The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Donoughue on 2015-11-30.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what the overall cost was of the 2014–16 extension to the 2011–14 round of DfID’s Programme Partnership Arrangements.
Baroness Verma
The total cost of the 2014-16 extension to DFID’s Programme Partnership Arrangements was £240,000,074.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Helic on 2015-11-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent discussions they have had with the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina about the refugee and migrant crisis in the Western Balkans, and what provisions are in place to offer (1) UK, and (2) EU, support to the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina in the event of an influx of refugees and migrants into that country.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We are in contact with all governments of the region on the migration crisis. On 23 September, the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), pledged a UK contribution of £308,078 to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)’s Sarajevo office for contingency planning. This was part of a wider pledge of £3.1 million of aid to international agencies to support Western Balkans countries affected by the migration crisis. On 1 November, the Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening), announced a further £5 million of humanitarian aid to the countries on the Eastern Mediterranean route. We are also contributing substantially through EU assistance programmes in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The EU has provided €8.5 million of migration-related assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Some of this has been spent on technical assistance for effectively managing migration and asylum. It has also been spent on supply of equipment and on the construction of a reception facility for migrants. The EU is due to spend a further €2 million to support BiH’s border police.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will have discussions with pub chains on training staff to identify people with suicidal tendencies in order to stop serving such people alcohol.
Anna Soubry
The Department for Business Innovation and Skills has no plans to undertake such discussions but as part of the continuing programme of work to support the government’s suicide prevention strategy, Public Health England has published guidance for local authorities to develop local suicide prevention action plans. The guidance suggests that local authorities establish a local suicide prevention group and work with relevant organisations in their area to co-ordinate activities to reduce suicide. Those groups can work with landlords and pub managers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2015-11-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government by what criteria, following negotiations, they will assess whether the European Union has been reformed.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), has been clear on the four areas where we seek to address the concerns of the British public: sovereignty, economic governance, competitiveness and welfare and immigration. He has written to the President of the European Council to set out the changes that the UK wants to see. We will work together with other countries to discuss and agree reforms before holding a referendum to ensure that the British people have the final and decisive say on the UK’s membership of the EU.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the effect on the household income of an existing tax credit claimant family with two earners and three children in (a) 2018-19 and (b) 2019-20 of proposed changes to tax credits assuming they are migrated to universal credit at the start of 2018 and experience a change in circumstance and lose their transitional arrangements.
Priti Patel
At the summer budget the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out the Government’s commitment to move the UK from a high tax, high welfare, low wage society to a lower tax, lower welfare, higher wage society. This remains the case, and Universal Credit (UC) is delivering this.
UC is a fundamentally different benefit to the legacy benefit system and provides people with support into, and to progress in work.
Therefore there is no meaningful way of comparing an unreformed Tax Credit system with Universal Credit. The Government has committed to transitional arrangements as we reform the benefits and Tax Credit system. Those transferred by DWP from tax credits to UC will receive Transitional Protection. In addition, estimates of entitlements under UC of the sort requested will vary depending on assumptions on the level of earnings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-11-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are their plans to deal with the increase in the United Kingdom population to 70 million within 12 years and 74.3 million by 2030, as projected by the Office for National Statistics, and what estimate they have made of the cost of those plans.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
The recent 2015 Office for National Statistics projections predict the United Kingdom population to reach 70 million in 2027. This is consistent with their previous 2013 projections which also predicted the UK population would reach 70 million in 2027. The new projections forecast the population to increase to 71 million by 2030, as did the previous projections.
Population growth does not necessarily cause an equivalent increase in demand for all public services, because at different points in their lives people will use different services. For instance, population increases caused by people living longer than previously, might increase demand for health services but probably would not increase demand for classroom places.
However, as these increases are largely consistent with the previous population projections, they are well covered by existing plans and planning processes. Public services are provided local authorities and central departments. Local Government and Departmental budgets are set in advance through multi-year Spending Reviews. This allows the Government to make decisions on all areas of public spending in the context of projected demand and available resources while ensuring the public finances remain sustainable in the long term. Departments are responsible for deciding how this money is then allocated, subject to strict Treasury rules on the proper management of public funds. This allows money to flow to where it is most needed, given demographic pressures and other considerations.
The independent Office for Budget Responsibility produce 50-year forecasts of the sustainability of the public finances in the biannual Fiscal Sustainability Report. For instance, the most recent report highlighted pressures from growth in health spending, state pension costs, and the costs of long-term social care. In response to these pressures, the Government introduced reforms that will save £500 billion over the next 50 years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish National Lottery income statistics for each region in England.
Tracey Crouch
Information on the derivation of National Lottery Good Cause income by region is not currently collected by Government.
National Lottery good cause money is allocated by expert bodies at arm’s length from Government and information can be found on the National Lottery Grants Database at the following link (http://www.lottery.culture.gov.uk); and from Lottery Distributors’ own websites.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-11-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the findings in reports by Yale Law School and Queen Mary University of London, and an investigation by Al-Jazeera, as well as research by Fortify Rights, that claim to provide evidence that genocide is being committed against the Rohingya people in Burma.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
These and other disturbing reports from Rakhine State make clear that the Rohingya are being persecuted and denied the most basic rights. We welcome the work of a highly effective UN Special Rapporteur on Burma, who has shone a spotlight on violations against the Rohingya in Rakhine. She has not characterised the treatment of the Rohingya as genocide, and neither did the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide in his 4 November Statement on Burma’s elections.
However, any judgement on whether genocide has occurred is a matter for international judicial decision, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies. A UN investigation would require high level international support for which we assess there is little prospect of agreement at this stage. Our approach is to seek an end to all violations, irrespective of whether or not they fit the definition of specific international crimes. British Government Ministers take every appropriate opportunity, both publicly and in private, to press the Burmese authorities to take urgent steps to address the situation of the Rohingya. Most recently, the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), did so with the Burmese Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin in September in New York.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether sixth form colleges participating in the first wave of area reviews will be able to apply for academy status.
Nick Boles
Sixth form colleges participating in the first wave of area reviews will be able to apply for academy status.
The Joint Area Review Delivery Unit will work with sixth form colleges in the first wave of reviews to ensure that they have the opportunity to apply as part of the review in their area, and to prepare applications in advance of the publication of detailed criteria in February 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 November to Question 14627, what estimate her Department has made of the total funding that will be available to the Waste and Resources Action Programme in each of the next five years; and if she will make a statement.
Rory Stewart
Future funding of WRAP will depend on the outcome of the current spending review.