The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what his Department’s training budget was in each of the last three financial years.
Alun Cairns
The Wales Office budget for training over the last three financial years is set out below:
|
Financial Year |
Training Spend (£) |
|
2012-13 |
25,000 |
|
2013-14 |
25,000 |
|
2014-15 |
20,000 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tessa Munt on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many recipients of UK state pension reside in metropolitan France.
Steve Webb
Information on the number of recipients of UK state pension residing in France, and of those how many are in the French Overseas Departments, is available at: http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/sp/cccountry/cnage/a_carate_r_cccountry_c_cnage_may14.html
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Stern on 2015-02-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken in response to the report of HM Inspectorate of Prisons on HMP Nottingham in respect of its conclusion that levels of violence, including assaults on prisoners and staff, were very high.
Lord Faulks
The National Offender Management Service has taken immediate action to improve the situation. An experienced temporary Governor was urgently appointed to bring stability and to implement rapid improvements. Subsequently, a new permanent Governor was appointed on 1 February 2015. A review of the staffing levels needed to complete the improvement work required has led to additional staff resources being deployed to the prison. There have been fewer incidents of serious assaults on prisoners and staff, concerted indiscipline and incidents at height since the inspection and there has been a marked improvement in the overall operational stability of the establishment. As with all inspection reports, NOMS will now produce an action plan in response to the recommendations.
Improvements in staffing levels have allowed an increase in the amount of time that prisoners can participate in recreational activities, such as using the gymnasium. It has also enabled prisoners to undertake more educational workshops to enhance employability skills. .
Since the Inspection, HMP Nottingham’s Violence Reduction (VR) Policy has been rewritten and implemented and, in line with the national NOMS VR Policy, requires staff to challenge all forms of violence and apply appropriate sanctions. Additional resources have been allocated to monitoring and managing violence reduction and safer custody. Use of the Independent Adjudicator and/or referral to the Police for consideration of prosecution for violent incidents has increased dramatically. HMP Nottingham continues to challenge all forms of violence and actively promotes a zero tolerance to it. The prison is forging stronger links with the local Police and Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that, where appropriate, prisoners involved in violence are prosecuted.
The operational capacity of HMP Nottingham was reduced, at the time of the inspection, from 1100 to 1060. There are now regular bedding and clothing checks. This helps to recover items that have been stockpiled by prisoners, to ensure fair allocation of clean clothing and bedding. Additional clothes and bedding have also been issued.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2015-02-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the current sickness rates for practitioners in the National Probation Service; and what were the rates for 2013 and 2014.
Lord Faulks
Information on sickness absence rates among National Probation Service (NPS) staff for the period 1 June – 30 September 2014 was published on 17 November in a Management Information Release. The annualised rate of absence for this period in the NPS was 10.6 working days lost per staff year. Information for the whole of 2014-15 will be published in the Management Information Addendum to the National Offender Management Service Annual Report 2014-15.
Information on sickness absence rates in the former Probation Trusts is published annually in the Management Information Addendum to the National Offender Management Service Annual Report. The sickness absence rate for Probation Trusts for April 2013 to March 2014, published on 30 July 2014 was 9.8 working days lost per person.
The NPS statistics are not directly comparable to the annual Probation Trust data, as they relate to different timescales.
We take the health and wellbeing of probation staff extremely seriously and have worked closely with the NPS to support staff. We recognise this has been a challenging time for them and they can be extremely proud of how they have maintained standards throughout the transition period.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-02-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest assessment of the human rights situation in Burma.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Burma remains a human rights Country of Concern for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and features in the FCO’s annual Human Rights and Democracy report. A copy of the latest quarterly update to that report on Burma is attached, which highlights the humanitarian situation in Rakhine, continuing conflict and sexual violence in Kachin, political prisoners and restrictions on freedom of expression.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2015-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether it is his policy that the Ordnance Survey will remain the only official national mapping agency for the UK.
Matthew Hancock
As a Government-owned Company, Ordnance Survey will continue to publish and deliver a public task, and as such will continue to be the national mapping agency of Great Britain.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-02-11.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the total annual economic contribution of the Scotch whisky industry to the economy.
Priti Patel
A report produced by the Scotch Whiskey Association in January 2015 outlines that the industry contributes £5bn to total UK GDP and directly and indirectly supports 43,000 jobs in the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the press notice issued by the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine on its website on 9 February 2015, whether the proposed Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and Ukrainian governments will entail the UK Government guaranteeing any possible assistance in the pursuit of Ukrainian independence.
Michael Fallon
The Memorandum of Understanding, once signed, will provide a framework for our defence engagement with Ukraine.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Farrelly on 2015-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish the full reports by KPMG he commissioned into the health economies of (a) Staffordshire, (b) Eastern Cheshire, (c) South West London, (d) North East London, (e) Cumbria, (f) Mid Essex, (g) Cambridge and Peterborough, (h) Leicestershire, (i) Northamptonshire, (j) East Sussex and (k) Devon.
Jane Ellison
As part of NHS England, NHS Trust Development Authority (TDA) and Monitor’s joint project to support 11 challenged local health economies develop clinically and financially sustainable five-year strategic plans, four consultancy firms (including KPMG) were commissioned to support the local areas with the development and strengthening of their plans.
Reports were provided by the consultants to support the project’s Programme Board, consisting of NHS England, TDA and Monitor, to manage the contracts and ensure that the service specification was being met.
Work is ongoing based on the contents of these reports and there are a number of steps that have to be undertaken in each of the local health economies before these reports can be released: the production of the five-year strategic plan, consideration of the plan, consultation on possible reforms to the health economy, recommendations for possible reforms following consultation, and implementation of recommendations.
To release the reports ahead of the steps identified above being completed would be likely to prejudice their outcome. The timescales for the above processes will be different in each of the 11 areas and, as the strategic plans are produced, they are made available from the relevant clinical commissioning group websites through their board papers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Randall on 2015-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many of the 449 potential victims of trafficking from Albania referred to in the National Crime Agency’s National Referral Mechanism Statistics 2014 have received a (a) positive Reasonable Grounds decision, (b) positive Conclusive Grounds decision, (c) negative Reasonable Grounds decision and (d) negative Conclusive Grounds decision on their immigration status; and if she will make a statement.
Karen Bradley
As of 2 January 2015, of the 449 potential victims of trafficking from Albania
referred to in the National Crime Agency’s 2014 National Referral Mechanism
Statistics:
a) 406 have received a positive Reasonable Grounds decision;
b) 35 have received a positive Conclusive Grounds decision;
c) 23 have received a negative Reasonable Grounds decision; and
d) 86 have received a negative Conclusive Grounds decision.
The NRM decision is independent of the decision on an individual’s immigration
status.
This information is taken from data used in the UK Human Trafficking Centre’s
Statistical and Trend Update: October to December 2014, which was published on
23 February 2015. The next quarterly report is due to be published in May.
Some of the outstanding cases in the data from 2 January have since been
completed. Where cases are outstanding this may be because UKVI are waiting for
information from third parties, such as the police or support providers.
Individuals will continue to receive Government-funded specialist support and
accommodation until their case is concluded.