The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what his Department’s training budget was in each of the last three financial years.
David Mundell
The Scotland Office’s training budget in each of the last three financial years is shown below:
|
11/12 |
12/13 |
13/14 |
|
|
Budget |
£10,000 |
£10,000 |
£10,000 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what targets his Department has is place for processing customer claims for (a) income support, (b) jobseeker’s allowance, (c) employment and support allowance and (d) universal credit.
Esther McVey
The Department currently uses a suite of measures to track and manage the timeliness of processing for the range of benefits it administers. These measures are supported by business information systems and used to help manage and improve performance. Going forward, the Department plans to retain these measurements for working age benefits and is developing a processing time measure for Universal Credit along similar lines.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department’s training budget was in each of the last three financial years.
Esther McVey
The Department does not allocate a specific budget for training.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rooker on 2015-02-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many civil servants working in the diet and nutrition fields were transferred from the Food Standards Agency to the Department of Health following the machinery of government changes in July 2010; and how many remain working in the same fields at present.
Earl Howe
53 civil servants working in the diet and nutrition fields were transferred from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to the Department in 2010. Of these, seven currently work on diet and nutrition in the Department. There was a second machinery of Government change in April 2013, at which time 23 of those who transferred to the Department from the FSA then transferred to Public Health England.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-02-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve child safety, in the light of the levels of sexual coercion reported by teenage girls in England compared to other European countries.
Lord Nash
The findings on the levels of sexual coercion reported by teenage girls in England published by the University of Central Lancashire are part of a collaborative research project involving five European countries – Norway, Italy, Bulgaria, Cyprus and England. Protection from abuse is a fundamental right for all children and the Government continues to work to improve child safety.
Our recent key actions include:
Commissioning the PSHE Association to produce guidance for teachers on teaching about consent, which will be published shortly. The statutory sex and relationships education (SRE) guidance also makes clear that young people should be taught about how the law applies to sexual relationships and be taught positive values and a moral framework to guide their decisions, judgements and behaviour.
Revising statutory safeguarding guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2013 and Keeping Children Safe in Education (April 2014), to provide clear frameworks for professionals and for schools to take action to protect children from abuse. These updated versions will be published shortly.
To help children stay safe online, we have also put online safety on the curriculum, published advice for parents on keeping young people safe from cyberbullying, and announced £500,000 extra funding in December 2014 to the UK Safer Internet Centre to provide guidance and training for schools. The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Command of the National Crime Agency has developed a specific educational resource to tackle ‘sexting’, which is designed for use by teachers.
We are committed to improving the child protection system and are working with local leaders and professionals on a radical programme of reform, including improving social worker training and children’s services. The overall aim of this work is to bring about long-term change to help vulnerable children.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Mosley on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to assist people affected by the Ebola outbbreak.
Mr Mark Francois
The Ministry of Defence supports the Department for International Development led effort in Sierra Leone. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Defence, has just returned from Sierra Leone where he has seen for himself the great work being undertaken by the Ministry of Defence to assist those affected by the outbreak.
We have deployed around 1,200 personnel over the last six months which represents our largest current overseas deployment and the second largest contribution to the fight against Ebola after the US.
We have overseen the construction of six Treatment Centres to deliver specialist care to Ebola patients, one of which – Kerrytown – includes a specialist unit staffed and managed by UK military personnel; we have constructed an Ebola Training Academy and trained over 4,000 local nationals in a variety of Ebola related roles; we have deployed the extremely capable RFA ARGUS and its three Merlin helicopters to increase our logistical capability; and we have engaged widely with our international partners to ensure the response in West Africa is – as it should be – a global effort.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2015-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he held with the National Federation of SubPostmasters on the abolition of road tax discs.
Jo Swinson
The abolition of vehicle tax discs is a matter for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has not held any discussions with the National Federation of SubPostmasters specifically on the subject of vehicle tax.
Ministers meet the National Federation of SubPostmasters regularly to discuss a range of issues relating to the Post Office network. The dates of these meetings are available on the gov.uk website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2015-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, for what reasons spending data for his Department for most months of 2014 has been published later than such data for the previous three years.
Kris Hopkins
My Department is more transparent than other parts of Whitehall, as we publish all spending over £250 and every item spent on Government Procurement Cards. This can result in slightly longer lead times to check and publish the data compared to other departments, but we believe that this enhanced transparency is in the public interest.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2015-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much NDA Properties Limited receive in income from its land and property holdings in each of the last five years.
Matthew Hancock
NDA Properties Limited received from its land and property holdings income of £6.402m in 2009-10, £6.234m in 2010-11, £6.107m in 2011-12, £5.589m in 2012-13 and £6.115m in 2013-14.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Garnier on 2015-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what consideration he gave to owners and other beneficiaries of intellectual property rights relating to tobacco products in deciding to bring forward legislative proposals for standardised packaging.
Jane Ellison
The Government has given careful consideration to all of the wider aspects that relate to standardised packaging of tobacco, including intellectual property rights.
The Government has also published an impact assessment, assessing the costs and benefits of the policy. This can be found at:
“