The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had on training and registering support dogs for people with mental health problems.
Alistair Burt
The Department has not had any discussions with assistance dog organisations on the training and registration of support dogs for people with mental health problems.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 22 December 2015 to Question 20280, how many cases of meningococcal disease there have been in each year since 2010; and what the (a) case fatality rate and (b) reduction rate is in the incidence of the disease due to vaccines.
Jane Ellison
Public Health England (PHE) collects data on laboratory confirmed cases of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) in England. Data on case fatality rates is not available in the format requested. National data on the number of cases of IMD in England are published by PHE based on the number of laboratory confirmed cases. These data are available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/470608/Table_1_Invasive_meningococcal_infections_lab_reports__England_by_capsular_group___epi_year.pdf
There are three meningococcal immunisation programmes in England at present which offer MenB, MenC and MenACWY vaccines to different age groups. The MenB and MenACWY vaccination programmes were both introduced within the last six months and it is too early to confirm any impact on the incidence of the disease due to these vaccines. The MenC vaccination programme has been in place since November 1999. In 1998/99, the epidemiological year before MenC vaccine was introduced, there were 883 cases of confirmed Group C IMD in England whereas in the last five epidemiological years there have been an average 28 cases confirmed each year; a persisting reduction of 97%.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bottomley on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which institutions and societies are in receipt of how much block grant funding from the Government through the British Academy.
Joseph Johnson
Funding arrangements for the British Academy-Sponsored Institutes and Societies (BASIS) programme have not been changed. The seven independent Schools and Institutes within the BASIS Programme collectively have an important role in advancing science diplomacy and promoting UK higher education in their regions, and we value the close connections with foreign government ministries, British diplomatic missions and the British Council that are fostered through the BASIS Programme.
The Science & Research budget allocation for the National Academies for 2016-17 to 2019-20 was published on 4 March. The allocation provided for real terms protection for the British Academy’s BASIS programme, enabling the Academy to continue to provide the BASIS Institutes with substantial block grant support throughout this period. Details of direct funding received by the BASIS Programme through its grant from the British Academy, as well as details of the cumulative payments made by the British Academy to individual schools and institutes within the programme, are published in the British Academy Annual Report, available at www.britac.ac.uk/about/annualrep/index.cfm.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were refused pregnancy termination on the basis of their immigration status in (a) 2013, (b) 2014, (c) 2015 and (d) 2016.
Alistair Burt
The Department does not hold this information.
National Health Service hospital treatment is free to those people who are ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, or those exempt from charge under the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015, as amended. Anyone else should present a European Health Insurance Card, S1 or S2 form or pay direct for their NHS care. Those who need care and treatment urgently will still receive it even if they are chargeable and cannot pay straight away.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-05-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve transparency and accountability in spending by schools.
Mr Sam Gyimah
Appropriate arrangements are currently in place to ensure that school spending is transparent. Details of income and expenditure in all maintained schools and academies are published annually by the department in Statistical First Releases, available on GOV.UK. The Permanent Secretary’s Accountability System Statement sets out in detail the accountability system for education, including maintained schools and academies, and for children’s services.
While we are always interested in improving transparency and accountability in spending by schools we have no current plans for changes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Viscount Goschen on 2016-06-28.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with Southern Rail about the ongoing disruption to service on their network.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We are in regular dialogue with Govia Thameslink Rail (GTR) who provide Southern services about the performance on their network. We are determined to see services improve and are working hard with the industry to achieve this.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Eames on 2016-09-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consultations they have had with the government of the Republic of Ireland on a special arrangement for the land border between the EU and the UK as a result of Brexit.
Lord Bridges of Headley
There has been a range of engagement with the Irish Government, including a meeting between the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach in London on the 26 July and meetings between the Secretary of State for Exiting the EU and Irish Ministers in Dublin on 8 September. We have had a Common Travel Area between the UK and the Republic of Ireland many years before either country was a member of the European Union. There is a strong will in the UK Government, the Irish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to preserve it, and it remains our intention to do so.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the report by the National Audit Office, The economic regulation of the water sector, HC487; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that customers benefit from water companies’ unexpected financial gains.
Rory Stewart
We accept the recommendation that we should develop further our assessments of the affordability and cost-effectiveness of environmental improvements. The Environment Agency has recently published the most comprehensive cost-benefit appraisal ever conducted for improving the water environment in England.
The remaining recommendations of the report are for Ofwat, the independent economic regulator of the water sector. Its independence is crucial to ensure stable economic regulation to keep investment costs down and customer bills low. The Government does not intervene in any regulatory decisions made by the regulator.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will list the (a) location and (b) dates of visits he has made to food banks since May 2010.
Justin Tomlinson
DWP Ministers have visited a number of third sector organisations, faith groups, civil society organisations and charities, including food banks since May 2010.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-01-15.
To ask the Prime Minister, if he will amend the Memorandum of Understanding of 25 November 2014 under section 2(2) of the Justice and Security Act 2013 to enable the Intelligence and Security Committee to review documents related to the military action against Reyaad Khan in Syria.
Mr David Cameron
I discussed the scope of the Intelligence and Security Committee’s (ISC) Inquiry with the Chairman, my Right Honourable Friend the Member for Beaconsfield (Mr Grieve) and we have reached agreement on the disclosure of material to the ISC that will enable them to conduct a robust review of the threat posed by Reyaad Khan. The ISC have received contemporaneous intelligence assessments of Khan and will take further evidence in the coming weeks.
The Chairman of the ISC has written to the Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, the right hon. Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman), to set out the Committee’s views and this has been published on the ISC’s website. I understand that the letter makes it clear that the ISC’s remit is intelligence not military action.