The below Parliamentary question was asked by Naomi Long on 2014-06-18.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward proposals to abolish tax on sanitary products.
Mr David Gauke
I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave on 12 June 2014, Official Report, column 256W.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-04-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what maximum number of staff of each grade could be provided by each prison supplying staff for detached duty in each month since December 2013.
Jeremy Wright
The deployment of staff between prisons on detached duty is a regular and normal part of prison resourcing. It allows staff to be allocated from prisons with the capacity to provide them, to those where additional staffing is required. A nationally co-ordinated detached duty scheme has been operating since 21 October 2013.
The number of staff available /maximum number of staff available for detached duty at any one time is a matter for operational judgement and takes account of overall staff numbers, levels of sickness, prisoner numbers and the regime and security requirements.
The average headcount of Band 3 staff who worked on detached duty during December 2013 was 190, this represents 1.3% of all Band 3 officers. The table below contains a list of prisons broken down by the full-time-equivalent staff allocated and grade, during December 2013.
Some allocations outside of the national scheme continued after October 2013 but are not included in the information provided. London region particularly allocated staff within their own region. Information is collected on the staffing allocated. On occasions the resource is not actually deployed due to changes in local circumstances.
Table: List of prison receiving staff on detached duty by average headcount for December 2013
|
Headcount |
Band 3 |
Band 4 |
|
5 or fewer |
Aylesbury |
Brixton |
|
Bedford |
Coldingley |
|
|
Brixton |
Guys Marsh |
|
|
Bullingdon |
Leyhill |
|
|
Coldingley |
||
|
Cookham Wood |
||
|
Erlestoke |
||
|
Isis |
||
|
Isle of Wight |
||
|
Leeds |
||
|
Leicester |
||
|
Onley |
||
|
Send |
||
|
Sheppey Cluster |
||
|
Wandsworth |
||
|
Winchester |
||
|
10 |
Wormwood Scrubs |
High Down |
|
Norwich |
||
|
Glen Parva |
||
|
Bristol |
||
|
Werrington |
||
|
Pentonville |
||
|
Rochester |
||
|
Wayland |
||
|
Littlehey |
||
|
The Mount |
||
|
Nottingham |
||
|
Guys Marsh |
||
|
High Down |
||
|
Moorland/ Lindholme |
||
|
20 |
Feltham |
|
|
Portland |
Staffing figures are provided as at the end of each quarter and the last available figures are for 31 December 2013. Information from after that date is therefore not provided.
All staffing figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 in line with the department’s policy for presenting staffing data.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much funding his Department allocated to the Conflict Pool for South Asia in each of the last three years.
Mr Mark Francois
The Conflict Pool is funded from a Treasury settlement which is separate from and additional to departmental budgets and is administered jointly by the Ministry of Defence, the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for conflict prevention and mitigation work. Details of Conflict Pool allocations are provided to Parliament annually in a Written Ministerial Statement. Statements for financial years (FY) 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 are attached.
A Statement giving details of Conflict Pool allocations for FY 2014-15 will be released to the House shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-04-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance were sanctioned for failing to complete their job search evidence form for the week of 25 December 2013 to 1 January 2014.
Esther McVey
Published data on sanctions is currently available up to 30th September 2013, with the next scheduled release in May 2014.
Claimants are expected to do all that is reasonable within full time working hours in any week to look for work and this is not restricted to specific days.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how long the recruitment period will be for subject knowledge enhancement courses for 2015-16.
Mr David Laws
Recruitment to subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) courses is a matter for providers of initial teacher training and lead schools in the School Direct programme. We have announced funding support for SKE courses up to 31 March 2015 and will make a further announcement for the period beyond that in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe on 2014-04-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, as the major shareholder in National Air Traffic Services, they intend to meet the costs of the employee share scheme if the Civil Aviation Authority confirm their proposal that those costs will no longer be provided for in the next regulatory settlement.
