The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ashcroft on 2014-06-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any gallantry awards other than the Victoria Cross and the George Cross can be awarded posthumously.
Lord Wallace of Saltaire
All military and civilian gallantry awards may be awarded posthumously.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Meacher on 2014-06-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to respond to concerns expressed by the leaders of the social care profession that profit-making companies should not determine sensitive family matters.
Lord Nash
The Government’s proposals regarding the delegation of children’s social care functions would enable local authorities to delegate children’s social care functions to a third party. The intention is to broaden the range of approaches available to secure the best outcomes for children in their area. The proposals do not oblige local authorities to delegate any functions and do not remove responsibilities from local authorities for ensuring their statutory obligations on child protection and children’s social care are met.
The consultation on the proposals closed on Friday 30 May and the Government is currently considering the responses.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2014-06-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to reduce the number of children living in poverty.
Lord Freud
This Government remains committed to ending child poverty by 2020. Our approach, based on our published Evidence Review , is to tackle the root causes of child poverty, both now and in the future, by focussing on worklessness, low pay and raising educational attainment. This approach and the actions we propose to take are set out in full in our draft Child Poverty Strategy 2014-17. We will shortly publish the final version of the Strategy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2014-06-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make representations to the government of Turkey to help prevent foreign fighters entering Syria.
Baroness Warsi
The UK has regular discussions with international partners focused on tackling the shared threat from foreign fighters travelling to Syria. These include contacts with the Government of Turkey, with which we work to prevent foreign fighters from using Turkey as a transit route for Syria, including by strengthening protective security measures and using passenger information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Priti Patel on 2014-06-09.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will add to the National Infrastructure Plan a scheme to upgrade and improve the A120 between Braintree and Marks Tey.
Danny Alexander
This Government recognises the importance of transport infrastructure to support the economy and, as set out in the National Infrastructure Plan 2013, has already announced over £28 billion of funding for enhancements and maintenance of national and local roads
The specific schemes identified in the National Infrastructure Plan 2013 have the ability to complete or begin their construction in the next Parliament. Proposals for improvements to the A120 between Braintree and Marks Tey are not yet sufficiently developed to be included in the Highways Agency pipeline of future projects, and are therefore not currently included in the National Infrastructure Plan.
However, the A120 is being looked at by the Highways Agency as part of its work on the East of England Route Strategy, which will look to determine the nature, need and timing of future investment that might be required. I would encourage you to engage with the Highways Agency’s route strategy process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the daily average (a) number and (b) proportion is of (i) male and (ii) female prisoners serving custodial sentences who are out of prison on temporary licence.
Jeremy Wright
Temporary release can be a valuable tool in the resettlement of prisoners in the community but it must never take place at the expense of public safety. We conducted a fundamental review of the policy and practice of rerelease on temporary licence (ROTL) after serious failures last year. We are introducing a system that enhances the assessment of serious offenders and restricts access to ROTL to cases where there is a clear, legitimate reason for the release. We have already introduced some of these changes and have additionally introduced a restriction on prisoners transferring to open conditions and having ROTL if they have previously absconded from open prisons; or if they have failed to return or reoffended whilst released on temporary licence.
It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time specified, I will write to you with an answer as soon as possible.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discusssions she has had with the Passport Office about the updating of advice on timescales during busy periods for (a) the renewal of a passport and (b) the time it will take for staff to call an applicant back.
James Brokenshire
Ministers have held frequent recent discussions with Her Majesty’s Passport Office.
Current advice for customers on expected service standards is published on
https://www.gov.uk.
The current guideline for returning calls to customers is to do so within 48
hours. Her Majesty’s Passport Office gives priority to those with the most immediate
travel plans.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what representations his Department has received from (a) local authorities and (b) others on sanctions available to councils under the Localism Act 2011 where councillors have been found to have been in breach of the Code of Conduct under that Act.
Brandon Lewis
[Holding Reply: Thursday 12 June 2014]
As stated in the impact assessment on the abolition of the Standards Board regime (published in January 2011), a post implementation review will be carried out three to five years after implementation of the policy which was in July 2012.
My Department routinely receives representations about standards arrangements in local government, and indeed, on a whole range of local government issues. We will have regard to representations and comments when we undertake our post implementation review.
However, Ministers are clear that the new provisions are a significant improvement on the old, discredited regime. The Localism Act has clarified predetermination rules allowing elected councillors to campaign and speak up on local issues. We have reversed the petty culture of malicious and unfounded complaints that wasted time and energy and undermined the good reputation of local government. We have increased transparency on councillors’ interests, and put in place criminal sanctions for the very rare instances of corruption. This is complemented by the role of political parties in ensuring good conduct, the law of libel, and the ultimate sanction: the ballot box.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether officials from his Department met their Northern Ireland counterparts in preparation for the EU Informal Health Council in Athens from 28 to 29 April 2014.
Jane Ellison
Regular meetings are arranged between officials from the Department and officials from the Devolved Administrations to discuss a range of European health matters. Departmental officials met virtually with their Northern Ireland counterparts in preparation for the Informal Health Council in Athens on 28-29 April 2014, and officials from Northern Ireland contributed to the briefing that was prepared for the Informal Health Council.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-06-09.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many self-employed people claimed working familes tax credit in each of the last 10 years.
Nicky Morgan
Working Family Tax Credit was abolished in 2003 and replaced by Child Tax Credits (CTC) and Working Tax Credits (WTC).