The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the sexual health commissioning toolkit will be published.
Jane Ellison
Public Health England plans to publish “Making it work: a guide to whole system commissioning for sexual and reproductive health and HIV” by the end of July 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Baker on 2014-03-31.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the efficiency and consistency with which the Permitted Paid Engagements scheme has been applied to musicians, composers and artists visting the UK.
James Brokenshire
The Permitted Paid Engagement (PPE) Visitor route was introduced in 2012 for
professionals carrying out paid engagements in the UK for up to one month. It
extends to musicians, composers and artists.
Feedback received from businesses and arts organisations shows that this route
is working as intended and offers greater flexibility for professionals
undertaking paid engagements. We work closely with operational colleagues and
regularly seek feedback from partners to ensure the route is working as
intended.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ruffley on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many drink-driving offences were recorded in (a) Bury St Edmunds, (b) Suffolk and (c) England and Wales in each of the last five years; and how many successful prosecutions for such offences there have been.
Norman Baker
Drink driving is a summary offence, and not a notifiable offence. The Home Office only collects data on notifiable offences.
The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty at all courts for offences relating to drink driving, in England and Wales from 2009 to 2013 can be viewed in Table 1. The same data for Suffolk can be viewed in Table 2. This data is held by the Ministry of Justice.
Data is not available below Police Force Area level, and so data for Bury St Edmunds cannot be provided.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-03-31.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners being held in prisons in England and Wales are serving sentences passed in jurisdictions outside England and Wales.
Jeremy Wright
As at 31 December 2013, 231 prisoners held in prisons in England and Wales were serving sentences imposed in jurisdictions outside England and Wales. This includes 125 who were convicted overseas, for example in Thailand, Panama and Venezuela, and 106 who were convicted in another UK jurisdiction or the Islands (Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle Man).
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what (a) unilateral, (b) bilateral and (c) multilateral projects her Department is sponsoring in Kashmir.
Mr Alan Duncan
UK aid to Kashmir is largely delivered through national programmes in Pakistan and India which the UK helps fund. This includes support to promote economic growth, improve maternal and new born health and increase access to education. The tri-departmental Conflict Pool also funds joint programmes in Kashmir, supporting conflict prevention and peace building.
It is not possible to disaggregate our multilateral support to Kashmir.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-03-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Rhondda of 27 March 2014, Official Report, column 347W, on housing benefit: social rented sector, if he will commission a one year evaluation of the effects of the under-occupancy penalty.
Esther McVey
We have already commissioned a two year evaluation of the effects of the removal of the spare room subsidy across Great Britain. The evaluation commenced in April 2013 and is being led by Ipsos-MORI and includes the Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research. The final report will be published in late 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will re-open HMP Wellingborough to increase prison capacity.
Jeremy Wright
As this Government has made previously clear, we will not take any steps to dispose of the mothballed HM Prison Wellingborough because it is sensible measure to retain reserve capacity. I have no immediate plans to change that status.
My office will be in touch to arrange a meeting to further discuss this matter further.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Bradshaw on 2014-03-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information (a) his Department and (b) HM Tribunals Service hold on the socio-economic status of people (i) prosecuted and convicted for television licence evasion and (ii) imprisoned for non-payment of a fine for television licence evasion.
Jeremy Wright
No published information is available. The information in the table is taken from a live case management system. As such, it is subject to change and is not checked to the level of Official Statistics. No information is available in respect of socio-economic status of those prosecuted or convicted or imprisoned for non-payment of a fine in respect of television licence evasion. The Government has said that it will examine whether television licence evasion should be decriminalised.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps she is taking to support the progress of the First World War legacy project in Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement.
Mrs Theresa Villiers
The Northern Ireland Office sits on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport Programme Board for First World War Centenary Commemorations and plays a coordination role in ensuring the Government’s programme for the First World War commemorations is implemented in Northern Ireland in a manner that promotes reconciliation and enhances prospects for a peaceful, shared future. This includes plans to implement the Government’s commemorative paving stones project in the hometowns of Victoria Cross recipients.
I am working closely with the Irish Government to participate in a series of joint commemoration events for the centenary of the First World War, and the wider decade of centenaries.
My officials also provide support for local centenary commemoration plans by sitting on, and working closely with, the Northern Ireland First World War Centenary Committee chaired by the Rt hon Jeffrey Donaldson MP. I receive regular updates on this work and lend it my full support.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2014-03-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made made of the accuracy of the ONS index of rental prices; and what recent assessment he has of the changes in the cost of private renting in Slough since 2010.
Kris Hopkins
The Office for National Statistics responded quickly to the need for better data by developing the quarterly Index of Private Housing Rental Prices, first published in June 2013 and dating back to January 2005 for England.
Currently the Office for National Statistics is consulting users of the index to identify improvements. The index is produced with a robust methodology, which is published and is based on extensive administrative data on rental values including both on-going and newly agreed tenancy agreements. Once the methodology is further tested and assessed, and the publication meets user needs, the Index of Private Housing Rental Prices will be assessed against the Code of Practice to achieve National Statistic status.
The index is available for Great Britain and its constituent countries; however it is not available at local authority district level. According to most recent figures the average cost of privately renting housing in England increased by 1.0 per cent in the 12 months to December 2013 – a fall in real terms.