The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has conducted research on the potential effect on the (a) rate of emigration and (b) number of pensioner returnees of unfreezing pensions.
Justin Tomlinson
At present DWP has not conducted any research into the behavioural impacts that the unfreezing of pensions may have on individuals’ migration decisions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-06.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the (a) potential effect on the UK economy of the decision by the US Federal Reserve to raise US interest rates and (b) potential effect of this decision on interest rates in the UK.
Harriett Baldwin
Higher US interest rates are a sign of confidence in the US economy, whose strong recovery has supported demand as the world’s largest economy and UK’s closest economic and financial partner. The UK’s monetary policy framework, set out in the Bank of England Act 1998, gives operational responsibility for monetary policy to the independent Monetary Policy Committee. Decisions on setting Bank Rate are for the judgement of the MPC.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Meacher on 2016-02-01.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact that preventing groups and organisations from objecting to school admissions arrangements will have on overall levels of compliance with the School Admissions Code.
Lord Nash
The Government’s proposed changes are intended to ensure that the Adjudicator is able to focus on any concerns which parents may have about the fairness of the admission arrangements of their local school, and that adjudications are not delayed by the need to consider large numbers of objections referred by interest groups from outside the area.
The Department does not believe that preventing other organisations from submitting objections will have a detrimental impact. The Government will be conducting a full public consultation in due course and will give careful consideration to all the views expressed in that consultation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-02-25.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials in the private offices group are employed on temporary contracts.
Matthew Hancock
At 31 January 2016, the Private Office Group in my department employed no officials on temporary contracts.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 2 March 2016 to Question 27887, what proportion of undecided and withdrawn appeals were (a) undecided and (b) withdrawn in each year since 2009-10; and for what reasons the number of undecided and withdrawn appeals is higher in 2015-16 than in any of the previous six years.
Brandon Lewis
The attached table shows the number of undecided and withdrawn planning appeals, these were previously combined in the table in the answer of 2 March.
The undecided number for 2015-16 is much higher than other years because it includes the live casework that is in the system at present, awaiting a decision.
The number of withdrawn planning appeals has ranged between 500 and 630 for all years except 2009-2010, when the number of appeals received was higher.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-04-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of relations between the UK and Burundi, and of the security situation in that country.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The security situation in Burundi remains fragile with continued abductions, illegal detentions, torture, gang rapes and killings. We are also concerned at the apparent recent increase in the number of targeted assassinations, most recently the assassination of Brigadier General Athanase Kararuza and his wife on 25 April and the attempted assassination of the Minister of Human Rights, Social Affairs and Gender, Martin Nivyabandi on 24 April. I join UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein in condemning these attacks.
We continue to make clear our concerns to the Government of Burundi. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge) visited the country in December last year where he urged the Burundian government to engage in meaningful, inclusive dialogue with the opposition without preconditions. In January he met Burundian Foreign Minister Alain Nyamitwe to reiterate this message. Mr Duddridge writes regularly to Mr Nyamitwe to convey our concerns and to urge his government to take the necessary steps to resolve the current situation. Only a genuine and inclusive dialogue, based on the respect of the Arusha Agreement, will enable Burundian stakeholders to find a consensual solution to the situation facing their country.
Our Ambassador to Burundi in Kigali travels regularly to the country to meet members of the Burundian Government and we will shortly be increasing the British Government’s presence in Bujumbura through the recruitment of a Burundi Coordinator.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mhairi Black on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many former Crown post offices which have been franchised have (a) closed and (b) relocated since January 2010.
George Freeman
Post Office Limited runs and manages its directly managed Crown post offices. Changes to the Crown network and arrangements for employees of these offices are the operational responsibility of the Post Office.
I have asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2016-09-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to increase the number of nurses (a) qualifying and (b) subsequently working in the UK.
Mr Philip Dunne
Since May 2010, there have been record number of nurses working in the National Health Service in England.
In the Health Education England (HEE) Workforce Plan for England published in May 2016, HEE set out planned increases in the number of nurse training places in 2016-17. This is an increase of 14.8% in the total number of planned nurse training places since 2013-14.
The changes to healthcare education funding from August 2017 means that we can move away from centrally imposed number controls and financial limitations, enabling universities to increase nurse training places by the end of the Parliament.
Training and recruitment across the devolved administrations is a matter for that Government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-10-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that deafblind people and those with complex needs are able to secure meaningful employment in all professionals contexts.
Penny Mordaunt
The Government wants all disabled people and those with a long term health condition to fulfil their potential and achieve their aspirations. Every individual should have the opportunity to work and share in the economic and health benefits that work brings, regardless of their health condition or disability.
We will soon publish a Green Paper that will explore a range of options for long-term reform across different sectors, targeting the factors which contribute to the disability employment gap. We are engaging with a range of stakeholders, including organisations that represent the needs of deafblind people, through our preparatory work and detailed consultation plans that will follow.
Everyone has an important part to play in developing and making the transformative changes required to support disabled people into work.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what average time her Department took to respond to freedom of information requests in each year since 2005.
Karen Bradley
The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost. The available statistics on the timeliness of FOI requests received by the Home Office up to the second quarter of 2015 are published on the Ministry of Justice website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics.