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Tag: 2015

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Bridget Phillipson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the cost of broadband access for primary and secondary schools.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    £1.7 billion of public funding has been committed to support improvements in broadband services across the UK. The Superfast Broadband Programme aims to make superfast broadband available to 95 per cent of UK premises by 2017.

    Costs will vary from school to school depending on location and how much they use the internet. The type of connectivity that the government funded broadband programme needs will not be suitable for secondary schools. They will need a dedicated connection because of their high bandwidth demands. The Department for Education does not hold information about the cost of broadband access for schools.

  • Lord Bradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Bradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradley on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government (1) how many people were granted release on temporary licence, and (2) what type of licence was granted in each prison establishment, in each month since January 2013.

    Lord Faulks

    The Ministry of Justice collates data on incidences of release on temporary licence (ROTL) rather than on decisions to grant ROTL. A decision to grant ROTL can relate to a single incidence of release, or to more than one incidence of release where, for example, an offender is regularly working in the community on day release. Annual statistics on the numbers of individuals granted ROTL is published on the gov.uk website.

    The attached tables provide the following information:

    Table 1: The number of individuals released on temporary licence per quarter between January 2013 and June 2015 by prison;

    Table 2: Incidences of release on temporary licence per month between January 2013 and June 2015 by prison and by type of licence;

    Table 3: The number of individuals aged 50 to 59, and 60 and over released on temporary licence per quarter between January 2013 and June 2015.

    The Ministry of Justice collates data relating to the number of individuals released on temporary licence on a quarterly basis: it would only be possible to provide monthly data at disproportionate cost.

    Following changes to ROTL in 2013, there has been a 39% reduction in recorded instances of ROTL failure. This is the lowest failure rate since 2002.

    ROTL can be an important tool to help rehabilitate prisoners. ROTL is not automatic, but is only granted following rigorous assessment and with public protection as a primary consideration. The Government supports prisoners using temporary release to take work, training and educational opportunities that cannot be provided in prison, as well as for maintaining ties with their families.

  • Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, 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.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Family Test was announced by my rt. hon. Friendthe Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014. The Department for Work and Pensions published guidance on how the test should be applied when formulating policy and the Department follows that guidance.1 In order to augment this guidance, the Department is preparing specific guidance on how to apply the Family Test within DECC, which will form part of the Department’s refresh of our approach to collecting and using evidence on the impacts of policies.

    The Department is focused on understanding consumers when developing policies, and have implemented an internal project which has delivered a number of consumer-focused tools which will enhance our understanding of consumers. This includes a Consumer Panel and training for senior officials on open policy making where the Family Test will specifically be referenced. Analytical tools have also been developed to analyse the impacts of policies on energy bills for different types of households and also the implications for fuel poverty.

    [1] Available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368894/family-test-guidance.pdf.

    “

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they cancelled the contract with Saudi Arabia on justice, security and policing.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    The Ministry of Justice has not entered into, or withdrawn from, a contract with Saudi Arabia concerning justice, security and policing. Earlier this year Just Solutions international (JSi), the commercial arm of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), submitted a bid to undertake a training needs analysis for the Saudi Arabian prison service. On 13 October 2015, the Secretary of State for Justice announced that this bid would be withdrawn, and so no contract was signed. I refer the honourable member to the Justice Secretary’s statement to the House of Commons which can be found in House of Commons Hansard Debates, 13 Oct 2015: Column 180.

    No direct cost was incurred as a result of withdrawing the bid from the competition process.

  • Gerald Kaufman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Gerald Kaufman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he intends to answer the letter to him from the Right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton to her dated 19 October 2015 on Mr K. Joslin.

    Mr David Lidington

    I apologise for the delay to the response to the letter from the Right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton of 19 October 2015. The letter covered a number of complex issues and, in order to provide the Rt hon. Member with the most comprehensive response, the reply to this letter has been delayed.

    I, along with my ministerial colleagues, take correspondence from members of this House very seriously and always seek to provide comprehensive and informative responses.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the recent statement of the UNHCR that, under a 2003 United Kingdom–Cyprus memorandum, the United Kingdom is responsible for resettling Syrian refugees who arrive at a United Kingdom military base in Cyprus.

    Lord Bates

    Those migrants who seek asylum will have their claims considered by the Cypriot authorities on behalf of the Sovereign Base Authorities (SBA). There is no obligation to allow those recognised as refugees to take up residence in the UK.

  • Emma Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Emma Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurses’ training places were available in each region in each year since 2009; how many (a) agency nurses and (b) nurses from outside the UK were used by the NHS in each year since 2009; and what the cost to the NHS was of both such categories of nurses in each of those years.

