The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-07-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of (a) Palestinians and (b) Palestinian children who have been killed as a result of Israeli military action in the last 10 years.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office holds no information centrally on the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli military action in the last 10 years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2014-07-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to engage with the public about (a) care.data and (b) ways of opting-out of care.data before data is collected.
Dr Daniel Poulter
NHS England is currently listening to the views of patients, the general public, general practitioners (GPs) and stakeholders on how best to further build trust and confidence in the care.data programme. Local stakeholders, including GPs, patients, the general public and health and care representatives, are taking part in debates and workshops to air their views.
There will be a phased approach to implementation. NHS England intends to work with a number of GP practices, ‘pathfinders’, in the autumn to test, evaluate and refine all aspects of the data collection process ahead of national roll-out. This will include consideration of ways of objecting “opting out” to being included in the care.data programme.
A care.data advisory group has been established to support the programme and that group will also be involved in shaping the pathfinder stage. Ciaran Devane, Chief Executive of Macmillan Cancer Support and a non-executive director of NHS England, has agreed to chair the group.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Williams on 2014-07-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the recommendations in the report Medications in Drug Treatment: Tackling the Risks to Children published on 29 April 2014 by Adfam.
Jane Ellison
We welcome the valuable work of Adfam in producing this report.
Officials from the Department and Public Health England have regular contact with Adfam and will be discussing with them what actions would be appropriate.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-07-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his assessment is of the trial publication online of the Red Book for expectant mothers.
Dr Daniel Poulter
The Personal Child Health Record, commonly known as the Red Book, is not a Departmental publication but has been part of children’s services in the National Health Service for the last 20 years. Its content and format are overseen by a multi-disciplinary group hosted by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH). The RCPCH is working in partnership with Sitekit Ltd, the developers of the online Red Book, and will undertake an assessment of the product on its completion.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Murphy on 2014-07-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will support proposals to amend the goal on education to provide free, equitable and inclusive quality education and life-long learning opportunities for all in the Sustainable Development Goals.
Justine Greening
The UK supports a stand-alone education goal in the Sustainable Development Goals to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and life-long learning opportunities for all.
The final goal and targets in the post-2015 development framework will be subject to international negotiations in the United Nations, in which the UK will play an active role.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John McDonnell on 2014-07-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his policy is on devolving responsibility for tagging contracts to police and crime commissioners.
Andrew Selous
On 15 July the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice announced that the Ministry of Justice will be awarding contracts to four companies for delivery of the next generation of electronic monitoring services.
These national contracts will be managed by the Ministry of Justice. Within the existing legislative framework, there are opportunities for Police and Crime Commissioners to make use of the capability within national contracts to support their local priorities in order to ensure that the taxpayers money is used efficiently. Police and Crime Commissioners may however make local arrangements depending on local priorities.
Separate to these national contracts, the Secretary of State has agreed to allow the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime to enter into arrangements to pilot the effectiveness of the Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pete Wishart on 2014-07-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what (a) external organisations and (b) officials in the Office of the Advocate-General for Scotland he has engaged with as part of the Scotland Analysis programme; and what was discussed at each such consultation.
David Mundell
The Scotland analysis programme has been the most detailed examination ever undertaken of Scotland’s contribution to the UK and the benefits that Scotland gets from being part of the UK. The UK Government has engaged with a wide range of organisations in the development of and distribution of the analysis, including business organisations, academics and lawyers. The Office of the Advocate General for Scotland provides the UK Government with advice on Scots law and has been involved throughout the production of all of the Scotland analysis papers, along with officials from across Whitehall.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2014-07-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the main reasons for the time taken to process personal independence payment claims.
Mr Mark Harper
Claimants to employment and support allowance (ESA) are not being asked to claim personal independence payment (PIP). PIP was introduced in April 2013 to replace disability living allowance (DLA) for working age people (between 16 and 64 years old) and operates an entirely separate assessment from the work capability assessment used for ESA claims. From October 2013 we have begun inviting some existing claimants of DLA to claim PIP. The current arrangements for this can be found on the gov.uk website:
We are continuously looking at ways to increase the number of decisions made on PIP claims and to improve the claims process.
Internal DWP processes and the assessment part of the process are taking longer than expected and some claimants are taking longer than anticipated to return their claim forms but we are working closely with both PIP assessment providers as part of our plans to speed up the end to end claimant journey. We have introduced improvements in communications to claimants about the type of evidence they can supply to speed up their claim and we are taking action to support the assessment providers in clearing backlogs of work.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2014-07-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the situation in Israel and Palestine.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
As the Prime Minister said in his comprehensive statement yesterday, we are clear that Israel has a right to defend itself against these attacks. No country would stand by as rockets are fired or terrorist tunnels are constructed into their territory. We are equally clear that Israel’s response must be proportionate, taking all necessary steps to minimise civilian casualties in line with International Humanitarian Law.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he, Minister and officials in his Department have had with Ministers or officials in the (a) Department of Culture, Media and Sport and (b) Home Office about the resale of tickets and the Consumer Rights Bill.
Jo Swinson
My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has not received any direct representations from representatives of the secondary ticketing websites on amendments tabled to the Consumer Rights Bill or about the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ guidance on them.
Neither my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State nor other Ministers in the Department for Business Innovation and Skills have had meetings with the secondary ticketing websites about the implementation of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 or the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ guidance on them.
The draft Regulations and the contents of the Bill were widely consulted on and the Department received a range of comments in response. Officials from the Department have also had discussions with a wide range of stakeholders (including with secondary ticketing websites) on the implementation of those Regulations and the guidance on them.
Following a consultation on the draft regulations, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills has produced guidance on the requirements of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. This guidance is easily accessible on the gov.uk website. Officials have also worked with the Business Support Helpline, which offers free advice to business on a wide range of issues, including regulation, and with the Trading Standards Institute (TSI), as the primary body responsible for educating businesses on consumer law. TSI has also produced guidance which is available on their website. Consumers themselves are important in driving compliance and officials have worked with Citizens Advice to raise consumer awareness so that they can see when businesses are not abiding by the requirements of the regulations.
The Department for Business Innovation and Skills has also actively promoted the changes in the Regulations across all sectors through seminars, presentations and communications to businesses.
Ministers in the Home Office, Department for Culture Media and Sport and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills have discussions and correspond together on a wide range of issues, and this has included agreeing the content of the Consumer Rights Bill. Officials from those Departments are in regular contact, including regarding the issue of resale of tickets.