The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2016 to Question 30892, when his Department plans to set up the independent Road Safety Management Capacity Review, announced in his Department’s Road Safety Statement, published on 21 December 2015.
Andrew Jones
The Department for Transport plans to commission a road safety management capacity review during the next financial year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to assist teachers in managing their workload.
Nick Gibb
We are continuing our extensive work with the profession to remove unnecessary workload so that teachers can concentrate on teaching and not bureaucracy and paperwork.
This includes establishing three review groups to tackle the top issues raised by teachers in the Government’s Workload Challenge in 2014: marking, lesson planning, and data management.
The reports from these review groups were published on 26 March 2016. We have accepted all their recommendations for Government.
As the reports make clear, it is for everybody involved in education to act on the principles and recommendations in these reports so teachers can focus on what really matters – inspiring their pupils to achieve their full potential.
We will continue to work with the teaching profession to make sure they have the ongoing support they need. We have recently conducted the first biennial Teacher Workload Survey, a commitment which will allow us to track teacher workload over the coming years. The results of the first survey will be published later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-05-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 5 April (HL7189), and further to the findings of the United Nations Panel of Experts and paragraph 13 of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2270, what assessment they have made of the role of personnel from the North Korean Embassy in London in nuclear proliferation activity and sanctions evasion; and whether any representations on this matter have been made to the North Korean Ambassador to the UK.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We are concerned by the evidence in the Panel of Experts’ report that officials of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) continue to play key roles in facilitating trade of prohibited items. We regularly raise our concerns about the DPRK’s nuclear weapons programme and nuclear proliferation with the North Korean Embassy in London. We remind all foreign diplomatic missions in the UK to operate in accordance with their obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
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 Phillip Lee on 2015-11-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to make access to liver transplantation services more equitable.
Jane Ellison
Livers are retrieved and allocated on a zonal basis and the decision whether or not to list a patient for transplantation is taken by a multi-disciplinary team at the transplant centre, of which there are seven in the United Kingdom.Patients meeting the agreed clinical criteria, and with their consent, will be added to the National Transplant List. All centres must follow a common listing policy to ensure equity of access and that organs are allocated in the most clinically effective way, resulting in 842 liver transplants between 1 April 2014 – 31 March 2015.
NHS Blood and Transplant, the organ donation organisation for the UK, launched their strategy in July 2013 – Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020, that sets the agenda for increasing organ donation and transplantation rates by increasing consent rates. Encouragingly organ donation rates have increased by around 60% and transplant rates by some 47% since 2008 mainly through a strengthening of the donation infrastructure including increased specialist nurses and improved retrieval arrangements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rob Marris on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of the Government’s support for climate risk insurance as part of her preparations for the COP22 UN Climate Change Summit in Marrakesh, to be held in November 2016.
Rory Stewart
The UK is proud to be a global leader in disaster risk finance and insurance and we are committed to contributing to meeting the G7’s InsuResilience collective target (set out in the 2015 G7 Leaders Elmau declaration) of helping up to an additional 400 million people in the most vulnerable developing countries to gain access to climate risk insurance by 2020. The Department for International Development (DFID) leads the delivery of the Government’s plans to scale up the use of insurance and risk finance instruments in developing countries to enable:
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Howarth on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Government’s Counter-Extremism Strategy, published in October 2015, what plans the Government has to consult with faith groups on its definition of extremism.
Karen Bradley
The Government definition of extremism is ‘vocal or active opposition to our fundamental values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and the mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs.’ We have been consistent on this since 2011 and have reaffirmed this definition in the Counter-Extremism Strategy.
The overwhelming majority of people in this country support these values and condemn those who try to undermine them.
The Government would not consider the ‘claim’ that an individual’s religion is ‘the only one true faith’ to be extremist.
We are clear that Government should not restrict anyone’s freedom of speech or right to practise a faith. These are core values that help to make our country great. However we shouldn’t allow the extremist voice to go unchallenged, causing harm to our society and promoting hatred and division.
The Government has engaged on the strategy, and will continue to engage with partners – including faith groups, communities and civic society groups on the new proposed powers to tackle the most dangerous extremists. This provides an opportunity to consult on the proposed powers further, and ensure that sufficient safeguards are in place to protect our rights to free speech and debate.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-01-26.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the revenue that will accrue to the Exchequer from the insurance premium tax on health cash plans; and if he will make a statement.
Mr David Gauke
In 2014-15, total Insurance Premium Tax receipts were approximately £3bn. HM Revenue and Customs estimates that £10.9 million in revenue was received from Insurance Premium Tax on health cash plans in 2014-15.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the (a) policy and (b) other responsibilities are of each special adviser in his Department.
Harriett Baldwin
The Code of Conduct for Special Advisers sets out the role of special advisers and describes the range of activities they may undertake. Copies of the Code of Conduct are available in the Libraries of the House and on-line at
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Thomas-Symonds on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2016 to Question 30986, what estimate his Department has made of the number of children who will be lifted out of poverty as a result of universal credit before any effect on employment.
Priti Patel
This Government is committed to eliminating child poverty and transforming the life chances of the most disadvantaged children and families.
We know that work is the best route out of poverty, and Universal Credit is designed to strengthen incentives for parents to move into and progress in work. Ignoring the impact that Universal Credit has on incentivising work and raising the incomes of families is inappropriate.
The impact of Universal Credit cannot be considered in isolation– it is a key component of a broader strategy to move Britain to a higher wage, lower welfare, lower tax society.