Category: Uncategorized

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of hedgehogs in the UK in each of the last three years.

    George Eustice

    No estimates of hedgehog populations have been made by Defra in the last three years. However, a report ‘The State of Britain’s Hedgehogs’ was published in 2011 by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and the People’s Trust for Endangered Species. It estimates that hedgehog numbers were approximately 1.5 million in 1995. The report is available online at:

    www.ptes.org/files/1428_sobh2011lowres.pdf

  • Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) women and (b) men have cancers caused by the human papilloma virus.

    Jane Ellison

    At present the number of people living with Human papillomavirus (HPV) related cancers is not known for several reasons;

    – there is no nationally collated database of individual patients’ records containing the HPV status of their cancers;

    – prevalence figures are not known for all types of cancer i.e. the number of people who have been diagnosed and are still alive; and

    – many people alive after treatment of cancer will have been cured and will not consider themselves to be still living with a cancer.

    However it has been estimated by Parkin1 that the number of new cases per year, of cancers in the United Kingdom, which maybe HPV related as 5,088 (1.6% of all newly diagnosed cancer cases). Of these 4,058 are females and 1,030 are males. This is based on incidence rates for 2010.

    Public Health England (PHE) has calculated a prevalence estimate for the number of women who are currently alive following treatment of their cervical cancer and this is at least 19,000. Many of these will be cured.

    Later this year PHE will publish prevalence estimates i.e. the number of people living with the other types of HPV related cancers.

    Notes:

    Parkin, D M. Cancers attributable to infection in the UK in 2010

    British Journal of Cancer (2011) 105, S49 – S56; doi:10.1038/bjc.2011.484

  • 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, how many (a) prosecutions and (b) successful prosecutions there were in each Crown Prosecution Service area for (i) assisting unlawful immigration to an EU member state, (ii) assisting entry to the UK in breach of a deportation or exclusion order, (iii) assisting the entry/remaining of an excluded person, (iv) possession and/or manufacture of false identity documents, (v) employment of illegal immigrants, (vi) trafficking in exploitation/for sexual exploitation, (vii) trafficking people for labour and other exploitation, (viii) conspiracy to traffic and (ix) slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour in the last five years for which figures are available.

    Oliver Heald

    The Crown Prosecution Service does not keep a central record of the number of prosecutions completed, and whether they were successful or not, for the offences listed in the question. This information could only be obtained by a manual examination of all files prosecuted which would incur disproportionate cost.

    Official statistics relating to criminal court proceedings and offenders brought to justice are maintained by the Ministry of Justice.

  • Elfyn Llwyd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Elfyn Llwyd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Elfyn Llwyd on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Attorney General, in respect of how many alleged offences under section (a) 2A and (b) 4A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 proceedings are active in magistrates’ and crown courts in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.

    Oliver Heald

    The Crown Prosecution Service does not maintain a central record of the number of particular offences that are currently active in either magistrates’ or crown courts in England and Wales.

    The CPS case management system does however record the number of finalised cases which reached a first hearing in the magistrates’ court as follows:

    2012-2013

    2013-2014

    Protection from Harassment Act 1997 { 4A(1)(a)(b)(i) and (5) }

    Stalking involving fear of violence

    9

    65

    Protection from Harassment Act 1997 { 4A(1)(a)(b)(ii) and (5) }

    Stalking involving serious alarm / distress

    10

    149

    Protection from Harassment Act 1997 { 2A(1) and (4) }

    Stalking

    72

    529

    There is no indication of final outcome or if the offence charged was the offence at finalisation.

  • 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 level of revenue support Govia will be entitled to in each accounting period of the direct award of the London Midland rail passenger franchise agreement to June.

    Stephen Hammond

    Although preliminary negotiations have taken place with regard to a Direct Award to run services from April 2016, formal negotiations are yet to take place.

    However, we do not anticipate that the operator will be entitled to any revenue support throughout the period of the Direct Award.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Charlotte Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 18 March 2014, Official Report, column 572W, on mental health services: children, when he expects NHS England’s review of Tier 4 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services to be published.

    Norman Lamb

    I refer the hon. Members to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Truro and Falmouth (Sarah Newton) on 9 June 2014, Official Report, column 57W.

  • Richard Fuller – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Richard Fuller – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the annual cost of maintaining existing pension provisions for firefighters (a) who have achieved 20 years of service and are within 10 years of normal retirement age and (b) who have achieved 20 years of service.

    Brandon Lewis

    No assessment has been made of the annual cost of maintaining existing pension provisions for firefighters who have achieved 20 years of service. However, the Government Actuary’s Department have previously approximated that, ignoring the effects of any tapered protection, to alter the transitional protections to only apply to firefighters who, as at 1 April 2012, were aged at least 40 and had 20 or more years pensionable service would increase the capital cost of the 1992 scheme protections by around £50 million.

    Any firefighter who is within 10 years of their current Normal Pension Age, as at 1 April 2012, will remain in their existing pension scheme irrespective of length of service. A greater proportion of firefighters are protected than for any other large public service workforce.

  • Baroness Corston – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Baroness Corston – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Corston on 2014-06-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the implementation of the Prison Service Instruction 30/2013, which prohibits prisoners from receiving parcels from relatives, whether any prisons have introduced measures to help women who no longer have access to sufficient underwear.

    Lord Faulks

    In order to ensure that women have access to sufficient underwear, there is now no restriction on the number of pairs of underwear women in prison can have in their cells (subject to standard overarching volumetric limits on property held in possession).

  • Lord Rooker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Rooker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rooker on 2014-06-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to deregulate the planning system.

    Baroness Stowell of Beeston

    I refer the noble Lord to my Written Ministerial Statement of 10 June 2014, Official Report, Column WS40, which outlines the planning reforms that we have undertaken to date on housing, and the further reforms we are proposing.

    In this session, we will also be implementing recommendations from the Red Tape Challenge and consult on some further technical changes on planning administration.

    I also refer him to my Written Ministerial Statement of 16 June 2014, Official Report, Column WS79, on our proposals on brownfield land.

  • Lord Palmer – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Palmer – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2014-06-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the challenge made via the World Trade Organisation to the introduction of standardised tobacco packaging in Australia, in the light of their plans to consider introducing a similar regime in the United Kingdom.

    Earl Howe

    The Government is aware of the complaints made in respect of the Australian plain packaging legislation, within The World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute procedures. The Government continues to carefully consider all issues relevant to the introduction of standardised packaging of tobacco products, including all legal aspects.

    In accordance with normal practice, the Government is not intending to disclose legal advice received.