The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of how many people are employed in the hospice care sector.
David Mowat
Data on the number of people employed in the hospice care sector is not collected centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-10-27.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussion they have had with the government of Burma to ensure that Rohingya are given full humanitarian access to camps, and the protection which enables them to return home or be given safe voluntary resettlement.
Baroness Verma
British Government Ministers take every appropriate opportunity to raise the plight of the Rohingya community with their Burmese counterparts. Most recently, the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), did so with the Burmese Foreign Minister in New York on 29 September. During his visit to Burma in July, Mr Swire travelled to Rakhine State to see the situation there at first hand, and raised the situation of the Rohingya at a senior level both in Rakhine and with Burmese central government ministers. The UK’s Deputy Head of Mission, accompanied by DFID officials, visited northern Rakhine State on 5-8 October and discussed freedom of movement for those in internally displaced person camps with Rakhine State Chief Minister, U Mya Aung.
DFID is one of the largest bilateral humanitarian donors in Rakhine, and has provided over £18 million since 2012.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2015-11-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many penalty charge notices have been issued since the introduction of the free-flowing element at the Dartford Crossing.
Andrew Jones
Since the introduction of the Dart Charge remote payment system at the Dartford Crossing on 30 November 2014, there have been 1,594,225 penalty charge notices issued to UK drivers and 380,663 passed to a European Debt Recovery Agency for issue to overseas drivers (to 31 October 2015). There have been 42,499,904 chargeable crossings during the same period, so this equates to 4.6% of all chargeable crossings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2016-01-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how the Government plans to adapt implementation of the apprenticeships levy for different sectors.
Nick Boles
The apprenticeship levy will apply to both the private and public sectors. We understand that employers in sectors where a levy is already in place will want clarity on what the introduction of an apprenticeships levy means for them. We will publish further details in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what UK bilateral and (b) multilateral funding to support health care system strengthening in countries determined by the WHO to be affected by, or at risk from the Zika virus, has been in each of the last six years.
Mr Nick Hurd
The table below shows UK bilateral disbursements, against a number of OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) health related classifications, to countries on the WHO list of those affected, or likely to be affected, by the Zika virus. These include basic health care, communicable disease control, health education and health personnel development, all of which contribute to strengthening health systems.
Table: UK ODA spend on health 2009-2014
|
£’000 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
|
Barbados |
3 |
|||||
|
Brazil |
13 |
1,461 |
2,779 |
491 |
1,233 |
87 |
|
Costa Rica |
191 |
|||||
|
Dominican Republic |
10 |
16 |
||||
|
Ecuador |
3 |
5 |
||||
|
Guatemala |
26 |
|||||
|
Guyana |
2 |
2 |
||||
|
Haiti |
1,000 |
|||||
|
Honduras |
9 |
|||||
|
Mexico |
61 |
1,061 |
105 |
835 |
202 |
363 |
|
Nicaragua |
219 |
0 |
||||
|
Paraguay |
3 |
2 |
||||
|
Venezuela |
7 |
|||||
|
Total |
322 |
2,730 |
2,890 |
1,349 |
1,448 |
1,450 |
Source: Statistics on International Development 2015
The UK has also provided support to these countries through core contributions to multilateral organisations, but data on expenditure on specific sectors to specific countries is not available.
DFID and the Department of Health will request the World Health Organisation to provide further guidance on which countries beyond those currently affected are at greatest risk from Zika, including the risks to other regions including Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia; this is scientifically very challenging.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department has made representations to the EU on its funding of aid and development projects in Eritrea.
Mr Nick Hurd
Between 2013 and 2015 DFID provided UNICEF in Eritrea with £10 million for child and maternal health and the provision of clean water and sanitation.
In December 2015 DFID provided a further £3 million for nutrition support activities and water and sanitation in areas affected by El Nino in the Horn of Africa through UNICEF’s regional programme, which covers Eritrea.
Over the past 2 years funding to support primarily Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia totalled £1.6 million and focussed on child protection and related work on anti-smuggling and trafficking.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2016-03-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what average annual tuition fee is charged by further education colleges for higher education courses.
Joseph Johnson
The Office for Fair Access (OFFA) publishes an annual statistical report summarising the access agreements with Higher Education providers. This report includes estimates of the average fees charged by provider type. The latest statistics refer to the 2015/16 academic year and show that the average fee for the 51 English Further Education Colleges (FECs) with Access Agreements in the 2015/16 academic year was £6,941. Their estimate of the average fee across all 209 FECs was £6,561. More information is available at the following link:
https://www.offa.org.uk/publications/analysis-data-and-progress-reports/
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Written Statement of 26 April 2016, HCWS701, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the proposed changes to eligibility to student support for people with long residency in the UK.
Joseph Johnson
From 2016/17, the average student loan outlay for each additional student eligible for student finance is estimated to be between £15,000 and £17,000 depending on the household income of the students. Students could also be eligible for an average of £300 of support for allowances such as the Disabled Students Allowance. An additional 2,400 students, as estimated, could lead to around £40m in loan outlay and £0.7m in allowances annually. In RAB terms, the annual costs for 2,400 students could be £10m.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-06-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the reasons are for the difference in the figures quoted as payments to HM Treasury in respect of its guarantee for the Mineworkers Pension Scheme and the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme in paragraph 1.21 of the National Audit Office report on Department of Trade and Industry: Sale of the mining operations of the British Coal Corporation, HC 360 1995-96, and the Answer of 8 March 2007 to Question 125573, HC Deb, Column 2124W.
Andrea Leadsom
Analysis by Binder Hamlyn in 2006 for the NAO had estimated the net present value of payments to the Government (net of any payments from the Government arising from its guarantee) at £2bn over 25 years. This reflects the value at the time of the expected future net payments.
The parliamentary question 125573 answered on 8 March 2007 records that the Binder Hamlyn report found that the total gross payments to the Treasury would be £8bn. This would have been both gross of any payments from the Government and also in cash terms i.e. allowing for the returns achieved on the funds before payment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the UK intends to maintain the EU ban on neonicotinoids (a) before and (b) after the UK leaves the EU; and whether the Government plans to conduct a review of the evidence of damage to bees caused by those pesticides.
George Eustice
While it remains within the EU, the UK will continue to meet its obligations under EU law. This includes restrictions on the use of neonicotinoids. As part of the preparation for EU exit, we are considering future arrangements for pesticides. Our highest priority will continue to be the protection of people and the environment.
The Government remains of the view that decisions on the use of neonicotinoids and other pesticides should be based on a careful scientific assessment of the risks. Pesticides that carry unacceptable risks to pollinators should not be authorised. The Government keeps the developing evidence on neonicotinoids under active review, advised by the independent Expert Committee on Pesticides.