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Tag: 2015

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the rates of people being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

    Norman Lamb

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance Multiple sclerosis: management of multiple sclerosis in primary and secondary care, updated in October 2014, states that around 100,000 people in the United Kingdom have multiple sclerosis (MS). Estimates from studies on annual incidence are more uncertain, and vary between 2,500 and 6,000 newly diagnosed cases each year. About 85 out of 100 people with MS have relapsing–remitting MS (RRMS) where periods of stability (remission) are followed by episodes when there are exacerbations of symptoms (relapses). About 10 to 15 out of 100 people with MS have primary progressive MS where symptoms gradually develop and worsen over time from the start, without ever experiencing relapses and remissions.

    The guidance sets out a range of initial assessments a clinician should make including testing of vision and blood tests before referral to a consultant neurologist who can confirm or exclude a diagnosis of MS, subject to investigation. The guidance makes a range of recommendations on the pharmacological and non-pharmacological management of MS. NICE has recommended a number of drugs for the treatment of MS and is currently appraising Nerventra (laquinimod) for RRMS and ilenya (fingolimod) for primary-progressive MS. In addition over 18,000 patients have benefitted from disease-modifying treatments through the MS risk sharing scheme, established by the Department in 2002.

  • Helen Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Helen Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with (a) chief constables and (b) organisations dealing with violence against women on the training requirements for police officers when coercive control becomes a criminal offence; and if she will make a statement.

    Lynne Featherstone

    We are committed to ensuring the police and other frontline agencies have the
    tools they need to respond effectively to domestic abuse. That is why on 18
    December, the Home Secretary announced her intention to create a specific
    offence of domestic abuse.

    The offence will not come into force until frontline agencies are properly
    trained to operate it effectively. An implementation plan, which will consider
    funding issues, is currently being developed with the police and College of
    Policing. The College is working with CAADA (Co-ordinated Action Against
    Domestic Abuse) to pilot an intensive programme of training including domestic
    abuse and coercive control. An evaluation will be carried out following the
    pilot to ensure that the training will make a significant contribution to long
    term improvements to policing of domestic abuse and will be an important factor
    in driving a culture change in the police so that domestic abuse is treated as
    the serious crime that it is.

    The new offence of ‘coercive and controlling behaviour’, as well as the wider
    issue of training for police officers on domestic abuse, has been discussed
    at the National Oversight Group on domestic abuse, established and chaired by
    the Home Secretary. The purpose of the group is to implement and monitor activity
    against the recommendations coming out of HMIC’s review of domestic abuse and includes
    both Chief Constable and Third Sector representation.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many redundancies were (a) planned and (b) made in each (i) magistrates and (ii) Crown court in Lancashire in 2014.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    I refer the honourable member to the answer given on Tuesday 10th February 2015.

    http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-02-05/223567/

    “

  • Katy Clark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Katy Clark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Belfast was staffed at below risk-assessed levels in January 2015.

    Mr John Hayes

    Where there are specific issues at a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Her Majesty’s Coastguard uses the current long established pairing arrangements between MRCCs. This enables each MRCC to be connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support.

    These historic risk assessed watch level assessments at MRCCs err strongly on the side of caution. As each MRCC joins the evolving national network the number of Coastguards at any of the individual centres becomes less significant. The flexibility of the new arrangements means that it is more important to consider the number of Coastguards available on the growing network.

    Based on the risk assessment which characterised the previous model, during January 2015 Stornoway MRCC was staffed below risk assessed levels on 31 occasions out of 62 shifts, and Belfast MRCC was staffed below risk assessed levels on 25 occasions out of 62 shifts.

    Work continues on the fresh appraisal I have asked for on the relationship between the available levels of resource and need in the light of the benefit of the new structure.

  • Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many zero-hours contracts were advertised on Universal Jobmatch in each of the last 12 months.

    Esther McVey

    Information published by the Office for National Statistics suggests zero-hours contracts make up a small part of the overall labour market, accounting for about 2-4% of all people in work.

    There are a broad range of vacancies available on Universal Jobmatch, offering various types of contracts to jobseekers. Universal Jobmatch (UJ) was designed to be a self-service job posting and matching service. Before employers can access the service and start advertising job vacancies they are required to subscribe to specific Terms and Conditions. The Terms and Conditions state, that job postings must provide a full, clear and accurate job description of an actual (genuine) job or work opportunity. Further, there is also the requirement that all job postings comply to employment related legislation such as Working Time Legislation and National Minimum Wage.

