The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the cost of establishing a National Cyber Security Centre.
Matthew Hancock
As announced in the Chancellor’s speech of 17 November, a National Cyber Centre will be launched in 2016. Work is underway to determine the exact costs, as part of the £1.9bn budget for cyber security announce in the Spending Review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-10-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, on what grounds UK aid is given to countries on the EU Commission tax haven blacklist.
Mr Desmond Swayne
DFID uses a range of criteria to inform how we allocate aid across countries. These criteria include, for example, current and projected poverty levels in the country, the country’s ability to self-finance its development (e.g. through domestic taxation), and the likely effectiveness of UK aid.
A number of EU member states maintain lists of jurisdictions for tax purposes against criteria concerning tax transparency and/or the prevailing tax rate. The EU does not maintain a blacklist; however a list of 30 jurisdictions that featured on 10 or more member state lists was compiled and then superseded by a recent European Commission update.
This update included UK Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories which had the UK’s signature of the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters extended to them in 2014. The updated individual member state lists can be found at: http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation/gen_info/good_governance_matters/lists_of_countries/.
Of the 30 jurisdictions named in the original list, 14 received UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2013 (the most recent year for which consolidated figures are available). Of these 14, only three (Liberia, Montserrat and Vanuatu) received ODA from DFID for development and humanitarian assistance in that year. Details of funding amounts to these 14 jurisdictions can be found at the Statistics on International Development 2014 page of the gov.uk website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.75 of the National Security and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, by what date the new team sponsoring the defence nuclear enterprise is scheduled to be established.
Mr Philip Dunne
We expect to announce further details of the new organisation in 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-10-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to fund Bikeability beyond 2015.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Funding for Bikeability is currently confirmed until the end of March 2016. We will take a decision on future funding for the Bikeability programme beyond March 2016 following the outcome of the Spending Review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support the Goverment is providing for mature students who wish to enter the teaching profession; and if she will make a statement.
Nick Gibb
Mature students are an important source of new teachers and bring relevant knowledge and skills from their previous employment. In 2015/16, 21 per cent of new entrants to initial teacher training (ITT) courses were aged 30 or over. To attract more potential career changers, our marketing campaign, ‘Your Future, Their Future’, uses a range of media, including television advertising, national newspaper advertising and targeted digital and print communications. As part of this we will be running the ‘New Year New Career’ sub-campaign, which is dedicated to attracting career changers, throughout January 2016.
We provide support specifically for career changers to make the transition to teaching, especially in the subjects where they are needed the most, including:
In addition, career changers can access extensive support that is available for all ITT candidates. This includes bursaries or scholarships of up to £30,000 tax-free; advice and guidance from the expert advisers on the Get Into Teaching Line; help with arranging school experience to assist with their ITT application; and access to our free Train to Teach events.
Those who wish to teach secondary biology, geography, maths, physics, chemistry, languages or computing are also eligible for our enhanced Premier Plus service. This includes tailored advice from a dedicated adviser, including the practicalities that often affect career changers, such as childcare funding. Applicants who wish to teach these subjects can also access funded Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) courses, through which they can boost or refresh their subject knowledge.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradley on 2015-10-29.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many places in category D prisons in England and Wales were occupied by prisoners in each month since January 2013.
Lord Faulks
Progression to open prisons is never automatic, and prisoners must generally be within two years of release before they can be considered for allocation. Public protection is paramount, only those prisoners who are assessed as low risk of escape/abscond and low risk of causing harm to the public are transferred to an open prison.
The following table shows the number of category D places that were available and occupied by prisoners in open prisons in England and Wales as at the last Friday in each month since January 2013. This information is published monthly on gov.uk
The data above does not include the number of places available and in use in category D units in otherwise closed prisons.