    Ben Gummer

    Non-medical training numbers are collected as part of the quarterly multi professional education and training budget monitoring returns that are submitted to the Department by Health Education England (HEE). Prior to the establishment of HEE in 2013/14 these were submitted to the Department by the Strategic Health Authority (SHA) as part of their quarterly Financial Information Management Systems (FIMS) monitoring returns. The table below shows the number of nurse training places available in each SHA from 2009/10 to 2012/13.

    2009/10

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    NHS North East

    1,095

    1,045

    1,000

    992

    NHS North West

    3,630

    3,358

    3,082

    3,066

    NHS Yorkshire and Humber

    2,299

    2,278

    1,848

    1,805

    NHS East Midlands

    1,735

    1,660

    1,462

    1,430

    NHS West Midlands

    2,597

    2,557

    2,102

    2,102

    NHS East of England

    1,889

    1,717

    1,536

    1,494

    NHS London

    3,992

    3,695

    3,401

    3,088

    NHS South East Coast

    1,335

    1,281

    1,169

    1,123

    NHS South Central

    1,175

    1,237

    1,108

    1,153

    NHS South West

    1,590

    1499

    1,361

    1,293

    Total planned

    21,337

    20,327

    18,069

    17,546

    Source: SHA quarterly FIMS monitoring returns

    The following table details the information collected by HEE in relation to available nurse training places from 2013/14 to 2015/16, broken down by Local Education and Training Boards (LETB).

    The disaggregated data for 2013/14 is not held within the format requested. The published national workforce plan for 2013/14 stated that there would be 18,009 training commissions available for nursing.

    LETB Region

    2013/14

    2014/15

    2015/16

    North East

    1,105

    1,089

    North West

    3,415

    3,322

    Yorkshire and Humber

    2,010

    2,059

    West Midlands

    2,157

    2,192

    East Midlands

    1,613

    1,661

    East of England

    1,783

    2,015

    North West London

    820

    917

    North, Central and East London

    1,201

    1,280

    South London

    1,138

    1,171

    Kent, Surrey and Sussex

    1,126

    1,209

    Thames Valley

    768

    795

    Wessex

    941

    1,011

    South West

    1,368

    1,432

    Total

    18,009

    19,445

    20,153

    Source: Multi-professional education and training budget monitoring returns

    The Department does not collect data centrally on the number of agency nurses working in the NHS. This information may be held locally at Trust level.

    The Department started to collect financial data from NHS trusts and foundation trusts in respect of net temporary and agency staffing costs specifically from 2013/14. Available data on spending nationally on all agency staff in England is set out in the table below. We are not able to separately identify total spending with agencies on nurses from centrally held data.

    Total cost to the NHS of temporary staff in 2013/14 and 2014/15

    2013/14 £000s

    2014/15 £000s

    Total NHS Providers

    2,605,378

    3,355,723

    Source: Department of Health Annual Report and Accounts 2014/15

    The Department does not hold information on the total cost to the NHS of nurses from outside of the United Kingdom working in the service. The information provided in the table below shows the number of declared non-British nurses working in the NHS in England dating back to 2009. Non-British nursing numbers working in the NHS in England covers hospital and community health services in the NHS but not primary care.

    2009

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    Non-British

    40,034

    41,642

    40,911

    40,030

    40,330

    43,258

    Proportion of non-British nurses as % of the nursing workforce

    14.4%

    14.3%

    13.8%

    13.3%

    13.0%

    13.5%

    Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Written Statement of 16 July 2015 by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Cabinet Office, HCWS 127, on individual electoral registration, how much of the funding referred to in that statement has been allocated to each electoral registration office in England.

    John Penrose

    In total 103 Local Authorities in England are receiving additional funding to help target their remaining carry forward entries. Almost £570,000 of funding was allocated directly to 53 English authorities where carry forward entries accounted for over 5%, as a proportion of their registers, in May 2015. 59 Local Authorities in England, including 9 which had already received a direct allocation, successfully submitted bids for additional funding, sharing just over £450,000.

    The attached table sets out all 103 English authoritieswhich are receiving additional funding directly and those whhich submitted successful bids along with the total amount they are receiving.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report, Four Nations: How evidence based are alcohol policies across the UK, published by the Alliance for Useful Evidence in November 2015, if the Government will provide a single, clear, easy-to-access, up-to-date source of information on the full range of alcohol policies and programmes in each area of the UK.

    Mike Penning

    We will build on the 2012 Alcohol Strategy to tackle alcohol as a driver of crime and support people to stay healthy, whilst working with partners at a local and national level to reduce the impact of alcohol misuse. Alcohol licensing and policy is devolved to Scotland and Northern Ireland. We have no plans to provide the requested information on a UK wide basis.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    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 allocate the homelessness prevention grant in proportion to the level of need in each local authority.

    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.