The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what attacks have been made against the Government Gateway system to date.
Matthew Hancock
For security reasons we do not comment on specific details of unsuccessful cyber security attacks.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle disability hate crime.
Karen Bradley
The Government takes all forms of hate crime very seriously. Crime that is motivated by hostility or hatred towards the victim is particularly corrosive and can have devastating consequences for victims and their families. We are committed to working with communities in order to keep them safe.
We have announced that we will publish a new hate crime action plan next year. This will include a number of actions aimed at reducing the number of hate crimes committed against disabled people, and also improving the response to these crimes when they occur.
I, and other ministers, attended a roundtable on disability hate crime in October. This gave me the opportunity to speak to a range of people, including representatives of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, researchers and service users. A key part of our action plan will include understanding the issues behind hate crime, and this was an important first step towards this. Officials are taking forward actions from this meeting.
The Government is currently speaking to a number of organisations and individuals to inform the next steps in developing this action plan. This includes work with the Fulfilling Potential Forum, which is led by the Office for Disability Issues within DWP and is made up of around 40 disability charities, including disabled people’s user led organisations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has made to ensure that the homelessness prevention grant is being used effectively.
Mr Marcus Jones
We have made available over £500 million to local authorities and the voluntary sector to tackle homelessness and since 2010 this has helped local authorities to prevent 935,800 households from becoming homeless.
Since 2010, local councils have had more flexibility over how they spend the money they receive from central government.
The allocation of Homeless Prevention Grant has developed over many years to take account of different kinds of pressures, including rough sleeping and statutory homelessness. We supported the establishment of the National Practitioner Support Service’s ‘Gold Standard’ programme to help improve the effectiveness of local authority homelessness prevention services.
Decisions on funding beyond 2015/2016 will be subject to the forthcoming spending review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicola Blackwood on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much of 10 Downing Street’s funding allocated in the Spending Review 2015 will be for research and development expenditure up to 2020.
Matthew Hancock
The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
Following settlement of the Cabinet Office Spending Review last week, the allocation of funds to individual workstreams, including for research and development, is underway as part of the department’s business planning process to be completed in the coming months.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment the Government made of the risks associated with the deployment of Royal Navy personnel on active duty in the Seychelles.
Penny Mordaunt
Prior to any Port visit the Royal Navy reviews the latest Government threat assessment for that country and takes appropriate action to mitigate any risks to its personnel. This is as true for the Seychelles as any other location. Before personnel go ashore they are briefed about any risks they may face and they are advised on any appropriate personal security measures.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency on (a) that agency’s staff survey results and (b) recent industrial action affecting that agency; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Initial discussions on the 2015 People Survey results for the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) have taken place in senior management fora. Further discussions are planned, including within existing DVSA governance arrangements.
The Department for Transport officials have been working closely with the management side at DVSA to try to resolve the industrial dispute, and to help ensure that the disruption to public services is kept to a minimum. The Permanent Secretary for Transport has written twice to the unions since the dispute began urging them to suspend their action and return to discussions with DVSA management.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help achieve a 100 per cent legal and sustainable timber trade in the UK by 2020.
Rory Stewart
Defra is committed to tackling the trade in illegal timber. We implemented the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), which makes it an offence to place illegally logged timber on the EU market for the first time, and the EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Regulation, which aims to combat illegal logging and improve the supply of legal timber to the EU. The EU FLEGT Regulation establishes Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) between the EU and timber producing countries. Once VPAs have been agreed, timber producing countries will issue exports with a ‘FLEGT licence’ which verifies the timber’s legality.
The Government’s Timber Procurement Policy also requires Government Departments, Executive Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies to procure timber and timber products that are both legal and sustainable.
Domestic forests provide about 20% of the UK’s timber needs. They are managed in accordance with the UK Forestry Standard, the reference standard for sustainable forest management in the UK. Moreover, about 85% of UK timber production is independently certified, providing additional assurances of sustainability. We are strongly supportive of initiatives such as Grown in Britain, which create new sustainably managed woodland to increase the supply of British timber destined for use by local people and businesses. Timber and wood products labelled with the Grown in Britain logo are from trees and forests assured as compliant with the UK Forestry Standard.
I welcome the fact that UK companies and other bodies are making similar commitments to trade in both legal and sustainable timber by signing up to WWF’s Forest Campaign.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Gray on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the reductions in housing benefit announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 on claimants who receive housing benefit for housing that has been purpose-built for disabled people.
Justin Tomlinson
This policy was introduced because in some areas the increases in social rents have outstripped the increases in private rents.
This policy will cap social sector rents at the relevant Local Housing Allowance rate for the area, but will only apply from April 2018 where a new tenancy is taken out or a tenancy is renewed after April 2016. By only applying the cap when a new tenancy is taken on or an existing tenancy is renewed will mean that claimants will have the opportunity to consider whether they can afford to take on the property before committing to the tenancy.
The Discretionary Housing Payment scheme will be available for those living in accommodation that has been purpose built or significantly adapted to meet the needs of a disabled person, in the same way as it is for those who receive a reduction in their eligible rent for the removal of the spare room subsidy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philippa Whitford on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much NHS England spent on agency nurses in each of the last three years.
Alistair Burt
The information that has been requested is not recorded centrally by the Department of Health or NHS England.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to (a) enforce the European Commission Interpretative Notice, C2015 7834 final, on the indication of origin of goods from territories occupied by Israel since June 1967 and (b) ensure that penalties for mis-labeling of such products are effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
George Eustice
The principal feature of the Interpretative Notice is a recommendation that goods imported into the EU which originate from Israeli settlements in the territories occupied by Israel since 1967 should bear an indication which makes that provenance clear. That recommendation was included in technical advice to UK retailers and importers concerning labelling agricultural produce from the West Bank that was issued by Defra in 2009. We are currently in discussion with other Departments to consider whether revisions need to be made to the 2009 advice in the light of the Interpretative Notice. As regards sanctions and penalties for mis-labelling, these are dealt with in various pieces of legislation depending on the goods concerned.