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Tag: 2015

  • Lord Selkirk of Douglas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Selkirk of Douglas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Selkirk of Douglas on 2015-12-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of refugees in (1) Europe, (2) the Middle East, and (3) North Africa, and what those figures are broken down by country.

    Baroness Verma

    As of 8th December the UN estimate that more than 920,000 refugees and migrants have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe this year. Almost 770,000 have arrived in Greece, and a further 150,000 have arrived in Italy. A large number of refugees remain in the Middle East. The most accurate figures are available for Syrian refugees, of whom there currently are 2,181,293 in Turkey, 1,070,189 in Lebanon, 632,762 in Jordan, and 244,527 in Iraq. Additionally, 2,117,361 Palestinian refugees are currently registered in Jordan, and 452,669 in Lebanon. It is also estimated that North Africa is host to 234,901 refugees, the majority of whom are in Egypt (187,753) and Libya (36,984).

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2015 to Question 11782, what discussions he has had with the professional regulators regarding the level of mental health training offered as part of the mandatory training course for (a) student doctors, (b) student nurses and (c) midwives.

    Ben Gummer

    My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had no discussions with professional regulators about mandatory mental health training. It is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC) and Nursing and Midwifery Council to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricular to ensure newly qualified doctors and nurses are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care.This includes mental health training as required.

    Health Education England will work with bodies that set curricula such as the GMC and the royal colleges to seek to ensure training meets the needs of patients.

  • Lord Bradshaw – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Bradshaw – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2015-12-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what local authorities are permitted to spend profits from parking enforcement after covering enforcement costs; and what assessment they have made of how much such profit local authorities make from such enforcement.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Unfair parking fines push up the cost of living and undermine the high street. Local authorities should be making it easier to park to support local shops, local jobs and tourism by increasing footfall. Making parking more difficult stifles local trade, driving motorists into the arms of internet retailers and out of town superstores.

    Existing legislation clearly restricts the purposes for which monies generated from parking may be spent by local authorities to off-street parking, transport and environmental improvements.

    The Local Government Transparency Code 2015 requires local authorities to publish a breakdown of income and expenditure on the authority’s parking account. This includes details of revenue collected from on-street parking, off-street parking and Penalty Charge Notices and a breakdown of how the authority has spent a surplus on its parking account.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with the Royal College of Nursing on links between the consumption of carbonated drinks and the incidence of heart failure.

    Jane Ellison

    There have been no recent discussions with the Royal College of Nursing on the links between the consumption of carbonated drinks and the incidence of heart failure.

  • Jamie Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jamie Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2015-12-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to offer deadline extensions for tax due by businesses affected by flooding in Cumbria.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) operates a dedicated Severe Weather helpline to offer help and advice on any tax matters to those people and businesses affected by the recent flooding. The helpline is 0800 904 7900

    Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 8.00 am to 8.00 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 8.00 am to 4.00 pm, excluding bank holidays.

    HMRC will also:

    • consider instalment arrangements where customers are unable to pay as a result of the floods;
    • agree a practical approach when individuals and businesses have lost vital records to the floods;
    • suspend debt collection proceedings for those affected by the floods; and
    • cancel penalties when the customer has missed statutory deadlines due to the floods.

      The helpline is in addition to other HMRC telephone contact numbers.

  • Jo Cox – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jo Cox – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Cox on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of a seven-day elective service in the NHS on patient (a) care and (b) safety; and if he will publish any such assessment.

    Ben Gummer

    The Government’s current plans for ensuring the same quality of care in hospitals on all days of the week are focussed on those with urgent and emergency care needs at weekends and those who are already inpatients. It is for individual health economies to determine if they wish to provide elective care at weekends, for example if they can use more efficiently additional resources that are available to meet urgent and emergency care needs.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many planning refusals for greenfield sites have been overturned on appeal in each year between 2010 to 2015.

    Brandon Lewis

    This information is not held centrally by this Department.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with Amnesty International and the Committee Against Torture on recent and proposed changes to the legislation on asylum seekers.

    James Brokenshire

    No legislation is planned in respect to asylum seekers.

    A number of changes to arrangements for supporting failed asylum seekers have been included in the Immigration Bill published on 17 September.

    Amnesty International sent a written response to the consultation on the proposals contained in the Immigration Bill and some of its representatives have met Home Office officials to discuss the proposals. The Committee Against Torture did not respond to the consultation and there have been no discussions on the proposals.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what evaluation his Department made of the number and location of civilian workers who work at the al-Omar oil field in Syria before ordering Royal Air Force planes to bomb that facility; and how many civilians have been killed as a result of UK military action on targets in Syria to date.

    Michael Fallon

    UK air strikes are conducted in accordance with Rules of Engagement and International Humanitarian Law.The risks of collateral damage or civilian casualties are assessed and mitigated based on intelligence and the use of precision guided weapons. There have been no reports so far of civilian casualties as a result of UK air strikes in Syria.

  • Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 9 November 2015 to Question 14770, when she plans to publish the contribution the UK will make to the World Food Programme for 2016.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK is currently the second largest donor to the WFP, after the United States. For 2015, the UK has so far provided a total of £270.6million in funding to WFP. UK contributions are made up of unearmarked core funding (£40m in total for the financial year 2015/16) and bilateral funding allocated by DFID country offices (which represents the biggest proportion of UK funding).

    DFID will be in a position to announce the UK core contribution to WFP for the financial year 2016 / 2017 once the Multilateral Aid Review 2015 (MAR 2015) is published in March 2016. UK core contribution will be informed by the results of the MAR assessment of WFP and the review of WFP performance and effectiveness in using the core funding provided by UK.

    Bilateral funding is decided by DFID at country level and is based on needs.