The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Royal Air Force armourers have died from leukaemia in each of the last five years.
Anna Soubry
From 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2013 (the last full year for which data is available), no RAF Armourer personnel have died as a result of leukaemia.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Andy Slaughter on 2014-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Sure Start centres have fewer staff now than in May 2010.
Elizabeth Truss
Local authorities are responsible for, and retain the flexibility for, children’s centres provision in their area. They have a statutory duty to consult if any changes are planned and to ensure there is a sufficient number of children’s centres to meet the needs of their local communities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people had eye tinnitus in the latest period figures are available.
Dr Daniel Poulter
This data is not collected.
We understand the term ‘eye tinnitus’ stems from a recent study which claims to have identified this new condition in a set of patients previously diagnosed as suffering from migraines or other neurological disorders.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Halfon on 2014-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the punctuality levels of train services between Harlow Town train station and London Liverpool Street station have been over the last 10 years.
Stephen Hammond
The Department does not hold such information to the level required. We do not routinely measure punctuality (or any other performance measure) by individual line or route; it is the franchise as a whole we measure.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Attorney General, if he will deposit in the Library data gathered by Crown Prosecution Service Business Area of prosecutions and convictions for (a) rape-flagged offences, (b) domestic violence, (c) child abuse and (d) human trafficking for each year since 2008.
Oliver Heald
The requested data has been deposited in the Library of the House together with explanatory notes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2014-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to expand the languages curriculum to encompass Urdu.
Elizabeth Truss
Schools are already able to choose which modern foreign languages they teach, and these can include Urdu. The new programme of study for languages, to be taught in maintained schools from September 2014, makes clear that learning a foreign language should provide an opening to other cultures, foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to strengthen food surveillance and the analytical capability of local authorities to pre-empt potential food fraud in the last 12 months.
Jane Ellison
The main role for the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in combatting food fraud is to provide assistance and resources to United Kingdom local authorities (LAs) food fraud related investigations through the provision of financial support, expert advice and training. The FSA continues to develop its capability in relation to food fraud, working closely with other Government Departments, LAs and industry to detect and deter food fraud.
The FSA provides additional funding on an annual basis to UK Enforcement Authorities for sampling and surveillance of food to help ensure risk-based targeted checks at ports and inland. Food authenticity and food adulteration issues have been prioritised in consultation with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Department of Health.
In 2013-14, the FSA made available £1.6 million to LAs and ports plus an additional £700,000 specifically for authenticity issues including: meat speciation and fish speciation by DNA testing; added water in chicken; authenticity of durum wheat; and authenticity of basmati rice.
Over the last 12 months, FSA and DEFRA have worked with the Authenticity Steering Group to address and prioritise analytical method development for the Food Authenticity Research Programme. Current activities include knowledge transfer sessions, which have been joint-funded by FSA and DEFRA, to enhance the range of analytical methods available to support LA enforcement activity. For example, a knowledge transfer event took place for Public Analysts on DNA extraction processes in early 2014 with a further two planned for later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2014, Official Report, column 638W, on the work capability assessment, if he will make it his policy to collect such information in future.
Mike Penning
To provide the requested information would incur disproportionate cost
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations he has received from train operating companies on the performance of the Operational Research Computerised Allocation of Tickets to Services system and the effect on the future sharing of ticket revenue of changes in numbers of passenger journeys from and to stations on the London Midland line.
Stephen Hammond
The Department for Transport have received no recent representations from train operating companies on the performance of the Operational Research Computerised Allocation of Tickets to Services system, nor regarding the future sharing of ticket revenue from passenger journeys from and to stations on the London Midland line.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Barry Sheerman on 2014-03-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2014, Official Report, column 816W, on community schools, how many maintained schools his Department believes to be underperforming.
David Laws
Of the 4,125 maintained mainstream secondary schools, 154 were classified as underperforming in the 2012/13 academic year. Of the 15,351 maintained mainstream primary schools, 767 were classified as underperforming in the 2012/13 academic year.