The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame M. Morris on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many adults with autism in England receive support having previously been identified by a local authority as being at risk of abuse or neglect.
Norman Lamb
This information is not kept centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will take steps to expand the investigatory powers of the Office of the Public Guardian to better protect elderly and vulnerable people in cases in which power of attorney is abused; and if he will make a statement.
Simon Hughes
The Government is committed to protecting elderly and vulnerable people, and to ensuring that anyone responsible for abuse is dealt with appropriately.
The Public Guardian has power to investigate cases where concerns are raised about the actions of a person acting under a power of attorney, and to apply to the Court to revoke the power of attorney where necessary to prevent abuse. The Public Guardian will refer cases to health and care authorities, who can act under statutory safeguarding powers to protect an individual who may be at risk, and to the police if he suspects a criminal offence has been committed.
We are currently considering whether the Public Guardian needs additional powers to strengthen his role in safeguarding elderly and vulnerable people, including the power to continue an investigation after a power of attorney or court order has been revoked or disclaimed. This would require changes to primary legislation.
Data on prosecutions for fraud, or for ill-treatment and neglect under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, do not specify whether the allegation relates to a person acting under a power of attorney. The Government’s response to the House of Lords Select Committee’s report on the Mental Capacity Act includes a commitment to review the use of the criminal offence under s44 of the Act.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2014-06-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what if at all is the funding shortfall for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Burma; and what additional funding the Department for International Development is providing to fill any funding gap.
Baroness Northover
DFID officials are in regular contact with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Burma. We have not been made aware of any critical funding shortfall for UNHCR, and have not been approached to fill any funding gap. DFID already provides a significant amount of humanitarian funding, including to UNHCR, for work with internally displaced people in Burma.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Noon on 2014-06-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to use prerogative powers to refuse or remove United Kingdom passports from British citizens who are suspected of being involved in or looking to be involved in fighting, extremist activity or terrorist training overseas.
Lord Taylor of Holbeach
The Royal Prerogative is an important tool to disrupt individuals who seek to travel on a British passport to engage in, for example, fighting, extremist activity or terrorist training overseas and might return to the UK.
The Prerogative power has been exercised 14 times between April 2013 and the end of March 2014 on public interest grounds to disrupt the travel of individuals seeking to engage in terrorism related activity or other serious and organised crime.
Any decision to refuse or withdraw a British passport is made after careful consideration and the decision must be necessary and proportionate.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Guto Bebb on 2014-06-26.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what role his Department played in the decision to separate Lloyds and TSB.
Andrea Leadsom
Lloyds Banking Group is required to divest part of its UK banking business – TSB – as a result of European Commission approval of the aid it received from the UK Government during the financial crisis.
The TSB divestment was part of a wider package of measures to ensure that the recapitalisation of Lloyds was compliant with the single market. The State aid agreement is therefore between HM Government and Lloyds, and between the Government and the European Commission.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Williams on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the importance of regional tourism in the UK; and what steps he has taken to support small, local hospitality businesses.
Mrs Helen Grant
Estimates of the direct tourism gross value added (GVA) contribution to the UK economy for each English region, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were recently published by the Office for National Statistics for the year 2011. In total, they show that tourism directly contributed a GVA of around £50 billion to the UK (4% of the economy).
|
Region |
ONS figures for 2011 (direct in £bn) |
|
Scotland |
5.0 |
|
Wales |
2.3 |
|
Northern Ireland |
0.3 |
|
London |
13.1 |
|
Rest of England |
– |
|
North East |
1.1 |
|
North West |
5.1 |
|
Yorkshire and the Humber |
2.6 |
|
East Midlands |
2.3 |
|
West Midlands |
2.5 |
|
East of England |
3.4 |
|
South East |
6.6 |
|
South West |
4.4 |
Further economic analysis by Deloitte, commissioned by VisitBritain, suggests that if indirect economic effects are also included, GVA is forecast to be as high as £127 billion (9% of the UK economy) in 2013.
In terms of supporting small, local hospitality businesses, since April 2013 community venues have not had to apply to the local council for an entertainment license for events such as dance displays and concerts. Previously, such licenses currently cost, on average, more than £200 for new applications or needed at least 10 days’ notice for Temporary Event Notices. At the 2014 Budget, the tax on a typical pint of beer was cut by 1 penny, the duty on ordinary cider was frozen this year, and the duty escalator for wine was ended. Duty on spirits was also frozen for 2014-15.
Furthermore, thematic marketing campaigns focusing on what England is most loved for including Heritage, Coast, Countryside and Culture, as well as Sport and Literature, will be delivered and developed as part of the three-year, £19.8m project ‘Growing Tourism Locally’, funded by the Government’s Regional Growth Fund (BIS), with contributions from VisitEngland and private sector. The project focuses on working directly with destinations and the private sector, to create a number of dedicated marketing campaigns throughout the country with emphasis on specific areas and themes. This will also benefit SMEs in the hospitality sector.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that former oil refineries being converted to bulk storage and distribution terminals meet post-Buncefield health and safety requirements.
Mike Penning
The COMAH Competent Authority (CA), comprising HSE and the environment agencies, is responsible for ensuring that oil refineries and fuel storage and distribution terminals meet new safety and environmental standards introduced in 2009 following the Buncefield fire and explosion. The standards were developed jointly by industry and the CA and published by the Process Safety Leadership Group (PSLG).
