The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what joint work she and her French counterpart are undertaking on providing governance and capacity-building support for francophone Africa.
Nick Gibb
The Department for Education is not undertaking any work on providing governance and capacity-building support for Francophone Africa.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people participated in hunting with fox hounds in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.
Rory Stewart
The Government does not hold information on the number of people participating in foxhunting. However, according to the Countryside Alliance around 45,000 people regularly follow hunts (http://countryside-alliance.org/support-for-boxing-day-hunts-reinforces-need-for-repeal-of-the-hunting-act/).
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what difference there is between the wholesale price for electricity and the representative market price for baseload electricity referred to in her Departmental Minute of 21 October 2015.
Andrea Leadsom
The Department has used projections of the baseload wholesale price of electricity to calculate the support payments for Hinkley Point C in the Departmental Minute of 21 October 2015. They are therefore consistent with the reference price as referred to in the Annex of the same Minute.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on Turkish military action against (a) the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in northern Iraq and (b) ISIS since July 2015; and if he will make a statement.
Mr David Lidington
We are closely monitoring all of these and related events in Turkey and the region. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) continues to kill members of the Turkish police service and security forces. We support Turkey’s right to defend itself against all forms of terrorism. We have been clear that the PKK must cease its violence and the peace process needs to be resumed. The UK stands ready to help in any way it can in this regard. I last raised this with my Turkish counterpart when we met in August.
The Government continues to monitor closely Turkey’s democratic reforms, including as part of the EU accession process, focusing particularly on freedom of expression, respect for the rule of law and minority rights.
We welcome Turkey’s invaluable contribution to the international campaign against Daesh, particularly its agreement for the use of its airspace and airbases, as a member of the Global Coalition committed to defeating it. Turkey has been carrying out military strikes against Daesh since July 2015, and state that they have detained over 2,500 Daesh suspects since 2013, of whom one third are foreigners. Turkey recognises the role that Syrian Kurds have to play in the fight against Daesh, and accepts that Syrian Kurds receive Coalition support.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 6 November 2015 to Question 14454, what (a) funding and (b) other support the Government has offered UNHCR to identify people for resettlement to date.
Richard Harrington
We recognise that the scaling up of the Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme is placing additional demands on UNHCR and have offered them additional support in the form of funding, equipment and seconded personnel, to help with upscaling their resettlement operations. We are currently finalising a support package and will publish details of this once agreed.
This assistance is in addition to £122 million we have already allocated to UNHCR’s work in Syria and the region since the start of the crisis.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups improve (a) screening, (b) vaccination and (b) symptom awareness in order to address geographical inequalities in cancer outcomes.
Jane Ellison
The NHS public health functions agreement, between the Secretary of State for Health and NHS England, enables NHS England to commission certain public health services, including national immunisation and screening programmes that will drive improvements in population health.
Through this agreement, NHS England commissions services from a variety of providers across England. It strives to reduce variation in local levels of performance between different geographical areas using contracting and commissioning levers, while national and local levels of performance are improved or maintained.
The Independent Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, in July this year, and recognised the importance of early diagnosis and symptom awareness to improve both patient outcomes and experience. NHS England has appointed Cally Palmer as NHS National Cancer Director. She will lead the implementation of the strategy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent support the Government has provided to Egypt for oil and shale gas development.
Anna Soubry
We are not aware of any support given by the Government to the Egyptian authorities for oil and shale gas development.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2015 to Question 18565, what the components are of the 12 month support package provided to resettled Syrian refugees to assist with their integration.
Richard Harrington
The Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme prioritises those who cannot be supported effectively in the region, and the 12 month support package which refugees are offered is therefore tailored according to their individual needs. The main components are accommodation; cultural integration, including English Language tuition; and addressing any medical and social care needs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the (a) furthest and (b) average distance was which patients travelled to in-patient mother and baby units specialising in psychiatric care during the perinatal period in each of the last three years.
Alistair Burt
The information requested is not collected centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wayne David on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to paragraph 2.149 of the Spending Review, where he expects job cuts in his Department; and how many such jobs he expects to be cut.
Dominic Raab
The Secretary of State for Justice has set out his vision for a one nation justice system, with swift and certain justice in a reformed courts system and transformed prisons that become places of rehabilitation, not just incarceration. Those on the frontline will be empowered to make the right decisions for those who use their services.
This means a smaller and smarter Whitehall department with less bureaucracy, including savings which do not impact on staff numbers, such as changes to our estate, our major contracts and better use of technology.
We also expect to reduce headquarters and administrative headcount and costs over the course of the parliament. This will include reduced reliance on contractors and contingent labour and fewer staff based in expensive London premises.
Final decisions on the scale of staff reductions have not yet been reached.