    When a job is being advertised on behalf of another employer (e.g. recruitment agency or job board) a contract should be in place with the end employer. The onus is upon the employer / agency to conform to the Terms and Conditions. DWP and the UJ Service Provider work collaboratively and proactively to ensure system compliance and where an employer is identified as breaching Terms and Conditions, appropriate action is taken. If the employer continues to breach Terms and Conditions, the circumstances will be investigated and access to UJ may be withdrawn.

    Jobseekers claiming Jobseekers Allowance are not required to apply for zero-hours contract vacancies, they will not be sanctioned as a result of not applying. UC claimants who refuse to accept a zero hours contract job offer, without good reason, can be subject to a sanction. However a UC claimant will not be sanctioned for refusing to take a zero hours contract with an exclusivity clause.

    UC automatically adjusts benefit payments depending on the number of hours a person works – whatever the type of contract. Where Universal Credit claimants refuse to apply for a role, including a Zero Hours Contract role when mandated to do so or refuse to accept a job offer, they can be sanctioned. People on UC will not be required to sign up to zero hours contracts which require exclusivity, so they will always have the opportunity to gain more hours elsewhere.

    Universal Credit (UC) will substantially improve incentives to work, allowing people to keep more of the money they earn before it has any impact on the amount of UC they receive.

  • Chris Williamson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chris Williamson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Williamson on 2015-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which department has lead responsibility for international counter-narcotics policy.

    Lynne Featherstone

    The Home Office has lead responsibility for international counter-narcotics policy, working closely with a range of other departments and agencies including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the National Crime Agency and the Department for International Development.

  • Jim McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Jim McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McGovern on 2015-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to (a) tackle the gender pay gap and (b) increase the number of women in the video games industry.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Changes to the national curriculum mean all children now have the opportunity to learn to code and initiatives such as the Your Life campaign, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) Ambassadors help challenge gender stereotypes and encourage more girls to consider careers in the video games sector.

    ‪We are working with industry on developing new routes into video games development, including the Next Gen Skills Academy and Creative Skillset’s trainee placement scheme. Initiatives specifically designed to help address barriers to women working in the video games industry include the Next Gen Skills Academy’s Gender Balance Workforce programme. This is investigating career challenges faced by women in the games industry and offering practical workshops and knowledge sharing, for employees and employers, based on the evidence collected.

    ‪For women in the workforce the Government has extended the right to request flexible working to all employees, and is introducing a new system of shared parental leave from April 2015. To help women return to the sector Government will provide support for a dedicated platform to match STEM trained women graduates to return to jobs in industry following career breaks and to provide them with advice and information about support on offer.

    The Government will make free software available to all UK companies later this year which will enable them to calculate their gender pay gap easily, and help them identify issues preventing women from progressing in their career

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the potential cost of the Government’s plans to abolish the AS level qualification.

    Mr Nick Gibb

    The Government has no plans to abolish the AS qualification. The Government is decoupling the AS from the A level, and the AS will remain available as an option for students wishing to broaden their programme of A level study by taking an AS in a particular subject.

  • Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2015-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2015 to Question 222138, which organisations are involved in the process of clearing home-owners’ applications to the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism; how many applicants have been rejected during that process; and what the involvement of the Israeli government is in assessing the security risks associated with each application.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The organisations involved in the process of clearing home-owners’ applications to the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM) are the UN agencies doing the damage assessment, the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Public Works and Housing and Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Government of Israel.

    No individuals have been rejected to date, but a number of the assessments submitted require review ahead of further processing. These were mostly caused by repetition of names of individuals or where the assessments were recorded under the names of owners who are deceased for example. The GRM does not allow for the disqualification of individuals assessed for shelter repair on grounds of political association or geographic location in Gaza.

    The Government of Israel, like all participants in the mechanism, is able to object to individuals participating in the GRM.

  • Chris Leslie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Chris Leslie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to page 77 of the British Council’s Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14, what the value is of each tangible fixed asset worth more than £250,000.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The net book value of the British Council’s tangible fixed assets as at 31 March 2014 was £165,850,000. Individual valuations per asset cannot be provided as this information is commercially sensitive.