The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what average time his Department took to respond to freedom of information requests in each year since 2005.
Mark Lancaster
The Government publishes statistics on the operation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 within central government, including on timeliness. These can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average waiting time is for a standard Disclosure and Barring Service check.
Karen Bradley
The average time taken to process a standard disclosure and barring service check over the last 12 months for which figures are available (November 2014 – October 2015) is 5.97 calendar days.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2015-11-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answers of 6 July 2015 to Question 4511 and 12 October 2015 to Question 10567, if she will (a) request that OFGEM assess whether the use of conventional hydro-power in the north of Scotland offsets the extra cost per unit of supply and (b) instruct OFGEM to cancel the 2p per kW hour excess charge in that region.
Andrea Leadsom
Electricity supplied to consumers in the North of Scotland region is produced by a range of generation types traded in a competitive market across GB. The electricity price paid by consumers in any given region is not therefore determined by the predominant generation type in that region.
Ofgem does not regulate energy prices – these are set by energy suppliers in competition with each other and so matters relating to the pricing of tariffs are a matter for each individual company.
Ofgem addressed the differences in electricity charges between regions at paragraph 2.5 of their recent report on ‘Regional Differences in Network Charges’. This stated that the differences observed are not a ‘surcharge’, but reflect the different network costs in the region when shared out between customers consuming energy in that area. They also saw “no compelling case” to change these arrangements, from a regulatory perspective.
The report also noted that electricity distribution charges in the north of Scotland are already cross-subsidised to an extent through the Government’s Hydro Benefit Replacement Scheme. It is currently worth around £41 per annum per household in the north of Scotland, and means that consumers face lower network charges than they otherwise would.
This report can be obtained at:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/ofgem-report-regional-differences-network-charges.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average size of a cell is in (a) male and (b) female prisons.
Andrew Selous
The information requested is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-11-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had on extending the list of NATO aspirant countries.
Mr David Lidington
There is no formal list of NATO aspirant countries. However, this term is presently understood within the Alliance to refer to Georgia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia. The United Kingdom strongly supports NATO’s open door policy for any European country in a position to undertake the commitments and obligations of membership, and contribute to security in the Euro-Atlantic area. We therefore support the membership aspirations of all countries currently seeking to join the Alliance.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Heald on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2015 to Question 2065, what progress has been made on the design and planning of the A1 (M) widening scheme; when that process is expected to be completed; and if he will make a statement.
Andrew Jones
The Department for Transport published the Roads Investment Strategy in December 2014, which set out plans to invest £15 billion in England’s motorways and major A roads between 2015/16 and 2020/21. Highways England subsequently published a Delivery Plan in March 2015, which outlined how this investment would be delivered across various projects. The Delivery Plan includes the introduction of Smart Motorways on the A1(M) between Junctions 6 and 8 will provide improved capacity and better access, and should unlock much of the growth potential around Stevenage.
The scheme is expected to start design development works early in 2016 and to commence construction by March 2020 at the latest, subject to determining the right operational solution and achieving a solution that is value for money.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of when Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating programmes will be available throughout the NHS.
Jane Ellison
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Quality Standard for diabetes sets out that people with diabetes should receive a structured educational programme as this is key to ensuring that they are able to manage their condition as successfully as possible.
There are a number of national and locally developed patient education programmes, including Dose Adjustment For Normal Eating which is available to people with Type 1 diabetes via general practitioner referral.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken since 2012 to evaluate the effectiveness of the application of the work-preparation requirements which have applied to single parents who are in receipt of income support and whose youngest child is aged three or four.
Priti Patel
There is currently no evaluation on the effectiveness of the application of this requirement, however, we have this under review. Statistics show that the employment rate for lone parents has increased from 57% in June 2010 to 64.4% in June 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-11-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of how many people prescribed drugs funded from the Cancer Drugs Fund are likely to be affected by the planned ending of funding for that fund in March 2016; and if he will make a statement.
George Freeman
The Government remains committed to the Cancer Drugs Fund and is working with NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on the future arrangements for the Fund.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Allen of Kensington on 2015-11-30.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what key market sectors have been identified for priority assistance by Innovate UK.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
Innovate UK consults widely to prioritise technology areas for investment and carefully considers issues such as global market opportunity and UK research excellence and business capability.
Innovate UK’s current priority areas are agriculture and food, built environment, digital economy, emerging technologies, enabling technologies, energy, health and care, high value manufacturing, resource efficiency, space applications, transport and urban living. Following the Government’s Spending Review, Innovate UK is considering its strategy for business-led innovation support across the UK’s technology areas for the next Spending Review period, which will be presented to Ministers in spring 2016.