The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2015-11-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what progress the Government has made on the UK commitment to ensure 20 per cent of its energy will come from renewables by 2020.
Andrea Leadsom
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich on 6 July 2015 to Question 4832:
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Williams on 2015-11-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will discuss with the Moroccan ambassador to the UK Morocco’s ban on the UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy to the Western Sahara visiting Western Sahara during his visit to that region to facilitate negotiations called for by the UN Security Council.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
With Ambassadors of other members of the Group of Friends of Western Sahara, the British Ambassador to Morocco raised this issue with the Moroccan Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs on 13 November. The Group of Friends welcomed the assurances they received that the Secretary-General’s Envoy would not be prevented from visiting Western Sahara.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Thomas-Symonds on 2015-11-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department has provided for clinical commissioning groups on the commissioning of off-patent drugs for use in new indications.
George Freeman
NHS England supports the national commissioning system in England, including the provision of guidance to the service, where appropriate.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) does not routinely appraise drugs outside their licensed indications. Where drugs are not appraised by NICE, it is the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to decide how drugs should be funded locally, in line with any guidance from NHS England. The Department has produced no guidance and had no discussions with CCGs on off-label drug use.
Many thousands of patients benefit from the use of off-patent drugs, off-label, every day in the National Health Service. NICE publishes Evidence Summaries on unlicensed and off-label medicines. These provide a summary of the published evidence for selected unlicensed or off-label medicines that are considered to be of significance to the NHS, usually when there is no licensed medicine for the condition requiring treatment or no licensed medicines are appropriate for a significant proportion of people requiring treatment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2015-11-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to improve nutrition for women and children in lower middle income countries.
Grant Shapps
The UK Government has made a commitment to improve the nutrition of 50 million people by 2020, including in lower middle income countries. Those being helped includes children under five, breast feeding women, women of childbearing age and adolescent girls. This commitment builds on our previous 2010 commitment to reach 20 million children under five and pregnant and breast feeding women with nutrition programmes by 2015. By mid 2015 we had reached 28.6 million people.
Further details can be found on Development Tracker: http://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2015-11-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the criteria are for authorising an average speed limit stretch of highway; what measures are in place to prevent an artificially low average speed limit being implemented; and if he will make a statement.
Andrew Jones
Average speed limits do not exist but Highways England uses variable speed limits on smart motorways to smooth traffic flow, reduce congestion and enhance safety. The variable limits are set locally in response to traffic flow levels or to help manage incidents.
The Department issued revised guidance in January 2013 aimed mainly at local traffic authorities who are responsible for setting speed limits on local roads. It includes guidance on the use of variable 20 mph speed limits with electronic signs. It has been designed to help explain to everyone why and how local speed limits are determined. This guidance was revised following full public consultation in Summer 2012 and is available online on GOV.UK
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-11-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the age-standardised mortality rate of people declared fit for work by his Department since December 2011.
Priti Patel
The information as requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of new claims for housing benefit in the private rented sector in each of the last 10 years were made by people who were in work at the time they made their claim.
Justin Tomlinson
The information requested is not held.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2015-11-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they took to ensure that women’s voices were included at the recent UN Support Mission in Libya conference in London.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Over 150 representatives attended the UK and UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) meeting held on 19 October in London on international support for a new Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA). 36 women accepted the invitation to attend the meeting, drawn from 40 countries, UN Agencies, and international bodies. The UK recognises that female participation in politics and civil society is an essential component of restoring stability in Libya, and our Libya Office in Tunis, working closely with UNSMIL, made a particular effort to ensure female Libyan participation. Four of the 17 independent Libyan delegates were women. The meeting was co-chaired by Jane Marriott, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Directorate in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average cost to the NHS is of educating and training a junior doctor.
Ben Gummer
The Department does not hold information on the average cost to the taxpayer of training someone to become a junior doctor.
The Personal Social Services Research Unit at the University of Kent estimates within their report ‘Unit Costs of Health and Social Care 2014’, published in March 2014, that the average cost in 2013/14 of training to become a general practitioner is £485,390, with the consultant training cost being £726,551. These figures reflect the pre-registration costs of tuition, living expenses/lost production and clinical placements and the post-graduate costs of tuition and replacement costs not the average cost to the taxpayer.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pendry on 2015-11-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support and promote the Erasmus+ programme, which aims to boost skills and employability through education, training and sport.
Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
The Erasmus+ programme enables organisations and citizens to achieve their potential through international education, training and sport opportunities.
A body called the National Agency (a consortium of the British Council and Ecorys UK) deliver the Erasmus+ programme in the UK. The Government supports the National Agency’s delivery, aligns the programme with Government objectives, and represents the UK in European meetings on Erasmus+. The National Agency has a communications team that is dedicated to raising awareness of the Erasmus+ programme. The Government does not duplicate this work.