The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-04-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effects of reductions in shire county council bus subsidies on the opportunities for social interaction of elderly and disabled people.
Brandon Lewis
The Department for Transport is the lead Department on policy and funding for buses.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Baron on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what responsibilities clinical commissioning groups have for commissioning breast cancer services.
Jane Ellison
The majority of treatments for cancer, such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy, are commissioned nationally by NHS England. Commissioning is informed by a range of clinical reference groups established as a primary source of advice on best practice, service standards for commissioned providers and forward strategy and innovation.
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) plan and buy local community and non-specialised hospital cancer services in their local area. This includes the diagnosis, oversight of treatment and surgical management of breast cancers.
NHS England is not aware of any formal guidance being given to CCGs on engagement with Strategic Clinical Networks (SCNs) or breast network site-specific groups. However, it would expect that all health organisations would wish to be part of SCNs. As CCGs are responsible for much of the commissioning of services covered by the SCNs (e.g. cancer, stroke, mental health, and dementia care), they have an interest in their activities.
Breast network site specific groups are specialist groups who focus on protocol development, improving care and the quality and outcomes of services within the SCN area. It would not be expected for a CCG to normally engage directly with that group but they would be part of a process to approve protocols and of any escalation process if there were concerns about a particular service within the SCN.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) quality standards define clinical best practice for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer to help clinicians ensure that patients are given information about the treatment options available and help in choosing the best option to suit them. NHS England would expect CCGs to take into account NICE quality standards when commissioning breast cancer services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2014-04-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2014, Official Report, column 533W, on wind power, how much onshore wind capacity was recovered in each month in 2013.
Kris Hopkins
The main consideration in the recovery of wind turbine appeals is the potential impact of the development on the surrounding area, in the particular circumstances of each appeal and its location. The generation capacity of the appeal is not a driver in the decision on whether or not the appeal should be recovered.
As I said in my earlier answer my Department does not centrally hold details of the generation capacity of wind turbine appeals.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the sexual health commissioning toolkit will be published.
Jane Ellison
Public Health England plans to publish “Making it work: a guide to whole system commissioning for sexual and reproductive health and HIV” by the end of July 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which chemicals are authorised for use in the fracking process in the UK; what assessment he has made of the potential risk posed to humans and the natural environment from those chemicals before their authorisation; and if he will make a statement.
Dan Rogerson
The Environment Agency will require full disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing.
Operators will not be able to use chemicals for well stimulation unless the Agency considers them acceptable for use. The Environment Agency will assess the hazards presented by fracking fluid additives on a case-by-case basis.
Allowing the use of a chemical at one site does not automatically mean the Agency will allow it to be used elsewhere. This is because the environmental risks may be different, for example, due to local geological conditions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ruffley on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many drink-driving offences were recorded in (a) Bury St Edmunds, (b) Suffolk and (c) England and Wales in each of the last five years; and how many successful prosecutions for such offences there have been.
Norman Baker
Drink driving is a summary offence, and not a notifiable offence. The Home Office only collects data on notifiable offences.
The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty at all courts for offences relating to drink driving, in England and Wales from 2009 to 2013 can be viewed in Table 1. The same data for Suffolk can be viewed in Table 2. This data is held by the Ministry of Justice.
Data is not available below Police Force Area level, and so data for Bury St Edmunds cannot be provided.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria a biodegradable plastic bag will need to fulfil for exemption from his single use plastic bag charging policy.
Dan Rogerson
We intend to exempt biodegradable bags that meet certain standards from the charge to give consumers an alternative to using single-use plastic bags when they do not take a reusable bag with them. The standards will be worked up in consultation with industry. They are likely to cover how the bag should behave during disposal or recycling (for example, having a short degradation time period), resource use, energy consumption during production and other elements across their lifecycle.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what (a) unilateral, (b) bilateral and (c) multilateral projects her Department is sponsoring in Kashmir.
Mr Alan Duncan
UK aid to Kashmir is largely delivered through national programmes in Pakistan and India which the UK helps fund. This includes support to promote economic growth, improve maternal and new born health and increase access to education. The tri-departmental Conflict Pool also funds joint programmes in Kashmir, supporting conflict prevention and peace building.
It is not possible to disaggregate our multilateral support to Kashmir.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-04-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the number of people who have overstayed their approved visa to be in the UK by (a) up to six months, (b) six months to one year, (c) more than one year and (d) more than three years as at 31 March 2014.
James Brokenshire
It is not possible to accurately quantify the number of immigration offenders in the UK as, by their very nature, those that deliberately evade immigration control to enter and stay in the country illegally are not officially recorded until they come to light and are arrested.
The Immigration Bill will provide new powers to implement exit checks, which the last Labour Government scrapped in 1998. This will allow the Home Office to screen those who leave the UK to identify threats and persons of interest to Border Force, immigration enforcement and other law enforcement bodies, and to enable an appropriate response.
The Home Office continues to prevent abuse, pursue offenders and increase compliance with immigration law – our Immigration Compliance and Enforcement teams across the UK target illegal migrants who have no right to live and work in the community.
The Immigration Bill will stop migrants using public services to which they are not entitled, reduce the factors which encourage people to come to the UK and make it easier to remove people who should not be here.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will re-open HMP Wellingborough to increase prison capacity.
Jeremy Wright
As this Government has made previously clear, we will not take any steps to dispose of the mothballed HM Prison Wellingborough because it is sensible measure to retain reserve capacity. I have no immediate plans to change that status.
My office will be in touch to arrange a meeting to further discuss this matter further.