The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-04-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has had any discussions with the government of Afghanistan concerning future basing of UK unmanned aircraft systems in that country after 2014.
Mr Mark Francois
To date, there have been no discussions with the Government of Afghanistan about the future basing of UK unmanned aircraft systems in Afghanistan after 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Fox on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to prevent the spread of Islamic extremism among the prison population.
Jeremy Wright
We are alert to the risks posed by individuals who may wish to radicalise others, and we are committed to tackling radicalisation in the prison environment as an important element of our responsibility to protect the public and reduce re-offending.
NOMS has in place a wide-ranging programme of work to manage individuals convicted of terrorist or related offences. This programme focuses on: increasing the counter-terrorism intelligence infrastructure working with partner agencies; ensuring provision of an effective Chaplaincy which can challenge extremist ideology; structured risk assessment tools and bespoke interventions; staff briefing and training, and robust processes for the management of offenders on release.
NOMS contributes to the cross-Government CT strategy CONTEST, and works alongside other Departments to manage the threat posed. As with all significant criminal threats, a multi-agency approach is taken to ensure that information and learning is shared between agencies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona O’Donnell on 2014-04-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on fuel poverty and the use of prepayment meters by the fuel poor.
Gregory Barker
Officials in the Department liaise regularly with the Scottish Government on a range of fuel poverty related issues.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Dobson on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he expects Chinese workers to be employed in the construction of High Speed 2.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Contracts let for the construction of HS2 infrastructure and rolling stock will be open to competition irrespective of country of origin, in accordance with EU and UK procurement legislation.
Prospective bidders are welcome to work alongside British based bidders.
It will be for bidders to propose how they can best deliver their proposals and the contribution of British companies and supply chain will be of interest.
HS2 Ltd is undertaking a range of initiatives to ensure businesses are aware of the opportunities and their forthcoming requirements so that they can prepare, so as to compete effectively.
Any non-EU overseas workers would of course be subject to the UK’s immigration regime and would be required to comply with whatever regulations were in force at the time.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-02.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 1 April 2014, Official Report, column 595W, on flood control, what the extra sum allocated in Budget 2014 is for each of the devolved administrations for flood defence in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.
Danny Alexander
HM TREASURY
Maria Eagle MP
GARSTON & HALEWOOD
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 1 April 2014, Official Report, column 595W, on flood control, what the extra sum allocated in Budget 2014 is for each of the devolved administrations for Government funding for flood defence in 2014-15 and 2015-16. [194953]
DANNY ALEXANDER
The table below sets out the extra funding allocated to the devolved administrations through the Barnett formula which reflected new funding provided to UK government departments for flood defence measures at Budget 2014.
|
Scotland |
Wales |
Northern Ireland |
||||
|
2014-15 £m |
2015-16 £m |
2014-15 £m |
2015-16 £m |
2014-15 £m |
2015-16 £m |
|
|
Flood Maintenance (Resource) |
2.0 |
3.5 |
1.2 |
2.0 |
0.7 |
1.2 |
|
Flood Maintenance (Capital) |
6.0 |
2.5 |
3.5 |
1.4 |
2.0 |
0.8 |
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if the Health and Safety Executive will create a register of qualified professionals to ensure that clinical research is carried out safely.
Norman Lamb
The Health and Safety Executive is responsible for the enforcement of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and ensuring that “risks to people’s health and safety from work activities are properly controlled”.
The Health Research Authority (HRA) ensures that ethically-approved clinical research is carried out by suitably qualified professionals through its arrangements for research ethics committee review. Research ethics committee review includes scrutiny of researchers’ suitability to conduct the research they are proposing. This review is required by Departmental guidance, which applies to all health and adult social care research, and by legislation, for instance, in the case of clinical trials, by Schedule 1 part 2(2) of the Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/1031).
The HRA publishes a register of research summaries, including a contact name (usually that of the chief investigator) and the research ethics committee’s opinion. The register is publicly available on line at:
www.nres.nhs.uk/researchsummaries
From September 2013, registration of clinical trials in a publicly accessible database is a condition of the favourable ethical opinion given by a research ethics committee.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Freer on 2014-04-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will review the reporting of the mis-stunning of animals before slaughter by the Food Standards Agency to ensure that the way in which the data is collected provides as accurate a picture as possible of the real situation.
George Eustice
Official Veterinarians of the Food Standards Agency report centrally all cases of non-compliances with the welfare at slaughter regulations. This data provides an accurate picture of welfare breaches at slaughterhouses.
The Welfare at Time of Killing Regulations will come into force next month and we will keep the effectiveness of monitoring and enforcement at slaughterhouses under review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the number of people in Dartford constituency in employment in each of the last five years.
Mr Nick Hurd
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Randall on 2014-04-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the nationality and gender was of each suspected victim of trafficking referred to the Trafficking Victim Support Scheme operated by the Salvation Army in March 2014; which agency referred each person to that scheme; in which town the shelter to which those people were placed for the relevant period was; and what contact is had with each such victim to ensure their safety after they exit the scheme.
Karen Bradley
In March 2014, there were 126 referrals to the Government-funded support
service for adult victims of human trafficking in England and Wales
administered by The Salvation Army. In the interests of victim safety only the
region in which the victim was encountered is provided, and not which town they
were placed in. Once an individual receives a Conclusive Grounds decision they
will be given tailored move-on support to safely return home or integrate in
the UK. Once they exit the service, no formal mechanisms exist to maintain
contact.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chloe Smith on 2014-06-18.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to give pensioners more control over their savings.
Mr David Gauke
Budget 14 announced the most radical change to the way people take their pensions for nearly a century. From April 2015, individuals aged 55 or over with defined contribution savings will have much greater flexibility over access to their pension savings, which they will be able to withdraw subject only to their marginal rate of income tax and their scheme rules. We have also made changes to allow more people to access greater flexibility.
In addition, ISAs, popular with over 24 million UK savers, are to be reformed from 1 July 2014 into a more flexible product. The New ISA will leave savers free to choose how to split their increased £15,000 annual allowance between cash and stocks and shares ISAs and to transfer funds in any direction between accounts.