The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what additional funding his Department allocated to the town of Rhyl for the purpose of piloting back-to-work projects in each year since 1997.
Esther McVey
The information requested is not readilly available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Fabricant on 2014-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons NHS England has refused to proceed with the proposed new health centre for Burntwood in Staffordshire; and if he will make a statement.
Dr Daniel Poulter
NHS England is responsible for deciding on the funding given to general practitioner (GP) practices to reimburse them for their premises costs.
We are advised that capital development schemes that had not been formally approved by former primary care trust boards by 1 October 2012 have been reviewed by NHS England. This includes the Burntwood Leisure Centre development. NHS England concluded, following assessment, that the scheme did not meet the requirements for prioritisation, and it was therefore not approved. These requirements include, but not exhaustively, service continuity, affordability and value for money.It was noted that the project had not received an unequivocally clear commitment from a number of the potential occupiers of the Centre.
We understand from NHS England that discussions are ongoing regarding alternative schemes to replace the Burntwood Leisure Centre development. NHS England continues to work with the GPs and other partners.
My hon. Friend may wish to approach the NHS England Shropshire and Staffordshire Area Team for further information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2014-03-06.
To ask the Chairman of Committees how many Members of the House of Lords currently have entries under category 8 (Gifts, benefits and hospitality) of the Register of Lords’ Financial and other Interests.
Lord Sewel
As at 7 March 2014, 34 Members had entries registered under category 8.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Alexander on 2014-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that the remaining states who have not yet ratified the Arms Trade Treaty do so.
Mr William Hague
We will work to encourage states to sign and to ratify, in order to reach the 50 ratifications that are required to bring the Treaty into force. Like the negotiations on the Treaty itself, this will take time and require the considerable efforts and persistence of a broad coalition of supporters.
The UK has allocated £350,000 to support projects that will help countries to sign, ratify and implement the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). We are working through the UN and EU with countries that require technical assistance and advice on how to implement certain aspects of the Treaty e.g. enforcement training and framing legislation correctly. Other activities include raising awareness with key partners in regions such as West Africa, where communities are seriously affected by the illicit trade in Small Arms.
This year, through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s counter-proliferation programme, we will be funding a series of ATT-related projects specifically focused on ATT signature, ratification, implementation and early entry into force.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by on 2014-03-27.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the guidelines issued by the Law Society on 13 March on making wills Sharia compliant”
Lord Faulks
Sharia law has no jurisdiction in England and Wales and the Government has no intention to change this position.
The Government also has no intention of changing the fundamental principle of the law of succession in England and Wales that testators are, by making a valid will, able to leave their property to whomsoever they wish, subject only to the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.
We encourage people to make wills by providing a relatively straightforward legal framework that keeps the formalities to a minimum and enables wills to be made quickly and inexpensively; and are considering what further steps we can take to raise awareness of the importance of making a will and to make the process simpler. We provide information to help people considering making a will on government websites: see, for example, https://www.gov.uk/make-will and www.justice.gov.uk/courts/probate/why-make-a-will.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many current suitably qualified and experienced personnel positions are (a) required and (b) vacant in (i) Type 23 and (ii) Type 45 ship crews.
Anna Soubry
The information requested, as at 1 May 2014, is shown in the table:
| Required Positions | Vacant Positions | |
| Type 23 | 2,060 | 180 |
| Type 45 | 1.010 | 80 |
Note: All figures are rounded in accordance with the Defence Statistics rounding policy. All numbers over 100 are rounded to the nearest 10 with numbers ending in 5 rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid bias. Numbers under 100 are rounded to the nearest 5.
None of the existing vacancies is in a post categorised as safety critical and no ship would go to sea without the minimum required complement of suitably qualified and experienced personnel.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Dundee on 2014-03-27.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for international intervention or guidance to assist the efforts of the Plenum movement to reduce corruption and financial irregularities in Bosnia Herzegovina.
Baroness Warsi
The recent protests and work of the plenums are evidence of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) political stalemate and economic malaise. We are making clear to BiH’s leaders that the onus is on them to respond to the socio-economic grievances expressed by protesters and the plenums, most recently in the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague)’s meetings with the Presidency and the Foreign Minister on 27 and 28 March. We see an opportunity also for the international community, particularly the EU, to support reform ahead of October’s elections. This includes assistance through new initiatives on economic reform and anti-corruption announced by EU Commissioner Fule, and the EU Special Representative’s planned ‘Compact for Growth’. We support these efforts to develop and build popular support for concrete reforms in economic governance, transparency and anti-corruption.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2014-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of how many adults in (a) East Lancashire, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West exercised for at least 30 minutes a week during the most recent period for which figures are available.
Jane Ellison
The Department has made no such estimate. However, the Active People Survey commissioned by Sport England measures the proportion of adults (aged 16 and over) who undertake some form of physical activity at moderate intensity (or higher). Data from the most recent survey can be found in the following table.
Active People Survey (APS) data, 2012
Proportion of the adult population (age 16 years and over) participating in 30 or more equivalent minutes of moderate activity per week.
|
Area |
30+ minutes |
|
England |
71.5% |
|
North West Region |
68.8% |
|
Lancashire County |
69.6% |
|
Blackburn with Darwen UA |
63.1% |
|
Blackpool UA |
65.1% |
|
Burnley |
65.0% |
|
Chorley |
75.3% |
|
Fylde |
68.0% |
|
Hyndburn |
63.7% |
|
Lancaster |
74.4% |
|
Pendle |
66.1% |
|
Preston |
69.3% |
|
Ribble Valley |
74.1% |
|
Rossendale |
66.8% |
|
South Ribble |
69.5% |
|
West Lancashire |
73.3% |
|
Wyre |
65.6% |
Source: Active People Survey, Sport England
Notes:
www.noo.org.uk/data_sources/physical_activity/activepeople
www.sportengland.org/research/active_people_survey.aspx
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2014-03-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his most recent assessment is of the success of the zero carbon homes policy; and if he will make a statement.
Stephen Williams
Budget 2014 reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to implement zero carbon homes from 2016. In Growth Review 2011 we set out a fair, practical and cost effective approach to zero carbon homes. This made house builders responsible for abating the carbon from energy use from systems which they can control – heating and hot water systems and building services – not the energy use from appliances which they cannot be expected to control. We are taking forward the zero carbon homes policy through a staged approach of steadily strengthening the energy performance requirements in the Building Regulations and through the introduction of cost-effective options for off-site carbon reductions – ‘Allowable Solutions’. Under this Government the energy performance requirements for new homes, the latest of which come into force on 6 April 2014, have been strengthened by around 30% from the previous 2006 standard saving house holder’s fuel bills and cutting carbon emissions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Luff on 2014-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools have (a) merged design and technology with art and design and (b) removed design and technology from their curriculum since 2010.
Elizabeth Truss
The Department does not collect nor hold the data requested.