Tag: 2015

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department’s publication, Mandatory Programmes official statistics: May 2011 to August 2015, published on 25 November 2015, how many people who joined the Mandatory Work Activity scheme during this period subsequently completed a work placement in full.

    Priti Patel

    Mandatory Work Activity is a supportive programme designed to help claimants who need extra support from a short work placement to re-focus their job search activity and gain further experience of work. Unemployed Jobseekers Allowance or Universal Credit claimants are referred for up to 4 weeks work experience and will participate on the placement for up to 30 hours a week.

    The number of referrals and starts is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/pre-work-programme-and-get-britain-working.

    An impact assessment of Mandatory Work Activity was published in 2012 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mandatory-work-activity–2) which considered referrals to the programme in the period May to July 2012. An evaluation of Mandatory Work Activity also published in 2012 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-mandatory-work-activity-rr823) which included a telephone survey of participants who had been referred to and started an Mandatory Work Allowance placement.

    The evaluation and impact assessment were conducted in 2012 and does not cover the period of the Official Statistics from May 2011 to August 2015.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Pakistani counterpart on the persecution of Christians in that country.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We remain concerned about the persecution of religious and other minorities in Pakistan, including Christians. In August, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) raised religious freedom and human rights with Interior Minister Nisar. In June, I conveyed our concern about minorities in Pakistan to the Pakistani High Commissioner to the UK.

    We will continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to meet its international obligations to uphold the human rights of all its citizens. Our concerns about minorities in Pakistan are documented in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office annual Human Rights Report.

  • Kirsten  Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many automatic payments of partial winter fuel payment have been made in each of the last three years; and how many of those payments have been converted to full payments following an application by the recipient.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information requested is not available.

  • Nusrat Ghani – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nusrat Ghani – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nusrat Ghani on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the (a) implications for his policies of the recent decision by the European Court of Justice on travel from home to work and (b) potential effect of that decision on the application of the Working Time Directive to care and support workers.

    Ben Gummer

    The Government is carefully considering the implications of the decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which was published on the 10 September 2015. The ruling passed into United Kingdom law on the date it was published.

    Employers are responsible for ensuring that service rotas are designed and staffed appropriately and are in accordance with the Working Time Regulations and findings made by the CJEU.

  • Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-12-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will call for the release or charging of Can Dündar and Erdem Gul of CNN Turk, arrested in connection with alleged offences in May; and whether they are making representations to the government of Turkey about the recent arrests of seven teachers and three others connected with Gülen schools in Manisa province.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We continue to monitor specific cases and regularly underline the importance of freedom of expression and all fundamental freedoms as part of our broader dialogue with the Turkish government. Our Ambassador to Turkey highlighted his concerns about the number of journalists detained in Turkey, including Mr Dündar and Mr Gül, in his public blog released on International Human Rights day. We welcomed the EU Commission’s Annual Progress Report on Turkey, released on 10 November, which highlighted the need for further reforms from Turkey in these and other areas. Freedom of expression must be respected and all media outlets must be allowed to report freely without intimidation.

  • Emma Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Emma Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons the sexual health component of the proposed public health funding formula does not use indicators relating to sexually transmitted infection rates.

    Jane Ellison

    The publication Public health grant: proposed target allocation formula for 2016/17, an engagement of behalf of the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA) proposed a component for sexual health treatment services using data derived from rates of sexually transmitted infections diagnosed in 2013. ACRA is currently considering the responses before providing its final advice to Ministers.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2015-12-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel about data revealing that seven per cent of Jerusalem building permits go to Palestinian neighbourhoods.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We frequently bring up the issue of the lack of building permits issued to Palestinians and the challenges this causes to the Palestinians. Most recently, on 24 November our Deputy Head of Mission in Tel Aviv raised the issue with Israel’s Head of Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories.

  • Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Poulter on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much NHS England spent per head on mental health in each year since 2008.

    George Freeman

    NHS England was formed in April 2013.

    The table below shows actual expenditure by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) on mental health in 2013/14 and 2014/15 and forecast spend in 2015/16. This does not include spending on mental health services directly commissioned by NHS England.

    Total actual expenditure by on mental health by CCGs across all providers for 2013/14 and 2014/15 and the total forecast expenditure for 2015/16

    2013/14 actual spend (£ billion million)

    2014/15 actual spend (£ billionmillion)

    2015/16 forecast spend (£ billion million)

    9.6

    10.1

    10.6

    Source: NHS England

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-12-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend, before the Scottish general election, to table a debate in the House of Commons on the decision to build the Vanguard-class replacement.

    Earl Howe

    Her Majesty’s Government has confirmed it will hold a debate in Parliament on the principle of Continuous at Sea Deterrence and our plans for the Successor submarine. A decision on when it will be held will be taken in due course.

  • Andrew Tyrie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Tyrie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Tyrie on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on whether there are any police investigations into the involvement of the (a) UK intelligence and security agencies and (b) Government in the alleged rendition and torture of detainees.

    Mr John Hayes

    There are a number of ongoing police investigations in respect of allegations regarding HMG involvement in mistreatment of detainees held by other countries in the aftermath of 9/11. The details of these are a matter for the respective investigating police forces.

    In respect of information already in the public domain on specific investigations, I would direct my Rt Hon Friend to the joint Crown Prosecution Service/Metropolitan Police Service statement that was made on 12 January 2012. The full statement can be found here: http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/joint_statement_by_the_director_of_public_prosecutions_and_the_metropolitan_police_service/