The below Parliamentary question was asked by Aidan Burley on 2014-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the current eligibility criteria for higher education maintenance loans.
Mr David Willetts
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will continue to require students seeking maintenance loans to meet criteria includeing residency, type of course and place of study.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-03-10.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer in each of the last three years; and what the survival rate of women with ovarian cancer has been in each of the last three years.
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 Ivan Lewis on 2014-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect on devolved NHS services of changes to the way temporary migrants and visitors access the NHS in England.
Jane Ellison
The intention of the relevant powers in the Immigration Act 2014 is to ensure that temporary migrants and visitors make a fair contribution towards the cost of any National Health Service healthcare they receive in the United Kingdom. Under the Act, temporary migrants will be required to pay a health surcharge when applying for a visa to reside in the UK for more than six months. The Devolved Administrations will receive a proportion of funds received from the surcharge. It will be for the Devolved Administrations to decide whether they spend this on health services and whether they amend their health service charging regulations for other visitors to the UK.
If charges for some primary care services in England are introduced to visitors to the UK, those services will continue to be free of charge to people who are ordinarily resident in the UK. Therefore, residents of the Devolved Administrations will continue to be treated on the same basis as an English resident if they access primary care services in England.
However, introducing charging for visitors may influence behaviour near the borders if visitors from overseas in England choose to travel to the other countries to access primary care services that they would have to pay for in England.
The proposed new process for registering with the NHS in England is unlikely to affect the healthcare systems in the devolved administrations but it may mean that residents from the Devolved Administrations who access NHS care in England are asked more often to demonstrate that they are ordinarily resident in the UK, or otherwise entitled to free NHS care in England.
We will continue our discussions with colleagues in the Devolved Administrations on all of these issues.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-03-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders have been recalled to prison and given a fixed term recall since 3 December 2012 whilst (a) on home detention curfew and (b) serving a sentence for a violent or sexual offence as listed in schedule 15 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003.
Jeremy Wright
The information required to answer these questions is due for publication on 24 April 2014. I will write to my Honourable friend as soon as it is available. A copy will be placed in the House Library.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2014-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of mandatory display of passed plates by all novice drivers for a minimum period.
Mr Robert Goodwill
None. There is no probationary period for new drivers and no requirement to display a ‘P’ plate. However, the Transport Research Laboratory Report on "Novice Drivers: Evidence review and Evaluation Pre-Driver Training, Graduated Driver Licensing" made a number of recommendations on novice driver safety. One recommendation was that on successful completion of the driving test a driver would be permitted to progress to a probationary licence from age 18. During the 12 month (minimum) probationary licence the driver would be required to display a green ‘P’ plate to identify their licence status and aid enforcement of other recommended restrictions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-10.
To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the potential benefits of using (a) student unions and (b) other university and college venues as polling stations.
Gary Streeter
The Electoral Commission informs me that between 2002 and 2007 a number of English local authorities piloted the use of alternative locations as polling stations, although these did not include student unions or other university and college premises. The locations included railway stations, supermarkets, libraries and other local authority venues.
The Commission’s statutory evaluation of the pilot schemes concluded that the convenience of voting at alternative locations was appreciated by some voters, although the impact on turnout was minimal.
At present, the legislation provides that Returning Officers may use certain publicly-funded schools or “rooms funded out of any rate” free of charge as premises for polling stations. The Electoral Commission has recommended that Returning Officers should be permitted to use a wider range of publicly-funded buildings as polling stations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Sheridan on 2014-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support will be available for deaf people whose support was reduced as a result of the 30 hour rule in the access to work grant.
Mike Penning
Customers can request a full review of their Access to work claim at any time.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sir Peter Bottomley on 2014-03-07.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how the Office of National Statistics (ONS) can best estimate the number and trends of the stock in the leasehold domestic premises in (a) Worthing West constituency, (b) Worthing borough, (c) Arun district, (d) West Sussex county, (e) South East England region, (f) England and (g) England and Wales; what data collection the ONS makes on housing tenure types; and if he will make a statement.
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 Douglas Alexander on 2014-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Egyptian counterpart on the likely date for parliamentary elections in Egypt.
Mr William Hague
I met Egyptian Foreign Minister Fahmy during his visit to the UK on 14 May and discussed a range of issues, including the timing of parliamentary elections. We believe the best way for the Egyptians to achieve goals of the 25 January revolution of 2011 is through free and fair elections and an inclusive political process in which all groups can participate.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr George Galloway on 2014-03-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of workers made unemployed, or displaced, as a result of immigration from countries outside the EU in the last year.
James Brokenshire
The Government commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to "research
the labour market, social and public service impacts of non-EEA migration; and
to advise on the use of such evidence in cost-benefit analyses of migration
policy decisions". The MAC’s report published in 2012 called ‘Analysis of the
Impact of Migration’
(https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/25723
5/analysis-of-the-impacts.pdf), suggested that "between 1995 and 2010 an
additional 100 non-EU migrants were associated with a reduction in employment
of 23 native workers".
Recently, the Government published a report on the ‘Impacts of migration on UK
native employment: An analytical review of the evidence’
(https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/28708
6/occ109.pdf). This report is a comprehensive review of the evidence around
the displacement effect of migrants on UK native employment and builds on the
MAC 2012 report.
In addition, a report on the ‘Employment and Occupational skill levels among UK
and foreign nationals’
(https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/28250
3/occ108.pdf) finds that over most of the last decade, employment levels in the
UK rose faster among foreign nationals than among UK nationals. However, this
pattern has reversed, and over the last year around 90 per cent of employment
growth was accounted for by UK nationals.