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  • Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Government’s proposed Deregulation Bill on tourism employment in England.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    At present, local authorities set term and holiday dates for about 30% of secondary schools and 70% of primary schools (around half of all registered pupils). The Deregulation Bill gives more schools the flexibility to make changes should they wish to, although the experience of the academies programme and voluntary aided (church) schools, suggests that only a small percentage of schools are likely to vary their term dates.

    The Department for Education has produced an assessment of the impact of the changes. Whilst there will be greater flexibility, we expect that sensible conversations between the local authority and schools on coordination will take place. Variations to term dates could also help businesses and employers, for example, in areas of high-seasonal employment where employees may welcome the chance to holiday outside of peak tourist periods. For example, Bishop Bronescombe School in St Austell has a two-week half term in May/June to accommodate parents’ seasonal employment patterns.

    A separate assessment of the specific impact on tourism related jobs in seaside towns or seaside economies has not been carried out.

  • Jeffrey M. Donaldson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Jeffrey M. Donaldson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeffrey M. Donaldson on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what plans she has to reappoint the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    In May, I reappointed William Smith to the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland for a further five year term. There is currently one remaining vacancy in the position of member and I plan to launch a competition to fill this position in the autumn. This will ensure that the Commission will have its full complement of members well in advance of when preparations need to commence for the next review of Parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland, which is likely to be around late 2015.

  • Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Seabeck on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of seafarer fatigue on maritime safety; and what steps his Department is taking to enforce manning levels on vessels.

    Stephen Hammond

    The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and the Marine Accident Investigation Branch were active participants in the multi-partner HORIZON research project, an EC-funded study, which used simulators to identify the effect on seafarers of working hours and interrupted rest. The project report demonstrates conclusively the links between certain watch keeping patterns and the performance of seafarers (looking particularly at “sleepiness”).

    The Government is committed to reducing the effects of fatigue on maritime safety and the health of seafarers. The output from HORIZON has been used to provide practical guidance to seafarers. The MCA remains involved with research on seafarer fatigue with other industry stakeholders.

    MCA Surveyors routinely inspect UK ships and foreign flag ships in UK waters and verify hours of work records for compliance with the regulations, and check ships are safely manned in accordance the requirements of the International Maritime Organisation convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW).

    The UK is leading the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control Concentrated Inspection Campaign to ensure compliance with the hours of rest requirements of watchkeepers under STCW which will run from 1 September 2014 to 30 November 2014.

  • Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Seabeck on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Leader of the House, how many questions to each department did not receive a substantive answer by the time of prorogation; and how long each question had been waiting for an answer.

    Mr Andrew Lansley

    This information is not held centrally and would be a matter for the individual departments concerned.

    My office collates wider departmental performance information for Ordinary and Named Day Parliamentary Questions, which I submit in relation to each session to the Procedure Committee. Each department is required to set out in its evidence to the Procedure Committee, any factors which have caused delays in answering written questions.

    Statistics relating to departmental performance for the 2012/13, 2010/12 and 2009/10 Parliamentary sessions were previously provided to the Committee and are available on the Parliament website. I expect to provide data for the last Parliamentary session shortly.

  • Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Seabeck on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many probation officers his Department plans to recruit in the next 12 months; in which countries those posts will be advertised; and what his Department’s budget for that advertising is.

    Jeremy Wright

    A campaign is in progress to recruit graduates to train as probation officers. It is being advertised on United Kingdom websites only and will be tailored to the overall staffing needs across probation. Funding for the advertising campaign is found from within the overall budget, but does not form a separate budget item.

  • Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Seabeck on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many secure places there are in the South West region for children with mental health conditions involving violent behaviour.

    Norman Lamb

    We are advised that there are no secure services for children commissioned by NHS England in the South West. There are services commissioned in other areas used by children from the South West area.

    We understand that NHS England has identified a number of actions needed to reduce the number of long distance transfers within the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, and is currently considering how to take this forward including any necessary tendering for services in due course.

  • Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Seabeck on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 12 May 2014, Official Report, column 401W, on mental health services, whether the Mental Health Intelligence Network has been established.

    Norman Lamb

    The Mental Health Intelligence Network has been established and is due to launch its web resource and a supporting suite of indicator tools and supporting resources on 18 June 2014.

    The key aim is to provide intelligence to enable better service commissioning and to support service improvement to facilitate the delivery of consistent country-wide best practice care.

  • Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Seabeck on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 18 December 2013, Official Report, column 636W, on defence: procurement, what the final costs are of establishing a Golo and running the tendering process.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The final cost of supporting our work on the Government Owned Contractor Operated (GOCO) competition is £7.4 million. This investment has provided valuable insight into the challenges involved in establishing a successful GOCO. The outputs from this work will be retained to inform any future GOCO competition should a decision be taken to re-examine this model as part of the continuing transformation of Defence Equipment and Support.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-05-12.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many estates were liable for inheritance tax in 2012; and if he will estimate the number of estates likely to be so affected in 2017 should current regulations remain in place.

    Mr David Gauke

    HMRC has published statistics on this here:

    https:www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/304354/20140402_Number_taxpayers_traders_v0.2.pdf

    The Office for Budget Responsibility is responsible for forecasts. Estimates on this and other issues can be found in their latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-12.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the electoral registration rates were in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) the rest of the UK in each of the three years after the introduction of individual electoral registration in Northern Ireland.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.