The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Adams on 2015-11-03.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on competition between different sectors in the gaming industry of different forms of gambling taxation; and if he will make a statement.
Damian Hinds
The Treasury keeps all aspects of tax policy under review, and routinely looks at the impact of gambling tax policy on the industry.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to ensure that weekday services to the NHS are not compromised as a result of a seven day service.
Ben Gummer
It is for local providers and commissioners to develop plans for delivering more seven day services in hospitals, whilst maintaining standards of care on weekdays. The Care Quality Commission will continue to monitor, inspect and regulate hospitals to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety on all seven days of the week.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-01-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many highly specialised technologies are currently being assessed by the NHS England highly specialised technologies assessment process.
George Freeman
NHS England is currently developing a refined process for the prioritisation of proposed new investments in specialised services and highly specialised services.
The number of technologies to be routinely commissioned by NHS England will be determined by the new process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect of decommissioning sites where children could be detained on (a) the mix of children in custody, (b) the implementation of the Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint system and (c) staff numbers.
Andrew Selous
The Youth Justice Board (YJB) is responsible for commissioning and placing all young people under-18 in a suitable secure establishment.
Following the welcome and continued reduction in the number of young people in custody, the YJB has been able to reduce the number of commissioned places across the secure estate. However, as the number has reduced so those who remain tend to be those who have been arrested for the most violent crimes and who pose the greatest difficulties for those who care for them.
Although decommissioning will affect the number of places available in the secure estate, young people are placed in establishments that can most effectively manage their individual needs and risks. Factors such as age, suitability of regime, closeness to home, risk of self-harm or to others, and other risk factors are all been taken into account when placing a young person in custody.
Restraint should only be used against young people as a last resort where it is absolutely necessary to do so, when young people are putting their own safety and the safety of others at risk, and where no other form of intervention is possible or appropriate. We are committed to closely monitoring the independently assessed Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint system, including through an ongoing analysis of its effectiveness.
Information on the effects of decommissioning on staff numbers within the youth secure estate is not available centrally and can only be collected at disproportionate costs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2016-02-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the European Commission’s Recommendation in 2014 on a new approach to business failure and insolvency on the UK’s insolvency regime.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
The UK’s flexible and effective restructuring and insolvency regime is very much in keeping with the general themes of the EU Recommendation. Following the European Commission’s 2014 Recommendation, the Government conducted a call for evidence seeking the views of stakeholders and submitted a response to the Commission’s survey on how Member States comply with the Recommendation. The Government published the UK’s response in August 2015. This can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/european-commission-recommendation-on-business-failure-and-insolvency-call-for-evidence
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were permanently excluded from school during Key Stages 1 and 2 in (a) academies and (b) community schools in each of the last five years.
Nick Gibb
Information on the number of permanent exclusions in state-funded primary schools is published at national and regional level in the Permanent and fixed-period exclusions in England[1] series. Information on the number of permanent exclusions in primary academies from 2010/11 to 2013/14 inclusive can be found in Table 18a of the 2013/14 release and Table 16a of the equivalent release for earlier years.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-exclusions
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking with his EU counterparts to enable (a) EU diplomats and (b) journalists to enter Tibet.
Mr Hugo Swire
We support access to the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) for EU diplomats and a number have recently been granted access. The Ambassador of Denmark was the most recent high-level visitor in April and other senior EU diplomats, including from the UK, are planning a joint visit in 2016. For its part, the UK has a standing request to visit but, as we note in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy, China did not accept our requests in 2015. We also support access to the TAR for journalists. The Foreign Correspondents Club of China reports that approximately three-quarters of journalists had their application to visit Tibet denied in 2015. We consistently raise the issue of access to the TAR and media freedom in the annual UK-China human rights dialogue.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsty Blackman on 2016-06-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied asylum seeking children were denied permanent asylum having applied as an adult in 2015.
James Brokenshire
When a child passes the age of 18 and their Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) leave expires, they are no longer considered to be a UASC and are therefore required to take steps to return voluntarily or seek further leave to remain. Our records show that the number of main asylum claimants under the age of 18 years of age, who were granted UASC leave based on an asylum claim made on or after 1 April 2005 , who went on to submit a further leave application in 2015 and were refused is 311.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the current processing time from application to award for personal independence payments.
Penny Mordaunt
The current processing times represent a stable position for both DWP and our Assessment Providers and reflect the significant progress made to improve the claims process by both parties over the preceding months. We continue to look at all of our processes and activities to identify any further areas for improvement, or to drive out even greater efficiency.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-10-14.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the dangers of money laundering being undertaken by means of anonymous online crowdfunding investment platforms.
Simon Kirby
All crowdfunding platforms fall within the FCA’s definition of regulated investments and are therefore subject to FCA rules. These rules require companies to maintain effective systems and controls to address the risk that they might be exploited by criminals. Where a firm’s systems and controls are not adequate, the FCA can and does take enforcement action.