The below Parliamentary question was asked by Aidan Burley on 2014-04-09.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions officials in his Department have had with their EU counterparts on (a) VAT rates on e-books, digital magazines and newspapers and (b) application of reduced rates; and if he will make a statement.
Mr David Gauke
Officials discuss a variety of VAT issues with the European Commission and the officials of other Member States.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2014-06-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many registered nurses were made redundant by each NHS health trust in England in 2013.
Dr Daniel Poulter
The number (Headcount basis) of Qualified Nursing Staff made redundant, from National Health Service trusts, during 2013 is estimated in the attached table.
In November 2013 there was a record full time equivalent number of qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff in the NHS of 312,900.
The 489 redundancies represent just 0.14 % of the total Qualified Nursing workforce in Hospitals and Community Health Services.
The data used in this reply has been extracted from the Electronic Staff Record (ESR) Data Warehouse which is a monthly snap shot of the live ESR system. This is the Human Resources and payroll system that covers all NHS employees other than those working in General Practice, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and organisations to which functions have been transferred, such as local authorities. ESR was fully rolled out across the NHS in April 2008. The ESR data used in this response is not centrally validated and its reliability is subject to local coding practice.
Redundancies are identified as those individuals with a reason for leaving of either voluntary or compulsory redundancy. Only those individuals coded as Qualified Nurses, Midwives or Health Visitors are included in the figures. Only redundancies from NHS Trusts are included in these figures, it is possible that Qualified Nurses were also made redundant from other NHS bodies.
ESR reports based on the current organisation structure. This means that if organisations merged during 2013 it is possible that redundancies from, now defunct, organisations are recorded as being from the newly created organisation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-04-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on the safety of the Armenian community in Kessab.
Hugh Robertson
We remain deeply concerned about the safety of Armenians and members of all other minority groups in Syria. We believe that the majority of Kessab’s inhabitants, including most of the ethnic Armenian population, left the town because of fighting in the area. Our understanding is that they have mainly joined other Armenian communities in Syria and neighbouring countries. They join the more than 9 million Syrians of all faiths and ethnicities who have been driven from their homes by the ongoing conflict.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-06-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she expects to respond to the recommendations of the Report by the Joint Committee on the Draft Modern Slavery Bill by the time of Second Reading of that Bill.
Karen Bradley
The Government’s response to the report from the Joint Committee on the draft
Modern Slavery Bill was published on 10 June 2014. Copies of the report are
available in the House Library.
The response was also published on the Gov.UK website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/draft-modern-slavery-bill–2
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2014-04-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are currently auto-enrolled in the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST); and what the mean monthly contribution paid in by members of NEST is.
Steve Webb
The National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) announced on 1 April 2014 that they have over a million members.
The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold information about the level or amount of member contributions to NEST.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Burns on 2014-06-17.
To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, what the criteria were for the choice of members of the panel of selection to consider the appointment of the next Clerk of the House and Chief Executive; and who selected those members.
John Thurso
The selection panel that will consider the appointment of the next Clerk of the House was chosen by Mr Speaker and its composition was considered by the House of Commons Commission at its meeting on 16 June. The criteria for selection of panel members included party balance, gender balance and the need for external independent input.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann McKechin on 2014-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department has taken to improve levels of customer service in UK businesses.
Jenny Willott
Well-functioning, competitive markets encourage growth by creating incentives for firms to become more efficient and innovative to compete for customers including through better service quality. Markets can only be fully competitive if consumers are active and confident, meaning that they are willing to challenge firms to provide a better deal, switch between suppliers, and take up new products.
That is why this Government has undertaken the most fundamental reform to the competition and consumer landscape in decades to make the UK’s already world class market framework fit for the future. That has included establishing a new Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), streamlining the landscape of Government-funded consumer organisations to put Citizen’s Advice at its centre, and overhauling the UK framework of consumer rights through the Consumer Rights Bill.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-06-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many non-disclosure or compromise agreements have been included in the departure packages of former employees of probation trusts since 1 January 2014.
Jeremy Wright
There have been no non-disclosure or compromise agreements included as part of the departure packages of the Trust Chief Executives who have taken early retirement. The terms of departure for other former Trust staff were agreed through their own local arrangements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2014-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage local authorities to improve mobile signal coverage in rural areas by permitting use of their land for mobile network base stations.
Nick Boles
Local authorities have an active role to play in mobile network deployment by assisting operators to find suitable land and structures. This is set out in the “Code of Best Practice on Mobile Network Development in England”, facilitated by Government, signed by operators, local authorities and other interested parties which was issued in July 2013. It is available at:
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Duddridge on 2014-06-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations he has received about deaths of young people in traffic accidents; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The number of young people being killed on our roads is far too high and we are determined to tackle this issue. It is an issue which, understandably, features prominently in the range of representations which we receive about road safety generally.
As part of our consideration of the way forward, we met the insurance industry on 27 January 2014 to discuss novice drivers and, in particular, our proposed research into the role which telematics can play in changing the behaviours and attitudes of new drivers. My officials regularly talk to the insurance industry and current discussions are aimed at encouraging participation in the research project before we can get it underway. We will publish the results of the research when they are available.
We will also publish the findings of the focus groups comprising parents, young people and employers which we undertook in order to get a better understanding of the issues from their perspective.