The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-12-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the average age of Tornado GR4-trained navigators in the RAF.
Earl Howe
The average age of Tornado GR4 trained navigators in the Royal Air Force is 41 years and three months.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Community and Social Care of 14 October 2015, Official Report, column 464, how many veterans the 10 mental health teams have supported in each year since they were opened.
Alistair Burt
From April 2013 to 30 September 2015 the 10 NHS England regional veteran mental health teams have supported a total of 8,425 veterans. This is broken down in the table below.
|
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
2015/16 to September 2015 |
|
2,741 |
3,505 |
2,179 |
The numbers represent the total accessing the 10 veterans focussed services in England. Veterans are also able to make full use of NHS mental health services, for example, in 2013/14, 14,882 self-identified veterans used local Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services.
Numbers were not collected centrally prior to April 2013.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2015-12-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to identifying drug treatment outcomes that may indicate progress towards patient recovery.
Lord Prior of Brampton
A table which shows trend data from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System for individuals completing treatment free of dependence for the years 2009-10 to 2014-15 is attached.
For the first time in 2014-15, the annual report brought together information on people receiving specialist interventions for drugs and alcohol. Many people experience problems with both substances and receive interventions for both, and drugs and alcohol services are often commissioned together. The figures therefore include the substance group ‘non-opiate and alcohol’, as well as those seeking services for drug-only related dependency, to ensure all individuals leaving treatment drug-free are captured. This new methodology has been applied to the years prior to 2014-15 to ensure comparable figures.
We have provided both the total numbers leaving treatment successfully free of dependence as well as the numbers that left successfully not using drugs or alcohol at the time of exit (which is a subset of the larger number), as some individuals may, for example, be occasionally drinking when they are discharged but it will have been judged by a clinician to be non-problematic and not dependent use and that therefore they no longer require treatment.
Public Health England will continue to support local authorities to provide effective and efficient drug treatment services, by providing bespoke data to assist the joint strategic needs assessment and to show the effectiveness of the local treatment system, as well as value for money tools, topical briefings, advice on good practice and on the benefits of investing in alcohol and drug treatment. Across the country, councils have already begun to develop new ways to deliver public health, showing that it is possible to deliver better health for local people and also better value for the taxpayer.
The evidence-base for the effectiveness of drug treatment is robust, with United Kingdom and international evidence showing that treatment provides value for money, improves public health and reduces crime.
The Building Recovery strand of the Government’s Drug Strategy recognises the importance of non-medical interventions, such as recovery networks, employment, housing, family support and reduced re-offending, in helping people recover and to participate more fully in society. Every person in structured drug treatment has a personal care plan based on an assessment of their needs, which maps out the steps they will take towards recovery. It covers their drug use, health, social functioning, criminal involvement, housing, employment and any other barrier to recovery.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2015-11-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisons do not accommodate workshops.
Andrew Selous
We want to see more prisoners working productively for longer numbers of hours. We also want to attract more employers who offer both work in prison but also guaranteed interviews and employment opportunities on release. That is why we want to reform the prison estate, building nine new prisons with better facilities for training and rehabilitation.
All prisons provide opportunities for offenders to work and learn new skills which can help them find a job on release and support their rehabilitation. We work continuously with employers nationally and locally to create new opportunities in line with our code of practice.
NOMS uses a specific definition of ‘workshop’ which is only used for commercial and industrial scale work and specific work activities. [1] Currently, there are 10 prisons which are not planning to offer this type of work this year [2], however other learning, vocational training and work opportunities will still be available in these establishments.
Work in prisons continues to grow steadily, up from 10.6 million working hours in 10/11 to 14.9 million working hours in the year 14/15.
[1] Including Enterprise/Contract Services, Engineering, Aluminium, Laundry, Newgate Furniture, Concrete, Plastics, Textiles, Woodwork, Food Packing, Commercial Land Based Activities, Braille, Charity, Printing, Data Entry, Signs, Desk Top Publishing, Retail, External Recycling and other workshops.
[2] Excludes four establishments the Youth Justice Board (YJB) commission from the National Offender Management Service (NOMS)
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the pay bands are for special advisers; and how many there are in each band, in each Department.
Matthew Hancock
Information about the number, pay bands, and cost of special advisers will be published shortly in the normal way.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-11-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the prevalence of child obesity and (b) whether there is a correlation between child obesity and deprivation; and what steps his Department is taking to address that issue.
Jane Ellison
We know obesity rates in children are far too high and children in lower income groups are more likely to be obese than the rest of the population, but it is an issue across all groups.
Tackling obesity, particularly in children, is one of our major priorities. Progress has been made in recent years, but we know we have much further to go. We will announce our plans for tackling childhood obesity in the new year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2015-12-14.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) cases of national minimum wage compliance HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) National Minimum Wage Risk Unit has investigated, (b) Notices of Underpayment have been issued to employers for non-compliance, (c) employers have been fined the maximum amount for non-compliance and (d) employers have been taken to civil court or an employment tribunal by HMRC for failing to comply with the terms of a Notice of Underpayment in each of the last five years.
Mr David Gauke
The Government is committed to increasing compliance with minimum wage legislation and effective enforcement of it. Everyone who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it. Employers who pay workers less than the minimum wage not only have to pay back arrears of wages at current minimum wage rates but also face financial penalties of up to £20,000 per underpaid worker.
I refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN 17623 for information on the number of investigations undertaken.
I refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN 16851 for information on Notices of Underpayment.
Information on the number of maximum penalties issued is provided in the table below.
|
Year |
10/11 |
11/12 |
12/13 |
13/14 |
14/15 |
|
No. of employers fined the maximum amount |
13 |
27 |
52 |
53 |
59 |
I refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN 225468 for information on civil court and employment tribunals.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-11-16.
To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, for what reason the Church Commissioners have not released land for the construction of a primary school, in accordance with previous legal undertakings, at the Paston Reserve urban extension in Peterborough; and if she will make a statement.
Mrs Caroline Spelman
The Church Commissioners are involved in the development of Paston Reserve in Peterborough. Within the development there is provision for a site and financial contributions towards the delivery of a primary school site as outlined within the agreed Section 106 legal agreement that accompanied the planning permission, and that was varied by agreement with the Council in 2010. The Section 106 agreement provides that the primary school site must be delivered prior to any house occupation on the third phase of development on the site and also outlines the trigger points at which the financial contributions for the school will be provided.
Based on these legal requirements, the land for the primary school site at Paston Reserve has not been provided yet, because the site has not progressed to a third phase of development. The first phase on the site is still under construction, and as outlined in our response to the hon. Gentleman’s question [3389] answered on the 29 June 2015, the second phase of development is likely to commence at some point in 2016. The development remains in accordance with the legal provisions of the Section 106 agreed with Peterborough Council.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many disabled people have benefitted from the Government’s extension of the Access to Work scheme to cover work experience placements in the last two years; and how the £2 million allocated to that initiative has been spent.
Justin Tomlinson
We do not hold official statistics to the standard of the National Statistical Authority and so are unable to provide this information.
Access to Work supported 36,760 disabled people to take up or remain in employment during 2014/15 (up from 35,560 in 2013/14).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-11-16.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of steps taken to hold to account companies and directors responsible for promoting and managing the affairs of Connaught Asset Management.
Harriett Baldwin
This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent from Government.
These questions have been passed on to the FCA. They will reply directly to the Honorable Member Kirsten Oswald by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.