The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-03-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will invite Maryam Rajavi to visit Parliament and the UK.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
Maryam Rajavi remains excluded from the UK and Her Majesty’s Government has no plans to invite her to visit the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if his Department plans to promote clearer pathways into the arts and cultural sectors to develop a more diverse leadership and workforce in those sectors.
Mr Edward Vaizey
In the recently published Culture White Paper we made it clear that more needs to be done to encourage diversity in leadership positions. We will promote clearer pathways into the sectors, and we will work with Arts Council England to understand the barriers that prevent people from lower income households and under-represented groups from becoming professionals in the arts.
In December 2015, the Arts Council announced four new strategic funds for diversity, totalling £8.6 million. This included a new £2.6 million Change Makers fund to build long-term relationships between National Portfolio Organisations and aspiring arts leaders from the BME and deaf and disabled communities. Arts Council England has also made a significant change in its approach to diversity by launching The Creative Case for Diversity, which asks the organisations it funds to make themselves and their work more reflective of the communities they serve.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-05-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the potential use and effectiveness of unmanned aerial vehicle technology in supporting the UK’s international development agenda.
Mr Nick Hurd
It is in the interest of the UK taxpayer, as well as beneficiaries on the ground, that the Department for International Development scrutinises the most cost-effective means of delivering aid, especially when responding to crises. In some cases technology can provide valuable advantages in terms of efficiency and cost effectiveness, as well as enabling the ability to respond rapidly to crises and assist those in the hardest to reach places.
The Department has recently commissioned a review of the potential of a number of Frontier Technologies including Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology, which will help us identify potential applications as well as risks.
There are a small number of examples of UAV technologies currently being trialled in DFID programmes. This includes a small-scale trial of UAV mapping to inform disaster preparedness, mitigation and response efforts in Nepal. There is also research being conducted in the natural and physical sciences arena, including on climate extremes which have an impact on vulnerable populations in developing countries.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-07-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications of VM Langfords entering administration for the provision of patient transport services in Sussex.
Mr Philip Dunne
This is a matter for local commissioners.
NHS England has confirmed that Coperforma, holder of the non-emergency Patient Transport Service (PTS) contract for Sussex, informed High Weald Lewes Havens Clinical Commissioning Group (HWLH CCG) on 16 June 2016 that a receiver had been appointed for VM Langfords – transport provider sub-contracted to deliver PTS in East and West Sussex. A number of South East Coast Ambulance Services (SECAmb) staff had been transferred to VM Langfords employment.
HWLH CCG met with Coperforma on 17 June 2016 and was assured that a plan was already in place for additional transport capacity to mitigate any loss of capacity that this situation may cause.
HWLH CCG is working closely with Coperforma and the unions (Unison and GMB) to work through the implications for ex SECAmb staff, to ensure the processes followed are in keeping with employment legislation and good practice and that the impacts on service delivery are kept to a minimum.
There have been no discussions between Ministers in the Department and Sussex CCGs about PTS provider VM Langfords going into administration.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to upgrade the (a) rail and (b) underground connectivity to (i) Heathrow and (ii) Gatwick Airport.
Mr John Hayes
Current investment plans include a number of improvements to rail and underground services to Heathrow and Gatwick Airports.
The Elizabeth line will significantly improve links between Heathrow and a number of central London destinations. From May 2018, four trains an hour will run between Paddington and Heathrow Airport replacing the existing 2 train per hour Heathrow Connect service. From December 2019, Elizabeth line trains will run from the airport directly to central London destinations including Bond Street, Liverpool Street and Canary Wharf.
London Underground is planning new trains and signalling for the Piccadilly line, which serves Heathrow. Work on signalling will begin as early as 2019 and the first new trains will be in service from the early 2020s. The new trains will provide 60% more capacity (the equivalent of up to 21,000 customers per hour).
Network Rail is developing a rail link from the Great Western Main Line to London Heathrow Terminal 5. This proposed Western Rail Link to Heathrow will allow passengers to travel directly to the airport from Reading and Slough. Network Rail is expected to seek planning powers for this scheme in 2017.
