The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what (a) redundancy and (b) voluntary exit programmes for civil servants are currently in operation in each department.
Matthew Hancock
This information on the number of exit schemes currently in operation is not collated centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2015-11-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 22 September (HL1905), what is their latest assessment of the financial costs faced by Kent County Council in supporting asylum-seeking children, and what additional funding they are offering that council to help it to do so.
Lord Bates
The Government recognises the outstanding work of Kent County Council in caring for unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC). Home Office officials have met Kent officers to understand the additional financial pressures they facing as a result of the high numbers of UASC in their care and we continue to work through the detail. The Immigration Minister has met the Leader of Kent County Council to discuss the situation.
As well as working with Kent, we believe a national response is required. We are working closely with the Local Government Association and Association of Directors of Children’s Services to finalise plans for a new scheme to disperse unaccompanied child asylum seekers to the care of other local authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 40 of the North East Devolution Agreement, what progress he has made on developing an agreed implementation, monitoring and evaluation plan for evaluating the impact of north east devolution.
James Wharton
Implementation, monitoring, and evaluation are key parts of any Devolution Deal, and my officials are working closely with representatives of the North East Combined Authority to ensure that we have robust arrangements in place.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Marie Rimmer on 2015-11-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the building of homes for social rent.
Brandon Lewis
We have already allocated £1 billion towards our commitment to deliver 275,000 affordable homes by 2020. This will be the fastest rate of affordable housing building in the last 20 years.
Since April 2010 we have delivered over 260,000 affordable homes, with almost 60,000 delivered last year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many women were injured while serving in Afghanistan in each year of the UK’s engagement in war in that country.
Penny Mordaunt
The table below provides a summary of the number of UK female Service personnel injured in Afghanistan in each year between 7 October 2001 (start of operations in Afghanistan) and 30 November 2014 (end of NATO combat operations).
Female UK Service Personnel Injured in Afghanistan by injury classification and year, 7 October 2001- 30 November 2014. 1.
|
Female Military in Afghanistan |
All |
7 Oct 2001-31 Dec 2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
|
All injured female personnel |
206 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
23 |
19 |
24 |
30 |
23 |
31 |
34 |
14 |
|
Battle injury |
24 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
|
Non-Battle injury |
181 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
22 |
18 |
20 |
24 |
19 |
26 |
31 |
13 |
|
Disease/ Non-Battle injury 2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 Based on year of Injury, numbers exclude female personnel who were injured and subsequently died.
2 For these UK Female Service Personnel it has not been possible to determine from electronic records held by Defence Statistics if they were injured or had an illness. The record identifies these personnel as Disease/Non Battle Injury.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-11-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the recent UN Commission of Inquiry report on human rights abuses in Eritrea under President Isaias Afwerki.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We recognise the important work of the UN Commission of Inquiry and are concerned by their findings on human rights in Eritrea, in particular reports of arbitrary detention, and shortcomings in the rule of law and respect for fundamental freedoms. At the Human Rights Council in July, we supported an extension of the Commission’s mandate so that it can continue its work.
We regret that the Commission has been unable to visit Eritrea and therefore had to rely on witnesses who are outside of Eritrea and whose testimony may have been based on first-hand experience of Eritrea some time ago. We have made clear to the Government of Eritrea that it must improve respect for human rights and honour its international obligations, including allowing the Commission access.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the UK’s coal resources are used in the most effective manner.
Andrea Leadsom
The UK’s coal mining sector continues to meet a significant proportion of UK demand – in 2014, this was around 20%. In recent years, a number of domestic mining companies have struggled to remain profitable as a result of changes in the global coal market, and the Government has provided substantial financial support to avert the insolvent and unmanaged closure of these mines.
The Government continues to engage regularly with the coal sector to discuss the role of coal as we transition to a low carbon economy.
My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced recently that we will look to limit our use of coal from 2023, with an end date of 2025 and we will consult on this in the New Year. However, security of supply remains non-negotiable and no decisions will be taken which puts this at risk.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-11-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what efforts are being made through the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Scheme to assist refugees in (a) the Yazidi, Druze or Christian communities or (b) other communities who do not reside in the main refugee camps because of fears of religious persecution.
James Brokenshire
The UNHCR identifies people in need of resettlement based on the following criteria: women and girls at risk; survivors of violence and/or torture; refugees with legal and/or physical protection needs; refugees with medical needs or disabilities; children and adolescents at risk; persons at risk due to their sexual orientation or gender identity; and refugees with family links in resettlement countries. Individuals are not specifically identified for resettlement based on their membership of Yazidi, Druze, Christian or other communities but members of those communities may well meet one of the other vulnerability criteria set out by UNHCR.
The UNHCR identifies and proposes Syrian refugees for the Vulnerable Persons Scheme scheme from among the whole of the registered refugee population in the region, over 4 million people. This includes people in formal refugee camps, informal settlements and host communities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Margaret Ritchie on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to reduce the use of chlorofluorocarbons; and if she will make a statement.
Rory Stewart
Most production, import and use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) has now been banned in the UK in accordance with our obligations under the United Nations’ Montreal Protocol and EC Regulation 1005/2009 on substances that deplete the ozone layer. Exemptions to the ban are granted under certain circumstances for essential laboratory and analytical uses. CFCs may also still be imported for destruction and may be used for the production and processing of other chemicals but emissions must be minimised. These measures are enforced in England by the Environment Agency and Local Authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phillip Lee on 2015-11-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to make access to liver transplantation services more equitable.
Jane Ellison
Livers are retrieved and allocated on a zonal basis and the decision whether or not to list a patient for transplantation is taken by a multi-disciplinary team at the transplant centre, of which there are seven in the United Kingdom.Patients meeting the agreed clinical criteria, and with their consent, will be added to the National Transplant List. All centres must follow a common listing policy to ensure equity of access and that organs are allocated in the most clinically effective way, resulting in 842 liver transplants between 1 April 2014 – 31 March 2015.
NHS Blood and Transplant, the organ donation organisation for the UK, launched their strategy in July 2013 – Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020, that sets the agenda for increasing organ donation and transplantation rates by increasing consent rates. Encouragingly organ donation rates have increased by around 60% and transplant rates by some 47% since 2008 mainly through a strengthening of the donation infrastructure including increased specialist nurses and improved retrieval arrangements.