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Tag: 2015

  • Gavin Shuker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Gavin Shuker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Shuker on 2015-09-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps the Government is taking to tackle low pay in Northern Ireland.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    Tackling low pay is part of the Government’s plan to move to a higher wage, lower tax and lower welfare society.

    100,000 low-paid people in Northern Ireland, 13 per cent of the workforce, will directly benefit from the National Living Wage from April next year.

    A full-time worker on the current National Minimum Wage will be £1,200 better off as a result.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gregory Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-09-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, on how many occasions prosecutions have resulted from visits by HM Revenue and Customs’ officials to sites in Northern Ireland where illegal fuel laundering had occurred in the last three years.

    Damian Hinds

    HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) does not break down statistics for oils prosecutions to separate out those resulting from visits by officers to laundering sites.

  • Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether funding allocated to local authorities for resettling Syrian refugees will be ring-fenced for that purpose.

    Richard Harrington

    The first 12 months of a refugee’s resettlement costs are fully funded by central government using the overseas aid budget. To ensure that local authorities can plan ahead and continue to respond to the overwhelmingly generous response of the British people, we will also provide additional funding to assist with costs incurred after year one.

    We will be working closely with local government to develop the process for drawing down the funding, including to those councils offering help under the scheme.

  • Andrew Griffiths – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Griffiths – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Griffiths on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of white British pupils eligible for free school meals achieved five A* to C grades at GCSE, including English and mathematics, (a) in each local authority area and (b) at each school in each of the last five years.

    Nick Gibb

    The information is not held in the format requested.

    The Department for Education publishes information at regional and local authority level on the proportion of white boys eligible for free school meals. This information, along with information on the proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals, can be found in tables 3 and 5 of the “GCSE and equivalent attainment by pupil characteristics: 2014”, available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gcse-and-equivalent-attainment-by-pupil-characteristics-2014

    “

  • Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate she has made of the annual cost to British businesses of the EU’s pollution directive.

    Rory Stewart

    There are a number of EU directives covering a wide range of pollution issues. This answer refers to the Industrial Emissions Directive (2010/75/EU), which was transposed into law in England and Wales in February 2013. The Directive requires operators in a range of industrial sectors to comply with certain standards to ensure the reduction of emissions from their activities.

    Prior to transposition of the Directive, our impact assessment estimated that the annual regulatory and compliance costs for the main affected sectors would be £105m for operators of large combustion plants and £0 – £15m for a range of other installations in the waste treatment and wood treatment sectors.

    The impact assessment estimated that the annual human health benefits due to a reduction in emissions of nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and particulate matter from large combustion plants alone would be £188m. Other benefits for human health and the environment were also expected to arise from other pollutants that could not be monetised.

  • Holly Lynch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Holly Lynch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Prime Minister’s comments on the PFI scheme at Calderdale Royal Hospital, reported in the Halifax Courier on 21 April 2015, what steps he is taking to restructure that PFI scheme.

    Alistair Burt

    This is a matter for Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, which operates Calderdale Royal Hospital.

  • Sue Hayman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sue Hayman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sue Hayman on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether refugees offered a home in Britain will be vetted before entry.

    Richard Harrington

    The operation of the UK’s resettlement schemes, including the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Scheme, involves the UNHCR submitting potential cases for our consideration. The cases are then screened and considered by the Home Office for suitability for entry to the UK: we retain the right to reject individuals on security, war crimes or other grounds.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the reasons were for which each care order was granted to a local authority in England and Wales in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013, (e) 2014 and (f) January to March 2015.

    Caroline Dinenage

    This information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Lord Rogan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Rogan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rogan on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether current staffing levels of HM Prison Service meet the standard complement.

    Lord Faulks

    Staffing levels have been reviewed prison by prison as part of a ‘benchmarking approach’. Benchmark staffing requirements for each establishment have been agreed with the unions and the NAO has commented that the wider strategy for the prison estate is the most coherent and comprehensive for many years. It delivers efficiencies while ensuring that public sector prisons operate safely, decently and securely Benchmarking optimises the skills of staff by introducing new ways of working and puts all prison officers in prisoner facing role.

    Benchmark staffing levels have been agreed in 85 public sector prisons. Amongst prison officers, the shortfall of staff in post against benchmarks for these establishments at 30 September 2014 was 4%.

    Staffing levels have improved, but there remains a geographical variation and detached duty has been used to manage temporary shortages in particular locations. Such measures are always needed in such a large, widely spread organisation.

    In addition HM Prison Service Reserve, consisting of former prison officers, has been established to support capacity changes and unplanned shortfalls in officer numbers.

    The Prison Service has been returning to large scale recruitment levels as the period of closures and benchmarking has been coming to an end. As well as prison officers, we are also recruiting Operational Support Grades (uniformed staff who undertake a wide range of security based work) and instructors (who manage prisoners in workshop activities and training).

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the amount of musculoskeletal training in the general practitioner curriculum, whether they will they publish a workforce development strategy for healthcare professionals, including general practitioners and specialist practitioners in musculoskeletal disorders.

    Earl Howe

    The content and standard of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), which is an independent statutory body. It has the general function of promoting high standards of education and co-ordinating all stages of education to ensure that medical students and newly qualified doctors are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for professional practice.

    Health Education England (HEE) will work with bodies that set curricula such as the GMC and the Royal College of General Practitioners to seek to ensure general practice training meets the needs of patients.

    In addition, HEE has established an independent Primary Care Workforce Commission which is chaired by Professor Martin Roland of the University of Cambridge. The Commission will identify models of primary care that will meet the needs of the future National Health Service including greater emphasis on community, primary and integrated services. It will focus on patient and population need; emerging models of care to respond to the population need; and maximising new skill sets and education and training.