The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what meetings he has had with homecare providers to discuss how to improve recruitment and retention rates in the care sector.
Alistair Burt
I have responsibility for adult social care. I regularly meet with homecare providers to discuss a range of topics including improving recruitment and retention rates in the care sector.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) assess and (b) help improve security at Sharm el-Sheikh airport; and what assessment he has made of the incidence of corruption amongst staff at the airport.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
As Department for Transport (DfT) leads on aviation security, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is helping to ensure that they are able to work closely with Egyptian counterparts to address security at Sharm el Sheikh airport. A team of DfT aviation security experts travelled to Sharm el Shaikh on 4 November to assess security at the airport and ensure measures were in place to enable travellers to return safely to the UK. The FCO is also working with DfT and Egyptian counterparts to put in place a plan to ensure measures in place at Sharm el Sheikh are sustainable. The investigation into the cause of the aircrash is ongoing.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people from Pakistan applied for asylum under the detained fast-track procedure for reasons of religious persecution and discrimination in each of the last three years.
James Brokenshire
The basis of an individual’s asylum claim is not recorded on Home Office systems. It is not therefore possible to differentiate Pakistani applicants claiming for reasons of religious persecution and discrimination from Pakistani applicants claiming for one or more other reasons in the Detained Fast Track (DFT) or the non-detained process.
Certification under section 94 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 is not requested by an applicant. It is applied by the Secretary of State in circumstances where the applicant’s claim is refused and considered to be so lacking in merit as to be clearly unfounded.
The number of initial certified refusals for Pakistan main asylum applicants, from year ending September 2013 to year ending September 2015, was 604. The Home Office publishes data on asylum applications and decisions on a quarterly and annual basis. The information supplied on certified refusals is based on initial decisions which do not necessarily relate to applications made in the same period.
No assessment has been made of any difference that might exist between grant rates in respect of Pakistani applicants in the DFT process when it operated, and cases entering the non-detained process at the same time. However, as the DFT process avoided claims involving particular complexity and/or vulnerability, and prioritised cases which appeared to be late or opportunistic, it is to be expected that the DFT would have fewer grants than the non-detained process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to (a) increase awareness of autism and (b) ensure that diagnosis times are improved.
Alistair Burt
The Department issued new statutory guidance in March this year for local authorities and National Health Service organisations to support the continued implementation of the 2010 Autism Strategy, as refreshed by its 2014 Think Autism update. This sets out what people seeking an autism diagnosis can expect from Local Authorities and NHS bodies.
The Department has also discussed with NHS England the difficulties that people on the autistic spectrum can have in getting an appropriate diagnosis in a timely manner. With support from the Department, NHS England and the Association of Directors of Social Services will undertake a series of visits to clinical commissioning groups to discuss good practice in meeting the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard 51 Autism, and those that do not, with the aim of supporting more consistent provision. These NICE guidelines already recommend that there should be a maximum of three months between a referral and a first appointment for a diagnostic assessment for autism. We expect the NHS to be working towards meeting the recommendations.
We are aware that Northumberland continues to make significant progress in improving access to services. A child will wait no longer between initial referral and treatment than 12 weeks and the majority are seen within nine weeks. Northumberland has also invested in adult autism diagnosis services and has an agreed programme with Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust designed to deliver the NICE guidelines for adults by September 2016. Urgent cases are seen earlier and those on waiting lists, whose needs escalate, are given access to services as required. There is also a newly developed emotional health and wellbeing strategy for children and young people in Northumberland which will aim seek to identify children with autism at an earlier age and ultimately provide earlier treatment.
NHS England is promoting the engagement services with children and young people. All children, young people and adults, including those with autism or a learning disability, who are receiving care from the NHS, should have the opportunity to provide feedback via the Friends and Family Test. There should also be consideration given to capturing the views of parents and carers. In addition, the autism statutory guidance mentioned above states that NHS bodies and NHS foundation trusts should look at people’s experiences of the autism diagnostic process locally and assure themselves that this is acceptable.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the administrative costs was of implementing and enforcing the criminal courts charge; and what the projected cost of administering that charge is in each of the next three years.
Mr Shailesh Vara
The costs of the criminal courts charge implementation project were £534,760.
The cost of enforcing the criminal courts charge cannot be separated from the total cost of enforcing all types of court ordered financial impositions. No additional resources have been allocated to the National Compliance and Enforcement Service within HMCTS specifically as a result of the criminal courts charge.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the public purse received in reimbursement from each EEA country for healthcare provided to their citizens for each year from 1997-98 to 2014-15.
Alistair Burt
Regarding non-European Economic Area (EEA) countries, including those with reciprocal healthcare agreements with the United Kingdom, we can confirm that no reimbursements are made from the public purse in respect of healthcare provided to UK citizens.
For non-EEA countries without a reciprocal agreement in place with the UK, it would be for the individual to pay for any healthcare needed and for that reason appropriate travel and medical insurance is highly advisable. Similarly, for those non-EEA countries with whom the UK does have a reciprocal healthcare agreement, no money changes hands between the parties to the agreement. The basis of these agreements is reciprocity – that is, necessary healthcare is provided in most cases free of charge to the visitor and the associated costs are absorbed by either side.
The information requested on the amount received in reimbursement from EEA countries in only available for the country totals of cash payment for 2007-08 to 2014-15. That information is provided in attached table. We do not hold totals for amounts before 2007-08, as the information is hot held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Kawczynski on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the increased passenger growth due to the introduction of the direct train service between Shrewsbury and London.
Claire Perry
Since the introduction of the new direct services to Shrewsbury in December 2014, there has been an additional 30,000 journeys on the route year on year on the flows of Shrewsbury, Wellington and Telford to and from London. The new services themselves also provide an enhanced level of service between Shropshire and the West Midlands.
In terms of journey growth figures for each station, they are as follows:
|
Flow |
Growth % |
|
London – Shrewsbury |
23 |
|
London – Wellington |
25 |
|
London – Telford Central |
10 |
Advanced bookings on the direct trains are also showing a steady growth since introduction. As we only have one year’s data available, it is difficult to compare but we have seen a growth of around 25% -30% which ties in with the figures above.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 17 September 2015 to Question 10198, whether funding to settle refugees within the UK will be allocated solely from the overseas aid budget.
Justine Greening
In line with the internationally agreed rules on Official Development Assistance (ODA), expenditure to support refugees in the UK for the first twelve months of their stay will be allocated from the overseas aid budget.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eilidh Whiteford on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in receipt of (a) employment and support allowance and (b) job seeker’s allowance have been sanctioned since 2012; and how many such claimants (i) remained on the relevant benefit, (ii) gained employment and (iii) dropped off the system following the sanction period.
Priti Patel
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The information that is available, on the number of sanction referrals and adverse sanction decisions, in respect of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), is published and available at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/:
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started—SuperWEB2.html
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alasdair McDonnell on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU on the functioning of the cross-border institutions established by the Good Friday Agreement.
Mr Ben Wallace
The Government remains and will continue to remain fully committed to supporting the principles and institutions established under the Belfast Agreement.