The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding her Department has allocated for its badger cull policy for 2016-17.
George Eustice
The amount of funding allocated for industry-led badger control will depend on the number of applicants authorised to proceed in 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-07-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to ensure that Jobcentre staff and Jobcentre Plus advisers understand fully, and respond effectively to, mental health problems.
Lord Freud
The Department for Work and Pensions supports its staff in developing the skills required to identify and effectively support claimants with mental health conditions. A number of learning products such as ‘Introduction to Working with People with a Mental Health Condition’ and ‘Supporting Customers with a Vulnerability’ have been specifically developed to build capability for Jobcentre staff. Jobcentre staff also promote “Disability Confident” which is an initiative that includes working with employers to show that employing disabled people, including those with mental health conditions, is good for the individual, business and society.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelly Tolhurst on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to analyse and expand health service capacity in areas of expected high population growth.
David Mowat
Neighbouring National Health Service providers, commissioners, and other health and care services are currently developing strategic plans across 44 sustainability and transformation ‘footprints’ to deliver a sustainable NHS. These are geographic areas in which people and organisations are collaborating to develop plans to improve the way that health and care is planned and delivered in a more person-centred and coordinated way for local people. In places where high population growth is identified as a need it is expected that the plans will contain a locally developed approach to ensure the service can manage demand.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Written Statement of 16 July 2015 by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Cabinet Office, HCWS 127, on individual electoral registration, how much of the funding referred to in that statement has been allocated to each electoral registration office in England.
John Penrose
In total 103 Local Authorities in England are receiving additional funding to help target their remaining carry forward entries. Almost £570,000 of funding was allocated directly to 53 English authorities where carry forward entries accounted for over 5%, as a proportion of their registers, in May 2015. 59 Local Authorities in England, including 9 which had already received a direct allocation, successfully submitted bids for additional funding, sharing just over £450,000.
The attached table sets out all 103 English authoritieswhich are receiving additional funding directly and those whhich submitted successful bids along with the total amount they are receiving.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report, Four Nations: How evidence based are alcohol policies across the UK, published by the Alliance for Useful Evidence in November 2015, if the Government will provide a single, clear, easy-to-access, up-to-date source of information on the full range of alcohol policies and programmes in each area of the UK.
Mike Penning
We will build on the 2012 Alcohol Strategy to tackle alcohol as a driver of crime and support people to stay healthy, whilst working with partners at a local and national level to reduce the impact of alcohol misuse. Alcohol licensing and policy is devolved to Scotland and Northern Ireland. We have no plans to provide the requested information on a UK wide basis.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-12-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Business Growth Service.
Anna Soubry
An interim impact evaluation of the Growth Accelerator programme was published in November 2014. This was followed by a formative evaluation in January 2015, which looked at the delivery of the programme and informed the design of the Business Growth Service. A policy response to the formative evaluation was published in March 2015, in line with a commitment to the National Audit Office
A review of the Manufacturing Advisory Service was completed in December 2010 and published the following year. An Impact Analysis Methodology study of the Manufacturing Advisory Service is being published in early 2016.
A full economic evaluation of the Business Growth Service will continue beyond the closure of the service in March. All documents will continue to be available on www.gov.uk.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pendry on 2016-01-28.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the support from a range of health organisations, including the World Health Organization, they plan to reconsider a sugar tax as a part of the forthcoming childhood obesity strategy.
Lord Prior of Brampton
As part of its review to identify possible actions to reduce sugar intakes and inform the Government’s thinking on sugar, Public Health England considered the current evidence around fiscal measures such as a tax on sugary foods and drinks. We are considering this alongside other evidence as we develop our childhood obesity strategy which will be launched shortly. It will look at everything, including sugar, that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese. It will also set out what more can be done by all sides.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-02-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to reduce the number of fires caused by an electrical source of ignition in domestic dwellings.
Mike Penning
The Department’s Fire Kills campaign, run in close partnership with fire and rescue authorities in England, promotes a range of domestic fire safety messages, including on electrical fire safety, to ensure householders take appropriate action to prevent accidental fires and understand how best they can protect themselves and their families.
Fire Kills and Electrical Safety First have a longstanding and close partnership to promote electrical fire safety messages, including through the annual Electrical Fire Safety Week, which runs in November each year.
The campaign also supports the Register My Appliance initiative, run by the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Electrical Appliances. This is designed to improve recall rates and ensure a greater number of faulty products can be traced and either repaired or removed from homes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many shop workers were assaulted in each of the last six months for which figures are available.
Mr John Hayes
The data requested is not available broken down by month. However, the Home Office runs an annual Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS) which asks business premises in different sectors about their experience of various crime types, including assaults and threats (a combined category) in the last year.
In 2014, the most recent year for which figures are available, there were around 410,000 assaults and threats against businesses in the wholesale and retail sector. The 2015 figures will be published on 28th April.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) also publish annual figures on the number of violent incidents in the workplace based on findings from the Crime Survey for England and Wales. However, this information is not available just for shops. According to the 2013/14 crime survey, there were an estimated 583,000 incidents of violence at work, comprising 269,000 assaults and 314,000 threats. HSE will publish figures for 2014/15 on 31st March.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-04-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has received any reports of (a) violence against opposition officials, candidates and activists and (b) intimidation of journalists during the Parliamentary elections taking place in Serbia.
Mr Philip Hammond
Elections took place in Serbia on 24 April. The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) deployed a 22 person election monitoring mission and we and other countries fielded additional observers. We await final reports and ODIHR’s full and thorough assessment of the fairness and conduct of yesterday’s elections.