The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Elmore on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to make alterations to the rail crossing in Pencoed.
Paul Maynard
Network Rail has responsibility for level crossings and operates at arm’s-length from the Department for Transport. Any alterations will be an operational decision for Network Rail and they are engaging with local stakeholders about options for this rail crossing.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pauline Latham on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the number of mining companies that are registered in the UK.
Chris Skidmore
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2015-11-03.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effects (a) to date and (b) in the future of the institutes of technology on UK productivity.
Greg Hands
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicola Blackwood on 2015-12-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to modernise the courts and tribunals system.
Mr Shailesh Vara
We have secured over £700m of funding to invest in our courts and tribunals. We have worked closely with the senior judiciary to develop a plan to reform our courts system so it delivers swifter, fairer justice for everyone in England and Wales at a lower cost. This is a once in a generation opportunity to create a modern, user focused and efficient courts and tribunals service.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-01-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what impact assessment his Department has carried out on the effects of reductions in the universal credit work allowance on (a) working families and (b) people’s ability to take on part-time work.
Priti Patel
The impact of the work allowance change cannot be considered in isolation – it is part of a broader package of measures announced at the Summer Budget, such as the increase to the personal tax allowance and introduction of the national living wage, which strengthens incentives to find work and better paid jobs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-01.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health, Melanie Johnson, on 11 May 2004 (HC Deb, col 315W), by Lord Darzi of Denham on 21 April 2008 (WA 235) and by Lord Prior of Brampton on 27 January (HL5039), whether it remains the case that lay summaries of research proposals submitted to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) are placed on its website with an invitation to the public to submit comments; if so, when the last licence applications and lay summaries were placed on its website; where and when the title of the licence application to use CRISPR-Cas9 and the lay summary submitted by the applicant were published on the HFEA website; and why the section of the HFEA website that describes human embryo research awaiting approval (http://www.hfea.gov.uk/167.html) has continued to state that there are currently no research projects awaiting approval”.”
Lord Prior of Brampton
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that lay summaries of research proposals submitted to the Authority are no longer placed on its website prior to consideration by a HFEA Licence Committee. Lay summaries are, however, available on the website in the inspection report for each research project, linked to a list of all licensed research projects.
The noble Lord is correct that the HFEA website still mistakenly refers to past practice. We are advised that this will be rectified shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2016-02-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government who will attend the Commission on the Status of Women meeting in March on their behalf.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
The Government will use the 60th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) to ensure that gender equality and women’s empowerment remain at the top of the global political agenda. We will negotiate with other UN Member States to agree a set of ambitious, action-oriented and forward-looking recommendations for governments around the world to accelerate progress on gender equality and ensure accountability.
At the first session after the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals, we will press for a meaningful follow-up process that places gender equality at the heart of the new agenda while ensuring that the CSW remains the prime global forum on gender equality and the laboratory of ideas that it is today.
Furthermore, we will enhance the UK’s reputation as a world leader in this area by promoting relevant national policies but also by exchanging ideas with other UN Member States. In line with the session’s themes this year, we will be focusing on women’s empowerment and on violence against women and girls in high level discussions, events and bilateral meetings.
In addition, the Government will host and support a number of events to raise the profile of certain issues which still prevent us from achieving equality, such as inequality in the workplace, discrimination in all its forms and violence against women and girls.
Lastly, but very importantly, we are working with civil society to ensure their participation remains an integral part of the CSW programme and their concerns are heard at the national and global levels.
Sixty years after the first session of the Commission on the Status of Women, the UK Government will send a strong signal that gender equality must be at the heart of economic and social development of all countries. We will have a ministerial team of four, led by the Rt Hon Nicky Morgan MP, Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities, and including the Rt Hon Justine Greening MP, Secretary of State for International Development. Parliamentary Under Secretary for Women, Equalities and Family Justice Caroline Dinenage MP and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Development, Baroness Verma, in her capacity as Ministerial Champion for Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Overseas, will also attend.
The UK Government currently has two confirmed side events at this year’s Commission on the Status of Women. The first one will focus on getting more women and girls into science and technology and the second one will be on the gender pay gap.
We will also be taking part in other events where major issues such as women’s economic empowerment and violence against women are discussed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by MiDavies on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will ensure the adequacy of provision of screens for use as a special protection measure for vulnerable and intimidated witnesses.
Mike Penning
There are many provisions already in place to help victims and witnesses give evidence in court.
Children are automatically eligible to receive special measures – such as giving evidence from behind a screen or pre-recording their evidence or giving it via video link – and these are available to other vulnerable victims and witnesses at a court’s discretion.
We continue to work with criminal justice partners (particularly the police and the CPS) to further increase awareness and ensure the consistent use of special measures for vulnerable and intimidated victims and witnesses.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April 2016 to Question 34838, under which clauses of the National Health Service Act 2006 he exercised the range of powers used in deciding to proceed to introduce a new contract.
Ben Gummer
The Secretary of State is exercising his powers under the National Health Service Act 2006 (in particular sections 1, 1A, 1B, 1F, 1G and 2), working with NHS employers who, as they are the employers of junior doctors, are using their employment powers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-06-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many men have (a) been charged with and (b) served a prison sentence for non-violent crimes in the last five years.
Dominic Raab
Charging decisions are a matter for the Crown Prosecution Service, and sentencing is a matter for our independent courts. The court may only impose a custodial sentence where it finds that the offence is so serious that neither a community sentence nor a fine alone can be justified.
There is no clear definition of a non-violent crime, as both physical and psychological harm can be caused by many crimes and this will not necessarily be apparent from the description of the offence. However, the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty and sentenced, including to custody, by offence category and specific offence, by gender, in England and Wales, from 2011 to 2015 can be found in the Criminal Justice Statistics outcomes by offence data tool in the most recent annual publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2015.
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