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Tag: 2014

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2014, Official Report, columns 367-8W, on armed conflicts: minerals, which companies have joined or have applied to join the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights initiative.

    Mark Simmonds

    In the last two years, UK-headquartered companies Tullow Oil and Premier Oil have joined the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights. An application from another company based in the UK is currently under consideration by the Steering Committee of the Voluntary Principles Initiative.

  • Simon Burns – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Simon Burns – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Burns on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total cost to the NHS was of providing free flu vaccinations in each of the last four years for which figures are available.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England spent a total of £251 million on immunisation programmes in 2013-14. Of this, £89 million is identifiable as relating to the purchase of flu vaccines for adults and the administration of flu vaccines for both adults and children.

    Vaccines for the national childhood immunisation programme, including for childhood flu immunisation from 2013-14, are purchased and managed by Public Health England on behalf of the Department and are not a cost for the National Health Service. The cost of the vaccine and its storage and distribution are commercially confidential.

    Data for NHS spend for the years prior to 2013-14 is not held centrally.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many full-time employees were employed in (a) the Case Resolution Directorate and (b) the Case Assurance and Audit Unit in each year of those bodies’ existence.

    Karen Bradley

    The Case Resolution Directorate (CRD) employed a total of 1300 caseworkers in
    40 regional teams during its existence. It is not possible to provide a
    breakdown by each year that CRD was in existence.

    The Case Assurance and Audit Unit (CAAU) employed 98 Full Time Equivalent (FTE)
    staff in 2011, 134 FTE staff in 2012 and 224 FTE staff in 2013. FTE means that
    part time employees are counted by the proportion of full time hours they work,
    so that staff working half the time of an equivalent full time colleague would
    count as 0.5 FTE.

  • David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications by overseas-based British citizens for the extension of an existing passport for one year have been received by the Passport Office since her recent announcement on changes in passport policy.

    James Brokenshire

    As of 13 July 2014, 1,721 applications by overseas-based British citizens for
    the extension of an existing passport for one year have been received by the
    Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

  • Mark Menzies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mark Menzies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the importance of regional airports in meeting the UK’s aviation needs.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government’s Aviation Policy Framework affirms that the Government wants to see the best use of the UK’s existing airport capacity. It recognises that airports across the UK play an important role in local economies, and in securing connectivity for local populations – as well as having an important role in helping to accommodate wider forecast growth in demand for aviation in the UK.

  • Ian Austin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Austin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the backlog of work capability assessments.

    Mike Penning

    We are working closely with Atos to deliver the best possible service for claimants and ensure the number of cases outstanding with them continues to fall.

    We announced last summer that we were looking to bring in further provision to support the delivery of the Work Capability Assessment. In the meantime, we have been working closely with Atos to improve their performance and have put in place changes to better manage the flow of work between the Department, all designed to reduce waiting times for claimants. These measures are taking effect and the backlog of cases has fallen over the past few months.

  • Mark Menzies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Mark Menzies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what digital-by-default Government services will be available by next year; and what support he plans to make available to older people and those who are not yet online.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    By March 2015, 25 major government services will be redesigned and rebuilt as digital-by-default making them simpler, clearer and faster to use. Full details are listed on gov.uk/transformation

    This Government’s approach is digital-by-default but not compulsion. We want to help get more people online, through our Digital Inclusion programme, but for those who cannot or will not we will always provide assistance, whenever they need it.

  • Ms Diane Abbott – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ms Diane Abbott – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Diane Abbott on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to improve the quality and increase the uptake of foreign language training in schools; and if he will make a statement.

    Elizabeth Truss

    The new national curriculum introduces the teaching of a foreign language to key stage 2 (ages 7 to 11) from September 2014, which will increase the uptake of foreign languages in both primary and, over time, secondary schools. By starting languages earlier, pupils will have longer to develop their skills to a high level before continuing with language learning in secondary school. The English Baccalaureate is already encouraging more young people to take a language at GCSE level. Take up by key stage 4 pupils in England of a modern foreign language increased by over 20% between 2012 and 2013.

    The Department for Education believes it is important to give teachers the flexibility to decide how to teach. We expect schools to identify the support that they need to prepare for the new curriculum, recognising that different schools will face different challenges.

    We are allocating £350,000 this year to fund training on the new national curriculum for teachers of modern foreign languages in primary and secondary schools. We have also allocated some £1.9m to teaching schools to lead curriculum change across and within their teaching school alliances. 46 of the projects being supported involve languages.

    The independent Expert Group, chaired by a leading primary headteacher, has published links to useful resources, which are hosted on the website of the Association for Language Learning. This is specifically to support the introduction of a compulsory foreign language at key stage 2. We are also making extensive use of social networking, including using high profile headteachers and others to raise the profile of the new curriculum, including for languages, through podcasts, webchats and blogs.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Sudan counterpart on that government’s attitude towards its Christian communities.

    Mark Simmonds

    We regularly raise our concerns with the Government of Sudan about religious persecutions and the need to respect freedom of religion or belief for all its citizens. My officials have recently made representations to the Foreign Minister, urging the Government to respect the right to freedom of religion or belief including one’s right to follow the religion or belief of choice. This right is enshrined in international human rights law as well as in Sudan’s own 2005 Interim Constitution. We will continue to raise these issues.

  • Stewart Jackson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Stewart Jackson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps so that Public Health England introduces a case-finding spirometry test component as part of the NHS Health Check for people aged between 40 and 74.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England (PHE) is responsible for advising the Department on potential content changes to the NHS Health Check programme. The agency has established an Expert Scientific and Clinical Advisory Panel to oversee this process. The panel includes representation from the National Screening Committee, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and wider experts.

    It is not feasible to make frequent changes to the programme. PHE reviews new content proposals every 12 months and will consider spirometry when it next begins this process in the winter of 2014.