The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-04-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will review the financial strength of the Pension Protection Fund.
Baroness Altmann
The Pension Protection Fund is run by an independent Board and reviews its financial position regularly. It manages over £23 billion of assets and, in the 2014/15 Annual Report, the last published, declared a funding ratio of 115.1 per cent and a surplus of £3.6 billion.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how the provisions of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 have been used to (a) protect victims of slavery and (b) target traffickers.
Karen Bradley
The Act is already having a significant impact. All victims of modern slavery can now access the support they need. In 2015 alone, the police and CPS prosecuted 12 defendants using the new modern slavery offences and used Slavery and Trafficking Prevention and Risk Orders on at least 12 occasions. Over 100 businesses have published slavery and human trafficking statements. And the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner is spreading best practice and helped to secure the UN’s first ever Goal to end modern slavery.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-07-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether dual carriageways are more expensive to build than three lane roads.
Mr John Hayes
Although a two lane dual carriageway might be expected to cost more to build than a three lane single carriageway, simply because it is wider, the costs involved in building new carriageways are influenced by a wide range of considerations specific to the particular location, such as topography, cost of acquiring land etc.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 19 September 2016 to Question 46209, what the relationship will be between the clinical expert groups and the recently established cross-Clinical Reference Group working parties.
David Mowat
As part of the revised arrangements for the Clinical Reference Groups (CRGs), which support specialised commissioning, NHS England has also announced the establishment of cross-CRG working parties, including some which will work with other health and care bodies to contribute to improving services, data and efficiency. These are not distinct CRGs, but a collaboration between existing groups.
Those working parties are:
– Research – building an interface with the National Institute for Health Research to advise how future research strategies align with commissioning and maximising opportunities;
– Data and Resource – working with NHS Digital and NHS Improvement to provide clinical advice to these organisations in their work to improve the information that guides commissioning;
– Guidance – working with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence as a stakeholder in their guidance development and providing clinical advice as needed; and
– Value – to better understand, and therefore reduce, variations in services and, where appropriate, cease treatments/ways of working that are no longer of clinical or patient benefit.
These relate to the specialised commissioning CRGs and there is no link to the clinical expert groups.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much of the money pledged by the UK at the donor conference for Palestinians in Cairo in October 2014 has reached beneficiaries in the Gaza Strip; and what that money has been spent on.
Mr Desmond Swayne
In October 2014, the UK pledged £20 million in early recovery assistance at the Gaza Reconstruction Conference in Cairo. We have fully disbursed our pledge and will exceed it over the coming months, as we disburse residual funds on getting businesses back to work in Gaza.
DFID’s support has included reconstructive surgery and rehabilitation for those injured in the conflict, clearance of unexploded ordnance, short-term employment schemes, shelter and basic services, support to the private sector, funding for the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM), and direct support and technical assistance to the Palestinian Authority.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what statutory requirements are placed on local authorities to produce a playing pitch strategy; and within what timeframe such authorities are required to produce such plans.
Tracey Crouch
Local planning authorities are required to follow national planning policy set out in the National Planning Policy Framework.
Sport England is a statutory consultee on all planning applications affecting playing fields, and demands that developers prove their applications will improve or safeguard sports provision. Landowners, including councils, are required to consult Sport England on any proposed development that would affect or lead to the loss of a sports playing field.
Sport England objects to all applications unless the developer can prove it will improve.
The latest figures, compiled by Sport England which works to safeguard playing fields for community use, show that 92 per cent of all resolved planning applications involving a playing field in 2013/14 resulted in improved or secured facilities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether the Northern Ireland Office has been invited by the Irish government to take any part in events planned to mark the centenary of the Easter Uprising in Dublin; and if she will make a statement.
Mrs Theresa Villiers
One of the Northern Ireland Office’s key objectives for the commemoration of the decade of centenaries of 1912-1922 is to work with the Irish Government to promote greater understanding of our shared history. I understand that the Irish Government launched its programme for the centenary of the Easter Rising on 12 November 2014. To date, the Northern Ireland Office has not received any invitations to attend the planned events in Dublin.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2016-01-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the postponement of the introduction of the one per cent rent reduction for supported housing requires the postponement of the introduction of the local housing allowance cap for residents living in supported housing.
Justin Tomlinson
We value the work of the supported housing sector extremely highly and are working closely with them to ensure they are supported as effectively as possible.
As part of this we have commissioned an evidence review of supported housing.
The results of this research will determine our future policy development and any appropriate exemptions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people with severe and long-term mental health issues and whose care is coordinated through the Care Programme Approach in each year since 2010 had had a formal meeting to review their care in the previous 12 months.
Alistair Burt
Information on the number of people using National Health Service funded adult secondary mental health services, including those who spent time on the Care Programme Approach (CPA), is shown in the following table.
|
England |
2010/11 |
2011/12 |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
|
Total People |
1,287,730 |
1,607,153 |
1,590,332 |
1,746,698 |
1,835,996 |
|
People on CPA |
263,935 |
407,370 |
359,368 |
357,732 |
335,727 |
These figures includes people who have been on CPA for a number of months or years as well as people who had only recently been assigned to CPA. These figures count each individual once, regardless of the number of times they accessed services in the year.
Because of major changes to the Mental Health Minimum Dataset and submission process, figures for these years are not directly comparable. The scope was expanded to include independent sector providers in 2011/12 and learning disability services in 2014/15. Major changes to the submission process between 2010/11 and 2011/12 also contributed to an overall increase in numbers.
A snapshot count of people on CPA at the end of 2014/15 who had been on CPA for at least 12 months and the number and proportion of these who had received a CPA review within the last 12 months is shown in the following table. It has not been possible to provide data for earlier years.
|
England |
March 2015 |
|
People on CPA at the end of the month who had been on CPA for 12 months |
126,679 |
|
People on CPA for 12 months with a review in the previous 12 months |
101,592 |
|
Percentage of people on CPA for 12 months with a review |
80.2% |
The process of the CPA recognises that reviews should be held at least every year. However, where an individual’s needs are sufficiently complicated to require more complex care co-ordination, the frequency of review meetings will be increased.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which companies have been issued with more than 50 Tier 2 (ICT) visas in a calendar year for each of the last five years; and how many visas for each such company were issued.
James Brokenshire
A list of the sponsors that have assigned more than 50 Tier 2 (ICT) Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) in a calendar year for each of the last five years, which also provides the figures of how many of those CoS were used in support of an individual Tier 2 (ICT) application, are to be placed in the House Library.
To break these figures down further into in and out of country applications, and whether the application was successful would require manual intervention and would exceed cost limits.