The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the most recent National Diet and Nutrition Survey data is being used in the development of the Childhood Obesity Strategy.
Jane Ellison
The Childhood Obesity Strategy will draw from a range of the latest data and evidence, including from Public Health England and other partners.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-06-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps are being taken to address understaffing at the East Midlands Ambulance Service.
Ben Gummer
NHS Improvement advises that East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust has made good progress in implementing its recruitment plan for frontline staff. During 2015/16, the Trust recruited and educated 350 whole time equivalent frontline staff, against a recruitment plan target of 342. However, the Trust experienced a higher level of staff turnover than expected (11% against a target of 8%).
The Trust is addressing this through a number of initiatives, including the introduction of the role of technician, an intermediate qualified role between emergency care assistant and paramedic. It has agreed a funded education and career progression route in partnership with Health Education England (East Midlands) to support existing technicians to become registered paramedics. A three-year contract will support 48 Trust technicians in 2016/17 with further cohorts commencing in 2017/18 and 2018/19.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jessica Morden on 2016-09-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average length of time taken was to respond to email enquiries by the Security Industry Authority in each month since January 2016.
Brandon Lewis
The average time taken to respond to electronic (e-mail or online) enquiries is unavailable in the format requested prior to July 2016.
From July 2016, the Security Industry Authority began using a new IT system, which has enabled it to produce a range of metrics. The average time taken to respond to electronic enquiries in July and August was 7 days against their service standard of 10 days.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Twigg on 2016-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects the Health Protection Agency study on the health effects of emissions from municipal waste incinerators to be published.
Nicola Blackwood
Public Health England funded study by the Small Area Health Statistics Unit (SAHSU) at Imperial College and the Environmental Research Group at King’s College London investigating the potential link between emissions from municipal waste incinerators and health outcomes is ongoing. It is expected that papers from the project will be submitted by SAHSU to peer reviewed journals in spring 2017, and papers to be published later in the year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-11-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information they hold on the occupancy levels of registered care homes in the last five years for which information is available.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The information requested is not collected centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2015-12-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Zimbabwe about political violence and the political impartiality of the Zimbabwe Republic Police in dealing with this violence.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
I refer the noble Lord to the response given in the other place by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), to the right hon. Member for Leeds Central (Mr Benn) on 27 October 2015 [12945], summarising our assessment of the political situation. There have been reports of political violence, directed against the opposition Movement for Democratic Change as well as between factions of the governing Zimbabwe African National Union party in recent months. Our Ambassador in Harare raised our concerns with the Government of Zimbabwe on 1 December. The UK remains committed to supporting the aspirations of the Zimbabwean people for a more peaceful, democratic, stable and prosperous Zimbabwe, free from political violence and repression.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Young of Old Scone on 2016-01-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether an environmental assessment has been made of the impact of the likely withdrawal of the landfill operators from the Landfill Communities Fund scheme as a result of the proposed removal of the provision for contributing third parties on the environment and projects funded through that scheme, and if so, what environmental impact has been assessed; and what measures the Government are planning to put in place to counteract that impact.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
Since its introduction in 1996, the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) has contributed over £1.4 billion to community projects in areas near a local landfill site or other qualifying site and the Government acknowledges the positive impact of this funding for communities. However, as the LCF is a tax credit scheme, it reduces the Government’s tax revenues and we therefore have a responsibility to seek value for money for the taxpayer. This is a particular concern given the need to reduce the deficit and return the public finances to a sustainable path.
Despite difficult decisions on spending, the Government has decided to retain and reform the LCF. The aim of these reforms is to encourage money to get to communities more quickly. The LCF will provide £39.3 million of additional funding in 2016-17 alone. We also hope more unspent funds, which this year totalled £118 million, will reach projects as soon as possible.
The Government is committed to providing the best value for communities, and over the next five years £20 million of the additional Landfill Tax revenues will be used by the Environment Agency to address waste crime, which can be a danger to both human health and the environment.
The government has received representations on the LCF reforms. We are taking views into consideration and our priority is to ensure that the LCF operates effectively and encourages money to be spent in the communities that need it.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-02-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will place in the Library copies of each Local Education and Training Board’s workforce investment plan for 2016-17.
Ben Gummer
This information is not held centrally.
Health Education England (HEE) will be publishing the local plans as an appendix to the HEE commissioning and investment plan – 2016/17 and will be published on the HEE website before the end of February 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Attorney General, what criteria he uses when deciding whether to make public legal advice made available to Government; and on what occasions such legal advice has been made public since May 2015.
Jeremy Wright
It is a longstanding constitutional convention, set out in the Cabinet Manual and the Ministerial Code, that the fact that the Law Officers have advised or have not advised, and the content of their advice, must not be disclosed without their authority. The convention exists for fundamental constitutional reasons and to promote the public interest in the Rule of Law. Whether the Law Officers have advised and the content of that advice is part of the collective Cabinet decision-making process. The convention reflects the public interest in collective Cabinet responsibility. It also reflects the fact that Law Officers’ advice is confidential legal advice and, as with all professional legal advice, it is subject to legal professional privilege. In addition, it acknowledges the feature of Law Officers’ advice which sets it apart from other legal advice, namely that it is sought in relation to issues of particular complexity, sensitivity and constitutional importance. It is a matter of constitutional importance that the provision of advice in these circumstances should be protected in the public interest.
A decision to disclose would require an exceptional countervailing public interest. No such case has arisen since May 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne-Marie Trevelyan on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of nationals from other EU member states who are on social housing waiting lists.
Brandon Lewis
The Department’s annual Local Authority’s Housing Statistics provide information on the total households on local authority waiting lists in England but do not record nationality. The Department’s English Housing Survey does ask whether respondents are on a waiting list and also records nationality. The sample size, however, is not sufficient to provide a robust estimate by nationality.