Refineries were required to produce risk-based action plans to implement the PSLG safety standards at their existing fuel storage facilities. HSE led the assessment of these plans during 2011 and has been inspecting sites to ensure the planned improvements are made. The timings of upgrades to containment standards at refineries’ existing fuel storage facilities is based on risk and will vary for each site. Agreed improvements are embedded in environment inspection plans for each site and followed up to ensure measures are implemented on time.
The CA is working with refineries undergoing conversion to fuel storage and distribution terminals to ensure the PSLG standards are applied in full to their new facilities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many cases of lungworm in dogs have been identified in each of the last five years.
George Eustice
The data requested is not collected or held by Defra.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of his Department’s consumption in kWh of (a) gas and (b) electricity in each month since June 2010; and what the cost of such consumption has been in each such month.
Dr Daniel Poulter
The Department’s consumption in kWh of gas and electricity in each month since June 2010 are detailed in the following tables.
Gas Consumption
|
kWh |
2010-11 |
2011-12 |
2012-13 |
2013-14 |
2014-15 |
|
April |
383,308 |
375,498 |
410,643 |
300,833 |
|
|
May |
334,299 |
291,491 |
268,638 |
231,365 |
|
|
June |
214,194 |
342,759 |
135,620 |
171,941 |
|
|
July |
184,049 |
238,429 |
52,692 |
135,238 |
|
|
August |
270,592 |
179,116 |
96,602 |
144,629 |
|
|
September |
275,325 |
172,324 |
82,137 |
162,901 |
|
|
October |
404,226 |
191,563 |
249,232 |
187,581 |
|
|
November |
549,699 |
315,677 |
365,295 |
378,302 |
|
|
December |
814,163 |
448,970 |
430,231 |
500,407 |
|
|
January |
644,972 |
497,774 |
537,957 |
504,784 |
|
|
February |
554,519 |
549,609 |
521,341 |
460,338 |
|
|
March |
623,455 |
475,765 |
542,183 |
399,659 |
Electricity Consumption
|
kWh |
2010-11 |
2011-12 |
2012-13 |
2013-14 |
2014-15 |
|
April |
775,333 |
727,906 |
743,420 |
734,079 |
|
|
May |
828,597 |
817,660 |
737,329 |
743,728 |
|
|
June |
1,058,570 |
879,532 |
758,422 |
708,423 |
|
|
July |
1,119,452 |
861,447 |
828,709 |
1,011,360 |
|
|
August |
1,007,127 |
848,332 |
827,468 |
834,372 |
|
|
September |
950,584 |
845,520 |
740,170 |
725,554 |
|
|
October |
915,324 |
824,037 |
813,384 |
729,868 |
|
|
November |
928,702 |
809,542 |
735,035 |
712,812 |
|
|
December |
949,551 |
812,427 |
732,011 |
709,999 |
|
|
January |
920,671 |
842,769 |
811,067 |
779,265 |
|
|
February |
814,015 |
820,963 |
727,292 |
689,548 |
|
|
March |
895,910 |
820,483 |
746,071 |
738,869 |
Gas and Electricity Costs
The Department’s previous way of processing energy bills, makes it difficult to provide meaningful and relevant monthly costs for earlier years but the annual expenditure for 2009-12 is as follows:
|
Year |
Gas |
Electricity |
|
2009-10 |
£160,572 |
£1,253,708 |
|
2010-11 |
£117,690 |
£862,052 |
|
2011-12 |
£139,343 |
£1,145,671 |
The following table outlines the monthly costs of gas and electricity consumption in the Department’s buildings from April 2012-13 to March 2013-14.
|
Gas |
Electricity |
|||
|
2012-13 |
2013-14 |
2012-13 |
2013-14 |
|
|
April |
£18,380 |
£13,986 |
£85,855 |
£92,087 |
|
May |
£10,562 |
£9,197 |
£95,095 |
£89,211 |
|
June |
£6,290 |
£6,368 |
£88,712 |
£85,445 |
|
July |
£8,236 |
£5,205 |
£96,871 |
£121,466 |
|
August |
£5,399 |
£5,480 |
£94,554 |
£99,521 |
|
September |
£6,193 |
£6,105 |
£84,633 |
£87,487 |
|
October |
£12,764 |
£ 7,748 |
£86,575 |
£87,917 |
|
November |
£15,734 |
£13,337 |
£82,322 |
£86,119 |
|
December |
£17,416 |
£16,644 |
£80,016 |
£86,529 |
|
January |
£18,246 |
£17,817 |
£90,733 |
£90,179 |
|
February |
£19,580 |
£15,973 |
£77,247 |
£82,419 |
|
March |
£20,512 |
£14,369 |
£63,457 |
£65,760 |
These figures relate to buildings occupied by departmental staff, where the Department is directly responsible for payment of gas and electric bills and can provide monthly consumption figures. This covers Richmond House, Skipton House, Wellington House, Premier House and Premier Buildings (vacated in November 2012).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Teather on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she intends to make a decision on the request to authorise water cannon for use by the police in England and Wales; and if she will place in the Library a copy of the advice and business case she has received on the use of water cannon in mainland UK.
Damian Green
I refer my Hon. Friend to my answer of 12 May 2014, Official Report, column
412W.