The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer 194164, how many civil servants in his Department of what grade spent some or all of their time working on the Hunting Act 2004 or matters relating to it in each year since 2010.
George Eustice
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave 7 April 2014, Official Report, column 61W.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Andrew Jones on Work and Pensions.
1
Esther McVey
Since 2010/11 expenditure on benefits and tax credits paid to people not in work has fallen in real terms from £43.2bn to £42.2bn in 2013/14, and is forecast to fall further, to £40.6bn this year. This is due to a combination of factors including welfare reform, changes to benefits and significant employment growth. The number of people in work has risen by 1.7 million since 2010, and the number of people claiming the main out of work benefits has fallen by over 700,000.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to ask the Independent Expert Panel which recently reported on the first year of the pilot badger culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire to report on the second year of such culls.
George Eustice
I have no plans to ask the Independent Expert Panel to report on the second year of the pilot badger culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Gordon Brown on Defence.
1
Dr Andrew Murrison
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) published the Dalgety Bay Management Strategy report on 10 July 2014. The MOD has agreed in principle to implement the measures recommended in the report, though the arrangements are subject to discussion with other parties.
Consultation on implementing the strategy will now be led by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, which will set out its timetable.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Laos about the persecution of Christians in that country.
Mr Hugo Swire
Our recently re-opened Embassy in Vientiane regularly raises human rights concerns with the Lao government, including their adherence to their international human rights commitments that protect freedom of religion and belief. Laos has seen some improvements in religious freedom over the past decade with a reduction in the number of long-term Christian prisoners of conscience. However, we are aware of cases of Christians being arrested for proselytising. The EU raised these cases at the last EU-Laos Human Rights Dialogue in February 2013 and we will press for it to be raised at the next EU-Laos Human Rights Dialogue which will take place in Brussels in May 2014. We continue to work with the EU and other like-minded partners to raise our concerns about religious freedom with the Lao government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Liam Byrne on Business, Innovation and Skills.
1
Mr David Willetts
No estimate of retention rates at alternative providers has yet been made. The designation conditions that apply from 2014/15 onwards require alternative providers to provide a data return to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). This data once available will help inform BIS decisions on designations and enable the Department to estimate retention rates across the sector.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2013, Official Report, column 568W, on catalytic fund, whether it has been agreed how the catalytic fund will function and who will be able to access funding; and if she will make a statement.
Lynne Featherstone
The new catalytic financing mechanism will aim to provide incentives to attract new private funds alongside increased domestic budgets for high impact nutrition interventions. The scope and governance of the fund is being developed with the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. No funds have been disbursed. DFID will consider its own contribution once the mechanism and governance have been agreed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Gregory Campbell on Defence.
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Anna Soubry
The Ministry of Defence-sponsored cadet forces offer challenging and enjoyable activities for young people, and prepare them to play an active part in the community while developing valuable life skills.
Information held centrally by the Ministry of Defence on the numbers of sea and army cadets in Northern Ireland is provided in the following tables. For sea cadets, reliable data is available from January 2005. For army cadets, estimated information on the Army Cadet Force is available from March 2012 although comparable data about the Army Combined Cadet Force is not available in the format requested. Information prior to these dates could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
|
Sea Cadets |
Royal Marine (RM) Cadets |
Adult Volunteers (Sea and RM) |
|
|
January 2005 |
225 |
13 |
146 |
|
January 2014 |
235 |
22 |
157 |
|
Change +/- |
+10 |
+9 |
+11 |
|
Army Cadet Force |
Army Combined Cadet Force |
Adult Volunteers |
|
|
March 2012 |
1,925 (estimated) |
Not held |
350 (estimated) |
|
January 2014 |
1,422 |
598 |
397 |
|
Change +/- |
-503 |
Not known |
+47 |
Since 2012 the Army has worked to improve the accuracy of their record keeping with a concerted effort to identify those cadets not actively participating and to either encourage them back into cadet activities or to remove them from the management information system. This has accounted for a significant drop in Army Cadet Force figures over the past few years. However, we are actively recruiting Army cadets in Northern Ireland and numbers are beginning to increase.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2014-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which firm had its award of a contract to provide publicly-funded immigration services withdrawn in the 2010 tender round.
Mr Shailesh Vara
These questions relate to ongoing litigation against the Lord Chancellor and in the circumstances it would be inappropriate to respond at the current time.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Fiona Bruce on Health.
1
Jane Ellison
The information is shown in the following table:
Selective reduction abortions performed under ground E by gestation, residents of England and Wales, 2013
|
Gestation Weeks |
Total |
|
Under 13 |
25 |
|
13 to 19 |
39 |
|
20 to 23 |
7 |
|
24 and over |
24 |
|
Total |
95 |