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  • David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when (a) she, (b) Ministers in her Department and (c) the Chief Executive of HM Passport Office (HMPO) last met staff representatives of HMPO.

    James Brokenshire

    The views of staff representatives are communicated to Ministers through the HM
    Passport Office Chief Executive.
    The Chief Executive holds regular fora and other meetings with staff at HM
    Passport Office premises.
    Events were held in:
    Durham on 12 February 2014;
    Liverpool on 14 March;
    Southport on 30 April;
    Belfast on 9 May; and
    Newport on 16 May.

    The Chief Executive also met local Public and Commercial Services union
    representatives in those offices on those dates.

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people are employed in the arms industry in the UK.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Ministry of Defence no longer compiles national or regional defence industry employment statistics as they do not directly support policy-making or operations.

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have had varicose veins surgery in each of the last five years.

    Jane Ellison

    This information is not available in the format requested.

    In the following table, we have provided information concerning the number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs)1 with a primary or secondary procedure2 of varicose vein treatment3 for the years 2008-09 to 2012-134. It should be noted that this is not a count of people as the same person may have had more than one episode of care within the same time period. This data also includes non-surgical treatment such as radio-frequency ablation and other treatments.

    Year

    FCEs

    2008-09

    36,997

    2009-10

    36,366

    2010-11

    33,620

    2011-12

    27,731

    2012-13

    24,767

    Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector

    Notes:

    1A finished consultant episode is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year.

    2The number of episodes where the procedure (or intervention) was recorded in any of the 24 procedure fields in a Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) record. A record is only included once in each count, even if the procedure is recorded in more than one procedure field of the record. Note that more procedures are carried out than episodes with a main or secondary procedure.

    3Codes used to identify varicose vein treatment include combined operations on varicose vein of leg, ligation of varicose vein of leg, injection into varicose vein of leg, other operations on varicose vein of leg, and transluminal operations on varicose vein of leg.

    4HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care.

    Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

  • Emily Thornberry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Emily Thornberry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Attorney General, what recent amendments have been made to Crown Prosecution Service guidance on (a) when to disclose the defence medical records and counselling notes of victims and (b) what action to take if victims do not consent to disclosure.

    Oliver Heald

    The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) revised its Rape and Sexual Offence legal guidance in relation to disclosure of medical records and counselling notes on 12 December 2013. The revised guidance included guidance on both a) when to disclose to the defence medical records and counselling notes of victims and (b) what action to take if victims do not consent to disclosure. The revised legal guidance is published on the CPS website at: http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/p_to_r/rape_and_sexual_offences/disclosure_and_third_party_material/

    “

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of current tools available to enforcement officers to take swift action in tackling food fraud.

    Jane Ellison

    The Food Standards Agency (FSA) works with local authority enforcement officers to ensure that food law is applied across the entire food chain. Direction and guidance on the approach that local authority food law regulatory services should take is given in the statutory Food Law Code of Practice (the Code). The FSA regularly assesses the effectiveness of tools available to these enforcement officers through undertaking audit of local authorities’ enforcement services, reviewing the Code and ensuring lessons are learnt from major incidents.

    The Code sets out instructions and criteria to which the authorities must have regard and is periodically reviewed to ensure that it reflects current enforcement practices and supports local authorities’ delivery of their official control obligations and that enforcement is consistent, effective and proportionate.

    The FSA provides specific tools to support local authorities with investigations relating to potential food fraud. The FSA operates the Food Fraud Database, which utilises specialist intelligence management software to record intelligence reports and identify links, and uses this to assist local investigations. The FSA also provides local authorities with financial support through its Fighting Fund, expert advice through its Food Fraud Advisory Unit and holds dedicated training courses for enforcement officers.

    In addition, the FSA is building an enhanced intelligence gathering network to increase the opportunity to capture and act on intelligence which may be indicative of future risks relating to food fraud, as well as producing strategic and tactical assessments to share with relevant enforcement agencies.

  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations he has received from train operating companies on the performance of the Operational Research Computerised Allocation of Tickets to Services system.

    Stephen Hammond

    We have received no recent representations from train operating companies on the performance of the Operational Research Computerised Allocation of Tickets to Services system.

  • Karen Lumley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Karen Lumley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Lumley on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many middle schools there are in England; and how many of those schools are academies.

    Mr David Laws

    There are 190 schools in England that are recorded on Edubase, the Department’s database of education providers, as being middle schools. Of these, 59 are converter academies and three are sponsored academies.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will assess the potential effect on levels of passenger ticket revenue of London Midland’s proposal to reduce the number of revenue protection staff.

    Stephen Hammond

    London Midland is not currently in receipt of revenue support. Unless revenue was to fall to such an extent that they were to be eligible for such payments, the revenue during this franchise term is entirely its risk. London Midland has assured us that their staff restructuring plans will not prevent them fulfilling their obligations in meeting the requirements of the Franchise Agreement. Therefore, unless revenue was to fall to the extent that London Midland were eligible for revenue support payments, no further assessment is planned.

  • Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 2014-06-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what they are doing to ensure that there is no excessive delay in issuing passports.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    As My Rt. Hon. Friend the Home Secretary explained in the House on 12 June, we have agreed a range of measures to deal with the current high levels of demand for passports. I refer the noble Lord to the answer given on 12 June 2014, Official Report, columns 693 and 694.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2014-06-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 13 May (WA 467), whether the annual gross income of charities included contributions from central government; and, if so, what was their total contribution.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    Central government does contribute to the total income of registered charities, but the Charity Commission does not keep figures on this. According to the 2014 UK Voluntary Sector Almanac, published by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, in 2011/12 voluntary sector organisations received over £5.9 billion of central government and NHS funding.