The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Marie Morris on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much of the Primary Care Infrastructure Fund he plans to disburse in each of the next five years.
Alistair Burt
The Primary Care Transformation Fund (formerly the Infrastructure Fund) was announced in December 2014 and is a £1 billion fund over four years. As such we are planning to disburse £250 million in each of the next three years 2016/17 – 2018/19.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the potential sale of information stolen during the cyber-security breach of the Government Gateway system.
Matthew Hancock
To date the security reports on the Government Gateway system do not show a cyber-security breach.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what training her Department has provided to staff on the family test; what other steps she has taken to raise awareness of the family test among staff of her Department; and if she will make a statement.
Karen Bradley
The Family Test has been integrated into the Department’s impact assessment process. Workshops are being scheduled to further assist staff in understanding how to apply the guidance introduced for the Family Test issued by the Department for Work and Pensions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken to safeguard the size of the homelessness prevention grant in the period up to the 2020 spending review.
Mr Marcus Jones
We have made available over £500 million to local authorities and the voluntary sector to tackle homelessness and since 2010 this has helped local authorities to prevent 935,800 households from becoming homeless.
Since 2010, local councils have had more flexibility over how they spend the money they receive from central government.
The allocation of Homeless Prevention Grant has developed over many years to take account of different kinds of pressures, including rough sleeping and statutory homelessness. We supported the establishment of the National Practitioner Support Service’s ‘Gold Standard’ programme to help improve the effectiveness of local authority homelessness prevention services.
Decisions on funding beyond 2015/2016 will be subject to the forthcoming spending review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Prime Minister, what the evidential basis is for his estimate that there are about 70,000 Syrian opposition fighters on the ground who do not belong to extremist groups; whether he has shared that estimate with all coalition partners; whether that estimate is congruent with those supplied by other partner countries in the coalition; and if he will make a statement.
Mr David Cameron
We estimate that there are around 70,000 Syrian opposition fighters on the ground who do not belong to extremist groups, many of whom are linked to the Free Syrian Army. In addition to these 70,000, there are around 20,000 Kurdish fighters in Syria, who are also playing an important role in combating ISIL. The information we have on individual groups which forms the basis of this estimate is drawn in large part from intelligence. It would not be to the benefit of these non-extremist opposition fighters if we were to make it public to ISIL and the Syrian regime. We have very close intelligence relationships with a range of allies and partners, and share assessments with them as a matter of course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of senior civil servants in her Department attended (a) non-selective state schools, (b) state selective schools, (c) independent schools, fee assisted and (d) independent schools, not fee assisted.
Nick Gibb
The Department for Education does not collect or hold this information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Susan Elan Jones on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will meet the Chancellor of the Exchequer to discuss the effect of the reductions in funding to S4C proposed in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.
Stephen Crabb
I have regular meetings with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which provide opportunities to discuss a range of issues, including matters related to funding of services across Wales.
The Government is committed to Welsh language programming and to the future of S4C. The majority of S4C’s funding comes via the BBC and last week’s spending review settlement on the Government element of S4C’s funding therefore represents a modest reduction in its overall funding.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Federal Minister of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth in the German government on meeting with the Thalidomide Trust’s National Advisory Council on financial compensation for people with thalidomide.
Mr David Lidington
Following representations by the Government, senior representatives from the German government travelled to London to meet with the Trust in July. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office continues to provide support to the Thalidomide Trust’s National Advisory Council to enable them to further their dialogue with the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens and Youth, including through another meeting.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Heald on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that all young people who wish to participate in the National Citizen Service are able to do so.
Mr Rob Wilson
We are committed to expanding NCS, which is why the Chancellor announced our ambition that 300,000 young people participate in NCS every year by 2019/20 so that they can learn new skills and give back to their communities.
We take great care to ensure that all young people, regardless of background, can take part, providing bursaries and additional support where necessary.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what regions he has identified as having a shortage of GPs; and what steps he is taking to address those shortfalls.
Alistair Burt
Health Education England (HEE) has advised that they have identified six local offices experiencing low fill rates of general practitioner (GP) trainees. These are: Yorkshire; East Midlands; West Midlands; North East; East of England; and HEE Wessex (Isle of Wight only).
Data on GP vacancies is not currently held but collection of this data is under development by the Department and the Health and Social Care Information Centre as part of the Workforce Minimum Dataset.
NHS England, HEE, the Royal College of General Practitioners and the British Medical Association’s GPs Committee are working closely together to ensure that there is a skilled, trained and motivated workforce in general practice. In January 2015, the four organisations jointly published a ten point action plan to address immediate issues, and to take the initial steps in building the workforce for the future and new models of care.
There are three strands to this work: improving recruitment into general practice; retaining doctors within general practice; supporting those who wish to return to general practice.
As part of the plan, NHS England launched a new national returner scheme, which has attracted 120 applicants so far. A marketing campaign to highlight the benefits of a career in general practice was launched in September 2015. Further initiatives will be announced by the ten point plan partners in due course.
The plan, “Building the Workforce” is available on NHS England’s website:
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