The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to increase the number of Apache helicopter pilots for deployment in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
Mr Mark Francois
The final deployment of Apache helicopters to Helmand has sufficient pilots and crews to undertake the required tasks.
Sufficient personnel will continue to be trained to ensure future tasks can be met.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Barnett on 2014-05-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 9 April (WA 302), what are the current terms of income contingent repayment loans.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Education (Student Loans) (Repayment) Regulations set out the terms and conditions of income contingent student loans. This is also set out in the booklet Student Loans – a Guide to Terms and Conditions, the latest copy of which can be accessed at http://www.sfengland.slc.co.uk/media/666045/sfe_t_c_guide_1415_d.pdf . Students are informed at the time of taking out their student loan that the regulations may change from time to time and this means that the terms of their loan may also change.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Barnett on 2014-05-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 9 April (WA 302), what is the amount of student loan debt still available for sale, including the first tranche referred to.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The total amount of pre-2012 income contingent repayment student loan debt that Government intends to sell has not yet been determined. However, over a five year period, as announced at Autumn Statement 2013, sales are expected to generate between £10 billion and £15 billion in revenues, with a central estimate of around £12 billion.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Barnett on 2014-05-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is (1) the total sum, and (2) the percentage, of student loans that have been written off as bad debt.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Information on the repayment status of student loans is available in the Student Loans Company (SLC) publication‘Student Loans for Higher Education in England, Financial Year 2012-13′.
The Amount of Total Public Debt outstanding (including loans not yet due for repayment) at the start of Financial Year 2012-13 including interest was £40,271.5m, rising to £46,590.4m by the end of Financial Year 2012-13.
The amount of debt written off or cancelled during the Financial Year 2012-13 was £27.0m. This figure is 0.07% of the Total Public Debt outstanding at the start of Financial Year 2012-13 and 0.06% of the Total Public Debt outstanding at the end of Financial Year 2012-13.
Write offs occur for policy reasons; when borrowers die, become permanently disabled or when their loan reaches age thresholds. An estimate of ‘bad debt’ has not been provided in the answer as there is no standard definition for this.
Statistics referring to the Financial Year 2013-14 will be published in June 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2014-05-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government on how many occasions in the last two years parcels sent to prisoners have been found to contain drugs, extremist materials, mobile phones, SIM cards or pornography.
Lord Faulks
Details of illicit items found in post or packages are recorded on the prison incident reporting system, and collated in a central database. However, to identify the number of parcels containing drugs, illicit materials, mobile phones, SIM cards or pornography would require a manual search of over 34,000 individual records, which could only be done at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2014-05-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the closure of the court cells at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court since December 2013.
Lord Faulks
The cell accommodation at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court is housed within the interconnected Pilgrim Street Police Station which is due to close in summer 2014 and belongs to Northumbria Police.
The cells have not been in use since 7April, 2014 when a temporary arrangement was put in place to enable urgent fire safety works to be undertaken. Whilst five of the 13 cells are unlikely to be used again due to safety concerns, the remaining eight are now available for use as the fire safety work has been completed.
The current temporary closure has been extended until 30 May, 2014 to enable conclusion of discussions with the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner over future use and maintenance of the cells once the Police Station closes.
The temporary arrangement, comprising a daily remand court at North Tyneside and the listing of other custody work in available courtrooms across the court estate in Northumbria, is not wholly satisfactory and the impact is being assessed on a daily basis, in particular the impact on victims and witnesses. HM Courts & Tribunals Service is seeking to conclude the discussions with the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner as quickly as possible and currently intends to resume use of the cells on 2 June, 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2014-05-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking, and within what timescales, to ensure that custody trials can be listed at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court, in the light of the closure of the court cells in December 2013 following safety concerns.
Lord Faulks
The cell accommodation at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court is housed within the interconnected Pilgrim Street Police Station which is due to close in summer 2014 and belongs to Northumbria Police.
The cells have not been in use since 7April, 2014 when a temporary arrangement was put in place to enable urgent fire safety works to be undertaken. Whilst five of the 13 cells are unlikely to be used again due to safety concerns, the remaining eight are now available for use as the fire safety work has been completed.
The current temporary closure has been extended until 30 May, 2014 to enable conclusion of discussions with the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner over future use and maintenance of the cells once the Police Station closes.
The temporary arrangement, comprising a daily remand court at North Tyneside and the listing of other custody work in available courtrooms across the court estate in Northumbria, is not wholly satisfactory and the impact is being assessed on a daily basis, in particular the impact on victims and witnesses. HM Courts & Tribunals Service is seeking to conclude the discussions with the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner as quickly as possible and currently intends to resume use of the cells on 2 June, 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received on the inclusion of a bill on modernisation of the regulation of nurses and midwives in the Queen’s Speech.
Dr Daniel Poulter
We have not received representations on the inclusion of a bill on modernisation of the regulation of nurses and midwives. However, the Department has received representations on taking forward the Law Commission’s work from a number of organisations, including:
– professional regulatory bodies;
– patient safety groups;
– the Professional Standards Authority; and
– medical professional associations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2014-05-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government in respect of which vessels engaged on domestic passenger routes in the United Kingdom the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has notified the European Commission of regulatory exemptions and equivalencies to Directive 2008/45/EC used by the MCA to issue EU Passenger Ship Safety Certificates from 2012; and whether there are any vessels operating for which notification has not taken place.
Baroness Kramer
Her Majesty’s Government has notified the European Commission of a regulatory equivalence to Directive 2009/45/EC in respect of the MV SCILLONIAN III. No other vessels operating on domestic passenger routes in the United Kingdom require exemptions or equivalencies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2014-05-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the cash value of the contract with the Cross London Trains consortium to provide rolling stock for Thameslink; and what will be the annual charge at 2014 prices when the full fleet is in service.
Baroness Kramer
The Thameslink Rolling Stock Project contracts comprise the supply, finance and subsequent maintenance (including the provision of depots) of the fleet of 1140 carriages. The Thameslink Rolling Stock Project contracts have an aggregate net present value of approximately £2.8 billion in 2014 prices and a nominal value of approximately £5.7 billion, in each case to the end of the 20 year commitment period relating to the use of the trains by the Secretary of State for Transport.