The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the opinion of the Farm Animal Welfare Committee on CCTV in slaughterhouses, published in February 2015.
George Eustice
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the Rt. Hon. Member for Knowsley, George Howarth on 24 June 2015, PQs UIN 2944 and 2945.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2015-10-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the level of paramilitary-linked organised crime in Northern Ireland.
Lord Dunlop
The assessment of the structure, roles and purpose of paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland, published on 20 October stated that individual members of paramilitary groups are involved in ‘serious criminal activity’. Examples cited in the assessment include: ‘large scale smuggling operations, fuel laundering, drug dealing and extortion of local businesses’.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-10-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what (a) funding his Department is undertaking and (b) projects his Department has planned as part of the Government’s Digital Inclusion Strategy.
Nick Boles
a) The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) currently funds a programme through the Tinder Foundation with the aim of equipping up to 1m adults with the basic digital skills, motivation and confidence to go online, be digitally capable and to be safe online. The contract was awarded by open competitive tender in October 2014 and has a maximum value of £15m. This addresses Action 2 of the Digital Inclusion Strategy 2014 (to establish a quality cross-government digital capability programme).
In addition the adult skills budget managed by the Skills Funding Agency continues to support learners to increase skills, competence and knowledge including basic digital skills and capabilities as called for under Action 1 of the Strategy.
b) There are no other projects currently planned.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that council tax support funding is passed on from billing authorities to parish and town councils in 2014-15.
Brandon Lewis
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement of 5 February 2014, Official Report, Column 19-21WS, which sets out clearly the Government’s intention that the element of localised council tax support funding provided to local authorities which reflects reductions in town and parish tax bases should be passed down to those councils.
I additionally wrote to Leaders of billing authorities on this issue on 6 January and 21 February 2014.
The design and management of council tax support schemes is a local matter, and it is for local councils to work together to ensure that any relevant impacts are understood and taken into account.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2014, Official Report, column 284W, on children: day care, if he will estimate the average annual cost of childcare in the UK for a child aged (a) two and under and (b) three to four using his Department’s Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents 2012-13 data.
Elizabeth Truss
The Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents report provides information on the average (mean and median) amount paid by families for childcare in a reference week for pre-school age children. This information is not available broken down by age or on an annual basis.
This information could be produced only at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will place in the Library a copy of the Food Standards Agency’s submission to the Inter-Departmental Group for the Valuation of Life and Health review and all evidence submitted to the series of interviews with his Department’s staff conducted by researchers from the University of Leeds in 2008.
Dr Daniel Poulter
I refer my Rt. hon. Friend to the answer given on 26 June 2014, Official Report, column 283W.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Harrington on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what contingency plans he has in place to deal with an outbreak of Ebola virus in the UK.
Jane Ellison
The National Health Service has plans in place to deal with patients with infectious diseases as part of its core business. This includes plans to manage patients in line with infection control procedures, and where necessary in highly specialist infectious diseases facilities.A patient with Ebola virus infection would be cared for in the national High Level Isolation Unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London. In the unlikely event of an outbreak involving more than two people, specialist staff at this unit are trained and prepared to look after patients safely in an isolation ward, which would be dedicated for this purpose.
In the UK, the procedures outlined in the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens guidelines, “The Management of Hazard Group 4 viral haemorrhagic fevers and similar human infectious diseases of high consequence”, are followed for any suspected case.
Public Health England has assessed the risk of importation of Ebola in the UK as very low. It is extremely unlikely that an outbreak of Ebola would occur in the UK even if there was to be an imported case, as there are factors operating in West Africa which would not be seen in the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the statement of 24 June 2014, Official Report, column 206, on student visas, on what date her Department first became aware of the systematic cheating taking place in the tests of the Educational Testing Service.
James Brokenshire
Since the last election, the Government has taken action to reduce and control
immigration and to crack down on the abuse of the system which the previous
government failed to address. We have kept the main immigration routes to
Britain under review and remain vigilant against abuse of the student visa
system. Around 750 education sponsors have been removed from the register of
those entitled to bring overseas students to the UK. We now know that almost
400 of these were linked to the sponsorship of people who obtained invalid ETS
certificates. Abuse of the student visa route has been the subject of various
lines of inquiry for some time, but Immigration Enforcement officers, together
with officials from UK Visas and Immigration and with the support of the
National Crime Agency, began conducting a detailed and wide-ranging
investigation into actions by organised criminals to falsify English language
tests provided by ETS at the start of February.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ward on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of UK aid to Burma is channelled through Burmese government-approved organisations or mechanisms.
Mr Alan Duncan
The UK does not provide funding directly to the Burmese government. We publish details of which organisations receive DFID funding, and how much they have received, on the gov.uk Development Tracker.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Virgin Trains on ensuring that its proposed train service from Blackpool to Euston will stop at Kirkham Station.
Stephen Hammond
On 19 June 2014 the Secretary of State announced that Virgin had been awarded a new Direct Award franchise. This commenced on 22 June 2014, and will run until the new planned commencement of the next competed franchise in April 2017.
Virgin and Network Rail will now submit an application to the Office of Rail Regulation for new services between Blackpool North and London Euston, which will include stops at Kirkham & Wesham and Poulton le Fylde stations. The new services are planned to commence in December 2014.