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Tag: 2015

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Attorney General, what steps he has taken to promote pro bono work amongst members of the legal profession in the last 12 months.

    Robert Buckland

    The Attorney General and I chair two co-ordinating committees that bring together leading organisations dedicated to promoting the delivery of pro bono legal services by members of the legal profession, in conjunction with the voluntary sector in England and Wales and internationally.

    Earlier this month, we took part in a range of events during National Pro Bono week, which is now regarded as an important annual national event and is supported by the legal professions, voluntary sector and law schools.

    Over the past 12 months, we have supported a number of projects borne out of the co-ordinating committees, that we believe reinforce how important the pro bono movement is – not just domestically, but internationally as well.

  • Margaret Ferrier – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Margaret Ferrier – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2015-11-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the development of Watchkeeper.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Development costs are not separately identified as they are included within the main Demonstration, Manufacturing and Initial Support contract with Thales UK. The current total financial approval for development and delivery of Watchkeeper to Full Operating Capability is £927 million.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Nicholas Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-11-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government plans to take to (a) tackle sexual abuse and sexual crime involving 16 and 17 year olds and (b) better educate young people about sexual abuse.

    Karen Bradley

    Tackling child sexual abuse and exploitation is a top priority for this Government. In March 2015 we launched the “Tackling CSE” report and prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat in the Strategic Policing Requirement, setting a clear expectation on police forces to collaborate across force boundaries, to safeguard children, to share intelligence and to share best practice.

    Our “This is Abuse” campaign has sent clear messages to prevent young people becoming victims or perpetrators of sexual violence by helping teenagers to recognise and understand sexual abuse. It also signposts them to appropriate support including specialist services, counselling, Independent Sexual Violence Advisers, and helplines.

    The College of Policing and the National Policing lead have set the requirement on all forces to train all new and existing police staff including police officers, detectives and specialist investigators to respond to child sexual abuse. In addition, all police forces and the NCA are now connected to the Child Abuse Image Database (CAID). CAID is a national UK policing system that supports law enforcement in the pursuit of offenders involved in the sexual exploitation of children and in safeguarding the victims of this crime.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Virendra Sharma – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2015-11-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to increase the proportion of disabled people participating in apprenticeships.

    Nick Boles

    Thousands of disabled people have benefitted from apprenticeships. In 2014/15, 44,090 of those starting an apprenticeship declared a disability or learning difficulty (LDD). This compares with 26,390 in 2009/10.

    To provide an incentive to employers to offer more opportunities, apprenticeship training for 16-18 year olds is fully funded by Government. Government also fully funds apprentices aged 19 to 24 who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan). Apprentices aged 19 to 24 without an EHC Plan, who have a learning difficulty and/or disability can benefit from additional funding through Learning Support.

    Advice is also available to help employers and training providers understand disabilities and how to better support disabled apprentices. We have funded NIACE to produce an employer toolkit http://www.employer-toolkit.org.uk/ for employers that want to develop a more inclusive and accessible apprenticeship offer.

    An Apprenticeships Equality and Diversity Advisory group helps government understand and address any apprenticeship equality and diversity issues in order to reduce barriers and make apprenticeships as inclusive as possible.

    “

  • Lord Empey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Empey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2015-11-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government by how much they estimate the budget of the Northern Ireland Executive will be reduced annually as a consequence of the decision to introduce a reduced rate of Corporation Tax in Northern Ireland in 2018–19.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The government is committed to devolving corporation tax powers as provided for by the Corporation Tax (Northern Ireland) Act 2015, if the Northern Ireland parties meet their commitments in the Stormont House Agreement. This includes the Northern Ireland Executive demonstrating that its finances are on a sustainable footing for the long term.

    The government is working closely with the Executive to agree a fair adjustment to the block grant covering both the direct and behavioural effects of devolution. Ultimately, however, the impact on the Executive’s budget will depend on the rate set by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

  • Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-11-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax credit claimants have reported difficulties in renewing their claim online in the last 12 months.

    Damian Hinds

    The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Gloria De Piero – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Gloria De Piero – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many young people earn below the living wage.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the outcomes were of her visit to China in November 2015; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    During her visit the Secretary of State met a number of her counterparts, supported the two week long Food is GREAT Campaign in China and took with her the largest ever UK delegation to the Food and Hotel China trade show. She signed agreements to open the markets for UK barley and pigs trotters worth up to £190m over 5 years and discussed the forward plan for opening up the markets for poultry, beef and lamb. She discussed shared priorities with the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Water Resources and agreed programmes of closer collaboration.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations his Department has made to the Israeli government on the Children in Military Custody report, funded by his Department, which was published in June 2012.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv have held roundtable meetings with Israeli officials to discuss the Children in Military Custody report, most recently on 19 May. Since the publication of the report, there has been some progress on the issue of children held in military detention. This includes piloting of sending summons instead of carrying out night-time arrests, changes to standard operating procedures on methods of restraint, and steps to reduce the amount of time a child can be detained before seeing a judge. There has also been a reduction in the use of solitary confinement and an increase in the use of Arabic to give notifications of arrest. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv continue to push for further progress with Israeli officials. On 27 August, our Ambassador to Tel Aviv lobbied the Israeli Military Advocate General on Children in Detention where the issue of child detention was discussed.

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Thomas-Symonds on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with clinical commissioning groups on commissioning of off-patent drugs for use in new indications.

    George Freeman

    NHS England supports the national commissioning system in England, including the provision of guidance to the service, where appropriate.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) does not routinely appraise drugs outside their licensed indications. Where drugs are not appraised by NICE, it is the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to decide how drugs should be funded locally, in line with any guidance from NHS England. The Department has produced no guidance and had no discussions with CCGs on off-label drug use.

    Many thousands of patients benefit from the use of off-patent drugs, off-label, every day in the National Health Service. NICE publishes Evidence Summaries on unlicensed and off-label medicines. These provide a summary of the published evidence for selected unlicensed or off-label medicines that are considered to be of significance to the NHS, usually when there is no licensed medicine for the condition requiring treatment or no licensed medicines are appropriate for a significant proportion of people requiring treatment.