pushing for change.
We have been monitoring the case of Opposition Coalition Leader Victoire Ingabire closely through our High Commission in Kigali since her arrest in 2010. We will continue to stress our grave concern regarding all cases of arbitrary detention and arrest, including that of Mrs Ingabire, to the government of Rwanda.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-07-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are considering requiring the providers of pension annuities to increase the rate at which they calculate benefits.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
Annuity rates are set by individual providers and can vary in line with market conditions. The amount of income an individual gets each year from an annuity depends on a variety of factors including how much they had in their pension pot when they bought the annuity, whether they are seeking a joint annuity, and their age, health and lifestyle.
As a result of this government’s pensions reforms, individuals aged 55 and over with a defined contribution pension are now able to make their own choice about how to use their pension savings. The Government’s Pension Wise service provides free, impartial guidance to help people understand their options.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the mental health crisis care concordat in improving cooperation between mental health services, non-mental health NHS services and other government services.
Nicola Blackwood
MIND, which has been supporting implementation of the national Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat, commissioned an evaluation of the work being undertaken to implement the national statement. This included an assessment of how local partners were working together to improve the experience of people in mental health crisis.
The evaluation report, which was published in January 2016, can be found at the following link:
http://www.crisiscareconcordat.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/CCC-Evaluation_Report.pdf
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which ongoing operations are funded by the core defence budget; and what the expenditure on each such operation was in each year from 2010-11 to 2014-15.
Michael Fallon
The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The costs of military operations are compiled in terms of the net additional costs incurred, which are defined as those which the Department would not have incurred had the operation not taken place. The Department’s estimate of the net additional cost of military operations are recorded annually, and can be found in Table 2.3.1 in the Departments’ Annual Report and Accounts 2014-15 which is available at the following link;
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/462966/MOD_ARAc_combined_23_Sep_2015_web.pdf