The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in other NATO member states on the Middle East.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
I have not yet had discussions with other NATO member states. However, the Government is in regular and frequent close contact with NATO member states on a range of issues across the Middle East.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bingham on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Chinese counterpart on the health and whereabouts of human rights’ lawyer Mr Gao Zhisheng following his further detention by Chinese authorities.
Mr Hugo Swire
We remain concerned about human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who has been imprisoned in Xinjiang since 2011. We raised his case directly with Chinese officials during the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue on 19-20 May, and urged the Chinese authorities to respect the constitutionally guaranteed rights of all detainees, including access to family, lawyers and adequate medical care.
We understand that Gao’s prison term is due to end soon, and we urge the Chinese authorities to ensure that his rights to freedom of movement and communication are duly protected on his release.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tessa Munt on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many individual funding requests per indication were received by NHS England for radiotherapy treatment in the last financial year; and how many requests, per indication, were refused by NHS England.
Norman Lamb
Since April 2013, radiotherapy treatment has been planned and paid for nationally by NHS England.
NHS England has informed us that information on the number of individual funding requests made to NHS England is not currently available. NHS England is improving its data collection mechanisms and aims to improve availability of such information in the future.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to facilitate the establishment of a gender identity clinic in Brighton and Hove; and if he will make a statement.
Norman Lamb
We are advised by NHS England that there are currently seven gender identity clinics (GICs) in England and three providers of gender reassignment surgery. The nearest GIC to Brighton and Hove is located in London. These GIC clinics have considerable experience of delivering this highly specialised service and are able to accept referrals from all over the United Kingdom. At present there are no plans to undertake a procurement exercise to increase the number of providers.
NHS England report that waiting times for pre-surgical assessment at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust one of the three NHS England commissioned providers of gender surgery are currently running at around 12 months, compared to 10 months in 2013-14. The increase in waiting times is due to the increase in demand for the service nationally that has seen referrals increase from 195 in 2011-12 to 300 in 2013-14.
Individual patient waits vary according to the needs of the patient. Currently, the average wait for surgery is just under a year from the point at which funding is confirmed.
Information from the website of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust shows that there are currently 279 patients approved for this surgery and that it carried out 178 male to female gender reassignment operations in 2013-14.
Following a change in staffing, Imperial appointed a new gender reassignment surgeon who will start performing gender reassignment surgeries in September 2014. As a temporary measure, the trust is referring a small number of patients who have waited longer than others to a private provider under a sub-contracting arrangement with that provider, Imperial retain responsibility for managing all patient pathways.
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust has published an update of the position on its website, which can be viewed at the following link:
www.imperial.nhs.uk/aboutus/news/news_044629
The trust is also sending this information directly to patients.
These issues have not been the subject of discussions between Ministers and the Chief Executive of NHS England.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Evans on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many project licences were granted under the Animals (Scientific Pocedures) Act 1986 in Wales in 2013; and how many such licences were in force at the end of 2013 in respect of work to be carried out in Wales.
Norman Baker
The number of project licences granted, under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, in Wales in 2013 was 18. The numbers of project licences in force in Wales at the end of 2013 was 65.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2014-07-15.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that pay day loan companies are restricted from deliberately intimidating their customers.
Andrea Leadsom
The Government has fundamentally reformed the regulation of the payday lending market. Regulatory responsibility for consumer credit transferred from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April. The FCA has transposed key parts of the OFT’s Debt Collection Guidance into binding rules, which sets out the types of business practices considered unfair and incompatible with fitness to operate.
The FCA is undertaking a thematic review into payday lenders’ debt collection practices to ensure that firms treat customers who are struggling with repayments fairly. The FCA expects to publish the final report early in 2015 which will set out what practices it has found across the market and how it expects all firms in the market to make sure they are observing the right standards of behaviour.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of times fathers have had access to their children restricted in each of the last five years for which figures are available; what the reasons were for the restrictions; and if he will make a statement.
Simon Hughes
Details of the number of times fathers have had access to their children restricted in each of the last five years and the reasons for those restrictions are not held centrally and can only be obtained by manually checking every case file at disproportionate costs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of options for increasing service frequencies on the Nottingham-Lincoln line; and what the revenue subsidy and capital cost of implications are of each such option.
Claire Perry
As stated in the Greater Lincolnshire Deal, which was part of the Local Growth Fund announcement on 7 July, the Department is committed to working with D2N2 and the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership and partners to help achieve their objective of increased service frequency between Lincoln and Nottingham via Newark.
