Tag: 2014

  • Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 19 October 2015 to Question 10693, what the rate of hospital admissions where the main reason for admission was alcohol-related was in each local authority area in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2011-12.

    Jane Ellison

    Alcohol-related hospital admissions for all local authorities are available via the Local Alcohol Profile for England (LAPE) tool at:

    http://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/local-alcohol-profiles

    The tool holds annual data from 2008/09 to 2013/14.

    “

  • Ronnie Cowan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ronnie Cowan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Cowan on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many spousal visa applications in which the sponsoring partner resided in Scotland have been (a) submitted and (b) refused in each year since 2012.

    James Brokenshire

    Information relating to the residence of sponsors is not available from centrally collated statistical databases, and could only be compiled at disproportionate cost by examination of tens of thousands of individual case files.

  • Jamie Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jamie Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which of the articles contained in the European Convention on Human Rights his Department plans to omit in a future British Bill of Rights.

    Dominic Raab

    This Government will fully consult on our proposals this session before introducing legislation for a Bill of Rights. Further details will be announced this Autum.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to reduce barriers to small and medium sized enterprises supplying new products to the Highways Agency.

    Andrew Jones

    Highways England has set up an Engagement Council to ensure all highways suppliers, wherever they sit within the supply chain network, can have a voice and show leadership in identifying waste (cost, time and quality) and improvement to deliver better value.

    Engagement Council

    • Membership extends to all highway suppliers wherever they sit in the supply chain for Highways England contracts
    • Prime route for collaboration
    • Promotes innovation and improvement

    Other ways which Highways England encourages SME involvements in its supply chain are:

    • The use of Constructionline – a case study recently published by Constructionline recognises the benefits it brings to removing barriers through our Meet the Buyer events which allow us to directly engage with SMEs. This helps to identify potential tendering opportunities and give advice on the tendering process.
    • Contract clauses – A standard contract clause included in our Model Contract documents to encourage the use of SMEs by our Tier 1 suppliers.
    • Project Bank Accounts (PBA) – Highways England promotes the use of these on all contracts (unless there is a compelling reason not to do so) benefitting suppliers from a significant acceleration in payment of their monthly invoices.

    Current PBA data at August 2015

    • 48 PBAs in operation for live schemes.
    • PBA total declared contract value of £4.66bn as of August 2015.
    • In the first quarter of 2015/16 27% of the overall scheme spend is with SMEs. This data however is only based on those SMEs included in the PBAs and does not take account of spend with SMEs in the extended supply chain which could significantly increase this %.

    Highways England is currently developing an SME mentorship scheme alongside key industry associations as well as the larger contractors operating on the network. The scheme will allow SMEs the chance to develop their capability and help to create an environment which removes barriers to market allowing them to operate effectively. Health & Safety, innovation and leadership will be key elements of the scheme.

  • Karen Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Karen Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will request from Maximus a report on (a) the number of employment support allowance claimants in the City of Westminster who have been sent a letter mandating them to attend a Work Programme interview that includes incorrect email contact details and (b) the steps taken since that error was identified to ensure that it is remedied.

    Priti Patel

    Of the overall total number of Initial Appointment letters sent out during the period 16/10/2013 – 19/08/2015 there are 169 customers with a Westminster postcode that could have had these letters sent to them with the incorrect Maximus e-mail address.

    Maximus have confirmed that the letter in question was originally created on 16/10/2013 for customers referred from City of Westminster. Customers affected will be those referred to Work Programme who have a Westminster postcode only.

    Maximus became aware of this letter containing an error via a customer complaint on 18/08/2015 and had resolved the issue by 19/08/2015 there is therefore no need to publish a report. Maximus has also set up an email address so that any customer responses sent to the incorrect address will be forwarded to the correct email address from 19/08/2015. Maximus are confident that they have remedied this unfortunate mistake.

  • Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the effect of benefit sanctions on levels of poverty.

    Priti Patel

    The current employment rate of 73.6% is a record high.

    Work is the best route out of poverty, and the system of conditionality that underpins the welfare system is the most effective way to support jobseekers into work.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Berkeley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2015-10-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what changes they have proposed to requirements for disposing of Network Rail land not currently used for rail-related purposes.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Condition 7 of Network Rail’s network licence regulates the disposal of the company’s land assets. Network Rail’s network licence is held with the Office of Rail and Road. The Government has not proposed any changes to Condition 7.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-10-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many patients waited at least 12 hours in Accident and Emergency in 2014–5, and in each year since 2005.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The information is not collected in the format requested. Information on the number of patients waiting more than 12 hours from decision to admit to admission in accident and emergency (A&E) departments in 2011-12 to 2014-15 is shown in the table below. The first full year for which data is available is 2011-12 as data was not collected prior to August 2010.

    Year

    Number of patients spending more than 12 hours from decision to admit to admission in A&E departments

    2011-12

    123

    2012-13

    170

    2013-14

    240

    2014-15

    1,239

    Source: Annual A&E Activity and Emergency Admissions statistics, NHS and independent sector organisations in England

  • Baroness Jolly – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Jolly – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jolly on 2015-10-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many permanent members of staff are employed within the Human Trafficking and Kidnap Unit of the Metropolitan Police Service, and what staffing changes are envisaged in the next year.

    Lord Bates

    The Government takes modern slavery very seriously and the Modern Slavery Strategy sets out our approach to improving the law enforcement response. We expect individual forces to allocate adequate resources to tackling serious crime including modern slavery, within the overall level of funding available to them. However, decisions about the specific level of funding and staffing for specific units within the Metropolitan Police, such as the Human Trafficking and Kidnap Unit, are matters for the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-10-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been their assessment of the UNHCR claim that the United Kingdom is legally obliged to resettle 114 Syrian refugees who have arrived by boat at the British military base in Cyprus.

    Lord Bates

    Those migrants who seek asylum will have their claims considered by the Cypriot authorities on behalf of the Sovereign Base Authorities (SBA). There is no obligation to allow those recognised as refugees to take up residence in the UK.