Tag: 2015

  • Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what additional support her Department plans to give to Ethiopia because of drought in that country in 2015-16.

    Grant Shapps

    We are extremely concerned about the impact of the current drought on the food security situation in Ethiopia. A joint Government of Ethiopia and UN assessment is underway and we are in touch with our UN and Non-Governmental Organisation partners on the ground to determine the extent of need.

    In October, the Government of Ethiopia announced that about 8.2 million people are in need of emergency food aid, up from the 4.5 million estimated in August. The number of severely malnourished children under five years old admitted to therapeutic feeding programmes this year has increased notably.

    Britain has acted quickly and decisively by providing emergency support for 2.6 million people. This includes food aid for 2.1 million people for a month. The Government of Ethiopia has also committed its largest ever response to a drought. The international community will need to work hard with the Government of Ethiopia to prevent the crisis from worsening in the coming months.

    DFID is at the forefront of resilience work to reduce the impact of crises in developing countries. In Ethiopia, DFID’s Productive Safety Nets Programme (PSNP) has helped turn desert land into land that can be farmed again.

  • Stella Creasy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stella Creasy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stella Creasy on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will publish the guidance it has issued to schools and colleges for the implementation of Prevent strategy activities for all age groups.

    Edward Timpson

    The government published statutory guidance on the Prevent duty for specified authorities, including schools, in March 2015. In September 2015 the government published Prevent duty guidance specifically for colleges and universities.

    To complement the statutory guidance, the Department for Education has issued practical advice to schools and childcare providers to help them understand their role under the new Prevent duty. Together with Home Office, the Department also published a briefing note on how social media is used to encourage travel to Syria and Iraq. The Department’s core statutory safeguarding guidance for schools and colleges, Keeping Children Safe in Education, was updated in July to reflect the Prevent duty.

    All of the above documents are publicly available via the Department’s dedicated preventing extremism website on gov.uk. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-extremism-in-schools-and-childrens-services/preventing-extremism-in-the-education-and-childrens-services-sectors).

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  • Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many of her Department’s policies have been assessed against the family test; what steps she has taken to publish the outcome of such assessments; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    The Family Test was announced by the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014. The Department of Works and Pensions published guidance for Departments and officials on how the test should be applied when formulating policy and my Department follows that guidance.

    The Family Test is an integral part of the policy making process and is applied in a proportionate way in the development of all new policy in line with the Family Test guidance. While the guidance states that departments should consider publishing assessments carried out under the Test, there is no requirement to do so.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what review her Department has conducted on flood protection measures since the recent floods in Cumbria and Lancashire.

    Rory Stewart

    The Environment Secretary announced on Sunday 13 December a new Cumbrian Floods Partnership group that will consider what improvements to flood defences in the region may be needed, look at upstream options for slowing key rivers to reduce the intensity of water flows at peak times and build stronger links between local residents, community groups and flood defence planning.

    The Environment Secretary also announced a National Flood Resilience Review will be carried out to better protect the country from future flooding and increasingly extreme weather events. This will be delivered by a new cross Government team.

    I will also be taking on a special Floods Envoy role across Cumbria and Lancashire coordinating the flood recovery operation across local agencies over the coming months.

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost of testing all vehicles for emissions for (a) each car and (b) in total; and whether the Government will finance the total programme.

    Andrew Jones

    The cost of the evaluation programme are still being developed, but it is estimated that testing could cost up to £15,000 per vehicle.

    We have approved a budget of £675,000 from public funds to ensure that this important work can proceed. However, we have also agreed with ministers in Germany and in France that we will collaborate and secure best value for the taxpayer.

    The UK programme will consider, without bias, vehicles from 19 manufacturers. The programme will assess approximately 70 different models. However, we have been in contact with ministers in Germany and in France and we have agreed that we should work cooperatively to ensure that we rationalise our respective test programmes to avoid duplication of testing.

    The cost of recalling the vehicles in the UK will be met by Volkswagen group and will not fall to the public purse.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking through the UN to tackle international recruitment of people for terrorist activity in Syria and Iraq.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK has led efforts to create and enforce an international legal regime to cut off support for Daesh and other terrorist groups, including through the UN.

    In August 2014, under the UK’s Presidency we co-sponsored UN Security Council Resolution 2170 which restricted Daesh’s financial, trade and recruitment networks, as well as sanctioning individuals.

    The UK also co-sponsored resolution 2178, which built on resolution 2170 by strengthening the international response to threats posed by foreign terrorist fighters. The Resolution calls on Member States to prevent the “recruiting, organizing, transporting or equipping of individuals who travel to a State other than their States of residence or nationality for the purpose of the perpetration, planning of, or participation in terrorist acts.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Debbie Abrahams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have flowed off employment and support allowance with a work capability assessment decision of fit for work since 2011; and how many such people’s death was at the same time as defined in the document Mortality Statistics: Employment and support allowance, incapacity benefit or severe disability allowance, published in August 2015.

    Priti Patel

    The information as requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the total number of student nurses in England and Wales in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

    Ben Gummer

    The following table shows the total number of student nurses in England, in training places as at 31 March in each year, for the period 2010/11 to 2014/15. The Department and Health Education England do not hold data for students undertaking their training in Wales.

    Year

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    Nurses

    53,101

    51,824

    52,914

    48,484

    50,139

    Source: multi professional education and training budget monitoring returns

    In 2015 the National Health Service has seen record numbers of nurses and midwives in post. The latest data from the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s Hospital and Community Health Services monthly workforce statistics, which does not include nurses working in general practice, shows a total of 303,600 full time equivalent nurses and midwives, in post in England in August 2015.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy that people who increase their earnings from work should always be financially better off as a result.

    Priti Patel

    The Government’s policy is that people should be better off in work and better off working more. That is why we are introducing Universal Credit, which has been designed to reduce poverty and ensure that work pays more than a life on benefits. The single taper rate of 65% ensures that Universal Credit reduces gradually as earnings increase and claimants benefit from each extra £1 they earn.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many and what proportion of clinical commissioning groups have (a) had their transformation plans approved by NHS England and received funding and (b) been told their transformation plans need further work.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England have received and successfully assured Local Transformation Plans for children and young people’s mental health that cover every clinical commissioning group (CCG) in England. All CCGs will receive the funding allocation agreed through the assurance process by the end of December.