Gatwick airport is benefiting from the investment that is underway through the Thameslink programme which is delivering more frequent services and state of the art new trains on the line between Brighton, Gatwick Airport and London, the first of which entered service earlier this year. By 2018, these trains will start operating on two new direct services connecting Gatwick to Peterborough and Cambridge.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers the Government plans to resettle in the Bristol City Council area.
James Brokenshire
Under the Immigration and Asylum act 1999, asylum seekers who need accommodation are housed in communities across the UK according to an agreed ratio, based on various regional factors. This is reviewed regularly. Within each region, UKVI has established working arrangements with local authorities in order to consider dispersal patterns and numbers. This includes consulting key corporate partners in the local area in order to assess regularly the impact of dispersal policy on a particular community.
The COMPASS contract requires providers to liaise and consult with local authorities to ensure that accommodation provided to asylum seekers does not adversely affect local authority developments or community plans. Providers must also take into account the cultural compatibility of the environment; capacity of local health, education and other support services; concentration of accommodation of service users within particular areas; and the assessment of social tension risks.
Following the expansion of the Government’s vulnerable person resettlement scheme, we have established a cross-Government committee to oversee the resettlement of vulnerable refugees and we are working closely with them and local authorities about future resettlement.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2015-11-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the public rights of way elements of the Deregulation Act 2015, including guidance, will be implemented.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The primary legislation needed to implement the Stakeholder Working Group rights of way reforms package was enacted in the Deregulation Act 2015. We are consulting with the Stakeholder Working Group and other interested parties on the various sets of regulations and guidance needed to complete the reform package. It is planned that all the legislation and guidance will be commenced on the same date. We are on schedule to meet our target of implementation in spring 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-12-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, under the Money Laundering Regulations 2007, a Parliamentary pass should be accepted as photo-identity evidence for the purposes of opening a bank account, becoming a signatory to a bank account, and similar actions; and if not why not.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
The Government’s Anti-Money Laundering regime has a clear aim: to make the UK financial system a hostile environment for illicit finances, whilst minimising the burden on legitimate businesses and reducing the overall burden of regulation.
Under the Money Laundering Regulations 2007, customers opening a bank account must satisfy the relevant financial institution as to their identity. Financial institutions are also required to maintain appropriate records and conduct ongoing monitoring of the business relationship. The Regulations do not prescribe that customers must produce particular documents such as a driving licence or passport, or indeed a Parliamentary pass.
Professional bodies such as the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG, a finance, trade and banking industry consortium), issue detailed operational guidance to their members about how the Regulations should be applied in practice, which is available on their website. The JMLSG guidance encourages businesses to consider a wide range of reliable documentation that customers can produce for customer due diligence purposes. Each business will however have their own policies in relation to customer due diligence checks. The Regulations require businesses to be proportionate in the checks they carry out, so that they safeguard against the potential risks but the process is not unnecessarily burdensome for the customer.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2016 to Question 21838, what estimate he has made of the cost of (a) training and (b) funding the extra 250 gastroenterologist and 200 non-medical endoscopists that will increase capacity for colonoscopy and endoscopy.
Ben Gummer
The Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU) at the University of Kent produces an annual report which includes the costs of delivering National Health Service services. In doing so, the PSSRU assesses the total cost of training, including to the individual. A link to the latest report, published in March 2015 is included below.
http://www.pssru.ac.uk/project-pages/unit-costs/2014/
NHS trusts are responsible for ensuring that they have enough gastroenterologists to provide services to their patients. It will be for NHS providers to meet the employment costs of these staff.
Health Education England (HEE) has identified cancer and diagnostics as a priority area for 2016-17. HEE estimates that between £1 million and £1.5 million will be required to fund an additional 200 non-medical endoscopists by 2018.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the value of EU funding was for the Great Western Main Line electrification programme on the most recent date for which figures are available.
Claire Perry
I have been informed by Network Rail that as of 26 February 2016, the total value of EU funding that has been awarded for the Great Western Mainline Electrification is € 11,085,000.