The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Brendan MacNeil on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many legal challenges have been made against her Department related to renewable energy policy in the last year.
Andrea Leadsom
There have been no such legal challenges in the last year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many 16 and 17 year olds presented as homeless to (a) Ashfield District Council and (b) Broxtowe Borough Council in each of the last five years.
Mr Marcus Jones
The numbers of households with dependent children (including expected children) accepted as homeless in Ashfield and Broxtowe in each of the last five years is shown in the table below. It is not possible to give precise numbers of children in accepted households.
The figure for Broxtowe for 2011/12 is less than five and has been suppressed to avoid the risk of disclosing personal information.
Data are collected on the numbers of households accepted as being in priority need as a result of the applicant being aged 16 or 17. There were less than 5 such cases in Ashfield and Broxtowe during the last five years combined.
|
Period |
Ashfield |
Broxtowe |
|
2010/11 |
15 |
6 |
|
2011/12 |
9 |
* |
|
2012/13 |
12 |
7 |
|
2013/14 |
40 |
5 |
|
2014/15 |
35 |
8 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which UK embassies have a human rights adviser on their staff.
Mr David Lidington
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) 2014 Annual Human Rights and Democracy Report stated that we have an estimated 240 full-time equivalents who work directly on human rights. That number included two contracted Human Rights Advisers within the Human Rights and Democracy Department in London, and two Human Rights Advisers at the UK Mission in Geneva. However, as the Foreign Secretary explained in his Independent article on 10 December, [http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/promoting-human-rights-is-not-about-who-can-shout-the-loudest-a6767386.html], human rights work is not just the preserve of a few specialised staff but the responsibility of all British diplomats and an important part of the training our staff receive.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether General Sir Nicholas Houghton sought permission under departmental directive 2014DIN03-024 on Contact with the media and communicating in public to discuss the Trident nuclear weapons system in advance of the recent television interview on the Andrew Marr on Sunday programme.
Michael Fallon
General Sir Nicholas Houghton sought prior clearance to be interviewed on the Andrew Marr Show on Remembrance Sunday, 8 November 2015: as with previous Remembrance Sunday appearances a number of military issues were covered.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that funding is sufficient to meet patient demand in (a) community mental healthcare and (b) inpatient mental healthcare; and if he will make a statement.
Alistair Burt
NHS England’s Planning Guidance for 2015/16, Forward View into action: planning for 2015-16, sets out the expectation that clinical commissioning groups’ (CCGs) spending on mental health services in 2015/16 should increase in real terms, and grow by at least as much as each CCG’s allocation increase to support the ambition of parity between mental and physical health. Compliance with the Planning Guidance is being assured at national and Area Team level.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of establishing a national pay scale for teaching assistants.
Nick Gibb
The government believes that decisions on the use, deployment, and pay of teaching assistants are best made in a way that reflects local needs.
Support staff rates of pay are determined by employers: in maintained schools, these will be set by the local authority; in Academies and Free Schools, these will be set by school or the Trust.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (a) what the average waiting time was for checks by the Disclosure and Barring Service to be completed and (b) how long on average the Police National Computer search took in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12, (iii) 2012-13, (iv) 2013-14, (v) 2014-15 and (vi) 2015-16 to date.
Karen Bradley
The following table shows, for each year from November 2010 to October 2015, both the average end-to-end turnaround time for Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificates and the average time to complete the Police National Computer (PNC) stage.
The PNC stage has been defined as the time spent in DBS between receipt of an application and – in the case of Enhanced Disclosures – its despatch to local police forces; or – in the case of Standard Disclosures – its assembly for return to the applicant. During this period, DBS conducts a search of the Police National Computer, followed by internal checks to ensure both the accuracy and quality of certificates.
|
Time Period |
Average End to End Turnaround (days) |
Average PNC Stage Turnaround (days) |
|
Nov-10 to Oct-11 |
16.22 |
1.72 |
|
Nov-11 to Oct-12 |
10.85 |
2.25 |
|
Nov-12 to Oct-13 |
10.23 |
1.54 |
|
Nov-13 to Oct-14 |
13.63 |
2.42 |
|
Nov-14 to Oct-15 |
14.28 |
2.86 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 2 November 2015 to Question 13044, what assessment she has made of reasons for the delays in constructing reactors in China as requested in that question.
Andrea Leadsom
Whilst being a minority partner in the Taishan project, EDF expect Taishan to start generating power before the EPR at Flamanville in France, which EDF have estimated will be by the end of 2018.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which prisons he intends to close; and what consultation is taking place or is planned to take place on those closures.
Andrew Selous
No decisions have yet been made on which prisons will be closed. After the announcement of a closure, the Ministry of Justice will work actively with stakeholders to ensure that we manage the local impact of a prison closure.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made on implementing those aspects of the Floods and Water Management Act 2010 applicable to smaller reservoirs.
Rory Stewart
In February 2015, Defra announced it had decided not to make further changes to the inspection regime for smaller reservoirs because, at that time, the evidence base would not support such changes.
However, we are exploring potential further research which could provide additional evidence on the level of risk posed by smaller reservoirs.