The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) volume and (b) value of (i) raw milk, (ii) butter, (iii) cheese, (iv) cream and (v) condensed milk was produced in each year from 1995-96 to 2014-15.
George Eustice
The information requested is set out in the tables attached.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-12-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) financial and (b) other support is available to help young adult carers who wish to continue on to higher education.
Nick Boles
The Government recognises that young carers face challenges participating in higher education and they may require additional support to do so effectively. We have made changes to student support for those in higher education in the 2016/17 academic year. In particular, students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are living away from home and studying outside London can receive a maximum maintenance loan for living costs of £8,200 a year in 2016/17. This represents an increase of £766 from the maximum combined loans and grants available in 2015/16. In addition to the main support package, a student who is a young carer can apply for a Childcare Grant or Parents’ Learning Allowance.
Students in 16-19 education can also apply for a discretionary bursary to help meet the costs of their travel, equipment, educational trips or anything else that they might require to participate effectively in their education. Funding is also allocated to sixth forms and colleges so they can provide additional educational support to students fromdisadvantaged backgrounds, including young carers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Doocey on 2016-01-27.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what data they collect, and from whom, about the number of children trafficked, and attempted to be trafficked, on Eurostar services.
Lord Bates
The UK Government takes child trafficking extremely seriously. All Border Force officers at the Eurostar ports in the UK France and Belgium have received training in keeping children safe and all operational processes involving children comply with requirements as set out in the Children and Young Persons Act. Border Force and Eurostar have daily contact on operational matters. When passengers are identified by Border Force officers as potential victims of trafficking, immediate action is taken to safeguard the individual by following Home Office guidance on the treatment of the victims of trafficking. Border Force collects data on these cases in order to notify the Human Trafficking Centre. Contact is also made with Camden Social Services Safeguarding Team as soon as possible in order to establish safe care of the child. Eurostar has its own policy on unaccompanied children travelling on its services which can be found on the internet at: http://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/travel-info/travel-planning/accessibility#unaccompanied_children
Border Force has not provided training to French border officials on UK child trafficking patterns. All cases of suspected trafficking detected by the French border officials at St Pancras are handed to the BTP to action. In France and Belgium any concerns Border Force officers have about vulnerable children attempting to travel to the UK would be referred to the French and Belgian frontier control authorities. The Home Office has not had any discussions with Patina Rail about a proposed new routing between St Pancras and Ashford.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-02-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing a fiduciary duty for the governance committees of pension funds to their members.
Justin Tomlinson
Under Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules introduced in April 2015, independent governance committees (IGCs) have a clear duty to challenge providers on the value for money of their workplace pension schemes, acting in members’ interests, raising concerns and making recommendations as appropriate. The provider must also make arrangements for member views to be directly represented to the IGC.
The provider’s board has a “comply or explain” duty in response to recommendations from the IGC and if the IGC is not content with the board’s response it can escalate to the FCA, to members of the scheme and to the public. When coupled with the IGC’s duty to act in members’ interests, this provides a practical and direct way of ensuring good member outcomes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-03-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to make an application under Article 16 of the EU Habitats Directive for a derogation in relation to species protected under Annex IV of that Directive which may be affected by Phase 1 of High Speed 2.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Where effects on protected species are identified, the appropriate licenses will be obtained from Natural England prior to any works being undertaken. This includes species protected by the Habitats Regulations 2010 and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Natural England is working with HS2 ltd in scoping the required licences through 2016 in the run up to Royal Assent.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-04-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, under which statute he has the power to impose contracts on junior doctors.
Ben Gummer
The Secretary of State acted entirely lawfully in deciding to announce, on 11 February 2016, Official Report, columns 1763 – 1778 that he would proceed with the introduction of a new contract without further negotiation with the British Medical Association.
In deciding that a new contract – which would be safer for patients and fair and reasonable for junior doctors – should proceed to be introduced, the Secretary of State was exercising a range of powers under the National Health Service Act 2006.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy that scientists and technicians working in the health sector should be registered with a professional body such as the Science Council.
Ben Gummer
There are no plans to require scientists and technicians working in the health sector to register with a professional body such as the Science Council. While voluntary registration schemes, such as those overseen by the Science Council, provide an important mechanism for assuring the standards of professional staff, it is a matter for individual staff and their employing organisation as to how they make use of the assurance provided by voluntary registration schemes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-07-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have conducted any research into the possible mental and psychological impact on children of using Twitter and Facebook; and if not, whether they plan to do so.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The Department does not itself conduct research, but funds research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the Department’s Policy Research Programme (PRP). The NIHR and the PRP have not funded specific research into the possible mental and psychological impact on children of using Twitter and Facebook and have no plans to commission research on this topic. In 2014-15 (the latest year for which data is currently available), the NIHR invested £72.6 million in research in mental health, including the mental health of children.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) status and (b) latest estimated or final cost is of each of the 19 road schemes announced in December 2014 for the Midlands.
Mr John Hayes
The current status of the 19 schemes announced in December 2014 for the Midlands is given in Highways England’s Delivery Plan for 2016-2017, which is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/highways-england-delivery-plan-2016-to-2017
Overall schemes which are under construction are coming in or under budget. For schemes under development we would expect some movement in timescales or costs but overall Highways England is on course to deliver its commitments within the allocated funding.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will contact those people whose personal details have been stolen as a result of the cyber security breach of the Government Gateway system.
Matthew Hancock
There are no indications of a cyber security breach of the Government Gateway.