The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-24.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to publish information on the socio-economic status of appointees to the Senior Civil Service in 2015.
Matthew Hancock
To govern modern Britain, the Civil Service needs to look and sound likemodern Britain. We need access to the broadest possible pool of talent, drawing on people from all backgrounds and all parts of the country.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Leader of the House, how many civil servants in his Office are members of trades unions; how much working hours facility time is claimed by each such civil servant; and what the cost of that facility time is to his Office.
Chris Grayling
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Matt Hancock) on 4 November 2015, to Question UIN 13734.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what open data requirements apply to the BBC (a) generally and (b) to the publication of or making available licence fee payment numbers by region.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The BBC has a duty under the Charter to observe high standards of openness and transparency. The BBC is also subject to the Freedom of Information Act. The BBC has a Memorandum of Understanding in place with the Open Data Institute and the Open Knowledge Foundation to support to the BBC in its aspirations to open up data where this is appropriate.
The BBC does not collate licence fee income by region, so cannot publish this information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost of the signalling component of the Great Western Modernisation Programme at the most recent date for which figures are available.
Claire Perry
At present Network Rail’s Chair, Sir Peter Hendy, is reviewing the enhancements programme, including upgrades on the Great Western line. Due to interdependencies, renewals of signalling must be looked at in parallel with this, as part of Network Rail’s work to update its Delivery Plan. Therefore it is not possible to provide an up to date cost estimate until the conclusions of these reviews and plans are known.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-11-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times Minsters in his Department visited defence establishments in Northern Ireland in 2014.
Penny Mordaunt
There were five Ministerial visits during 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many duplicate jobs were removed from Universal Jobmatch in each of the 12 months to August 2015.
Priti Patel
The Government does not collect this information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2015-11-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the proposals to site a new reservoir at Abingdon in order to deal with projected population increases in the south east of England are still under consideration.
Rory Stewart
Thames Water has identified in its water resources management plan that new reservoir storage, such as at the Abingdon site, is one of the options it is evaluating in order to maintain a secure water supply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Naseby on 2015-10-28.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish annually a list of Alternative Investment Market companies that qualify for Inheritance Tax relief.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) do not have a list of Alternative Investment Market companies that qualify for Business Property Relief.
The claim to the relief will depend on the circumstances of each case. Shares in a company might no longer qualify for Business Property Relief if the company went into liquidation or moved to a full listing on the UK Stock Exchange after publication. Any information provided by HMRC about a company may become out of date quickly raising the risk that relief is claimed incorrectly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Frazer on 2015-11-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential savings to the public purse offered by biosimilars.
George Freeman
A biosimilar sub group of the Pharmaceutical Market Support Group is working to help the National Health Service achieve benefits from the new biosimilar molecules and to encourage uptake. This work is supported by other activity including the Hospital Pharmacy and Medicines Optimisation Project work stream of the Lord Carter NHS Productivity & Efficiency Programme and initiatives from NHS England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and manufacturers. Work has focused on identifying efficiency opportunities for specific molecules and as a result a collective assessment of potential savings to the public purse has not been compiled.
In an era of significant economic, demographic and technological challenge it is crucial that patients get the best quality outcomes from medicines. Recent research has given clear evidence that competition between different biological medicines, including biosimilar medicines, creates increased choice for patients and clinicians, and enhanced value propositions for individual medicines. As the range of biosimilar medicines increases, it is important that the NHS plans for their timely, appropriate and cost effective introduction. NHS England in its role as system leader is undertaking a programme of work to support decision makers, such as commissioners, clinicians, pharmacists, patients and others in their consideration of the optimal use of biosimilar medicines.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-10-28.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government to what extent the level of recorded crime in a police force’s area affects the amount of funding allocated under the proposed new formula for funding of police forces.
Lord Bates
The proposed police funding model is based on a set of objective indicators that correlate strongly with long term patterns of crime.
As we set out in our consultation on a proposed new funding model, we believe it is not appropriate to directly base force level allocations on crime statistics as these are directly influenced by police activity.