The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had on the redevelopment of Birmingham New Street station.
Stephen Hammond
The Secretary of State visited the Birmingham Gateway project on 22 April 2014 to view progress. In addition, regular meetings take place between officials, Birmingham City Council, Network Rail and other stakeholders on the project.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-06-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent offers of assistance his Department has made to the government of Iraq.
Hugh Robertson
The UK was the first to deploy a team to assess the humanitarian situation following the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant’s attack on Mosul. On 14 June the Department for International Development (DFID) announced £3 million of emergency assistance to help around 500,000 displaced Iraqis, and a further £2 million was allocated on 17 June.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2014-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the effect on the number of people subject to improved incentives to work of the introduction of universal credit.
Esther McVey
Universal Credit will encourage claimants to move into employment by allowing individuals to keep more of their income as they move into work and by introducing a smoother and more transparent reduction of benefits.
Once Universal Credit is fully rolled out, the number of households losing more than 70% of their earnings when starting work of ten hours per week will fall by 800,000.
Overall it is estimated that up to 300,000 individuals will move into work as a result of Universal Credit, through improved financial incentives, increased simplicity of the system and increased conditionality.
These estimates are consistent with the policy assumptions underpinning the Universal Credit costings published by the Office for Budget Responsibility.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were infected with bacillus cereus in each of the last five years.
Jane Ellison
The numbers of reported patient infection episodes of Bacillus cereus, isolated from blood samples from all age-groups between 2009 and 2013 in England, are shown in the following table.
|
Year |
Number of patient infection episodes |
Organism name |
Specimen type |
Country |
|
2009 |
50 |
Bacillus Cereus |
Blood |
England |
|
2010 |
46 |
Bacillus Cereus |
Blood |
England |
|
2011 |
39 |
Bacillus Cereus |
Blood |
England |
|
2012 |
37 |
Bacillus Cereus |
Blood |
England |
|
2013 |
56 |
Bacillus Cereus |
Blood |
England |
These data were extracted from Public Health England’s centralised microbiology database (LabBase2), which collects voluntarily reported microbiology data from participating laboratories across England. Although only clinically significant isolates should be reported to LabBase2, some of the reports may be contaminants that occurred either during collection or during processing of samples as B. cereus is a ubiquitous environmental organism.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 April 2014, Official Report, columns 218-9W, on social security benefits, when he expects to make available the requested data.
Mike Penning
In the production of new statistics the Department works to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we are able to publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity.
All releases will be preannounced via the UK National Statistics publication hub at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/hub/index.html
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2014-06-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will bring forward proposals to financially assist nurses employed by the NHS to pay the increased fee for the Nursing and Midwifery Council when they come into force later in 2014.
Dr Daniel Poulter
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is an independent body and it is therefore for the NMC Council to determine the level of the annual fee it charges for registration. On 26 March 2014, the NMC Council reviewed the level of this fee and agreed a proposal to increase it from £100 per annum to £120 in March 2015. The NMC is running a public consultation between 8 May and 31 July 2014, where its proposal is open to scrutiny. No decision on the proposed fee increase has been made at present.
Ministers keep the issue of professional regulation under regular review and the Department has frequent contact with professional regulators, including the NMC. On 12 March 2014, I met with representatives of the NMC for a regular update meeting. This meeting was not specifically set up to discuss the NMC registration fee, but during this meeting the NMC provided information about its fee review process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the potential cost of buying out the lease for the Hull Official Receiver’s office.
Jenny Willott
No assessment of the costs of buying out the lease have been made. The financial information considered when the decision to close the office was made assumed that the Insolvency Service would be responsible for lease payments until the lease end in September 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2014-06-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department is taking to help end domestic abuse and violence against women.
Norman Baker
Domestic violence is a dreadful form of abuse and is not acceptable within our
society. The Coalition Government’s approach to tackling domestic violence and
abuse is set out in its Violence against Women and Girls Action Plan, updated in March
2014.
In 2013, the Home Secretary commissioned Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of
Constabulary to undertake a comprehensive review on how the police deal with
domestic violence and abuse. HMIC’s report exposed significant failings. In response
to the Review, the Home Secretary has established a National Oversight Group, which
she is chairing, and on which I sit, to ensure HMIC’s recommendations are acted upon.
The Group met for the first time on 10 June. The Home Secretary has also written to chief constables making it clear that every police force must have an action plan in place by September 2014, to improve their response to domestic violence and abuse.
The Government is committed to ensuring that the police and other agencies have
the tools necessary to tackle domestic violence, to bring offenders to justice
and to ensure victims have the support they need to rebuild their lives. On 8
March 2014, the Government announced the national roll-out of Domestic Violence
Protection Orders following the successful conclusion of a one-year
pilot in three police force areas including Wiltshire, as well as the Domestic
Violence Disclosure Scheme following the successful conclusion in
September 2013 of a one-year pilot in four police force areas – once again
including Wiltshire.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-04-10.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, in what circumstances he uses a calculation of the (a) value of preventing a fatality, (b) willingness to pay and (c) cost-per-quality adjusted life year approach to quantify the value of a policy intervention; what other tools he uses to quantify the benefit of a policy intervention; and if he will make a statement.
Danny Alexander
The Green Book and associated supplementary guidance is publicly available on the Treasury web site. It sets out a range of approaches and methods that may be appropriate in a number of different appraisal circumstances. The valuation of preventing fatalities makes a contribution to the calculation of risk reduction in many situations and is used extensively by the Department for Transport among others. Department of Health policies are likely to impact on health and longevity. For the majority of these policies, the impacts will be quantified in terms of quality adjusted life years. The cost of producing a quality adjusted life year is used as part of the appraisal and evaluation of alternative health investments.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2014-06-17.
To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, what the cost to date has been of the contract for the Independent Assessment of Options to Take Forward a Restoration and Renewal Programme for the Palace of Westminster awarded to Deloitte Real Estate and AECOM together with HOK in December 2013.
John Thurso
The full cost of the Independent Options Appraisal is expected to be £2,423K, including VAT. The cost incurred to 18 June 2014 was £2,213K, including VAT and a sum accrued but not yet invoiced. The cost is shared 60:40 between the House of Commons and the House of Lords.