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Tag: 2015

  • Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will ensure that at least 1,000 Syrian children are brought to settle in the UK before Christmas 2015.

    Richard Harrington

    Scaling up the system in a way that protects the interests of all concerned, including local communities, will take a little bit of time. It will take several months to reach full capacity. However, on 19 October, I set out our intention to welcome 1,000 Syrian refugees (adults and children) before Christmas. This is the ambition that the Home Office are working towards and we will report on it after Christmas.

    We are not expecting the refugees arriving in the first months of the scheme to include unaccompanied children.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that automotive manufacturers have not falsified emissions data in the same manner as Volkswagen has done.

    Andrew Jones

    In the UK, the Vehicle Certification Agency conducts tests on vehicles and components to ensure they meet the minimum standards required by European and UN-ECE legislation.

    Emissions tests are carried out to determine that the level of pollutants emitted from a vehicle is below the required limits. The test is a laboratory based test under controlled conditions in order to achieve repeatable results.

    The Department for Transport recognises the current test cycle for emissions is outdated and no longer represents normal driving patterns. Discussions have taken place over recent years to replace this with an updated more relevant laboratory test. The Department anticipates this will be implemented from 2017. In addition, a new real world driving emissions test is being implemented to ensure emissions in normal driving comply with the legal obligation. These new tests will remove the ability of car manufacturers to falsify test results.

    All new vehicles are tested in accordance with EU law to ensure that they meet the legislated requirements for emissions. There is no evidence that these emissions tests have been falsified in the UK.

  • Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length of time is that pensioners currently in receipt of the Support for Mortgage Interest scheme have been claiming that benefit.

    Justin Tomlinson

    A reliable estimate is not available. Consistent data on SMI claims has only been collected since 1996 and durations of claims starting before then cannot be calculated.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-10-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what provisions are in place to support and promote the mental wellbeing of the NHS workforce.

    Ben Gummer

    Employers across the National Health Service are responsible for the mental health and wellbeing of their staff.

    The Department commissions NHS Employers to help trusts improve staff mental health and wellbeing through advice, guidance and good practice[1].

    In addition, trusts have access to local data from the NHS Staff Survey, the staff Friends and Family test as well as local information to help them develop and implement local improvement plans.

    The recent launch of the How are you feeling NHS?[2] Toolkit by NHS Employers is aimed at enabling staff to talk more openly about their emotional health, improving the assessment of the impact emotional wellbeing has on staff and patients and enabling action planning to improve staff emotional health and wellbeing. Since it launched on 29 July it has had more than 16,000 views.

    [1] http://www.nhsemployers.org/search-results?q=supporting+staff+who+are+experiencing+mental+health+issues

    [2] http://www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/retain-and-improve/staff-experience/health-work-and-wellbeing/protecting-staff-and-preventing-ill-health/how-are-you-feeling-nhs-toolkit

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were accepted onto the Metropolitan Police National Fast Track Programme in the last 12 months; and how many such people did not subsequently pass the vetting procedure and therefore did not take up their places on the programme.

    Mike Penning

    The College of Policing delivers the fast track and direct entry programmes. According to its data, seven external officers and 25 internal officers started the fast track programme with the Metropolitan Police in September. There were 1,952 applicants for the 2015 external fast track programme, of which 421 were to the Metropolitan Police. The public need to have confidence that police officers have been subject to extensive vetting before they join, and it is for individual forces to make decisions on recruitment.

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andrew Stephenson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2015-10-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2015 to Question 8612, on female offenders, if he will publish the updated membership and terms of reference of the Advisory Board on Female Offenders.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Terms of Reference for the Advisory Board on Female Offenders and its updated membership are set out below.

    Board members have considerable understanding of and expertise in addressing factors underlying women’s offending, including domestic abuse, and will take full account of these as the Board takes forward its programme of work.

  • Zac Goldsmith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Zac Goldsmith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2015-10-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the potential (a) direct and (b) indirect costs to the public purse of the proposed expansion of Heathrow airport.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government is currently considering the large amount of very detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report before taking any decisions on next steps.

    The Government will carefully consider all the evidence set out, including that on noise, air quality and costs, when making a decision on additional runway capacity.

  • Mark Spencer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Mark Spencer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Spencer on 2015-10-12.

    To ask the Attorney General, what steps he is taking to develop a greater level of public understanding of the legal framework for social media.

    Jeremy Wright

    While there is clearly some awareness of the legal framework applicable to social media, I nevertheless publish warnings online reminding people of their responsibilities, where appropriate. My office also on occasions sends tweets, warning social media users of the risks of being in contempt.

    As far as the criminal law is concerned, the Crown Prosecution Service has issued detailed guidelines on prosecuting cases involving communications sent via social media.

  • Christian Matheson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Christian Matheson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with which trade associations he has met since his appointment.

    Joseph Johnson

    Details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations are published up to 31 March 2015 and can be accessed on Gov.uk at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=Ministers&publication.

    Further publications of Ministerial meetings will be published in due course across Government in the usual way.

    “

  • Stephen McPartland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Stephen McPartland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the proposal in paragraph 1.154 of the Autumn Statement 2014 to introduce income contingent loans for postgraduate taught Master’s students, what progress the Government has made on introducing that policy.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government has consulted on the proposal for an income contingent loan of up to £10,000 for Postgraduate Taught Master’s students.

    We are analysing responses to the consultation and expect to publish a response in the autumn.