Breakdown of the population and capacity of the dedicated open estate from
January 2013 to October 2015.
|
Month |
Capacity |
Population |
|
Jan-13 |
5,131 |
4,933 |
|
Feb-13 |
5,131 |
4,953 |
|
Mar-13 |
5,131 |
4,982 |
|
Apr-13 |
5,131 |
4,993 |
|
May-13 |
5,131 |
4,988 |
|
Jun-13 |
5,131 |
4,981 |
|
Jul-13 |
5,131 |
4,988 |
|
Aug-13 |
5,131 |
4,994 |
|
Sep-13 |
5,131 |
4,990 |
|
Oct-13 |
5,131 |
5,005 |
|
Nov-13 |
5,203 |
5,048 |
|
Dec-13 |
5,217 |
4,993 |
|
Jan-14 |
5,217 |
4,932 |
|
Feb-14 |
5,217 |
4,994 |
|
Mar-14 |
5,217 |
5,037 |
|
Apr-14 |
5,339 |
5,159 |
|
May-14 |
5,339 |
5,122 |
|
Jun-14 |
5,339 |
5,087 |
|
Jul-14 |
5,339 |
5,082 |
|
Aug-14 |
5,374 |
5,011 |
|
Sep-14 |
5,374 |
4,943 |
|
Oct-14 |
5,397 |
4,846 |
|
Nov-14 |
5,397 |
4,814 |
|
Dec-14 |
5,397 |
4,759 |
|
Jan-15 |
5,405 |
4,666 |
|
Feb-15 |
5,329 |
4,680 |
|
Mar-15 |
5,131 |
4,691 |
|
Apr-15 |
5,453 |
4,922 |
|
May-15 |
5,468 |
4,876 |
|
Jun-15 |
5,544 |
5,020 |
|
Jul-15 |
5,569 |
5,019 |
|
Aug-15 |
5,569 |
5,062 |
|
Sep-15 |
5,520 |
5,076 |
|
Oct-15 |
5,550 |
5,127 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will take action to correct the six calculation errors made in the home energy efficiency calculation software known as SAP referred to in the letter to the Prime Minister from BDP Limited, dated 12 November 2015.
Andrea Leadsom
We are reviewing the energy efficiency standards which underpin the national calculation methodology for assessing fuel use in dwellings, the Standard Assessment Procedure or SAP.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2015-10-29.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have considered seeking UN authority to establish safe holding areas outside the EU, to which refugees seeking to enter the EU could be transferred.
Lord Bates
The current migration crisis requires a global response. This may necessitate radical measures to address the unprecedented situation. We regularly engage with EU and multilateral partners, including the UN on a wide range of migration issues in order to find an effective and sustainable solution. Ideas about establishing safe centres outside the EU are at an early stage of development and we will consult appropriate organisations as discussions on these with EU and other partners progress.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cartlidge on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase the representation on the boards of NHS England, Monitor and other relevant health bodies at local, regional and national levels of people with a background in the mental health services; and if he will make a statement.
George Freeman
Non-executive appointments to the boards of the Department’s arm’s length bodies, including NHS England and Monitor, are advertised widely and open to all in line with the requirements of the Commissioner for Public appointments. The application process is open to candidates with a background in mental health services.
Applications are treated equally and appointments are made on merit. There are board members of arm’s length bodies appointed through this process that have a mental health services background.
Non-executive appointments to National Health Service trusts are made by the NHS Trust Development Authority and are also regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
Candidates are appointed on merit where they can add the best value to the needs of the individual board, ensuring that the board contains a balance of experience and skills in different areas, which can include mental health services.
Executive board appointments are made by the organisations themselves.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many primates were imported into the UK for scientific research purposes in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.
Mike Penning
The Home Office have previously published data on the numbers of non-human primates imported and used for scientific research in PQs 222873 (05 Feb 2015), 182703 (20 Jan 2014), 80687 (22 Nov 2011) and 76262 (25 October 2011). The numbers of non-human primates imported into the UK for scientific research were: 2,071 in 2010; 1,771 in 2011; and, 1,557 in 2012. This data was gathered from information supplied by project licence holders when requesting permission to import.
On 1 January 2013, the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 was amended to transpose European Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. The amended legislation has no requirement to request prior permission to import non-human primates acquired from overseas breeding centres. Therefore, the Home Office does not hold the information requested for 2013 and 2014. The published Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals in Great Britain provide information on the sources of non-human primates used in experimental procedures for 2013 and 2014.