The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many women have died (a) in pregnancy and (b) during childbirth in each of the last 10 years.
Mr Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much the Government expects to accrue to the public purse from the planned annual charge on Australian and New Zealand citizens for use of the NHS.
James Brokenshire
The Impact Assessment published on 4 February 2016, alongside the draft Immigration (Health Charge) (Amendment) Order 2016, estimates that a net additional £41 million could be raised for the NHS in present value, over 5 years, in 2016-17 prices, by applying the health charge to Australian and New Zealand nationals and reducing the annual health charge for Youth Mobility Scheme visa applicants from £200 to £150.
The Impact Assessment can be viewed at the link below and is also available in the Vote Office (Commons): http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2016/9780111143278/impacts
These changes are subject to affirmative resolution and will be debated in the House of Commons and House of Lords. If they are approved by Parliament, the Government plans to implement the changes from 6 April.
The Government think it only fair that Australian and New Zealand nationals contribute to the UK’s health service in the same way as other non-EEA nationals. The changes will only apply to Australian and New Zealand nationals who plan to enter the UK for a temporary period of more than six months; visitors will not need to pay the charge and Australians and New Zealanders will continue to benefit from our reciprocal healthcare agreements.
Further, the Government has in recognition of the close and important links between our countries, agreed during discussions with the Australian and New Zealand Governments, to reduce the health charge that applies to the Youth Mobility Scheme from £200 to £150 in line with students. This is the category used by more than half of Australian and New Zealand nationals granted visa’s to the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-03-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what definition her Department uses for BAME.
Mike Penning
The Government has traditionally used a mix of terms to describe the groups we are working with on race equality: Black and Minority Ethnic (BME); Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME), also ethnic minority and minority ethnic.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33754, on World War 1, what constitutes the extensive efforts referred to which are made to try and identify any recovered remains.
Mark Lancaster
Efforts to try and identify recovered remains, first concentrate on forensic analysis and examination of personal and regimental artefacts found alongside them. If the Regiment is identified, war diaries are reviewed. In addition, liaisons with archivists, historians and individual Service records are examined to aid investigations. If a small group of fallen soldiers with no known graves are identified for comparison, DNA testing may then take place, if required.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on local authorities creating new municipal bus companies in England.
Andrew Jones
The Bus Services Bill, which had its first reading in the House of Lords on 19th May, sets out the Government’s policy regarding the creation of new municipal bus companies in England. Clause 21 of the Bill proposes to restrict the ability of local authorities in England to establish companies for the purposes of operating local bus services.
Government recognises the quality services that existing municipal bus companies provide for passengers, and these existing companies will not be affected by the provisions in the Bill. However, it is our view that the commissioning and provision of bus services should be kept separate, particularly as the introduction of new partnership and franchising powers in the Bill is likely to lead to more local authority control and influence of local services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-09-02.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many performance failures have been incurred by contractors under the HM Revenue and Customs Benefits and Credits, Error and Fraud Adding Capacity 444 contract between SYNNEX-Concentrix UK Limited and HM Revenue and Customs.
Mr David Gauke
Since mid-October 2015 there has been 120 instances where Concentrix has not fully met the performance standards set out in the contract out of a total of 1625.
The estimate of commission paid for the HM Revenue and Customs’ contract with SYNNEX-Concentrix relating to error and fraud is £15.8m since the start of the contract to date.
SYNNEX-Concentrix under its contract with HM Revenue and Customs have completed around 308,718 undeclared partner cases, 198,422 work and hours cases and 152,771 child care cases.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeff Smith on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it the Government’s policy to require local authorities to collect data on the number of children who have experienced abuse and neglect.
Edward Timpson
The Government collects and publishes ‘Characteristics of children in need’ statistics annually. This includes data on the number of children in need where the primary need identified at assessment is abuse or neglect, the number of assessments undertaken by children’s social care services where different types of abuse and neglect are a factor, and the number of children on child protection plans by different categories of abuse and neglect.
The statistics can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-children-in-need.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what procedures her Department has in place to assess at the conclusion of any animal experiment whether the severity level expected by researchers before the experiment corresponded to what the actual severity level was.
Mike Penning
The Home Office has published detailed guidance (see: Guidance on the Operation of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986), which describes the requirements the Home Office places on researchers in the assessment of retrospective severity. At the end of a series of regulated procedures the project licence holder is required to classify the actual severity of the series of procedures carried out using observations taken from the animals during day-to-day monitoring. This information has to be reported to the Home Office annually, and at the conclusion of a programme of work, and following implementation of 2010/63 EU was published for the first time in the Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals, Great Britain 2014.
Where appropriate, Home Office Inspectors cross-check and assess these records against the severity categories set out in project licences.
All project licences using non-human primates, cats, dogs and equidae, all those involving procedures classified as severe as well as those for education and training purposes or using endangered animals, are also required to be assessed retrospectively. In such cases, the Secretary of State requires an establishment’s Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body to conduct the retrospective assessment, which has to be submitted to the Home Office within three months in order that an inspector can complete the assessment on behalf of the Secretary of State.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2015-12-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make one of the qualifying criteria for children under three years of age to access the mobility component of the disability living allowance possession of a blue badge by either of a child’s parents.
Justin Tomlinson
I refer the honourable lady to the answer provided to her on 2 November (13660).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the second bullet point of page 26 of the report, entitled Getting it right in social welfare law, published by the Low Commission in March 2015, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the Commission’s recommendation.
Mr Shailesh Vara
The Ministry of Justice welcomes the work done by the Low Commission in producing its reports, and notes its recommendation on Alternative Dispute Resolution. As part of our work to reform the courts we are considering how to make processes speedier and more accessible.