The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many responses his Department received to the devolving Sunday trading rules consultation.
Anna Soubry
The Department received 7,171 responses to that consultation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the (a) effect of lower-than predicted growth rates on the Overseas Development Assistance budget and (b) implications of such rates on the budget for her Department.
Mr Nick Hurd
The Budget document set out reductions to the Official Development Assistance budget of £650m in 2019/20 to reflect revised economic forecasts published by the Office for Budget Responsibility. As in the last Parliament, the government has and will continue to adapt spending plans to ensure the 0.7% target is met.
The allocation of ODA will be decided by HMG in due course, in line with the UK Aid Strategy, and taking into account the relative value for money of ODA programmes and strategic fit with HMG objectives.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times he has attended public meetings of the Work and Pensions Committee since his appointment.
Justin Tomlinson
Attendance at Work and Pensions Select Committee meetings is a matter of public record and transcripts of such appearances can be found on the Committee’s web pages.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-05-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which local authorities have had their children’s services transferred into arms-length trusts; whether these transfers cover all such services; what Ofsted reports are available on such transferred services; and what changes in performance these reports show.
Lord Nash
Doncaster Children’s Services Trust took over responsibility for delivering all children’s social care functions, apart from services for disabled children and universal early help services, on behalf of the council under Direction from the Secretary of State for Education and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in September 2014. Ofsted inspected children’s services in Doncaster in September 2015. The judgement was inadequate overall. However, the inspection found improvement since the previous inspection in 2012, when all sub-judgements were inadequate. In 2015, all sub-judgements were requires improvement, save for children in need of help and protection, which was inadequate; and adoption performance, which was good.
Slough Children’s Services Trust took over responsibility for the provision of children’s early help and social care functions along with specific special educational needs services on behalf of the council under direction from the Secretary of State for Education in September 2015. Ofsted inspected children’s social care services in Slough in November 2015, less than 8 weeks after the Trust went live. The judgement was ‘inadequate’ overall. Despite the short amount of time that the trust had been in operation at the time of the inspection, Ofsted commented positively on the impact of the Trust leadership. Their report described how the pace of improvement accelerated since it was established. Encouragingly the inspectors reported that there were clear signs that the Trust understands what needs to change and there is evidence that it can deliver the required improvements.
Achieving for Children is a social enterprise company that delivers all education support and children’s services, as well as integrated health services for children with disabilities, on behalf of Kingston Upon Thames and Richmond Upon Thames councils. Prior to the creation of this voluntary trust in April 2014, safeguarding and looked after children services in Kingston were judged to be inadequate in May 2012, and child protection services were judged to be inadequate in June 2013. Children’s services in Kingston were judged to be good when they were inspected again in May 2015. Children’s services in Richmond were last inspected in March 2012 when they were rated good.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding his Department provides to support new NHS dental practices in areas with inadequate provision.
David Mowat
NHS Dentistry is commissioned by NHS England following a local oral health needs assessment undertaken in partnership with Local authorities and other partner organisations. Local services are then commissioned to meet local needs, NHS England determines how best to use its resources to meet this need.
NHS dental services are commissioned by NHS England through contracts with independent providers. These contracts are set on the basis of the oral health needs assessment, which identifies the level of dental need for a particular community and pays particular attention to access to local dental services and the dental health of the local population. There is considerable variation in oral health across England and so there are no national standards for the number of dental practices per head of population.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions Ministers in his Department have delayed providing information to the Intelligence and Security Committee in order to make a determination as to whether to share that information as set out in Schedule 1 to the Justice and Security Act 2013.
Michael Fallon
None.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2015-10-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the Competition and Markets Authority is undertaking an investigation into defeat devices used by Volkswagen in emissions tests.
Anna Soubry
The Competition and Markets Authority has been considering this issue carefully since it first emerged, including in liaison with government and other agencies nationally and internationally. It has not opened a formal investigation, but is continuing to assess in cooperation with government and other agencies what action it would be appropriate to take and who would be best placed to take it.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-11-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recourse or right of appeal is available to a member of the public removed from, or prevented from working with, a local healthwatch by the contractors.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The Department currently has no plans to undertake an investigation in to the performance of local Healthwatch organisations. In March 2015 the Department published a report commissioned from the King’s Fund – Local Healthwatch: Progress and promise – which set out the progress that local Healthwatch have made since being established in 2013. Transparency about the performance of local Healthwatch organisations is provided through the annual reports which they are required to publish. Reports on how the local Healthwatch network as a whole is operating and the nature of the support needed to deliver their activities effectively are discussed at quarterly public meetings of the Healthwatch England Committee.
Arrangements for ensuring local Healthwatch statutory activities are delivered in each area are a matter for local authorities. The Local Government Association has published guidance to support local Healthwatch and local commissioners in putting in place good governance arrangements, which includes clarity about the roles of all parties involved.
Neither the Department nor Healthwatch England are aware of local Healthwatch contractors refusing to engage with the public in their area. Where Healthwatch England is made aware of concerns in relation to local Healthwatch around governance or local relationships with specific individuals or organisations, it seeks to provide support to resolve these where appropriate. Members of the public are able to raise concerns though the complaints process of the local Healthwatch or the commissioning local authority.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his contribution of 9 September 2015, Official Report, column 88WH, when he expects the National Archives to publish those documents on contaminated blood from 1986 to 1995.
Jane Ellison
The documents have been transferred to The National Archives. They have advised that the documents will be released by 3 March 2016.
It should be noted that, as part of his inquiry, Lord Penrose had access to all documents on blood safety from the period in question, held by the Department.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Huw Irranca-Davies on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2016 to Question 22432, how the Director of the Serious Fraud Office measures the undermining of UK PLC commercial or financial interests in the (a) City of London and (b) UK.
Robert Buckland
The Criminal Justice Act 1987 provides that “The Director may investigate any suspected offence which appears to him on reasonable grounds to involve serious or complex fraud.”
Each case is assessed on its own facts and merits.
The Statement of Principle sets out some of the factors that the Director will take into account when considering the matter for investigation. All of these will be considered, and there is no minimum requirement or measure in respect of the different factors.
Each on its own or taken in combination can establish sufficient grounds for the Director to decide that the case is sufficiently large, complex or of wide public interest that it should be dealt with by the Serious Fraud Office.