The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what timetable his Department has set for drawing up contracts for new welfare to work schemes; and if he will make a statement.
Priti Patel
Now that the 2015 Spending Review is finalised, we are working on our Commercial Strategy for the welfare to work contracts.
All procurement opportunities will be advertised in the normal manner via Contracts Finder.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department’s publication, Mandatory Programmes official statistics: May 2011 to August 2015, published on 25 November 2015, how many people who joined the Mandatory Work Activity scheme during this period subsequently completed a work placement in full.
Priti Patel
Mandatory Work Activity is a supportive programme designed to help claimants who need extra support from a short work placement to re-focus their job search activity and gain further experience of work. Unemployed Jobseekers Allowance or Universal Credit claimants are referred for up to 4 weeks work experience and will participate on the placement for up to 30 hours a week.
The number of referrals and starts is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/pre-work-programme-and-get-britain-working.
An impact assessment of Mandatory Work Activity was published in 2012 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mandatory-work-activity–2) which considered referrals to the programme in the period May to July 2012. An evaluation of Mandatory Work Activity also published in 2012 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-mandatory-work-activity-rr823) which included a telephone survey of participants who had been referred to and started an Mandatory Work Allowance placement.
The evaluation and impact assessment were conducted in 2012 and does not cover the period of the Official Statistics from May 2011 to August 2015.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-01-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken to fulfil their agreement in the August 2015 Joint Ministerial Declaration (Managing Migratory Flows in Calais) properly to protect children in refugee camps in Calais.
Lord Bates
The management of the camp – both in terms of humanitarian aspects and maintaining law and order – is the responsibility of the French Government and operational needs may require for them to restrict access under certain circumstances. Aid is not restricted as a matter of course, and we work with the French to ensure those who need help are able to receive it.
To help protect vulnerable people (including children and other potential victims of trafficking) the Home Secretary and French Interior Minister agreed in the UK-France Joint Declaration in August 2015 to set up a project to identify and direct vulnerable individuals to existing protection, support and advice within France. The UK has contributed €750,000 (£530,000) to fund the project which formally launched in December 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-02-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will use their membership of UN agencies to establish relevant targets for reducing carbon emissions in (1) civil aviation, (2) shipping, and (3) agriculture and forestry, by 2020 as agreed at the Paris Climate Conference in 2015.
Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
This Government is committed to tackling emissions from international aviation, international shipping and agriculture and forestry.
As inherently transnational in nature, international aviation and maritime emissions are regulated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and are outside of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement. The UK is working through the ICAO and IMO to develop mechanisms which deliver emissions reductions, in line with the long term goal agreed in Paris of keeping average global temperature rise well below 2 degrees. In 2016, the ICAO is set to agree a global market based measure, to offset emissions post-2020. The UK government is engaged in this process.
The Government is also committed to tackling emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and supporting the enhancement of forest carbon stocks (REDD+). The UK played a key role in the 2014 New York Declaration on Forests, which set ambitious targets for halving (by 2020) and halting (by 2030) the loss of natural forests and eliminating deforestation from the production of key agricultural commodities by 2020. The new UN Sustainable Development Goals, agreed in September 2015, also include targets to halt deforestation, sustainably manage and restore natural forests, and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally by 2020. At COP21 the UK endorsed a Leaders’ Statement on Forests which recognised the importance of these goals, as well as the progress on REDD+ under the UNFCCC.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-03-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, who will represent the Government at the UNHCR conference on the Syrian refugee crisis on 30 March 2016.
Richard Harrington
I will represent the Government at the UNHCR conference on the Syrian refugee crisis on 30 March 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-04-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many jobs in (a) his Department and (b) each of his Department’s non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority by 2020.
Jane Ellison
No jobs with the core Department have been abolished or relocated from East Cheshire and none will be abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire by 2020.
The information about non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, and other accountable statutory bodies is not held centrally by the Department and the information for all those organisations has been provided by those bodies. This has resulted in a ‘nil return’, on both aspects of the question, from each of his Department’s non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies operating within East Cheshire.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-05-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to make public decisions on HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis taken at the meeting to consider the commissioning specialised services on 31 May 2016.
Jane Ellison
NHS England’s Specialised Services Commissioning Committee have considered and accepted NHS England’s external legal advice that it does not have the legal power to commission pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). However, work on PrEP is on-going and up to £2 million will be invested in a pilot programme to target those at highest risk over the course of two years.
Public Health England is working to identify the most effective locations for the introduction of this pilot. The Department will be discussing future commissioning with stakeholders.
Our £2.4 million national HIV Prevention and Sexual Health Promotion Programme also gives those at highest risk the best advice to make safer choices about sex.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-07-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the planning inspector of the public inquiry into the Leeds New Generation Transport schemes visited any European city operating trolley bus systems to ascertain whether its system could be emulated in Leeds, and if not, why not.
Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
I can confirm that as part of the public inquiry into the Leeds New Generation Transport Scheme the Inspector did not visit any European city operating trolley bus systems to see if its system could be emulated in Leeds. The Inspector had regard to all the evidence put to the inquiry, this may have included information about other trolley bus schemes in the world, however the Inspector’s remit was to look at the scheme for Leeds specifically put forward by the Applicant, having regard to the evidence submitted by all parties to the case.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have applied for spouse visas to marry a UK citizen from (a) India, (b) Pakistan, (c) Bangladesh, (d) Nigeria, (e) Australia, (f) New Zealand and (g) Jamaica in the last year for which figures are available.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Quarterly Home Office immigration statistics on entry clearance visas are available from the Home Office website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-statistics
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his policy is on people who receive disability benefits being able to volunteer without it affecting their entitlement to those benefits.
Justin Tomlinson
Claimants of Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment are free to do paid or unpaid work or volunteering without losing entitlement to their benefit, so long as they continue to meet the entitlement conditions.