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Tag: 2014

  • Pete Wishart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Pete Wishart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pete Wishart on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many pregnant women in Scotland are in receipt of section 4 support under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; how many such women were moved to different accommodation during pregnancy; how many weeks pregnant each such woman was when she was moved; what the reason for each such move was; and if a risk assessment of each such move was undertaken which included input from a treating clinician.

    James Brokenshire

    The information requested is not routinely collected and could only be provided
    by examining individual case records, which would result in disproportionate
    cost.

  • David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will introduce exit checks to apply to non-scheduled international travel by air, sea and rail services.

    James Brokenshire

    Exit Checks were abolished by the Labour Government in 1998. The
    Coalition Agreement committed this Government to reinstate them. By April
    2015, comprehensive exit checks will apply on scheduled, commercial air, sea
    and rail routes.

    We are also working with operators in the General Aviation and General Maritime
    sectors to strengthen border security checks on those who leave the UK on
    non-scheduled services.

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Written Statement of 17 March 2014, Official Report, columns 53-4WS, on the Higgins Review, who is undertaking the review of connections between HS2 and the Continent announced in that Statement; and when he expects the review to be completed.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Secretary of State has asked HS2 Ltd and Network Rail to consider how to improve connections between the rail network and the continent, in a way that could be implemented once the initial stages of HS2 are complete. The report will explore options that will stand the test of time and will be completed before the end of next year. The remit of the work is being considered and will be finalised shortly.

  • Andrew Love – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Andrew Love – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Love on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the five most common causes of infant mortality have been over the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Gloria De Piero – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Gloria De Piero – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the total number of (a) private, (b) public and (c) third sector jobs in (a) Ashfield constituency, (ii) Nottinghamshire and (iii) the East Midlands in each of the last five years.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of local authorities in England and Wales have plans in place for tackling potential child sexual exploitation.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The independent report of the Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCC)’s Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) in gangs and groups, published on 26 November 2013, found that 98% of Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards (LSCBs) in England considered CSE to be a strategic priority and that 57% of LSCBs had agreed a joint CSE strategy with their partner agencies.[1] These figures were taken from evidence gathered by the OCC in early 2013. The OCC are planning to review the position later this year. Current statutory guidance on CSE says that LSCBs should ensure that specific local procedures are in place covering the sexual exploitation of children and young people and that the needs of the children affected are considered when local services are planned and commissioned.[2] LSCBs should set up a sub-group, reporting to the Board, to drive progress on CSE. The guidance does not place a requirement on LSCBs to develop a CSE strategy, but this has come to be regarded as best practice. It does, however, say:

    ‘Sexual exploitation should be covered in local needs assessments and, where it is a significant issue, the LSCB should help ensure it is regarded as a priority’.

    More recently, the Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation Action Plan, published by the Department for Education in November 2011, set out actions to help LSCBs to prioritise CSE, including to ‘develop an effective local strategy ensuring there is a co-ordinated multi-agency response to child sexual exploitation, based on a robust, thorough risk assessment of the extent and nature of CSE locally’.[3]

    The Department for Education is not responsible for child protection in Wales.

    [1] If only someone had listened – final report of the Office of the Children’s Commissioner’s Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Gangs and Groups, http://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/content/publications/content_743

    [2]https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/278849/Safeguarding_Children_and_Young_People_from_Sexual_Exploitation.pdf

    [3]https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-child-sexual-exploitation-action-plan

    “

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on which occasions performance points were accrued by private prisons in 2013-14; for what reason the points were accrued; and what financial penalties were attached in each case.

    Jeremy Wright

    On the question of what financial penalties have been levied against those running private prisons in each year since 2010-11, I refer the Rt.Honourable Member to the response sent to him in November of 2013, under PQ 165769, which can be found on Hansard under the reference 4 Dec 2013 Column 705W.

    The data presented in table 1 below is based on total number of performance points accrued for the relevant periods. This does not take into account credit points awarded to Contractors and offset against total performance points for the period. Financial remedies are only applicable when performance point baseline targets are exceeded for the period.

    Please note, data relating to the 4th quarter of 2013/14 is pending approval and not available for release at this time. Data for the following prisons are also not available and awaiting verification and validation by the parties:

    • HMP Birmingham
    • HMP Doncaster
    • HMP Dovegate
    • HMP Forest Bank
    • HMP Oakwood
    • HMP Thameside

    This information will be available later in the year.

    It is important to note that performance points are essentially about operational efficiency, and at no point has public safety been at risk. There are no significant historical trends in the attached figures and it is fair to say that privately managed prisons achieve the majority of their contractual targets with proportionately low levels of performance points and financial remedies applied as a result. The data for each contract is closely monitored by MoJ staff and any emerging or sustained performance failures are discussed in detail with the relevant Contractor in order to rectify performance shortfalls as quickly as possible.

  • John Randall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    John Randall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Randall on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will take steps to ensure that assets of human traffickers are frozen within 48 hours of their arrest; and if he will make a statement.

    Karen Bradley

    The Serious and Organised Crime Strategy, published in October 2013, sets out
    how the Government will make it harder for criminals to use, hide and move the
    proceeds of crime. The Government will, as soon as parliamentary time allows,
    seek to amend the Proceeds of Crime Act to enable assets to be frozen more
    quickly and easily.

    Section 60B of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 allows for relevant land vehicle,
    ship or aircraft to be detained where a person has been arrested for a human
    trafficking offence. These powers will be brought forward and consolidated
    into the Modern Slavery Bill.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent discussions on climate change he has had with his counterpart in the Northern Ireland Executive.

    Gregory Barker

    My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not had any recent discussions with ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive on climate change.

  • John Leech – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    John Leech – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Leech on 2014-05-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many full-time equivalent staff were employed to work on cancer policy in his Department in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14.

    Jane Ellison

    The number of full-time equivalent staff (FTE) in the Department working on cancer policy for each of the past three years has been presented in the following table:

    Year

    FTE staff

    2010-11

    18.3

    2011-12

    17.1

    2012-13

    16.7

    2013-14

    3.5

    Other Departmental staff work on related issues, such as cancer prevention, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance and the Cancer Drugs Fund. From 1 April 2013, NHS England (rather than the Department) has been responsible for delivering improvements in all cancer services, with Public Health England (PHE) responsible for aspects of cancer screening, immunisation, prevention and symptom awareness.

    To reflect new structures, a number of posts were created in NHS England and PHE, taking on some of the responsibilities of the previous Departmental Cancer Policy team.