Baroness Kramer
The regulatory settlement is a matter for the CAA. We would expect the NATS Board, in the first instance, to continue to consider the benefits of the employee share scheme and the terms on which it operates.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what quantity and value of beef was imported to the UK from each importing country in the last year.
George Eustice
The following table provides details of UK imports of beef and veal as recorded in the Official Overseas Trade Statistics for the period May 2013 to April 2014. This is the latest available data.
|
May 2013 – April 2014 |
||
|
Country of dispatch |
Quantity (Thousand Tonnes) |
Value (£million) |
|
Irish Republic |
168 |
629 |
|
Netherlands |
15 |
56 |
|
Germany |
9 |
29 |
|
Poland |
8 |
30 |
|
Australia |
8 |
49 |
|
Namibia |
6 |
24 |
|
Brazil |
5 |
20 |
|
Uruguay |
4 |
22 |
|
Spain |
2 |
8 |
|
New Zealand |
4 |
17 |
|
Botswana |
5 |
16 |
|
Italy |
3 |
16 |
|
France |
3 |
9 |
|
Denmark |
2 |
8 |
|
Belgium |
2 |
10 |
|
Austria |
1 |
5 |
|
Argentina |
<0.5 |
1 |
|
Chile |
<0.5 |
<0.5 |
|
U.S.A. |
<0.5 |
<0.5 |
|
Hungary |
<0.5 |
<0.5 |
|
Portugal |
<0.5 |
<0.5 |
|
Switzerland |
<0.5 |
<0.5 |
|
Nauru |
<0.5 |
<0.5 |
|
Greece |
<0.5 |
<0.5 |
|
Beef and veal imports Total |
246 |
949 |
|
Ó Crown Copyright |
||
|
Source: HM Revenue and Customs |
||
|
2013 and 2014 data is subject to amendments |
||
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2014-04-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much energy was produced from beet grown in each of the last three years in the United Kingdom.
Lord De Mauley
Official statistics on the area of sugar beet used to produce biogas, or energy produced from UK sugar beet are not currently available. The data below shows the production of bioethanol from sugar beet and the land used.
|
Year |
Bioethanol (million litres)1 |
Land used (thousand hectares)2 |
|
15 April 2010 – 14 April 2011 |
68.5 |
13.4 |
|
15 April 2011 – 14 April 2012 |
21.8 |
3 |
|
15 April 2012 -14 April 2013 (provisional) 3
|
59.9 |
10.4 |
1 All sugar beet volumes above were grown on previously cropped land
2 Source: Defra June Survey of Agriculture. UK area at year n-1.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/structure-of-the-agricultural-industry
3 (e) Figures for 2012-13 (Year 5) are as of 15 September 2013 and are not final.
The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (OfGEM) records have identified two operational anaerobic digestion plants which only use sugar beet to produce biogas for electricity generation.
Defra published an experimental statistics release on the use of crops for bioenergy in December 2013.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Diane Abbott on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of patients waiting more than six weeks for diagnostic tests through NHS England; and if he will make a statement.
Jane Ellison
The Government has invested more than £750 million over four years to support early diagnosis in cancer and improve access to key diagnostics to make sure that everyone has access to the best possible treatment. Awareness raising campaigns such as Be Clear on Cancer are encouraging more people to come forward with their symptoms.
Patients should receive timely care, and NHS England, the NHS Trust Development Authority and Monitor are working with providers and commissioners to ensure patients get access to tests and treatment as quickly as possible.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2014-04-02.
To ask the Attorney General, what recent assessment he has made of the cyber security crime skills of staff of the Crown Prosecution Service.
Mr Dominic Grieve
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has mandatory training for all prosecutors on cybercrime and specific training for prosecutors on offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. This supports guidance for prosecutors on the range of offences which can be committed through the use of cyber technology.
In addition, the CPS will soon be introducing new consolidated guidance for prosecutors on cyber-offending and a new package of e-learning for prosecutors in relation to cybercrime which will cover: digital evidence gathering; online grooming; online fraud; and, social media.