The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-03-12.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to ensure that all statistics identified as high impact outputs with less widespread support by the Office for National Statistics in its consultation on statistical products 2013 will continue to be funded for 2014-15.
Nick Hurd
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 March 2014 (Official Report) Column Ref: 470W.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the number of merlins in the UK; and what steps his Department is taking to maintain their numbers and habitat.
George Eustice
The merlin is protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 which makes it an offence to take, kill or injure any wild bird; take or damage their nests while in use; and take or destroy an egg. This robust legal framework protects the merlin from persecution, with penalties including imprisonment.
The Department has not made an assessment of merlin population levels. A study by Ewing et al reported that in 2008 there were approximately 1,100 breeding pairs of merlins in the UK.
Several measures are in place to protect habitats. The UK has designated 615 sites as Special Areas of Conservation under the Habitats Directive, and 270 sites as Special Protection Areas under the Birds Directive to provide protection to our most vulnerable and threatened wild birds.
The Government has also provided £7.5 million to establish twelve Nature Improvement Areas. These are intended to benefit birds by improving existing habitat, creating new habitat and improving connectivity between habitats.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-12.
To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, which local authorities (a) did and (b) did not complete local data matching after the confirmation dry run with the Department for Work and Pensions’ database and electoral register.
Gary Streeter
The Electoral Commission informs me that this information was provided to the Hon. Member in the answer to his Question 191356.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to bring forward secondary legislation on (a) banning smoking in cars with children in them and (b) the introduction of standardised packaging of tobacco.
Jane Ellison
The Children and Families Act 2014 provides regulation-making powers for the introduction of standardised packaging of tobacco and banning smoking in cars.
Regulations for making it an offence to smoke in private vehicles carrying children are being drafted at present.
A final, short consultation in order to ensure that a final decision on whether to introduce standardised packaging is properly and fully informed will be published shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Karen Buck on 2014-03-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what change there has been in the number and proportion of homeless households in nightly booked temporary accommodation in London since March 2010.
Kris Hopkins
[Holding Reply: Monday 17 March 2014]
The Department does not collect information specifically on numbers of homeless households in nightly-booked temporary accommodation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government expects to implement all the measures contained in Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act regarding sustainable urban drainage systems in this Parliament.
Dan Rogerson
The Government remains committed to implementing sustainable drainage systems at the earliest available opportunity, but not in a way that affects development. A statement, which will set out our plans in greater detail, will be made in the summer. It has become clear that, as previously hoped for, we will not be commencing Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act in October 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-03-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) men and (b) women convicted of benefit fraud in each of the last five years received (i) a conditional discharge, (ii) a fine, (iii) a community order and (iv) a suspended prison sentence.
Jeremy Wright
The Department for Work and Pensions operates a tough series of specific penalties for benefit fraud that run alongside the criminal justice system. The Welfare Reform Act 2012 toughened penalties for those who commit, or attempt to commit benefit fraud. We have introduced a financial administrative penalty as an alternative to prosecution which, for the first time, can be applied to attempted fraud.
The Government has also introduced a tougher loss of benefit penalty to restrict benefits to people convicted of benefit fraud or who have accepted an administrative penalty. Benefits can be reduced for periods of 13 weeks, 26 weeks or 3 years, dependent on the number of benefit fraud offences committed within a specified period, where the latest offence results in a conviction.
Judges make their decisions independently of Government based on the facts of each case. The maximum penalty for fraud is 10 years in prison.
The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ court found guilty and sentenced at all courts for offences relating to benefit fraud, with sentencing outcomes and the average custodial sentence length by gender, in England and Wales, from 2008 to 2012 (latest data available) can be viewed in the table.
Please note that court proceedings statistics for the year 2013 are planned to be published by the Ministry of Justice in May 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on Atomic Weapons Establishment facilities at Aldermaston in each of the last five years.
Mr Philip Dunne
Expenditure specifically on AWE facilities at Aldermaston is not held in the format requested. Contract payments for AWE are made against an agreed programme of work that covers all AWE sites; Aldermaston, Burghfield and Blacknest. These costs are not recorded according to site.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Jim Murphy on 2014-03-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much in housing benefit payments was paid to recipients in (a) Glasgow, (b) Edinburgh, (c) Dundee and (d) Aberdeen in the last year.
Steve Webb
The amount paid in Housing Benefit in 2012/13 can be found in the table below.
|
2012/13 |
|
|
£m |
|
|
HB |
|
|
Glasgow City |
348 |
|
City of Edinburgh |
200 |
|
Dundee City |
77 |
|
Aberdeen City |
55 |
Source: Local authority statistical data and subsidy returns.
Note: Expenditure is shown for the last complete financial year. Benefit expenditure for Housing Benefit can be found in the Local Authority tables as per link https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/266828/la-tables-201213.xls
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to ensure that the outcome of the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict reflects the wide range of people affected by such violence.
Mark Simmonds
The Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict will turn the political commitments made in the Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict into practical action and bring real change to those affected by this crime. We have consulted widely with experts, practitioners and international partners since the launch of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative in 2012, including on the outcomes of the Summit. Over 1,500 delegates will attend, including legal, military and judicial practitioners, representatives from multilateral organisations, and over 100 NGOs and grassroots organisations. The Summit is an opportunity for governments from countries around the world to hear directly from those affected what action needs to be taken to effectively tackle this issue.