The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-05-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) children under 18 years of age and (b) young people aged 18 to 24 received (i) social welfare, (ii) family, (iii) immigration, (iv) debt and (v) housing legal aid funding in each year since 2009-2010.
Mr Shailesh Vara
This information is due to be released as part of the pre-announced annual statistics bulletin for the LAA on the 30th June 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-07-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when the UK’s representatives on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance were appointed and to whom they report.
Alok Sharma
The UK delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance is currently led by Sir Eric Pickles, the UK Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues, appointed in September 2015, who reports to the Minister for Human Rights in the Foreign Office and also to the Prime Minister. There is no formal process for appointing members of the UK delegation. Representatives are drawn from a range of UK non-government organisations and academic institutions, covering Holocaust education, remembrance and research. Delegates are expected to play an active part in the IHRA’s various working groups and committees, including taking part in discussions between formal meetings, and fund their own travel costs. We always welcome expressions of interest from organisations interested in being represented.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of its capacity to (a) secure and (b) extend UK fishing rights; and whether her Department plans to have in place an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles after the UK leaves the EU.
George Eustice
Exit from the EU presents us with an opportunity under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to improve the way waters in the UK’s Exclusive Economic Zone are managed. Defra officials will be working with the Department for Exiting the European Union, Devolved Administrations and stakeholders to develop proposals that will allow the UK to best take advantage of this opportunity.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2015-11-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to increase the number of people living with diabetes who receive structured education courses to help them self-manage their diabetes, in the light of recommendations by NICE.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Quality Standard for diabetes, attached, sets out that people with diabetes should receive a structured educational programme. NHS England is statutorily required to have regard to this.
There are a number of national and locally developed patient education programmes available including Dose Adjustment For Normal Eating (DAFNE) for Type 1 diabetes, and Diabetes Education and Self-management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed (DESMOND) for Type 2 diabetes.
While there is still much room for improvement, the proportion of people with diabetes being offered structured education is improving. 16% of people newly diagnosed with diabetes were offered structured education in 2012/13 compared to 8.4% of those diagnosed in 2009. In the same period the number of people newly diagnosed with diabetes offered or attending structured education rose from 11% to 18.4%.
No estimate has been made of the cost over a five-year period of providing group based education courses for all people living with diabetes.
The Department is developing plans to improve outcomes for those with diabetes. This will be announced in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-12-15.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what evidence they have received, if any, of civilian casualties in Syria caused by Russian military action by air, by land, or by cluster weapons; and what assessment they have made of the means available to them to prevent Russian military action from increasing casualties in Syria.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
It is difficult to ascertain with complete certainty the numbers of civilian casualties as a direct result of Russian attacks, though there are numerous, credible open source reports of civilian casualties as a result of Russian air strikes. Although Russian claims to be targeting Daesh, 75 per cent of their strikes have been against other targets. We continue to urge Russia to end strikes against the moderate opposition and, instead, to use its political leverage over the Assad regime to stop the regime’s indiscriminate bombing against civilians. In February 2014 we co-sponsored UN Security Council Resolution 2139 calling for the protection of civilians and an end to indiscriminate attacks, including the use of barrel bombs and obstructing the flow of humanitarian aid.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the level of milk prices paid to farmers in comparison to their costs of production.
George Eustice
The latest AHDB league table suggests that average prices paid by milk purchasers ranged from 19.46 ppl to 34.68 ppl in November 2015.
For farms in England in 2014/15, (latest available figures) The average cost of milk production in England was 29.2 pence per litre.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Boateng on 2016-02-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many full-time accredited diplomatic staff are employed in the British Embassy Liaison Office in Bujumbura; and of those, how many are not locally engaged, and what are their civil service grades.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Our Embassy Liaison Office in Bujumbura is a subordinate post, covered by our High Commission in Kigali. It has three full time locally engaged staff. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is seeking to appoint a full time accredited diplomatic officer to be based in Bujumbura. Our High Commissioner to Rwanda is accredited as the British Ambassador to Burundi while the Department for International Development Head of Office in Rwanda also covers Burundi. Full-time accredited diplomatic staff at our High Commission in Kigali and elsewhere in the region support political engagement with Burundian actors and visit Burundi regularly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-03-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the BBC’s Royal Charter should be for at least 10 years.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
These issues are being considered as part of Charter Review. The Government will set out its proposals in the forthcoming White Paper.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-04-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to ensure that the £500 million Access Fund is spent on sustainable transport projects.
James Wharton
The £500 million Access Fund is part of the Department for Transport’s overall contribution to the Local Growth Fund in this spending review period. As with the majority of the Local Growth Fund it is available to Local Enterprise Partnerships to bid for and spend in line with their own priorities. LEPs are already planning to spend considerably more than £500 million on sustainable transport and we would encourage them to propose ambitious sustainable transport measures in their further growth deal bids this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-05-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 15 March 2016 to Question 29991, what estimate he made of the total amount local authorities have spent on delivering concessionary bus fares since 2011.
Andrew Jones
Figures for net current expenditure on concessionary travel in England between 2011-12 and 2014-15 (the latest for which data is available) are available in Table BUS0811b which is published on the Department’s statistics page on the GOV.UK website.
The total net current expenditure refers to expenditure on all aspects of concessionary travel, including the statutory bus concession for older and disabled people, discretionary concessions, youth concession schemes and administrative costs.