The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-01-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what funding his Department provides for local authorities to discharge their responsibilities for vulnerable adult transport.
Mr Marcus Jones
It is for local authorities to allocate funding to individual services from their overall budget.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects the undulations in the road surface of the M180 east of junction 4 in respect of which warning signs have been erected, to be eradicated; and if he will make a statement.
Andrew Jones
Highways England are aware of a problem with the underlying road construction of the M180 east of junction 4, which affects the ride quality on that section of the motorway. Highways England has carried out, and will continue to carry out, surface repairs to ensure the road surface remains safe and serviceable. In the longer term, substantial reconstruction works will be required to prevent the recurrence of these problems and investigations into this are being undertaken.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average amount of time is a prisoner spends on education or work-related activities at Feltham Young Offenders Institution.
Andrew Selous
HMP&YOI Feltham is a split site which holds both young people (under 18’s) and young adults (18-20 year olds). The two cohorts are managed distinctly and there are separate education contracts and different providers for each.
The Youth Justice Board oversees the management of the education contract for young people at Feltham. Prior to August 2015, education providers were only required to deliver 15 hours of education. In August 2015, we increased the requirement for education providers in public sector Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) to 27 hours of education a week, which is supplemented by 3 hours of physical exercise.
Whist the majority of education time is protected, it is expected that young people will miss some lessons to attend appointments such as court appearances, medical appointments and legal visits.
The following table provides the average number of classroom based education hours, alternative activities hours and physical education hours per week accessed by young people at Feltham YOI since 16 August 2015.
|
Education |
Average hours per week |
|
Classroom based learning |
13.99 |
|
Alternative activities(1) |
7.72 |
|
Physical education(2) |
1.43 |
|
Total |
23.15 |
(1) Alternative activities include interventions relating to offending behaviour, focus groups, Release on Temporary licence etc.
(2) Data is from 9 October only.
This table does not include outreach education provision which is provided to young people who are not able to engage with class room based education.
The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) and the Youth Justice Board are working with education providers to address delivery challenges and increase the number of education hours received by young people.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jowell on 2016-03-22.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what dedicated and expert resources they have in each department to support bereaved families and survivors in the event of a terrorist attack.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Government, law enforcement, and the security and intelligence agencies work tirelessly to prevent terrorist attacks wherever possible. Resources are in place for the provision of general and specialist support for those affected by terrorist attacks either in the UK or abroad, including bereaved families and survivors.
A range of medical, psychological, liaison, and compensation support arrangements can be provided suited to the specific circumstances.
Our approach is set out below.
Support for victims of terrorism overseas
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office provides support during any crisis overseas, including a terrorist attack, ensuring that the government responds effectively to deliver rapid and professional assistance to British nationals affected. The crisis centre in London can bring together teams of more than a hundred people from across government to coordinate a response and can call on trained staff to both bolster the team in London and be deployed to the country affected. This includes consular support to survivors and to families of victims, working with police family liaison officers and overseas authorities to provide support, assistance and information.
Immediately after the 2015 terrorist attack in Sousse, the Prime Minister established an ad hoc Ministerial Committee to coordinate support from across government to all British Nationals that were affected. The Committee has oversight of arrangements for the memorial service (which took place on 12 April), a physical memorial, compensation and a programme to provide support for those experiencing mental health difficulties.
Support for victims of terrorism in the United Kingdom
In the event that an attack were to take place in the UK, bereaved families and survivors are entitled to support and services under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime; this is published by the Ministry of Justice and can be accessed online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/476900/code-of-practice-for-victims-of-crime.PDF. This includes access to medical support and any specialist support such as psychological support. Families and victims are able to access these directly without a referral.
The Victim Information Service provides advice for victims of terrorism. This can be accessed online at www.victimsinformationservice.org.uk/im-victim-terrorist-attack/ or by phone on 0808 168 9293.
Government funding is also provided for the national Homicide Service and a number of smaller organisations to support those living in England and Wales bereaved by murder or manslaughter, whether committed here or abroad which includes those bereaved by terrorism.
Compensation
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority administers both the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme and Victim of Overseas Terrorism Compensation Scheme, which provide compensation to victims of terrorist attacks in the UK and of designated terrorist attacks overseas.
Northern Ireland-related terrorism
Responsibility for dealing with Northern Ireland-related terrorism rests with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and, for that reason, this answer does not cover Northern Ireland-related terrorist attacks in Northern Ireland. The response does however, cover any Northern Ireland-related terrorism in Great Britain.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to prevent the dumping of Chinese steel in the UK at below-market prices.
