The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-05-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research his Department has conducted on the health benefits and risks of male circumcision.
George Freeman
The Department has not conducted or commissioned any specific research on the health effects of male circumcision.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-06-27.
To ask the Rt. hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, if he will take steps to ensure that the House of Commons Commission’s purchasing policies support British (a) industry and (b) agriculture.
Tom Brake
The House of Commons procurement policies operate within the parameters set out by the UK Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
The House has a Sustainable Purchasing Policy which, amongst other things, requires contracts that are particularly suitable for SMEs to be highlighted as so being, contracts to be divided into lots and processes to be as simple and proportionate as possible to encourage SMEs to participate in our competitions. Further, the policy requires contracts that are suitable for Social Enterprises to be identified at an early stage and that market engaged to ensure their participation.
More generally, the House supports British industry and agriculture by:
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bruce of Bennachie on 2016-09-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the total value of their support to disabled people in developing countries.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The UK’s global leadership and commitment to disability inclusive development has been increasing. Through the Sustainable Development Goals, the promise to Leave No One Behind, and DFID’s Disability Framework, we have committed to promoting disability-inclusive international development through a twin-track approach. This means that, guided by our Framework, we aim to mainstream disability in all of our policies and programmes as well as supporting programmes that target disability specifically.
We do not currently track spend on disability inclusion, but a review of progress in December last year told us that we are doing more to support people with disabilities than ever before. Key disability-specific programming includes funding to important partners such as ADD International and the Disability Rights Fund, and Bridging the Gap – a research project to identify gaps between disability policy formulation and implementation. But people with disabilities also directly benefit from spending across our geographic and thematic portfolios. To make it increasingly possible to determine if programmes are reaching and successfully serving people with disabilities globally, the international development system must get better at disaggregating data by disability status. In response, DFID has produced guidance to inform programmes and policies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Thompson on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the cost effectiveness of the Trident programme over the last five years.
Michael Fallon
We regularly review all major programmes to ensure that they operate in the most efficient and effective manner possible. The 2010 Trident Value for Money study and the 2013 Trident Alternatives Review both confirmed the cost effectiveness of a Trident-based deterrent on continuous patrol.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what additional funding allocations have been provided to each local authority as a result of declared claw back from BT under the National Broadband Scheme.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Thanks to the way we have constructed the contracts, BT has announced £129 million of clawback funding. This is available to the local authorities to support further broadband deployment without any additional funding being added to it by either the government or by the local authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2016 to Question 20950, which routes would offer greater benefits from the additional paths referred to in that answer than the proposal from Arriva Trains Wales.
Claire Perry
The successful bidder for the new Northern franchise has proposed new direct links between Manchester Airport and Bradford (via Rochdale, Halifax and the Calder Valley), and between Manchester Airport and Liverpool (via Warrington Central). It will be for the Office of Rail and Road to determine the allocation of scarce capacity to/from Manchester Airport between the competing potential uses.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-02-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support his Department plans to make available to small companies operating in deprived areas to help meet the costs of the introduction of the living wage; and if he will make a statement.
Nick Boles
The Government has introduced measures to help businesses with the transition to the new National Living Wage. The Government is reducing corporation tax to 18% by 2020, setting the Annual Investment Allowance at a new permanent level of £200,000, and increasing the Employment Allowance from £2,000 to £3,000. The increase in the Employment Allowance means a business could employ four people on the National Living Wage and pay no National Insurance Contributions. It will benefit up to 590,000 employers and take up to 90,000 firms out of National Insurance Contributions altogether. These measures will help small businesses across the country.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-03-03.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much revenue the Exchequer has collected as a result of the Carbon Price Support mechanism in each of the last five years.
Damian Hinds
The latest available information can be found at the following web address:
https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutybulletins.aspx
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2016-04-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the reasons why school pupils self-harm, and what measures they propose to tackle that problem.
Lord Nash
Good mental health and wellbeing is a key priority for this Department. We have high aspirations for all children and want them to be able to fulfil their potential both academically and in terms of their mental wellbeing.
Self-harm occurs in relation to a wide range of personal problems, emotional turmoil and psychiatric disorders. The Department of Health commissions the MultiCentre Study on self-harm. This provides essential information on self-harm in the population to inform clinical responses and preventative activity. New data coming on stream through the Public Health Outcomes Framework and the forthcoming prevalence survey for children and young people will help to further improve this assessment and treatment.
To help schools to draw on specialist support where needed, we have contributed to a £3m joint pilot between schools and specialist mental health services, to test single points of contact in schools and mental health services.
While teachers are not mental health specialists, schools can play an important role in building good mental wellbeing and supporting pupils where they have issues. We have taken a range of actions to help them to build a whole-school approach to good mental wellbeing. We funded guidance and age-appropriate lesson plans on teaching mental health in PSHE – which covers teaching about self-harm; training for teachers on self-harm is available through MindEd, a free online portal which has been developed to enable all adults working with children and young people learn more about specific mental health problems and how to support them.
We have also recently revised and updated our blueprint for effective school-based counselling. This provides practical, evidence-based advice, informed by experts on how to ensure school based counselling services achieve the best outcomes for all students, including vulnerable children and young people.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much the UK has provided in development aid to Bangladesh in each year since 2000; and what information her Department holds on what proportion of total development aid to Bangladesh UK aid represents in each of those years.
Mr Desmond Swayne
|
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
|
|
UK ODA (USD Millions) |
103 |
124 |
102 |
260 |
253 |
203 |
139 |
|
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
|
246 |
253 |
250 |
228 |
369 |
311 |
425 |
343 |
Total ODA from all donors to Bangladesh can be found here: https://stats.oecd.org/qwids/
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