The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much has been paid in compensation to prisoners in the last 12 months.
Andrew Selous
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. We robustly defend all cases and over the last three years have successfully defended two thirds of claims from prisoners.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2016 to Question 29571, on prescriptions: learning disability, if he will make it his policy to collect that information.
Alistair Burt
A prescription does not record whether someone has a learning disability so a collection of the requested information would require a change in the prescribing process.
As part of the Government’s commitment to improve care for people with learning disabilities NHS England is planning a programme of work to reduce inappropriate prescribing.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Compass asylum accommodation contract with Clearsprings Ready Home Limited for the region of Wales and South West England, how many faults were reported or identified from Compass inspections for each contractual pay period in 2014-15 and 2015-16; and how many such faults were not resolved within the agreed contractual timescales.
James Brokenshire
Providers are contractually required to provide safe, habitable, fit for purpose and correctly equipped accommodation to comply with the Housing Act 2004 and the Decent Homes Standard. Providers are monitored closely to ensure accommodation meets these standards and the contracts include measures to ensure any issues are quickly addressed. These performance standards are defined in the contract and are managed using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) including those which measure whether an individual property is compliant with contractual obligations following an inspection and also the number of service users effected if a fault is not repaired within the contract timescales.
The Home Office does not centrally record the number of individual faults reported or identified during accommodation inspections, or the number of individual faults not resolved within the agreed timescales. The requested information could therefore only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-05-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on whether there is a link between the number of years of e-cigarette use and those people smoking tobacco in the future.
Jane Ellison
The Department does not hold data on this.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-06-28.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will estimate the amount lost to cyber fraud in the public sector in each year since 2010.
Matthew Hancock
We are unable to provide an estimate of the loss to cyber fraud in the public sector each year since 2010. We have considered the information available to us and do not have any data available to help inform such an estimate.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-09-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 20 April (HL7511), and in the light of the outcome of the EU referendum, whether they will now consider bringing forward legislation to ban the routine use on farms of antibiotics classified by the WHO as critically important for treating bacterial infections in humans, rather than waiting until the EU negotiations on the relevant legislation are completed in late 2017.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Government does not support the routine preventative use of antibiotics in animals, including those classified as critically important.
We will be restricting the use of the most important critically important antibiotics (CIAs) through measures already underway to remove indications for preventive treatment of groups of livestock from medicines containing the most important CIAs. This will not require legislative change.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of Equitorial Guinea on human rights and freedom of speech in that country.
James Duddridge
We remain concerned about the human rights situation in Equitorial Guinea, including the lack of freedom of expression and assembly, the lack of transparency and high levels of corruption. We are concerned about a recent Presidential decree which saw a total dissolution of the judiciary. Equitorial Guinea must meet its international obligations to protect the independence of the judiciary and respect the rule of law.
We have no diplomatic mission or resident diplomatic staff in Equatorial Guinea. Nonetheless we remain committed to raising human rights concerns with the Government of Equitorial Guinea where we can, and we have outlined concerns to the Equitorial Guinea Ambassador in London, and through visits to Equitorial Guinea of our non-resident Ambassador (based in Cameroon). We will continue to raise our concerns through these channels.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to reduce shortages in the number of trained air warfare personnel; and what assessment he has made of the effect of that shortage on military operations in Iraq and Syria.
Penny Mordaunt
The term "air warfare personnel" is not recognised within the Royal Air Force. Allocation of manpower is sensibly prioritised to ensure that operational needs are met in full.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2016-01-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have commissioned or have plans to commission a review of the activities and achievements of the Big Society programme since its inception; if so, who is conducting this review and when it will report and to whom; and if not, why not.
Lord Bridges of Headley
The Big Society programme remains a key manifesto commitment for the Government. The 2015 Spending Review saw this commitment reaffirmed with, for example, funding for the National Citizen Service increased to over a £1 billion creating the next generation of community minded volunteers. An additional £100 million in funding for Social Impact Bonds has also been pledged to reduce demand on public services. These programmes are helping to create a stronger, more engaged nation where people and neighbourhoods are able to take greater responsibility with improving the country.
These programmes are regularly reviewed and reports are publicly available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-02-09.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his Department’s policy is on the proposal from the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee to introduce comprehensive public country-by-country reporting for all multinational companies, in all sectors, by the first quarter of 2016; and if he will press for the introduction of such country-by-country reporting with other member states in the Council.
Mr David Gauke
The European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) has a keen interest in tax, and hence put forward certain proposals. However, the Commission has the sole power of initiative in relation to legislative measures. Tax files are to be agreed by unanimity at the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN). The European Parliament’s role in this process in not formal, and purely consultative.
The term tax haven is often used as shorthand for low or zero tax jurisdictions. However, low tax rates are not by themselves harmful and the UK supports fair tax competition. The UK is working with other Member States in the EU Code of Conduct Group to identify harmful tax regimes and will continue to take strong action against aggressive avoidance and evasion.
The UK and other Member States have not yet seen any proposals from the European Commission or the European Parliament on public country-by-country reporting (CbCR). The Commission is due to publish an Impact Assessment on public CbCR shortly, and we are interested in the results of their analysis. The UK will carefully consider any proposals put forward by the Commission.
The UK played a leading role in encouraging other countries and jurisdictions to sign up to international tax transparency agreements during its G8 presidency in 2013. Thanks in large part to the UK’s continuing leadership on this agenda, over 90 countries have now committed to exchange information on offshore accounts, beginning in 2017 or 2018. The UK also initiated the international work on CbCR and was the first country to formally commit to implementing the OECD model for CbCR, with legislation in the Finance Act 2015. We support the proposal to amend the Directive on Administrative Co-operation to require all EU Member States to adopt and exchange the OECD CbCR template.
The European Commission intends to publish a revised proposal for a mandatory Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) later this year. The Government will wait to see the detail of the Commission’s proposal, including a robust impact assessment, before finalising its position. However, we have stated that the UK will not sign up to anything that undermines our tax sovereignty.