The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what savings have been made as a result of the seven-year contract awarded to the Post Office by the DVLA on 1 April 2013 in each financial year.
Andrew Jones
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency saved £18.5m in 2013-14 and £17.0m in 2014-15 as a result of its contract with Post Office Ltd.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his Department’s wellness strategy is.
Joseph Johnson
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is committed to supporting health and wellbeing by encouraging health promotion and the adoption of healthier lifestyles for all our staff.
The Department’s wellbeing strategy is based around three key strands:
Preventing Problems
The Department runs ‘fit for work’ activities, promoting and supporting health lifestyles, and ‘healthy work’ activities, ensuring wellbeing is not threatened by negative working environments.
Reacting to Problems
As an organisation, we take action to help those experiencing poor health or wellbeing, and support them in returning to work as soon as possible.
Measuring Wellbeing in BIS
We monitor progress in the Department in improving health and wellbeing, for example through monitoring turnover, and the results from People Surveys.
The Department provides a number of facilities for staff, including but not limited to childcare vouchers to support parents and guardians, a mediation service to manage stressful situations, and flexible working options.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department spent on research into brain tumours in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.
George Freeman
The information requested is not available. Spend on research funded directly by the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is categorised by Health Research Classification System (HRCS) health categories including ‘cancer’. There are no HRCS health sub-categories, such as for brain tumours or other cancer sites.
Investment in cancer research by the NIHR has risen from £101 million in 2010/11 to £135 million in 2014/15. The NIHR works closely with patients, charities and our world-leading life sciences industry to support further research into brain tumours.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times he has attended public meetings of the Justice Committee since his appointment.
Mike Penning
The Secretary of State for Justice attended public meetings of the Justice Select Committee on two occasions since his appointment. The dates on which he attended was 15 July 2015 and 16 March 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-05-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many schools are known to subsidise travel for students in year 12 and 13 out of their own budgets.
Lord Nash
The statutory responsibility for post 16 transport rests with local authorities who are required to publish a transport policy statement setting out the arrangements they make to support young people to travel to further education and training.
These arrangements do not have to include free or subsidised transport, but local authorities are expected to make reasonable decisions based on local needs, circumstances and resources. Discounts or concessions are also available from local transport companies and schools, colleges or other providers.
Local authorities are encouraged to develop a collaborative approach when developing their statements to provide a full picture of the transport and support available. But it is for local organisations to decide whether to provide support and what level of discounts and concessions to give. The department does not collect specific information on which local authorities, transport companies, or education and training providers give free or subsidised transport for students in years 12 and 13.
The 16 to 19 Bursary Fund is also available to help young people with the costs associated with attending education or training, and transport is the biggest single area of expenditure for which this fund is used. Schools and colleges are responsible for deciding how to distribute their bursary allocations to students, and for establishing what criteria to use.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara on the right of the Saharawi people to exercise their right to self-determination.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The UN Under-Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations briefed the UN Security Council on 26 July, where the UK and other member states encouraged a return to the political process. The UK encourages both sides to cooperate with the United Nations process to reach a mutually acceptable solution that provides for the self-determination for the people of Western Sahara.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of staff on the payroll of his Department who work in Westminster are (a) British nationals and (b) nationals of another country.
Mark Lancaster
All Government Departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules.
Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose.
More broadly, the Government will be consulting in due course on how we work with business to ensure that workers in this country have the skills that they need to get a job. But there are no proposals to publish lists of the number or proportion of foreign workers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Pinnock on 2015-10-27.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why former foster children cannot claim for criminal injuries compensation against foster parents who have been abusive.
Lord Faulks
Former foster children can apply to the publically funded criminal injuries compensation scheme if they have suffered serious physical or mental injury as the direct result of a violent crime. Awards made under the scheme are paid for by tax payers and not the perpetrator of the violent crime.
If former foster parents were convicted of an offence that resulted in personal injury, loss or damage, when sentencing the court would consider making an order for compensation in favour of the victim which would be paid by the perpetrators.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to publish responses to the Government’s consultation entitled, Changes to the Investment Regulations following the Law Commission’s report, Fiduciary Duties of Investment Intermediaries, published on 26 February 2015.
Justin Tomlinson
The Government plans to publish these responses shortly. They will be available on the Gov.Uk website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in the devolved administrations on the implementation of the Rare Disease Strategy.
George Freeman
The implementation of the UK Rare Disease Strategy is monitored by the UK Rare Disease Forum which includes representatives from all the devolved administrations. The Forum will publish their first assessment of the progress made in implementing the UK Rare Disease Strategy at the end of February 2016.
The Rare Diseases Advisory Group (RDAG) makes recommendations to NHS England and the devolved administrations of NHS Scotland, NHS Wales and NHS Northern Ireland on developing and implementing the strategy for rare diseases and highly specialised services. The membership of RDAG also includes representation from the devolved administrations – NHS Scotland, NHS Wales and NHS Northern Ireland.