The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-03-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which family courts have a designated safe space for victims of domestic abuse and other vulnerable individuals.
Mr Shailesh Vara
Safe areas are available for vulnerable victims and witnesses at every venue where the Family Court routinely conducts hearings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-04-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it remains their policy to put the UK at the heart of the EU and if so, how this will be achieved outside the Eurozone.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
At the February European Council the Government negotiated a new settlement giving the UK special status in a reformed EU. The Government’s position is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU. The settlement protects the UK’s rights as a country outside the Eurozone, and makes it clear that the UK is not committed to any future political integration.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will introduce a human rights charter for care homes; and if he will make a statement.
Alistair Burt
There are no plans to introduce a human rights charter. Local authorities are public authorities and are subject to the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA). They must take account of the HRA in their contracting arrangements, including those with care providers.
The HRA applies to the relationship between individuals and public authorities and is not intended to apply directly to purely private arrangements. However, section 73 of the Care Act 2014 is explicit that care providers which are regulated by the Care Quality Commission in England, or by equivalent bodies in the rest of the United Kingdom, are exercising a public function for the purposes of the HRA when providing care and support, arranged or funded in whole or in part by local authorities.
Those purchasing care privately have rights of legal challenge against a provider via their contract or through criminal or tort law.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-07-07.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what funding was allocated to each of his Department’s sub-divisions in each year since 2009-10; and what forecasts of allocations have been made for future years.
Harriett Baldwin
The funding for each of Treasury’s sub divisions since 2009-10 can be found on the Main Estimates at www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-main-estimates.
The Treasury does not usually set detailed budgets more than a year ahead but have provided the Office for Budget Responsibility with a funding commitment for the period to 2020-21. This can be found at www.budgetresponsibility.org.uk/topics/governance-and-reporting/#letters.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his Department’s policy to implement the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s commitment to feed-in tariff deployment cap top-ups, set out in its review of the feed-in tariffs scheme, published in December 2015.
Jesse Norman
The Government response to the 2015 review of the scheme set out that a budget reconciliation process could be biannual, or more or less frequent, depending on deployment. As well as our current consultation on support for anaerobic digestion and micro-combined heat and power under the scheme, we are reviewing the deployment that has taken place since the revised scheme was re-launched in February of this year and will make a statement in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Tim on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of crimes committed by people with gambling problems.
Mike Penning
The Home Office has made no specific assessment of the number of crimes committed by people with gambling problems.
The most recent crime statistics published by the Office for National Statistics showed that overall crime fell by 8% in the year to June 2015, according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales. Crime has now fallen by more than a quarter since June 2010, with just over 2.9 million fewer crimes a year.
It is for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners to decide crime priorities at a local level, and the most appropriate response in their areas.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that Health Education England implements the recommendations on the training of workforce contained in the report of the Independent Cancer Taskforce, Achieving World Class Cancer Outcomes.
Jane Ellison
NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to determine how best to take forward the recommendations in the independent Cancer Taskforce’s report, Achieving world-class cancer outcomes: a strategy for England 2015 to 2020, and has appointed Cally Palmer CBE as NHS National Cancer Director to lead on managing implementation. She is currently setting up a new Cancer Transformation Board to lead the roll-out of the recommendations of the new strategy, including on workforce, and a Cancer Advisory Group, chaired by Dr Harpal Kumar, Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, will oversee and scrutinise their work.
We announced in September that Health Education England (HEE) is developing a new national training programme for an additional 200 staff to get the skills and expertise to carry out endoscopies by 2018. The content of the next mandate from the Government to HEE is currently being determined.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what role the Chair of the new single promotional group will play in the Ministerial Working Group for Maritime Growth on (a) the development of shipping policy and (b) shipping industry regulation.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Invited industry representatives attended the first meeting of the Ministerial Working Group for Maritime Growth to provide an industry perspective on the specific topics discussed at that meeting.
A similar procedure will be adopted for future meetings and it is likely that the Chair of a single promotional body would be invited as part of any industry representation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to increase the number of missing people who are found.
Karen Bradley
The Government’s Missing Children and Adults Strategy for England and Wales provides a core framework for local areas to do more to prevent and protect children and vulnerable adults who go missing. We are currently undertaking a refresh of the strategy, to be published later this year. This will include an implementation plan to improve the overall response to missing people, including better use of the Child Rescue Alert (CRA) system, prevention (reducing the numbers who go missing) and improving the response to finding people who have gone missing or are at risk of doing so.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-03-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2016 to Question 28183, using what evidence base his departmental economists (a) normally assume operators pass subsidy received on to passengers at a rate of 50 per cent through lower fares and at a rate of 50 per cent through increased service levels and (b) estimate that the Bus Service Operators’ Grant has the effect of keeping fares 3 per cent lower in England outside London.
Andrew Jones
The department assumed that the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) was passed on to passengers 50% through lower fares and 50% through increased service levels as a working assumption made in the absence of better relevant evidence. The estimate of the effect of keeping fares lower as a result of BSOG was derived by using the National Bus Model, which combined assumptions based on the evidence available with actual data on passenger numbers, fares and service levels.