The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2015-11-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their most recent assessment of the annual cost of mesothelioma to the NHS.
Lord Prior of Brampton
Financial information is not held at this level, and we are not aware of any recent assessment of the annual cost of mesothelioma to the National Health Service.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2015-12-15.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings he has had on his Department’s proposed review of business rates.
Mr David Gauke
The Government has held a range meetings with stakeholders and received a large number of submissions in response to the business rates review. The review will be fiscally neutral and will report at Budget 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of households that will have access to superfast broadband in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2018-19 and (d) 2019-20.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Broadband Delivery UK’s (BDUK) Superfast Broadband Programme remains on track to achieve 90% superfast broadband coverage within the next few months, and 95% by December 2017. In addition, the Government’s intention to implement a new broadband Universal Service Obligation will give people the legal right to request at 10Mbps connection, no matter where they live, by the end of this Parliament.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will publish the cost-benefit analysis related to his Department’s decision to close its Sheffield office.
Joseph Johnson
The Department intends to close the Sheffield office at St Paul’s Place by January 2018. This intention is based on the strategic vision for the Department by 2020 that seeks to save 30-40% of its operating costs, reduce the number of locations it operates from (from currently around 80 to 7 centres and a regional footprint for the provision of local services), and halves the number of its Partner Organisations.
The location strategy is based on the need to simplify delivery and focus expertise in specific areas. This includes locating the policy function in one place, close to Ministers, in the HQ in London. This decision was based on on-going analysis and discussions, leading to the decision by the Executive Board.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-03-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to enforce section 54 of the Pensions Act 2008.
Justin Tomlinson
Section 54 of the Pensions Act 2008 prohibits employers from taking any action for the sole or main purpose of inducing a worker to leave a workplace pension scheme.
The Government takes potential inducement by employers very seriously. The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is responsible for all matters relating to employers’ compliance with their enrolment duties, including investigations into individual cases of potential inducement by employers.
Through automatic enrolment we are delivering a fundamental shift in workplace pension saving that is changing the way that people are enabled to save for retirement. Already 100,668 employers have completed their declaration of compliance with the Regulator, resulting in more than 6 million eligible jobholders being automatically enrolled into a qualifying pension scheme.
The law relating to inducements is an important safeguard for workers and the Regulator has statutory powers of investigation and enforcement it can use in appropriate circumstances. We are working with the Regulator to monitor the number and nature of possible inducement cases as the roll-out of automatic enrolment continues. That will enable us to judge whether the current legislation covering inducement, and the guidance and messaging provided by the Regulator, are operating effectively to protect employees, and whether change may be appropriate.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-04-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what reports he has received on the NHS investigation into the performance of the non-urgent transport service provided by Coperforma in Sussex; who will conduct that investigation; what the terms of reference and expected duration of that investigation are; and if he will make a statement.
Jane Ellison
NHS England advises that the High Weald Lewes Havens Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), on behalf of all seven Sussex CCGs, has begun an enquiry on 18 April 2016 into the non-emergency Patient Transport Service (PTS) in Sussex.
We are informed that the CCG has engaged TIAA, an independent company and a provider of assurance services to the public sector, to carry out the enquiry. This is an independent investigation into the transition and mobilisation of the PTS contract from the South East Coast Ambulance Service to Coperforma and is supported by the CCGs in Sussex, Coperforma and the South East Coast Ambulance Service. We are advised the CCG has asked for a draft final report to be available for review by June 2016 with interim progress reports.
We are advised the following terms of reference have been agreed by South East Coast Ambulance Service, High Weald Lewes Havens CCG and Coperforma:
― consideration of the transition arrangements set out in such as contract specification and tender submission;
― the extent to which compliance with agreed handover arrangements can be evidenced;
― a root cause analysis of a sample of incomplete bookings;
― establishing the causes of poor service delivery on commencement of the new contract and whether these could have been reasonably anticipated prior to the contract commencement date;
― the appropriateness and timeliness of the actions taken by the CCG; and
― any lesson learned which could be incorporated into other future major contracts let by the CCG.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Sandwich on 2016-05-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which local authorities have offered places to unaccompanied refugee children from (1) Europe, and (2) Syria, and which councils other than Kent County Council have already filled their quota.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
As the Prime Minister announced on 4 May and as set out in the new Immigration Act 2016, we will work to admit unaccompanied refugee children from Europe to the UK. The very nature of this legislation means we must take the time to consult others before bringing final proposals on how to implement this scheme.
We will consult local authorities to establish how best to implement this commitment and the recently announced Children at Risk resettlement scheme, which is the only other resettlement to include unaccompanied children, as part of our wider discussion with them about the transfer of unaccompanied asylum seeking children who have arrived spontaneously, which is designed to relieve the pressure on authorities such as Kent. We are not proposing to ask local authorities to distinguish between which unaccompanied children they accept.
We are determined to ensure that no local authority is asked to take more than the local structures are able to cope with. That is why we are talking to local authorities and other partners including non-governmental organsations to ensure that capacity can be identified and the impact can be managed in a fair and controlled way.
Work has already begun and we are committed to act as quickly as we can but it is important we take the necessary time to ensure we have the capacity to resettle and support those who are resettled. We must also ensure that we fulfil our obligations to children who are already in the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2016-07-12.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of electoral registration arrangements for UK nationals abroad in (a) general and (b) Germany in advance of the EU referendum.
Chris Skidmore
Online registration has made the application process for overseas electors easier than ever before. Between the start of the EU referendum campaign on 18 April and the extended registration deadline on 9 June over 151,000 overseas electors submitted an application to register to vote.
The Cabinet Office does not hold data on overseas elector applications by country.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his counterpart in the Turcs and Caicos Islands on improving LGBT rights.
Sir Alan Duncan
The British Government works closely with the Overseas Territories (OTs) on LGBT rights to ensure that all OTs meet their international human rights obligations in this area. In September, the UK Solicitor General chaired a human rights session at the annual conference of OT Attorneys General where LGBT equality was extensively discussed. The Solicitor General will co-chair a session in November with the Minister for the Overseas Territories, my noble Friend, the Rt Hon Baroness Anelay of St Johns, on human rights at the Joint Ministerial Council. We expect all OT Governments to comply with their evolving international obligations in the field of human rights. Legislating in this area is for OT Governments.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of 16 to 19 year old students studying GCSE mathematics and English in further education and sixth form colleges.
Nick Boles
The requested information for 16 to 19 year olds is not available. Information on 16 to 18 year olds students entered for GCSE English and/or maths, having not achieved a grade A* to C at the end of key stage 4, is published by institution type in the “Level 1 and 2 English and mathematics: 16 to 18 students – 2013 to 2014” statistical first release[1].
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/level-1-and-2-english-and-maths-16-to-18-students-2013-to-2014 (Tables 1 and 3)
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