The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2015-11-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they last reviewed the security situation in Tunisia in respect of Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We keep the security situation in Tunisia under constant review, and have been working closely with the Tunisian authorities to improve their capacity to deter and respond to the threats they face.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the effect on the income of an existing tax credit claimant in (a) 2018-19 and (b) 2019-20 of proposed changes to tax credits, assuming they are migrated to universal credit at the start of 2018.
Priti Patel
At the summer budget the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out the Government’s commitment to move the UK from a high tax, high welfare, low wage society to a lower tax, lower welfare, higher wage society. This remains the case, and Universal Credit (UC) is delivering this.
UC is a fundamentally different benefit to the legacy benefit system and provides people with support into, and to progress in work.
Therefore there is no meaningful way of comparing an unreformed Tax Credit system with Universal Credit. The Government has committed to transitional arrangements as we reform the benefits and Tax Credit system. Those transferred by DWP from tax credits to UC will receive Transitional Protection. In addition, estimates of entitlements under UC of the sort requested will vary depending on assumptions on the level of earnings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-11-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 29 October (HL2815) concerning Severn Crossings tolls, why the cost of collecting tolls is not made available by the concessionaire, and whether they will now require them to make that information available.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
There is no contractual requirement for the Severn Crossings concessionaire to provide this cost. The Government has no plans to require that information to be made available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, for what reasons statistics on National Lottery good causes expenditure has not been updated on the gov.uk website since December 2014; and when he plans to publish those updated statistics.
Tracey Crouch
We have encountered significant technical difficulties in updating the National Lottery Grants Database which have proved much more complex to resolve than anticipated. The delay in updating is very unfortunate however we have been working hard to resolve the issue and expect an update to be accessible in the New Year. Meanwhile, information about grants can be found on the websites of many distributors.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-11-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the call by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in North Korea for the Kim regime in North Korea to be referred to the International Criminal Court, and whether they intend to discuss that recommendation with each of the other members of the UN Security Council.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We remain concerned by the human rights situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). We have recently worked with the EU and Japan to co-author a UN resolution on the human rights situation in the DPRK which calls for accountability. We are now working to achieve strong support for this resolution.
We hold regular meetings with other UN Security Council member states to identify ways in which we can improve the DPRK’s human rights record. Our most recent meeting was at the UN in New York during October. We will continue to engage with key partners and allies to ensure the need for accountability remains at the heart of the international community’s work to improve the human rights situation in the DPRK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to assist financially those military veterans who retired with fewer than 22 years’ service before 5 April 1975.
Mark Lancaster
No estimate has been made of the cost of resolving legacy pension issues although it would likely cost the tax-payer billions of pounds; the issue of pre-1975 pensions does not just affect the Armed Forces, but is common to all other public service schemes in existence prior to the Social Security Act 1973.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2015-11-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she intends to answer the letter of the hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, dated 29 June, on Mr I Boddison.
Rory Stewart
A reply was sent to the Hon. Member on 29 July 2015. A duplicate has also been issued.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Margaret Ritchie on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with her counterparts in the devolved administrations on (a) sheep carcase classification and (b) price reporting on sheep; and if she will make a statement.
George Eustice
The Commissioner has established a series of workshops on the future of the sheep sector in the European Union. This forum is providing an opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues relevant to the sector, including carcass classification and price reporting. Defra and the devolved administrations are fully engaged in these discussions.
In addition, Defra and the devolved administrations are contributing to the Commission’s review of regulations on carcass classification and price reporting as part of the EU Commission’s legislation simplification programme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-11-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of increased use of temporary doctors and nurses on the (a) quality of the healthcare provision and (b) cost of that provision.
Ben Gummer
No formal assessment has been made by the Department on the specific effect of increases in the use of temporary doctors and nurses on the quality of healthcare provision. The Care Quality Commission is responsible for the quality of healthcare services provided overall.
No formal assessment has been made by the Department on the net effect of increases in the use of temporary doctors and nurses on the costs of providing services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to tackle obesity in children under 11.
Jane Ellison
Tackling obesity, particularly in children, is one of our major priorities. Progress has been made in recent years, but we know we have much further to go. We will announce our plans for tackling childhood obesity in the new year.
In the meantime we are continuing to invest in the Change4Life campaign, which provides motivation and support for families to make small but significant improvements to their diets and activity levels. Industry has also taken a range of actions including removing billions of calories and tons of sugar from products and portion sizes have been reduced, but the challenge to industry to make further substantial progress remains.