The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the UK could act unilaterally to take an equity stake greater than 25 per cent in Tata Steel while being a member of the EU.
Anna Soubry
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-06-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will reconsider the proposal to privatise the Land Registry; and if he will make a statement.
Anna Soubry
A government consultation seeking views on options to move operations of the Land Registry to the private sector closed on 26 May. Government is currently considering the responses but no final decisions have been made.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by MiDavies on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many councils do not currently have a five-year land supply.
Gavin Barwell
We do not hold information centrally on how many local planning authorities do not have a five-year land supply for housing. A local planning authority’s five-year land supply position changes frequently and is subject to market conditions. The National Planning Policy Framework requires local planning authorities to keep their land supply under regular review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the proportion of the population affected by (a) foetal alcohol syndrome and (b) foetal alcohol spectrum disorder in (a) Liverpool, Wavertree constituency, (b) Liverpool, (c) the Liverpool City Region and (d) England.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Department has made no estimate of the proportion of the population affected by Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) or Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) in England, regionally or locally.
The diagnosis for babies born with FAS may not be made easily at birth, and problems may present only later in childhood, for example at school. Estimates for the incidence of FASD are still more uncertain and relate to the lack of consensus on diagnostic criteria for these conditions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what is being done to raise awareness of diabetes and to encourage people to seek medical advice for this condition.
Jane Ellison
The NHS Health Check programme is one of the mandatory public health functions of local authorities in England. It aims to prevent some of the biggest causes of premature death and disability in people aged 40-74.A routine part of NHS Health Check involves assessing a person’s risk of Type 2 diabetes and, for those at risk, a diagnostic test to confirm whether they have the condition. This then informs a discussion on, and agreement of, the lifestyle and medical approaches best suited to managing the person’s risk of developing cardiovascular diseases such as Type 2 diabetes.
As the National Diabetes Prevention Programme (NDPP) begins phased national roll out in 2016/17, the programme will be providing information that helps raise awareness of the risk factors associated with developing Type 2 Diabetes and the lifestyle changes that they can make to reduce their risk – including, if eligible attending the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme. This activity is already underway in our seven demonstrator sites that the programme is working with. Within Yorkshire and the Humber, Bradford is one of these demonstrator sites.
Building on the NDPP, the Department is developing its plans to improve outcomes for those with and at risk of diabetes. These will be announced in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress he has made on pensions auto-enrolment to small and micro businesses; and if he plans to complete that auto-enrolment for those businesses by 2018.
Justin Tomlinson
Automatic enrolment has been a great success to date, with 5.57 million people automatically enrolled into a workplace pension by 67,892 employers.
From June 2015 onwards, small and micro employers with 49 or less workers began enrolling all eligible workers into a qualifying workplace pension scheme.
We remain on track to complete the roll out of automatic enrolment to all employers from 2012 to 2018.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-01-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many people who live in supported housing are eligible for housing benefit.
Brandon Lewis
The Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department of Work and Pensions have jointly commissioned the Supported Accommodation Review to better understand the scale, shape and cost of supported accommodation. The Review will provide more robust and up-to-date information relating to supported housing, including the principal user groups. The Review will report later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will place in the Library the action plan produced by the current Tata Steel Task Force.
Stephen Crabb
The Welsh Taskforce was convened on 20 January and met subsequently on 1 February. The next meeting will be held on 15 February.
The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, attended the meeting on 1 February and will attend future meetings whenever practicable. Due to prior commitments he was unable to attend the first meeting and the Wales Office Director represented the Department. UK Government officials also attend Taskforce meetings.
The Taskforce is chaired by Welsh Government Minister for Economy, Science and Transport, Edwina Hart. Minutes of the Taskforce and any agreed programme of work are matters for the Welsh Government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what her Department’s wellness strategy is.
Mrs Theresa Villiers
The Northern Ireland Office’s wellness strategy is to promote and sustain a healthy, safe and supportive working environment for all our people. We do this by:
As a small department the Northern Ireland Office has also secured access to the Ministry of Justice’s networks and services for our staff to use.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-03-22.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they set a five per cent exit charge for early closure of a lifetime ISA.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
Whilst the Lifetime ISA is a product aimed at encouraging saving for the long term, the government understands that circumstances change so wants to ensure that people can access their own money if they need it whilst also keeping an incentive to leave funds invested for the long term or to help purchase a first home. The government proposes that savers can make withdrawals at any time for other purposes, but with the bonus element of the fund plus any interest or growth on it returned to the government, and a 5% charge applied.