The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to spread the £300 million for cycling announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 over five or six years.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Government has agreed a four-year revenue and five-year capital settlement for local transport spend, which includes cycling and walking investment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department is investigating complaints made about the conduct and performance of the West London Coroner.
Caroline Dinenage
Operational responsibility for coroner services lies with the relevant local authority – in this case the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham – and complaints about a coroner’s conduct are investigated by the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO). The JCIO has recently confirmed that it is investigating a complaint about the West London Senior Coroner.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicola Blackwood on 2015-12-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to modernise the courts and tribunals system.
Mr Shailesh Vara
We have secured over £700m of funding to invest in our courts and tribunals. We have worked closely with the senior judiciary to develop a plan to reform our courts system so it delivers swifter, fairer justice for everyone in England and Wales at a lower cost. This is a once in a generation opportunity to create a modern, user focused and efficient courts and tribunals service.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsty Blackman on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his Answer of 4 November 2015 to Question 14206, for what reason his Department’s quarterly report of transparency information from October to December 2014 was not ready for publication until 15 October 2015.
David Mundell
The Government publishes an unprecedented range of Transparency data. This is a significant task across all Departments, and Information is published as quickly as is possible.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tebbit on 2015-12-01.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether and how the government of President Assad in Syria threatens the national interest of the UK.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
As the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), has said, Assad has been one of Daesh’s most effective recruiting sergeants. His regime’s brutal suppression of the Syrian people, including through the use of chemical weapons, has created the chaos and instability in which Daesh has been able to thrive. Defeating Daesh will require action on a number of fronts including, ultimately, a political transition to a new Syrian government which is able to protect the Syrian people and with whom the international community can partner against Daesh.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps he has taken to tackle clustering of betting shops in town centres.
Tracey Crouch
In April 2014, the Coalition Government published its gambling strategy “Gambling protections and controls" which includeda number of measures to tackle problem gambling – this was in response to concerns following the implementation of the 2005 Act, brought in under the then Government.As part of this approach, new planning legislation came into effect in April 2015 which requires planning permission forany change to use to a betting shop.
Councils can use their Local Plans to shape where retail development should go, ensure the right balance of use classes, and prevent any negative cumulative impact of multiple premises in the same vicinity. Some councils have issued supplementary planning guidance to address directly the proliferation of betting shops in a particular local area.
Councils also have powers under gambling legislation to address problems by individual premises and review the licenses of premises which breach the licensing objectives (e.g. preventing crime and disorder; and protecting children and the vulnerable from harm).
We believe that this balanced approach allows councils to take targeted action to tackle localised problems. We continue to monitor the effects of existing controls and will take action if these are found to be insufficient.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2015-12-01.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made in ensuring that management and statistical information concerning asylum claims on grounds of sexuality and gender identity are recorded accurately and comprehensively by the Home Office, and when that data will be published.
Lord Bates
We are still looking into the feasibility of publishing figures on the number of asylum applications by sexual orientation of the applicants. Any plans to publish will be subject to the data being of appropriate quality, in accordance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department spent on employing junior doctors in each of the last five years; and how many junior doctors were employed in each of those years.
Ben Gummer
The figures are:
|
Financial year |
Substantive junior doctor paybill |
Average number of full-time-equivalent junior doctors over the year |
|
2014/15 |
£3.1 billon |
53,000 |
|
2013/14 |
£3 billion |
52,500 |
|
2012/13 |
£3 billion |
52,000 |
|
2011/12 |
£3 billion |
51,500 |
|
2010/11 |
£3 billion |
51,000 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the contribution of 30 November 2015 by Lord Mendelsohn, in the House of Lords, Official Report, column 937, if he will place in the Library a copy of the letter referred to on the amendment concerning UK Government Investments Limited.
Anna Soubry
A copy of the letter to Lord Mendelsohn, dated 27 November, referred to during the debate on the Enterprise Bill on 30 November 2015, has been placed in the Libraries of the House. A previous letter to Lord Mendelsohn, dated 19 November, also on the subject of UK Government Investments, has also been placed in the Libraries of the House.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Cameron on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department is developing programmes to tackle the (a) interconnectivity of domestic abuse and disability and (b) interconnections between other vulnerable groups.
Mr Desmond Swayne
My Department recognises that those with disabilities may be more at risk of experiencing violence, and our work to prevent Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) takes into account issues of violence, including domestic abuse, against those with disabilities. We recognise the importance of considering disability in our programming, through for example the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women (to which we contributed £2 million in 2015, a £6 million investment over 3 years), which has this year made a grant to a project focused specifically on access to justice of girls and women with disabilities who have experienced VAWG in Zimbabwe.
DFID supports a comprehensive social inclusion approach to leaving no one behind and to understanding the interconnections between other vulnerable groups including people with disabilities, older people, youth, children, marginalised girls and women, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) communities, indigenous people, different faith groups, refugees and internally displaced persons and migrants. Many face multiple forms of discrimination and disadvantage with women and girls with disabilities particularly at risk as they live with double discrimination. DFID’s programming investments are based on an extensive poverty analysis at the country level which includes an assessment of the level of access, opportunity and influence of different geographic and social groups. DFID is currently engaging in a Bilateral and Multilateral Aid Review where country offices and partners are being asked to increase their work on ensuring we reach the most disadvantaged groups such as those experiencing multiple discrimination.