The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants his Department estimates will have moved on to universal credit by the end of 2017.
Priti Patel
The number of people on benefits is driven by a range of factors. Because of this, the programme measures progress by the successful achievement of milestones of its delivery plan rather than targets for numbers of claimants.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the local licensing authorities on the introduction of five-year private hire operator licences by local authorities.
Andrew Jones
Five-year private hire vehicle operator licences were introduced in October 2015. Since that time, local licensing authorities have not made any representations to me on the subject.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what benefits and support services are not available to non-UK nationals leaving care that are available to UK citizens.
Edward Timpson
Care leavers who are not British citizens usually receive the same range of support and services provided under the Children Act 1989 as British citizens. However, if they are aged over 18 and fall into one of the classes of ‘ineligible person’, under Schedule 3 to the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, they may only receive some of these. The most common class of care leavers who are ineligible persons are failed asylum seekers who have exhausted all appeals to remain in the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will apply the principles of the Responsibility to Protect to the situation in North Korea.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is a governing principle of the British Government’s work across the conflict spectrum, including in human rights and development. R2P imposes an obligation on all UN member states to protect their populations and for the international community to assist.
The British Government continues to maintain pressure on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to engage with the international community and take concrete steps to improve their appalling human rights record. We have urged the North Korean regime to allow the UN Special Rapporteur on DPRK Human Rights free and unfettered access to investigate the disturbing reports of human rights violations as documented in the UN Commission of Inquiry report.
The Government strongly supported the recent Human Rights Council Resolution on DPRK which created a Panel of Experts to investigate the issue of accountability for those accused of committing human rights violations. We will continue to support this process to ensure that those who are responsible for human rights abuses are held to account.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Human Rights Report 2015 designated the DPRK as a Human Rights Priority Country. Improving the human rights situation in the DPRK remains a key objective of our engagement with the North Korean government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-06-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the East Coast Main Line infrastructure is adequate to provide a robust and reliable inter-city service, and of any modifications required in order for it to do so.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Her Majesty’s Government has not undertaken an assessment of the adequacy of the infrastructure to operate the planned service. It will be for Network Rail and the relevant train operators to work together to ensure that the East Coast Main Line infrastructure is adequate to provide a robust and reliable inter-city service, making use of the normal industry processes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-07-20.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on (a) signed European Investment Bank (EIB) loans for transport projects in the UK and (b) EIB loan applications that are under appraisal for transport projects in the UK.
Mr David Gauke
The UK is and continues to be a shareholder of the European Investment Bank and the EIB has publically stated that its engagement in the UK is unchanged.
All existing loan contracts signed between UK promoters and the EIB remain in force, and the EIB has continued to sign and approve new projects since the referendum.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to enable more radiologists to be trained and approved to carry out breast cancer mammogram imagery.
Mr Philip Dunne
Training and recruitment of the workforce needed to deliver care is a matter for the health department in each of the devolved administrations.
In England, Health Education England (HEE) is conducting work to recruit more trainees into Radiology. As part of the investment planning process, Clinical Radiologists have been prioritised with plans to increase training posts by 32 to 1,144 for 2016-17 recruitment. Clinical Radiology has also been one of the five large specialty reviews undertaken by the HEE planning team this year.
Recent trends in Clinical Radiology Consultants in the National Health Service:
|
As at 31 March |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
Growth 2010-15 |
|
Whole Time Equivalents |
2,247 |
2,326 |
2,390 |
2,472 |
2,531 |
2,653 |
406 (18.1%) |
Source: NHS Digital’s NHS Workforce Statistics – October 2015, Provisional statistics
The content and standard of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), which is an independent statutory body. The GMC has the general function of promoting high standards of education and co-ordinating all stages of education to ensure that medical students and newly qualified doctors are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for professional practice.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will take steps to ensure that it is aware of the criminal histories of all people admitted into the UK.
James Brokenshire
The UK has detailed arrangements in place to identify people of concern seeking to enter the country. All passengers are checked against police, security and immigration watchlists and where we are aware of individuals who pose a risk, Border Force officers can – and do – refuse them entry.
The onus for flagging a threat lies with the authorities in their home country and the UK is leading the way in Europe on improving the exchange of information in cases involving dangerous criminals. In April the UK connected to the second generation Schengen Information System (SISII), this provides us with real time information about all those individuals wanted under a European Arrest Warrant so that they can be stopped at the border.
Since 2010, checks on foreign nationals going through the UK criminal justice system have increased by more than 1,500 per cent, helping ensure more foreign criminals are taken off our streets and making our communities safer.
In September, we introduced a new requirement for Tier 1 investor and entrepreneur applicants to supply an overseas criminal record certificate covering the last 10 years as part of their application.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2015-11-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken in response to the Homes and Communities Agency’s decision to downgrade Circle Housing Group’s governance rating from G1 to G3 following its failure to manage properly its Repair and Maintenance Contract with the Kier Group.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
The Social Housing Regulator has a clear regulatory framework which it used in this case. As is normal practice the Social Housing Regulator is working closely with Circle as it continues to recover its repair service and improves its governance. The Regulator currently has sufficient assurance of Circle’s intention to address the issues and its progress in doing so, such that the Regulator considers it does not need to apply enforcement powers at this point. The Regulator will of course continue to examine new information that comes to light.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of demand for clinical trial capacity at UK muscle centres; and if he will make a statement.
George Freeman
The United Kingdom is a world–leader in neuromuscular research, bringing a combination of excellent translational science, well-defined patient cohorts and a sophisticated and successful clinical research system. These attributes make the UK an outstanding location for the global life sciences industry to undertake clinical trials and collaborate with leading clinical scientists.
The National Health Service and the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) are working collaboratively to support the increasing number of clinical trials in neuromuscular disease.
The current pipeline of neuromuscular studies for 2016 includes four phase I studies, six phase II studies, three phase III studies and one phase IV study.
Currently, the most intensive trials are supported in Great Ormond Street Hospital, London and in the John Walton Neuromuscular Centre in Newcastle, where NIHR supports dedicated clinical research facilities alongside the Medical Research Council funded muscle research centres. These centres supported colleagues at Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool, to collaborate in a recent study supported by the NIHR Alder Hey Clinical Research Facility.
Building on these successes, the NIHR is using its Clinical Research Network and Biomedical Research Centres to increase capacity and expertise at existing sites and prepare other muscle centres to be able to support the pipeline of studies. Additionally, NIHR leaders have engaged with patient organisations for neuromuscular disease and presented innovative models to enable charities to partner the NHS in developing more capacity in existing and new sites.