However, this is dependent on the affordability and value for money of the services. In addition, it is dependent on the level of local funding available to support these incremental rail services for the first three years, after which the Department would consider continuing with the services as part of its base specification. We are currently assessing the available options against the criteria above, taking account of likely revenue and cost implications alongside the latest funding offer from the stakeholders.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department takes to promote the use of IT facilities in public libraries by participants in the Work Programme for job search and preparation; and if he will make a statement.
Esther McVey
Work Programme providers have flexibility to innovate and to design support that addresses the needs of individuals and the local labour market, rather than having to follow one size fits all processes. It is at the discretion of providers whether they choose to advise individuals to use any particular public facilities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the total value is of all bids made in each region to each round of the Regional Growth Fund including the Exceptional Regional Growth Fund; how much has been committed to winning bidders in each such region in each such round; and how much such funding has been drawn down.
Greg Clark
The tables below provide a breakdown of the value of Regional Growth Fund (RGF) by region and round for RGF applications; the committed allocation of RGF to projects and programmes following due diligence. This data excludes those projects and programmes that have withdrawn. The third table sets out the amount drawn down by operational RGF awards to date and the financial years in which the remaining RGF and eRGF is committed through to 31st March 2017. The data is correct as at 2nd October 2014.
Projects and programmes in Rounds 1 to 4 have until 31 March 2015 to draw down their funding and projects and programmes in Round 5 will be able to draw down funding until 31 March 2017. The Department agrees a draw down profile with each organisation when they sign their grant offer letter that matches the beneficiary’s own investment schedules and job commitments. The subsequent rate of draw down is then subject to the beneficiaries meeting the conditions.
RGF Applications (£ million)
|
Round 1 |
Round 2 |
Round 3 |
Round 4 |
Round 5 |
Exceptional |
Total |
|
|
East Midlands |
231 |
529 |
124 |
163 |
56 |
1,103 |
|
|
East of England |
115 |
131 |
61 |
50 |
43 |
400 |
|
|
London |
74 |
117 |
26 |
32 |
4 |
253 |
|
|
North East |
343 |
335 |
353 |
215 |
98 |
34 |
1,378 |
|
North West |
519 |
535 |
414 |
322 |
81 |
9 |
1,880 |
|
South East |
185 |
154 |
145 |
191 |
24 |
22 |
721 |
|
South West |
144 |
232 |
322 |
219 |
57 |
15 |
989 |
|
West Midlands |
569 |
282 |
419 |
176 |
70 |
16 |
1,532 |
|
Yorkshire and The Humber |
327 |
434 |
345 |
240 |
26 |
1,372 |
|
|
Nationwide |
215 |
315 |
565 |
282 |
241 |
1,618 |
|
|
TOTAL |
2,722 |
3,064 |
2,774 |
1,890 |
700 |
96 |
11,246 |
RGF Committed
|
Round 1 |
Round 2 |
Round 3 |
Round 4 |
Round 5 |
Exceptional |
Grand Total |
|
|
East Midlands |
2 |
64 |
27 |
35 |
20 |
0 |
148 |
|
East of England |
14 |
35 |
25 |
15 |
5 |
0 |
95 |
|
Nationwide |
175 |
95 |
176 |
50 |
107 |
0 |
602 |
|
North East |
34 |
61 |
111 |
30 |
55 |
21 |
313 |
|
North West |
20 |
182 |
105 |
86 |
20 |
5 |
418 |
|
South East |
0 |
60 |
54 |
25 |
6 |
11 |
155 |
|
South West |
4 |
71 |
82 |
13 |
22 |
5 |
197 |
|
West Midlands |
89 |
95 |
151 |
55 |
30 |
17 |
437 |
|
Yorkshire and The Humber |
47 |
78 |
93 |
40 |
27 |
0 |
285 |
|
Grand Total |
385 |
742 |
834 |
349 |
291 |
58 |
2651 |
RGF Drawn Down by year (£ million)
|
Financial Year |
2011/12 |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
2015/16 |
2016/17 |
Total |
|
Actual paid – year to date |
465 |
161 |
551 |
252* |
1,428 |
||
|
Planned for whole financial year |
1165 |
167 |
133 |
2,642 |
The difference between the totals in tables 2 and 3 arises because RGF applicants have not always claimed the full grant available to them.
*This is the actual amount paid to beneficiaries as of 2nd October 2014.