The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of benefit sanctions on mental health.
Priti Patel
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 2 November 2015 to Questions 901923, 901929 and 901937.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the cost of using external agencies for recruitment to Senior Civil Service posts in her Department in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Andrea Leadsom
The cost of SCS recruitment from 2010 to 2015 can be found in the table below. Data is taken from central finance records. Every effort has been made to exclude non SCS recruitment costs from the figures but where the grade recruited cannot be identified these figures have been included. Costs include charges provided by recruitment agencies and executive search agencies.
As part of its long-term economic plan, this Government has reduced the size of the Civil Service by 22%, adjusting for Machinery of Government changes that moved staff into and out of the Civil Service since the 2010 General Election, representing a significant increase in efficiency and productivity that helped save taxpayers £2.8 billion last year alone.
|
Year |
Cost £ |
|
2010-11 |
84,338.00 |
|
2011-12 |
267,268.90 |
|
2012-13 |
306,901.53 |
|
2013-14 |
365,847.87 |
|
2014-15 |
176,080.25 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Helic on 2015-10-28.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are any new initiatives planned to revive or replace the so-called Geneva Two process on Syria.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The UK remains committed to a sustainable political settlement that leads to a political transition in Syria, away from Assad, to a government in Damascus which better meets the needs of the Syrian people and with which we can work to defeat extremism. The Geneva Communiqué, which has been agreed by key international parties, remains a key building block of our efforts on this. On 30 October the UK, US, Russia, key Middle East states and European partners met in Vienna to take forward discussions on this. The Vienna Communiqué sets out areas of agreement and may provide the basis for a new process. The parties have agreed to reconvene within the next two weeks.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2015 to Question 16933, how many representations he has received from his (a) Iranian and (b) Russian counterpart on the threat posed by ISIS in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
Further to my answer of 23 November, we remain open to discussion with Iran and Russia on how best to deal with shared threats such as Daesh. The UK has discussed Daesh with the Presidents of both countries, as well as their Ministers and officials. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Philip Hammond) attended the talks aimed at finding a political solution to the situation in Syria held in Vienna on 30 October and 14 November, which Russia and Iran also attended.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-10-28.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to support growing small businesses that require more facilities after they leave business hubs.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
Growing small businesses can get assistance from a number of Government schemes. For example the Government set up Enterprise Zones across England to support new and expanding businesses by offering incentives such as tax relief on top of the doubling of Small Business Rates Relief which we have extended for a further year until April 2016.
There are also Catapult centres round the country – places where the very best of the UK’s businesses, scientists and engineers work together to transform ideas into products and services. They allow small businesses access to resources and equipment they may need.
Small businesses can find out more about these schemes and also obtain other advice that may help them by approaching their local Growth Hub. There are now 30 Growth Hubs across England that are bringing together local and national business support so that people can find the help they need quickly and easily.[i]
[i] http://www.lepnetwork.net/about-leps/the-network-of-leps/
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2015-11-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for disparities between clinical commissioning groups in achieving the recovery target for mental health patients who have received NHS treatment.
Alistair Burt
NHS England monitors clinical commissioning groups’ (CCGs) performance against the recovery target for people who have received psychological therapies through the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme.
The Department is working closely with NHS England to reduce the variation in recovery rates across CCG areas. Key factors that have been identified are variation in data quality, waiting times, numbers of sessions completed by patients, leadership and supervision of services and particular challenges in areas with high deprivation.
NHS England is working with good performers and is analysing data from the IAPT programme to better understand factors that impact on recovery performance.
NHS England is also supporting lowest performing IAPT providers to improve their recovery rates and is offering workshops to spread good practice to all commissioners and providers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2015-10-28.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have given any detailed consideration to requiring train operators to offer more flexible season tickets in order to protect the needs of those who work part-time or flexible hours.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We are committed to introducing part-time season tickets and the industry is making progress on delivery of more flexible tickets. Two major commuter franchises – GTR and c2c – have obligations to start offering carnet-based season tickets on smartcards. Smartcard technology will make flexible ticketing possible and provides the necessary security and revenue protection to make it attractive to both passengers and operators. Many thousands of part-time workers will benefit from these new products when they are introduced.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of provisions in place to provide psychological treatments for victims of FGM.
Jane Ellison
As part of its £3 million Female Genital Mutilation Prevention Programme, the Department is actively looking at the provision of mental health and wellbeing services for FGM survivors.
A ministerial roundtable with senior stakeholders was held on 29 October 2015 to discuss this issue. The Department is working with specialist mental health professionals and professional bodies to evidence the needs of FGM survivors, and will consider how best to support commissioners to ensure FGM survivors can access existing mental health services that are able to meet their individual needs.
The Department has also commissioned specialist FGM mental health e-learning and we are also updating existing mental health training materials to support awareness and recognition by health professionals of how FGM may impact mental health.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the extent to which community rehabilitation companies (a) tailor their services to and (b) meet the needs of female offenders.
Caroline Dinenage
During the competition to award contracts to run CRCs, the department assessed plans regarding the provision of services to meet the needs of female offenders. I have also personally met with, and received assurances from, all the CRCs owners as to the specific provision of services for women.
CRCs are currently finalising their service provision models and we continue to closely monitor that all CRCs are meeting their contractual obligations in regard to women offenders.
These reforms also ensure that, for the first time in recent history, virtually all of the 77% of female offenders serving sentences of less than 12 months in custody will receive support on release.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will clarify the definitions of careless driving and dangerous driving during his review of driving offences and penalties.
Andrew Selous
The legal meaning of careless or inconsiderate driving, and of dangerous driving, and the associated offences are set out in the Road Traffic Act 1988.
Since the announcement of the review of driving offences and penalties the Ministry of Justice has received a number of representations about the distinction between careless and dangerous driving.
It is important that all criminal justice agencies, including the police, Crown Prosecution Service and the judiciary, should explain clearly any decisions made in relation to careless or dangerous driving.