The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the current average waiting time is for a workplace capability assessment.
Priti Patel
Official statistics for the current average waiting times for a Work Capability Assessment are not readily available and to provide the information requested would incur disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, who in his Department took the decision on which builders to contract to build new homes on the direct commissioning sites at (a) Daedelus Waterfront, (b) Lower Grayling Well, (c) Connaught Barracks, (d) Northstowe and (e) Old Oak Common.
Brandon Lewis
These will be detailed commercial arrangements that will be established through a competitive procurement process. Existing public procurement processes will apply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of patients in England book their GP appointments online.
George Freeman
The latest figures available for November 2015 show 7.97 million patients are registered to enable them to book and cancel appointments online. This represents 13.9% of the general practitioner registered population.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many grants of what value were made by his Department for meningitis research programmes in each of the last five years.
George Freeman
Since 2011, the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has made the following awards through its research programmes and fellowship schemes for research relating to meningitis:
– Impact of conjugate vaccination on population immunity to pneumococcal and meningococcal disease in England: immunosero-epidemiological analysis (£605,843; 2013-15); and
– Improving the diagnosis of meningitis in adults in the United Kingdom (£415,242; 2013-16).
In addition, the NIHR funds research relating to meningitis through:
– the NIHR Clinical Research Network;
– NIHR Biomedical Research Centres;
– NIHR Clinical Research Facilities for Experimental Medicine; and
– Health Protection Research Units.
Since 2011, the Department’s Policy Research Programme has made the following award for research relating to meningitis:
– Characterisation of meningococcal carriage isolates from UK MenCar4 study (£199,990; 2016-17).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-03-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the proportion of government NHS funding which primary care was allocated to in each of the last three years.
Alistair Burt
The table below shows the total National Health Service expenditure and total primary healthcare expenditure for the last three years for which audited outturn data is available. This includes primary medical care, primary dental services, primary eyecare services, community pharmacy and drugs prescribed in the community.
The Department accounts data has been used as a consistent data source across primary care services. However, this excludes some funding streams to general medical practice, such as for out of hours services.
|
Year |
NHS Revenue Expenditure under Clear Line of Sight Rules (£ billion) |
Expenditure on Primary Healthcare (£ billion) |
Primary Healthcare Expenditure as a % of NHS Revenue Expenditure |
|
2012-13 |
102.57 |
21.32 |
20.79 |
|
2013-14 |
106.50 |
21.32 |
20.02 |
|
2014-15 |
110.56 |
21.68 |
19.61 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to improve the university complaints procedures for victims of sexual assault.
Joseph Johnson
Sexual assault is a serious criminal offence and we expect all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to have robust policies in place to prevent incidents and support victims. All HEIs have a requirement to ensure rigorous procedures are in place to handle complaints. Where complaints cannot be resolved, students can access the complaints handling service provided by the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education.
The Government asked Universities UK to establish a taskforce to explore what more can be done by the higher education sector to prevent, and respond effectively to, incidents of violence and sexual harassment, hate crimes and other forms of harassment. The taskforce is expected to report its findings in the autumn.
The Government looks forward to receiving the taskforce’s final report in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-05-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the extent of a backlog of driving licence renewal applications for people over 70 years old.
Andrew Jones
Currently, the DVLA is processing straightforward applications to renew a driving licence from customers aged 70 and over within three working days of receiving them. Applications that require medical investigations can take longer to process if there is a need to seek further information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-07-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people working for his Department or its executive agencies on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation; and how many of those people are employed on zero-hours contracts.
Mark Lancaster
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) pays over and above the New National Living Wage across all of our business areas (£7.20 per hour).
In 2015 the Secretary of State for Defence agreed that London-based staff should be paid the London Living Wage rate (£9.40 per hour). This is in line with the rate defined by the Living Wage Foundation. This rate includes basic pay and any applicable allowances. It is regularly reviewed and where an individual’s rate falls under this they are paid specific enhancements.
The MOD has not formally signed up to the National Living Wage rate as defined by the Living Wage Foundation (£8.25 per hour). The table below details those directly employed by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and its agencies who are paid less than this rate.
|
National Living Wage |
|
|
MOD (outside London) |
1,017 |
|
Defence Equipment & Support (outside London) |
93 |
|
Defence Science & Technology Laboratory |
107 |
|
United Kingdom Hydrographic Office |
55 |
|
Defence Electronics and Components Agency |
0 |
Contracted workers’ rates of pay, where paid by their parent company or recruitment agency, are not visible to the MOD.
The MOD does not employ individuals on zero-hours contracts.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-10-11.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of replacing the Bank of England’s two per cent inflation target with a two to three per cent inflation target averaged over the business cycle
Simon Kirby
A comprehensive Review of the Monetary Policy Framework was published in 2013, considering the benefits and costs of a number of different monetary policy frameworks. The current remit for the Monetary Policy Committee reflects the assessment set out in the Review, which includes retaining a flexible inflation targeting framework, with a 2 per cent symmetric inflation target, as measured by the 12 month change in the Consumer Prices Index. The remit also states that the MPC may allow inflation to deviate from this target temporarily in order not to cause undesirable volatility in output due to the short-term trade-offs involved.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2015 to Question 13499, when the Civil Aviation Authority began its review of certain aspects of the safety of operations at RAF Northolt; if he will publish the full remit of the review and its conclusions; when he expects to receive the conclusions of the review; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) began its review in July in order to respond to several points raised in a letter from Biggin Hill Airport dated 8 July 2015.
The CAA has now concluded the review and I understand, will communicate the results directly to Biggin Hill Airport shortly.