The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-09-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps the Royal Navy is taking to maintain its warship repair capability after the sale of RFA Diligence.
Harriett Baldwin
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 13 September 2016 to Question 45203 to the hon. Member for Portsmouth South (Flick Drummond).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2015-11-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to reduce HMRC’s delays in answering telephone enquiries.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) recognise that their customer service has not been good enough, and have taken major steps to improve, including recruiting 3,000 new staff into customer service roles, available outside normal office hours when many of their customers choose to call. This year has seen their biggest-ever training programme as HMRC build customer support teams that can move across a wide range of work according to customer demand. By the end of December 1,600 existing staff will be trained to cover a wider range of work. Hundreds of these people are already taking calls. These improvements have started to make a difference. Last month, HMRC answered more than 80 per cent of calls, and average queue times are now around 10 minutes or less.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley on 2015-12-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of the law to protect vulnerable people from phone phishing and other communication scams.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
The Government is cracking down on nuisance calls. Over the last five years the average fine issued has increased from around £5000 to £85000, we have strengthened the law to make it easier to clamp down on companies who break the rules and have increased the maximum fine to £500,000.
The Government takes all types of fraud extremely seriously. We are working closely with the City of London Police (CoLP), the national lead force for fraud, to help local forces and partners deliver protective advice to the public on fraud, including phone scams. CoLP operates Action Fraud, the national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime, and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, to ensure that the public has the information they need to protect themselves from telephone fraud. Action Fraud, for example, places an alert on its website when a serious threat or new type of fraud is identified – which members of the public can sign up to receive by email.
We are also working with Financial Fraud Action UK and the British Bankers’ Association who issue advice to consumers on how to protect themselves from phone scammers. Ofcom work with the Metropolitan Police Service, Action Fraud and landline providers to prevent criminals exploiting phone lines to defraud members of the public.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the number of Syrian refugees brought to the UK under the Private Sponsorship Scheme will be in addition to the Government’s commitment to take 50,000 refugees over the next five years.
Richard Harrington
The Prime Minister announced on 7 September 2015 that the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement (VPR) scheme would be expanded to resettle 20,000 Syrians in need of protection during this Parliament.
We will build on offers of support to develop a community sponsorship scheme to allow individuals, charities, faith groups, churches and businesses to support refugees directly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the sensitivity of the single intradermal comparative cervical tuberculin test for Bovine TB; and what steps her Department is taking to improve testing for TB.
George Eustice
The single intradermal comparative cervical tuberculin (SICCT) commonly known as the ‘skin test’ is the legal standard approved in the EU legislation for the diagnosis of TB in live cattle in the UK. SICCT has a very high specificity giving on average only one false positive result for every 5,000 or 6,000 uninfected cattle tested, although it is only moderately sensitive (with about one in five to one in four infected cattle potentially missed by the test).
The skin test is a good herd screening test and it is supplemented by post-mortem meat inspection at commercial slaughter of cattle. When one or more infected animals are detected in a cattle herd, we apply a number of strategies to improve the overall sensitivity of TB testing until the infected herd regains officially TB free status. This includes testing the herd every 60 days, lowering the positive cut-off of the skin test (‘severe interpretation’) and supplementing the skin test with the more sensitive interferon-gamma blood test.
We have also increased the number of interferon-gamma blood tests carried out in conjunction with the SICCT to maximise the detection of infected cattle in TB breakdown herds. This number has more than quadrupled since 2009 to reach just over 74,000 blood tests in 2015. The use of this blood test to help remove infected animals from breakdown herds has been compulsory in the Low Risk Area of England since 2006 and in the whole of the Edge Area since January 2014.
My department plans to launch a public consultation that will set out proposals for enhancing the sensitivity of TB testing in TB breakdown herds.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to reduce the number of dogs used for medical experimentation.
Karen Bradley
Our annual statistics show that in 2014 less than 0.1% of animals used in research in Great Britain are dogs. Dogs are primarily used in procedures for regulatory testing. They are also used in other procedures such as nutritional studies and to better understand naturally occurring diseases and to develop treatments for dogs themselves.
The Home Office is responsible for regulating the use of dogs in research under the Ani-mals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. Dogs are a specially protected species under the Act and the Home Office will grant a project licence for a programme of work using dogs only where the purpose of the programme of work specified in the licence can be achieved only by their use; or where it is not practicable to obtain other suitable animals.
Since 2010 the number of procedures performed on dogs has dropped nearly 30% from 5,782 in 2010 to 4,107 in 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-04-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Skills Funding Agency data release of 5 April 2016, what discussions he has had with (a) education and training providers and (b) employer organisations on recent reductions in the number of apprenticeship vacancies.
Nick Boles
The number of vacancies on the `Find an Apprenticeship` website has been increasing from 71,060 in 2010/11 to 200,460 in 2014/15. The data does not reflect all vacancies as some employers choose alternative methods for advertising their apprenticeship opportunities.
English Apprenticeships: Our 2020 Vision sets out our plans to work with providers and employer organisations to reach our commitment of 3 million apprenticeships by 2020.
The new Apprenticeship Delivery Board will encourage more businesses to develop quality apprenticeships. Members act as apprenticeship champions within their sector, working with employers of all sizes to increase both the number of apprenticeship places on offer and the supply of talented candidates.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-05-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what arrangements they have made to use their discretionary powers under the Dublin III Regulations to take charge of the asylum applications of any mothers or fathers with children who are seeking to reunite with family members in the UK.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Dublin III Regulation sets out the criteria for determining responsibility for asylum cases and using discretionary powers. The procedures for dealing with an asylum seeker in Calais, including an unaccompanied child, are for the French authorities to determine, in line with their obligations under the Regulation. We are committed to making the Dublin Regulation work effectively and are in ongoing discussions with France, Italy and Greece to ensure that the right processes and resources are in place to enable this. We are also working with other EU Member States, the UNHCR and other non-governmental organisations and local authorities in the UK to establish the best way to implement the provisions of the Immigration Act 2016 for the transfer of unaccompanied refugee children from elsewhere in the EU to the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-07-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the outcome of the EU referendum.
Mr Philip Hammond
I have been holding, and will continue to hold, discussions with my international counterparts on the outcome of the EU referendum. Last week I met international counterparts at the NATO summit. I will meet many more overseas counterparts at the Asia–Europe Meeting in Ulaanbaatar later this week. I will also attend the Foreign Affairs Council, which will include an informal dinner on 17 July with my European counterparts to discuss the referendum outcome and an EU and Gulf Cooperation Council Summit Dinner on 18 July.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-09-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were absent from school due to having a mental health condition in each year since 2010.
Edward Timpson
The Department does not hold information on absence due to a mental health condition.