Anna Soubry
Responsibility for anti-dumping investigations and imposing anti-dumping measures against imports into the EU and the UK lies with the European Commission. These investigations are driven by requests from EU producers.
The Government makes regular representations to the Commission concerning allegations of dumping of steel. My Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister pressed for more action on dumping of steel at European Council on 17 and 18 March. The government judges each anti-dumping case on its merits, based on the evidence presented by the Commission and on representations from interested parties, including producers, users and importers, but is strongly in favour of effective trade defences to tackle unfair trade practices where justified. We have voted in favour of anti-dumping measures on several steel products since July, including the imposition of provisional anti-dumping measures on reinforcing bar in January, an investigation for which we lobbied the Commission successfully, and on cold-rolled flat steel products in February.
We have supported industry calls for higher duties on specific cases where this is justified by the evidence. For example, in the reinforcing bar case we have raised the steel industry’s concerns that the provisional duties were too low with the Commission. My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills spoke with Trade Commissioner Malmström about this and received assurances that the Commission will reconsider this during the definitive stage of the investigation, if industry can provide the necessary evidence.
We also welcomed the opening of four new anti-dumping investigations involving steel products earlier this year.
The government continues to push the Commission for faster, more effective action to deal with dumping of steel. This was one of the conclusions of the Extraordinary Competitiveness Council on Steel in November, a meeting which my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills was instrumental in convening. In advance of the Commission’s energy-intensive industry stakeholder’s summit on 15 February – another key action from the Competitiveness Council – the government and several other EU Member States sent a joint letter to the Commission, pressing it to make full and timely use of all trade defence instruments to tackle unfair trade. I played an active role at this summit. My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has also raised these issues in discussions with Commissioner Malmström, most recently at the OECD conference on the challenges facing the steel industry on 18 April. My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and Minister for Intellectual Property reiterated the need for faster and more effective action on dumping at the Competitiveness Council held on 29 February and the Presidency conclusions of that Council reflected this message. I did likewise at the European Steel Day on 21 April. Officials also have regular discussions about anti-dumping cases with Commission officials and officials from other EU Member States.
The Government is also supporting a robust discussion of the issue of overcapacity through the EU’s ongoing dialogue with the Chinese and other governments, including at the OECD conference. My Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister has discussed this issue directly with President Xi and was told that China will take steps to reduce its overcapacity. My Rt Hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer also raised it during his visit to China in February and My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills raised it with his counterpart in February. Similarly, my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs raised it during his visit to China in April.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-06-03.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the Government’s policy is on requiring companies bidding for government contracts to declare their ultimate beneficial ownership before a decision to award such contracts is made.
Matthew Hancock
At the Anti-Corruption Summit held in London on 12 May we announced our intention to require foreign companies to provide ‘beneficial ownership’ information to a new, publicly accessible register prior to being able to buy or sell UK property or bid for UK central government procurement contracts. We will be consulting on proposals later this year.
The UK will be first country in the world to require this.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if his Department will take steps to provide additional support for people who need to dispose of a property after the death of a relative by reviewing existing council tax liabilities.
Mr Marcus Jones
The Government provides an exemption from council tax for up to 6 months to people who have inherited properties which are left empty due to the death of the occupier. This applies after the granting of probate, or after letters of administration have been signed. Local authorities additionally have discretion to offer discounts of between 0% and 100% for empty homes. Authorities can also defer payment of council tax until the proceeds of a sale are made available.
The Government has no plans to change this support.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much has been spent on (a) mental health services and (b) children’s mental health services in Birmingham in each of the last 10 years.
Nicola Blackwood
The information requested is not collected centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when his Department was first made aware that employer pension payments were not being made by SSI UK.
Anna Soubry
There is a statutory process in place for the reporting of missing pension contributions. Managers of pension schemes are required to report any material non-payment of contributions to The Pensions Regulator within 90 days of those contributions falling due. There is no role for my department in this process.
In insolvency situations, such as SSI’s liquidation, unpaid pension contributions can be claimed from the Redundancy Payments Service within specified legal limits. If there are unpaid contributions, then the manager of the pension scheme will submit a claim to the Redundancy Payments Service on behalf of employees.
As part of his role as liquidator of SSI UK, the Official Receiver will look into all aspects leading to the company’s failure, including the directors’ conduct.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the use of alternative currencies for benefits payments.
Priti Patel
Customers living abroad and in receipt of payments delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions can have their payments made either:
All payments made to overseas customers, whether in sterling or local currency, are subject to fluctuating exchange rates. However, for payments made directly to overseas accounts in the relevant local currency, the Department has negotiated a competitive exchange rate which is more favourable that that available on the open Market.