Tag: 2015

  • Mary Glindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mary Glindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Glindon on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the value was of child maintenance payments made to receiving parents under each scheme and each type of payment arrangement in each year since 2010.

    Priti Patel

    Information on the value of payments made to receiving parents, on the 2012 scheme, or Parents with Care under the 1993/2003 Schemes are included in the Client Fund Accounts. Previous publications can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/child-maintenance-client-funds-accounts

    The Client Funds Account 2014/15 is planned for publication by the end of 2015.

  • Bill Esterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Bill Esterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an estimate of the number of (a) cats and (b) dogs killed by accidental ingestion of poisonous antifreeze in each of the last five years.

    George Eustice

    We have no estimates of the numbers of cats or dogs killed by antifreeze.

    However there are periodically reported cases where antifreeze may have contributed to the death of pet animals. This issue was most recently debated in Parliament on the 2 December 2014.

    www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmhansrd/cm141202/halltext/141202h0002.htm#14120263000003

  • Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information she holds on the likely publication date for the independent review of Yarl’s Wood, commissioned by Serco.

    James Brokenshire

    Serco intend to publish the main findings of the report by the end of the year.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the incidence of (a) CRE and (b) other superbugs which are persistent to antibiotics.

    Jane Ellison

    The Government has already taken significant action to address carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae and other organisms that are resistant to antibiotics.

    The UK 5 Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy set out key steps for tackling organisms that are resistant to a range of antibiotics. As part of our strategy to reduce the incidence of such infections, we have tightened the regulatory aspects in England by revising the Health and Social Care Act Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections in July 2015. The revised Code strengthens links and references to antimicrobial resistance within primary and secondary care. Furthermore, the NHS Standard Contract published in March 2015 included amendments to require compliance with the Code of Practice. This enables regulators such as the Care Quality Commission to look at compliance with the Code within its inspection programme.

    At the same time, we have ensured that a range of guidance and tool kits have been produced to support healthcare staff to manage carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae and other resistant bacteria. Public Health England has published updated standards in June 2015 covering additional training on infection and control, which includes a carbapenemese-resistant Enterobacteriaceae toolkit for the non-acute and community sector.

    In terms of surveillance of carbapenemase-resistant organisms, Public Health England has rolled out the second generation surveillance system for the reporting of notifiable infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance in December 2014. It has also developed an electronic system for reporting carbapenemase-producing organisms, to allow demographic and clinical risk information to be captured and analysed.

  • Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-11-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to encourage the growth of stakeholder banks within the UK.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government has taken significant steps to support stakeholder banks. We more commonly refer to stakeholder banks as mutually-owned financial service firms such as credit unions, building societies and mutual savings banks.

    The Government has encouraged the growth of the credit union sector by increasing the maximum interest rate that credit unions can charge on loans from 2% to 3% per month; investing £38m in the sector through the Department of Work and Pensions’ (DWP) Credit Union Expansion Project; ensuring that universal credit and pensions payments can be paid into any credit union account; and launching a Call for Evidence which allowed all credit unions, regardless of size or influence, the opportunity to contribute their vision for the future of the sector to the wider debate.

    This Government has supported the building societies sector through a number of initiatives including: carving out building societies from the Independent Commission on Banking’s ring-fencing regulations; extending ISA eligibility to Core Capital Deferred Shares; allowing building societies to create floating charges for the first time; and applying a £25m sector-specific allowance to carried-forward losses for Corporation Tax.

    The Airdrie Savings Bank is the only remaining example of a mutual savings bank in the UK. At the Summer Budget the government announced that savings banks established under the Savings Bank (Scotland) Act 1819 will benefit from the same £25m carried-forward loss allowance for Corporation Tax as the building society sector. This will be backdated to 1 April 2015 and is being actioned through the Finance Bill 2015.

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Type (a) 45 Destroyers and (b) 23 Frigates will be used to host training programmes for Royal Navy personnel in 2015-16.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Training programmes for Royal Navy personnel are delivered on all Royal Navy ships and submarines as part of the unit’s generation and operation cycles, throughout individuals’ careers. We currently have six Type 45 Destroyers and 13 Type 23 Frigates in service.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to promote joint work between special needs assessors and disability advisers within universities on ensuring that appropriate support is given and provision made for disabled students and for students with dyslexia.

    Joseph Johnson

    Higher education institutions are responsible for meeting their legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010, including for students with dyslexia.

    The legal duty to provide reasonable adjustments applies to all disabled students. In addition Disabled Students Allowances (DSAs) are available where the needs of the student cannot be met by the institution by way of such a reasonable adjustment. A consultation on DSAs closed on 24 September and the Government response will be published in due course.

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department’s expenditure was on the Single Persons Accommodation Centre for the Ex-Services in each year since 2010.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Single Persons Accommodation Centre for the Ex-Services (SPACES) is a charitable project working in partnership with Ministry of Defence (MOD) Joint Service Housing Advice Office. There have not been any MOD employees at SPACES since 2010.

    SPACES assists the most vulnerable single Service Leavers to secure appropriate accommodation as they leave the Armed Forces in order to reduce the likelihood of them becoming homeless or rough sleepers. In order to ensure the provision of this service, the MOD has paid SPACES the following:

    FY2010-11 = £170,750

    FY2011-12 = £175,019

    FY2012-13 = £179,394

    FY2013-14 = £179,394

    FY2014-15 = £179,394

  • Tim Farron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tim Farron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-11-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) employees and (b) companies have participated in the shares for rights scheme under section 31 of the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013.

    Mr David Gauke

    The information requested is not available.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much the UK contributed to the European Defence Agency (EDA) during 2014-15; and what the benefit is to the armed forces of membership of the EDA which they do not receive from NATO membership.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    The UK contribution to the European Defence Agency (EDA) budget for Financial Year 2014-2015 was £3.319 million. The UK has held the budget at zero nominal growth since 2010.

    A recent review by Cranfield University of the UK’s EDA membership found it enables the UK to influence coherent capability development across Member States; 22 of which are also in NATO. Specific benefits include membership of the EDA Military Airworthiness Authorisation Forum, the Helicopter Training Programmes, and the Single European Sky initiative, which support interoperability through harmonisation of military airworthiness regulations across Member States, and de-risk future combined operations.

    The Review also identified benefits to UK Defence industry: the ability to influence European Defence industry initiatives, enabling UK Defence industry access to EDA programmes and the building of confidence of cross border procurement, all of which help contribute to reducing the cost of Defence capability and thus the delivery of the most effective capabilities to UK Armed Forces.