The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hussein-Ece on 2016-04-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many convicted sex offenders and those prosecuted for domestic violence offences have been given legal aid to pursue child access cases in the family courts in each of the last 10 years.
Lord Faulks
The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-06-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the additional cost of £70 to £80 per annum, at 2011 prices and based on a 50 per cent probability of cost overruns, to all Thames Water customers of the Thames Tideway Tunnel, as quoted on page 83 of the prospectus of Thames Water Utilities Cayman Finance Ltd, represents good value for money for the consumer.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The impact of the Thames Tideway Tunnel on Thames Water customer bills is expected to be £20-£25 per year (at 2015 prices) by the mid-2020s. This is about a third of the initial estimate of £70-£80 per year in 2011, assessed at an early development stage of the project, and represents good value for money for customers. It follows the successful competition by Thames Water Utilities Ltd, completed in August 2015, to procure an Infrastructure Provider to finance and deliver the Thames Tideway Tunnel. The Thames Water Utilities Cayman Finance Ltd prospectus quoted by the Noble Lord is dated 26 June 2015 and so was prior to this procurement.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-07-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to review the BIS 2020 programme in the light of the restructuring of government departments.
Joseph Johnson
A number of former BIS policy areas are shifting to the Department for Education. Around 450-500 people and posts, working in these areas will be shifting to the Department for Education. Approximately 90 of these are in the regions.
Given the machinery of government change we will be considering in the coming months how the reform plans of BEIS’ two predecessor departments should best be aligned.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the cost to the NHS of (a) foetal alcohol syndrome and (b) foetal alcohol syndrome disorders.
Nicola Blackwood
The Department has made no estimate of costs to the National Health Service for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD).
The diagnosis for babies born with FAS may not be made easily at birth, and problems may present only later in childhood, for example at school. Estimates for the incidence of FASD are still more uncertain and relate to the lack of consensus on diagnostic criteria for these conditions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2015 to Question 13632, on what dates in July 2015 he met (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) other ministers in HM Treasury to discuss the potential effects in Scotland of a carbon price support exemption scheme.
David Mundell
As indicated in my previous answers on this issue, I have had a number of meetings and discussions this year, both formal and informal, on the important issue of opencast restoration and in particular the proposal for a carbon price support exemption. These have included discussions with colleagues from HM Treasury, the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Scottish Government and Local Authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2015-11-27.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what correspondence the Government has had with the Clydesdale Bank on implementation of the Access to Banking Protocol and the (a) closure of branches and (b) reduction of banking services in the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross constituency.
Harriett Baldwin
The Government welcomed the industry-wide Access to Banking protocol announced in March 2015. From the first of May this year, each participating bank has committed to carry out a number of steps if it is closing a branch. This includes establishing the impact of a branch closure before it takes place; finding suitable alternative provision; and putting in place suitable alternative measures before a branch is closed.
There is a commitment to review the operation of the protocol after one year. In August, the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise and I wrote to the Chief Executive of the British Bankers’ Association and requested an update on progress towards the appointment of an independent reviewer. A copy of the letter was also sent to the Chief Executives of the banks that are signatories to the Access to Banking protocol.
Banks and building societies need to balance customer interests, market competition, and other commercial factors when considering their strategy.
Decisions on the opening and closing of individual bank branches are taken by the management of each bank on a commercial basis without intervention from Government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects the South East flexible ticketing programme to commence.
Claire Perry
The South East Flexible Ticketing programme is already under way. c2c and Govia Thameslink Railway already offer annual season tickets on smartcards. Abellio Greater Anglia, South West Trains and Southeastern will launch their products this year. Together, these five train operators cover 73% of the annual season ticket market.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2016-01-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the lack of creative subjects in the Ebac on the creative sector of the economy.
Nick Gibb
This Government’s aim is to have at least 90% of pupils taking GCSEs from the English Baccalaureate subjects of English, maths, science, humanities and languages.
These subjects are part of a broad and balanced curriculum. The EBacc has been designed to be limited in its size in order to provide a rigorous academic core whilst leaving space in the curriculum for pupils to study other subjects of their choice, including creative subjects. A good foundation in the EBacc subjects will help students keep their options open for work and further study.
On 3 November 2015 the Secretary of State for Education launched a public consultation seeking views on the government’s proposals for the implementation of the English Baccalaureate[1]. The consultation closed on 29 January 2016 and the government response will be published in the spring.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/implementing-the-english-baccalaureate
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many social media accounts promoting extremist content were recommended for closure by her Department in each of the last 12 months; and what proportion of such content related to Daesh.
Mr John Hayes
We have seen an increase in the scale and pace of terrorist communications by groups like ISIL, encouraging vulnerable young people to travel to conflict zones like Syria and Iraq. This Government takes seriously the threat from online terrorist and extremist propaganda, which can directly influence people who are vulnerable to radicalisation.
Since 2010 over 140,000 pieces of terrorist-related material have been removed by industry from various online platforms at the request of the dedicated police Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU). Approximately 55,000 removals were made in 2015 alone. Removal requests are now at over 1,000 a week and approximately 70% of CTIRU’s caseload is Daesh related.
We are pressing industry to take a lead in tackling the abuse of their services by terrorist and extremist groups.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much funding her Department received from the European Social Fund (a) between 2007 and 2014 and (b) from 2014 to the last month for which data is available.
Mrs Theresa Villiers
My Department has not received any funding from the European Social Fund in either of the periods requested. Implementation of the European Social Fund in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive.