The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-09-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2015 to Question 10000, whether the milestone set in autumn 2014 of reaching 100,000 universal credit claims by May 2015 was achieved; and if he will make a statement.
Priti Patel
The Universal Credit programme has hit, or is on target to achieve, all of the milestones the Secretary of State set out in Autumn 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2015-09-16.
To ask the Attorney General, what steps his Department is taking to improve public understanding of the legal framework applicable to social media.
Jeremy Wright
Judging by the number of referrals from members of the public to my office there is clearly some awareness of the legal framework applicable to social media but I have sought to increase this awareness by, for example, issuing online warnings on social media, including Twitter, in appropriate cases.
In relation to the commission of criminal offences by social media users, the Crown Prosecution Service has also issued detailed guidelines to prosecutors on handling cases involving communications sent via social media.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2015-09-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the national living wage on social care providers.
Alistair Burt
The impact of the new National Living Wage on local authority finances will be considered during the Spending Review as part of an overall assessment of spending pressures on local authorities.
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 restricted to one year.
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.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2015-09-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans the Government has to review the school funding formula to ensure fair funding for schools in rural areas.
Mr Sam Gyimah
We are committed to making schools funding fairer and will come forward with our proposals for this in due course. These will include proposals about how to ensure that schools in rural areas are funded fairly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2015-09-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports his Department has received of al Shabaab’s activities in the lower Shabelle region of Somalia.
Grant Shapps
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office receives a wide range of reporting on Somalia from our Embassy in Mogadishu and other actors on the ground, including the United Nations and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the media and other open sources. Reporting shows that Al Shabaab continues vigorously to contest the lower Shabelle region. Recent Al Shabaab activities have included the re-occupation of Janaale and Kurtenwarey (alongside the continuing occupation of Jilib) following tactical AMISOM withdrawals from these smaller, more isolated positions in order to consolidate forces and focus offensive efforts elsewhere. These attacks and Al Shabaab’s ability to conduct asymmetric attacks elsewhere in the country – targeting the Federal Government of Somalia, Somali security forces, AMISOM and members of the international community – highlight the significant threat that it continues to pose to Somalia’s security.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-09-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations he has received from charities and patients’ groups on the future of the Cancer Drugs Fund; and if he will make a statement.
George Freeman
The Department has received a number of representations on this issue from a wide range of interested parties including hon. Members, noble Lords, patient representative groups and charities, the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare professionals.
This Government is committed to continuing to invest in the Cancer Drugs Fund which has helped over 72,000 people in England to receive the life-extending cancer drugs that would not otherwise have been routinely available to them.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2015-09-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she will provide the information on the police formula requested by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands; and how the exemplifications described in Annex A of her Department’s letter of 15 September 2015 will affect that force.
Mr John Hayes
The consultation on police funding arrangements closed on 15 September and the responses are being analysed. The Government will consider these responses carefully to determine what changes, if any, are required. We will continue to engage with policing partners during this process and intend to provide information, including exemplifications of future allocations, as these develop. At this stage final force-level allocations have not been set and will not be determined until we have completed our analysis.
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 each application made by local authorities in England and Wales for emergency protection orders 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.
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).