The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-11-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people making a new benefit claim in the last 12 months were offered training on IT literacy.
Priti Patel
The information requested is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Prosser on 2015-12-22.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government (1) what is the cost per call of the Equality Advisory Support Service, including the wrap-up time after each call; (2) how this cost compares to benchmarked comparators; and (3) how many calls the service handled each year since 1 October 2012.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
Equality Advisory Support Service (EASS) costs are calculated on a per case basis, covering everything from an initial inquiry through to final action on behalf of the customer, but the EASS estimate of the call element of a case is under £10.
The costs per call or per contact of similar services to EASS are treated as commercially confidential information by the providers concerned.
The numbers of calls handled by the service each year since 1 October 2012 are provided in the table below.
|
Year |
Contacts via telephone |
|
Oct 2012 to Sept 2013 |
37,379 |
|
Oct 2013 to Sept 2014 |
39,095 |
|
Oct 2014 to Sept 2015 |
41,032 |
|
Oct 2015 to Nov 2015 |
7,630 |
|
Total |
125,136 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-01-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how their work on the governance part of the European Fourth railway package will facilitate UK train operating companies being able to tender for and be awarded rail franchises in a fair and transparent manner.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The government continues to work on the market pillar of the EU Fourth Railway Package, consisting of the proposal to amend Directive 2012/34/EU, the “Governance proposal” and the proposal to amend Regulation EC/1370/2007, the “Public Service Obligations proposal”.
The government was able to support a General Approach on the pillar at the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council on 8th October 2015. The General Approach text of the Governance proposal includes additional, proportionate provisions to ensure fair and non‑discriminatory treatment of all train operating companies, including safeguards for operators of franchises. Rules on the competitive tendering of franchises are set out in the Public Service Obligations proposal.
The government continues to work with the Netherlands Presidency of the Council of the EU in their ongoing negotiations of the Package with the European Parliament.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2016-02-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of gambling addiction in each of the last three years.
Alistair Burt
No such estimate has been made.
We have no current plans to make such an assessment. We know that gambling addiction can potentially have a harmful impact on both a person’s physical and mental wellbeing and problem gamblers can access services in primary care and secondary care including specialised mental health and addiction services.
The Prime Minister recently announced £1 billion to start a revolution in mental health, including £247 million to make sure that every emergency department has mental health support (following £30 million invested in 2015/16).
Also, over £400 million for crisis resolution home treatment teams will help to improve the management of admissions to acute psychiatric inpatient care, as well as ensure the routine availability of 24/7 intensive home treatment support as a safe and effective alternative to hospitals.
Commissioners must continue to increase investment in mental health services each year at a level which at least matches their overall allocation increase.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-03-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people caught smoking in cars with children present receive a fixed penalty notice and their fine collected.
Jane Ellison
In changing the law we always said the measure of success would be in changes in attitude and behaviour. As with other smokefree legislation, we expect high levels of compliance with this change. Discussions are ongoing with the relevant authorities about enforcement action.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-04-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of (a) the Cyber Streetwise campaign and (b) her Department’s policies on reducing the level of cyber crime.
Mr John Hayes
Cyber Streetwise is a cross Government campaign, developed by private and public stakeholder partners and coordinated by the Home Office’s Research, Information and Communications Unit. It is designed to measurably make the UK a safer place to interact and do business online by increasing individual and SME adoption of safe online behaviours. Since its launch in January 2014, it is estimated that 2 million adults have adopted safer online behaviours that will better protect them.
The quarterly crime statistics bulletin published on 21 April , set out a 6% decrease in computer misuse crime (from 15,322 offences to 14,347 offences), during the year ending December 2014 to December 2015.
Cyber Security, including cyber crime, is a top priority threat to national security. The Government are continuing to invest in law enforcement capabilities at the national, regional and local levels to ensure delivery agencies have the capacity to deal with the increasing volume and sophistication of cyber crime.
Through the National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP), we invested over £90 million under the last Parliament to bolster the law enforcement response. My Rt.Hon. Friend, the Chancellor announced in November that this Government has committed to spending £1.9 billion on cyber security over the next five years, including for tackling cyber crime. We will also publish a second five-year National Cyber Security Strategy this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policy of the conclusion of the Energy Technologies Institute report, published on 12 May 2016, that there are no technical hurdles to permanently and safely storing large quantities of carbon dioxide off the coast of the UK.
Andrea Leadsom
The Government views Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) as having a potentially important role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK’s economy. The Government will set out its approach to CCS in due course, and the recent Energy Technologies Institute report, funded by DECC, will inform the Government’s thinking.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-07-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what his policy is on transferring powers and functions currently held by the EU to devolved administrations once the UK exits the EU.
Mr David Jones
The Government is committed to working with the devolved administrations as we prepare for a new negotiation with the EU. We will engage fully with the devolved administrations, as well as Gibraltar, the Crown Dependencies, the other UK Overseas Territories and other key parties, in accordance with their various constitutional relationships with the UK, to ensure that all of their interests are taken properly into account.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what proportion of staff on the payroll of the Government Equalities Office who work in Westminster are (a) British nationals and (b) nationals of another country.
Caroline Dinenage
All Government Departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules.
Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose.
More broadly, the Government will be consulting in due course on how we work with business to ensure that workers in this country have the skills that they need to get a job. However, there are no proposals to publish lists of the number or proportion of foreign workers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when NHS England plans to publish guidance to commissioners on their duty to pay excess treatment costs.
George Freeman
NHS England has confirmed that guidance to commissioners on their duty to pay excess treatment costs will be published by the middle of November 2015.