The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the self-exclusion pilot schemes introduced by bookmakers in Medway and Glasgow.
Tracey Crouch
I refer the honourable member to the written response given in UIN number 14483 on 16th November 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps her Department is taking to help review and improve sea defences in Northern Ireland.
Mrs Theresa Villiers
Sea defences are a devolved matter in Northern Ireland.
On 9 December 2015, the Chancellor announced an additional £51 million to support households and businesses affected by floods, which includes an allocation of £1.3 million to Northern Ireland. It is up to the Executive how this money is spent.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-02-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) children under 16 and (b) people aged 16 to 25 have been (i) tried and (ii) convicted of revenge porn in each year since it became a criminal offence.
Karen Bradley
The requested information is not available centrally. Offences of disclosure of private sexual photographs and films with the intent to cause distress or anxiety have been included in the harassment offence category since April 2015 in the statistics published by the Office for National Statistics. However, it is not possible to separately identify the age of the victims or the exact offence (from within harassment).
The most recent statistics can be found in Table A4 available at this link: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime-stats/crime-statistics/crime-in-england-and-wales—year-ending-september-2015/index.html
Convictions data are the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice has informed the Home Office that proceedings data for 2015 (including statistics for disclosure of private sexual photographs and films with the intent to cause distress or anxiety) are planned for publication in spring 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Will Quince on 2016-03-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to announce the successful bids for the Condition Improvement Fund for 2016-17.
Edward Timpson
The deadline for applications to the Condition Improvement Fund 2016-2017 was 16 December. All applications are now being assessed and moderated against the published criteria to ensure that those with the greatest need receive funding
We expect to announce successful projects by the end of March 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burgon on 2016-03-23.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the initial disposal of Government shares in Royal Bank of Scotland in August 2015 on (a) the share price and (b) the proposed future sale of shares.
Harriett Baldwin
The first sale of Government shares in RBS was conducted in August 2015 and raised £2.1 billion for the taxpayer. This was an important first step in returning the bank to private ownership, which is the right thing to do for the taxpayer and for British businesses: it will promote financial stability, lead to a more competitive banking sector, and support the interests of the wider economy.
The government will conduct further sales of RBS shares subject to market conditions, and in doing so will maximise value for the taxpayer. The returns on the government’s interventions in RBS will be determined by the success of the whole of the selling programme, rather than the terms achieved on the first few disposals.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Heaton-Jones on 2016-05-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that the Success Regime review at North Devon District Hospital does not lead to a reduction in services provided at that hospital.
Ben Gummer
The Success Regime aims to improve the quality and sustainability of health and care services for local people.
North, East and West Devon’s ‘Case for Change’ sets out the underlying challenges and opportunities. Change will be led by clinicians, in the best interests of communities. No specific proposals have been identified and the programme welcomes input from the people of North Devon. Hospital-based services will continue to be important across Devon, including in the North of the county.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-06-20.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 6 June (HL320), which elements of Turkish democracy they consider modern”; and whether they consider any aspects not “modern”.”
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Turkey is a democracy with multi-party elections whose government has been democratically elected. Progress has been made on reforms in some areas in recent years, but, as the European Commission has highlighted, there has also been significant backsliding. As a friend and ally we strongly encourage Turkey to continue work towards the full protection of all civil liberties – and will continue to do so.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2016-09-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the role of her Department was in drafting the Government’s childhood obesity plan.
Tracey Crouch
The childhood obesity plan was developed and drafted by Department of Health with input from departments across Government, including the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. DCMS will continue to work with DH on the implementation of the actions within the plan.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Howarth on 2016-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department’s policy is on screening of high-risk patients for liver disease.
David Mowat
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published guidance on the diagnosis and management of a number of conditions affecting the liver including alcohol use disorders, cirrhosis, hepatitis B and C and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-11-09.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2015 to Question 14136, what work the Government has undertaken to implement the commitments made in paragraphs (a) 1, (b) 2, (c) 3, (d) 8 and (e) 10 of the 2013 Lough Erne G8 Leaders’ Communiqué since January 2014; and what assessment he has made of the level of progress against those commitments.
Mr David Gauke
Since January 2014 the Prime Minister has updated the house on 11 June 2014 and 10 June 2015 following the G7 Summits. The UK presidency focused on 3 Ts: tax, transparency and trade.
On tax there has been significant progress on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) the major international agreement to realign taxation with economic activities and value creation. In October 2015 the OECD issued the final BEPS outputs, which were endorsed by G20 Finance Ministers. The UK has made significant progress including: consulting on implementing rules to address hybrid mismatches arrangements and issuing draft secondary legislation to implement Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting, a template for multinational companies to report profit and tax information to tax authorities, in the UK in line with the internationally agreed timetable. In addition, in February 2014 G20 Finance Ministers endorsed the OECD’s new global standard for Automatic Exchange of Information of tax. All G20 Finance Ministers committed to first exchange by end-2018 in September, with 10 G20 countries including the UK committing to begin exchange in 2017.
With regards to transparency, in March 2015 the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act received Royal Assent, establishing a public registry of company beneficial ownership that will show who ultimately owns and controls in-scope UK companies. The register will be operational from June 2016 and the UK is undertaking a wider review of corporate transparency.
On trade, the Government has furthered international free trade agreements (FTA), with negotiations on an EU-Canada FTA finalised in August 2014. The EU and Japan held a constructive round of Free Trade Agreements negotiations in October 2015. The EU-US FTA 11th Round of negotiations took place in Miami 19-23 October 2015.