The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of methods used for collecting data on (a) foetal alcohol syndrome and (b) foetal alcohol syndrome disorder.
Nicola Blackwood
The Department has not made any such assessment. Data on foetal alcohol syndrome and foetal alcohol spectrum disorder is not collected centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to improve the resilience of healthcare provision in West Africa.
Grant Shapps
In countries affected by the Ebola virus, DFID is committed to building resilient health systems and to ensuring we learn the lessons from the crisis.
The World Health Organisation declared Sierra Leone ‘Ebola free’ on 7 November 2015. The UK’s objective is to maintain the vigilance necessary to prevent any future outbreaks from growing into epidemics. The UK has announced a two-year £240 million package of support to Sierra Leone’s long term recovery, which includes boosting capability to respond to future Ebola outbreaks, and improving basic services including, vitally, healthcare. DFID will also support Liberia’s Health Pooled fund with £6 million to help ensure that health system is resilient to future shocks.
Beyond Sierra Leone and Liberia, DFID is providing £17 million through its Regional Preparedness Programme, which aims to prevent the transmission and spread of the Ebola in at-risk countries in West Africa; and to strengthen national capacities to accelerate preparedness measures and improve readiness to detect and act to contain disease outbreaks.
In doing this, as well as through wider health programmes across West Africa, we are helping countries to have better health systems for normal times – as well as in case of emergency.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the threat posed to the Trident nuclear weapon system by cyber-attacks; and what steps he is taking to ensure that system is secure against such attacks.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Ministry of Defence audits the integrity of the UK’s nuclear deterrent regularly for all threats and hazards and acts to ensure that it maintains the highest possible standards. The Strategic Defence and Security Review acknowledges the growing cyber threat and the importance of investing in cyber security across all of our capabilities. The Government has invested £860 million in new technology and capabilities since 2011 and will invest £1.9 billion over the next five years in protecting the UK from cyber attack and developing our sovereign capabilities in cyberspace. Our approach to protecting Defence capabilities against and mitigating the impact of cyber attacks spans technical, organisational, procedural and physical measures benefiting many different systems and networks, and investment is integrated across these measures. Submarines operate in isolation by design, and this contributes to their cyber resilience. I will not discuss further details for reasons of safeguarding national security.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2016-01-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure that the manufacturers of electric and hybrid cars which utilise charging points adopt a common charging connection for all such vehicles; and if he will make a statement.
Andrew Jones
Industry has been slow to deliver pan-European standardisation on chargepoint connectors with different vehicle manufacturers advocating their own preferred standards. However there are signs that this is now changing. The recent EU Directive 2014/94/EU on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure will standardise provision of connectors for rapid chargepoints across Europe. In the UK we have already sought to address this by requiring that all government funded rapid chargepoints must work with all available types of ultra low emission vehicle (ULEV). All Government-funded slower chargepoints must also have a Type 2 inlet on them – no other sockets are permitted. This position is supported by the vehicle manufacturers, all of whom agree that Type 2 is the most appropriate standard for public charging in the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keir Starmer on 2016-02-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to publish proposals to introduce a victims’ law.
Mike Penning
In the Queen’s Speech we made a commitment to bring forward measures to increase the rights of victims of crime. Further detail on our plans will be published in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Cox on 2016-03-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage the putting in place of a system of verification for violations during the Cessation of Hostilities in Syria; and when he expects such a system to be in place.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The Cessation of Hostilities is an important step towards ending the terrible violence in Syria and bringing about a lasting political settlement.
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) met with the HNC Representative, Riyad Hijab in Paris on Friday 4th March to assess the current situation. Since the Cessation of Hostilities came into effect, we have seen a significant reduction in violence, which is of course a huge step forwards. But we need to see this sustained, and to see a reduction in the number of reported violations. To this end we are working with the UN and other members of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), to urgently consolidate a robust verification mechanism to monitor alleged violations of the Cessation of Hostilities. The UK had a number of staff in Geneva last week working on this.
This mechanism is already starting to work through assessments of violations and we will continue to refine the operation as we continue.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-03-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he plans to take to ensure that no bank accounts of military personnel are closed as a result of the Fourth Money Laundering Directive while they are on active service; and if he will make a statement.
Mark Lancaster
There is no reason why the bank accounts of any military personnel would be closed as a result of the Fourth Money Laundering Directive, whether or not they were on active service, unless financial institutions suspected individuals of fraudulent activity.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-05-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what the costs will be of the proposed conversion of all non-academies to academy schools.
Lord Nash
Taking the Spending Review and the Budget together, we have set aside the funding to support a high quality school system where all schools are academies.
Through the Budget and the Department for Education’s settlement in the Spending Review there are sufficient resources available to take advantage of the opportunities presented by all schools becoming academies. The Government has allocated £300 million that will be available to support schools to convert and, in particular, support sponsors to turn around failing schools. A further £300 million will be available to support strong and effective multi-academy trusts to grow and improve.
The Department will be issuing further detail on how funding will support the conversion of all schools to academy status in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Wolf of Dulwich on 2016-06-20.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park on 9 May (HL7498), whether the recent inquiry and report by the Quality Assurance Agency on West London Vocational Training has led them to reconsider or amend current measures relating to alternative providers; and if not, why not.
Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
The Government has revoked West London Vocational Training College’s designation for student support funding for Higher Education (HE) courses in England with effect from 3 June. Affected students will be supported so they can continue their studies with as limited disruption as possible. The cross-agency action in this case demonstrates the Government’s continuing strong focus on improving quality and value for money across the Alternative Provider (AP) sector.
Since the 2012-13 academic year the Government has progressively strengthened systems to oversee the specific course designation of APs to secure improved quality and standards, including the introduction of a more rigorous, risk-based approach to quality assurance and annual provider re-designation.
Further reforms announced in the May 2016 HE White Paper will create a level playing field for all HE providers, supporting greater diversity, innovation and choice for students, whilst preserving quality and value for money.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeffrey M. Donaldson on 2016-09-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the (a) criteria by which applicants are selected and (b) names of applicants who applied to host Armed Forces Day in 2017.
Mike Penning
Guidance on applying to host the Armed Forces Day National Event is available from the Ministry of Defence’s Ceremonial Events and Commemorations Team whose contact details are on the Armed Forces Day Website: www.armedforcesday.org.uk.
Applications typically take the form of a letter from the Local Authority Leader /Chief Executive, to the Defence Minister in the House of Lords (Earl Howe). This letter is assessed to gauge the strength of the applicant’s argument as to why they should be selected, and the quality of their proposals for the event. In addition, the following aspects are considered:
Proximity to previous national events – there would be an aspiration to stage the event in a different region of the country to previous events, in order to capture a fresh local audience.
Maturity of any existing annual event hosted by the applicant.
Availability of a suitable venue and infrastructure within the applicant’s jurisdiction.
Support of local populace for the Armed Forces.
The applicant’s capacity to administer an event of equivalent scale and significance.
Financial resource available, and plans to secure adequate sponsorship.
While it would be inappropriate to name the authorities that lost out to Liverpool City Council in the process of selecting the hosts for the National Armed Forces Day event in 2017, we can confirm that no formal bid was received from any local authority in Ulster.