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Tag: 2015

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether additional financial support is available to local authorities who participate in the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme to assist them with housing Syrian refugees.

    Richard Harrington

    The first 12 months of each refugee’s resettlement costs are met from the UK’s overseas aid budget. At the Spending Review, government committed £129m to assist with local authority costs over years 2-5 of the scheme. This is a substantial level of funding which will enable local authorities to support these vulnerable people as they rebuild their lives in safe and secure surroundings, among supportive communities in the UK.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what efforts are being made to tackle rape and sexual and gender-based violence in the Darfur region of Sudan, in the light of the previous attacks on women and girls in that region.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We continue to press the Government of Sudan to tackle sexual and gender-based violence. We raised the situation with the Director of Human Rights at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in late October. At the UN, the UK led on Security Council Resolution 2228 which called on all parties to the conflict in Darfur to make and implement specific and time-bound commitments to combat sexual violence. At the Human Rights Council in September we supported the Sudan resolution which condemned violations or abuses of international human rights and humanitarian law with specific reference to sexual and gender-based violence. In addition, UK-funded project work has provided support to over 150 survivors of rape in Darfur and contributed to the successful prosecution of members of the police and armed forces. We will continue to monitor the situation closely.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of proposals to revise the costs capping scheme for environmental legal challenges on the UK’s ability to meet the requirement in the EU Public Participation Directive for claimants to have prior certainty in relation to costs protection.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Government’s proposals to revise the costs capping scheme for environmental legal challenges in England and Wales have been brought forward in light of recent developments in case law. Following those judgments the Government has made an assessment and considers there to be scope for introducing measured adjustments to the current regime within the framework of EU law, including the Public Participation Directive.

  • Baroness Redfern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Redfern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Redfern on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that people with mental health problems receive ongoing treatment and support in their local community.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    It is important that local authorities employ individuals who possess the necessary skills to engage effectively with those with mental health problems. Local authorities should make training opportunities available to all staff.

    Mental health social workers empower individuals with mental illness and their families, carers, and communities to lead fulfilling, independent lives. On 1 September this year applications for a new fast track route into mental health social work careers opened for an intensive on-the-job programme called Think Ahead. The programme aims to attract promising students and graduates into mental health careers.

    Health Education England, working with NHS England, aims to ensure that there are suf­ficient therapists and other staff with the right skills to support the identification of mental health issues.

    Community mental health services, which include community mental health teams, crisis and home resolution teams, assertive outreach teams and early intervention in psychosis teams, all have a key role in supporting people with mental health problems either to avoid the need for in-patient care or to provide them with on-going support once in-patient treatment is no longer necessary.

    From April 2016, the first set of mental health waiting time standards will be introduced which requires that 50% of people experiencing a first episode of psychosis are treated with a National Institute for Health and Care Excellence approved package of care within two weeks of referral; 75% of adults referred to the national programme for psychological therapies will be treated within 6 weeks, and 95% within 18 weeks.

    This is supported by an £80 million funding package for 2015-16 from NHS England’s budgets, breaking down as:

    ‒ £40 million recurrent funding to support delivery of the early intervention in psychosis (EIP) standard;

    ‒ £10 million to support delivery of the new psychological therapies standards; and

    ‒ £30 million to support liaison psychiatry in acute hospitals.

    The Time to Change initiative is an ambitious national programme being delivered by leading mental health charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness to reduce stigma and discrimination towards people with mental health problems. The Department, the Big Lottery Fund and Comic Relief have all provided funding for the programme.The Department funded the campaign with over £16 million between 2011-12 and 2014-15 and is continuing to fund the programme with £2.5 million in 2015-16. Time to Change continues to work with people with experience of mental health problems to challenge attitudes and discrimination; run social marketing campaigns and work with local and regional partners on community-led activity. To date, more than 350 organisations across England have committed to tackling mental health stigma and discrimination in the workplace.

  • Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons the exemption for light goods vehicles from tachograph and EC driver rule requirements has not been extended to passenger carrying vehicles (PCVs); and if he will take steps to extend the exemption to PCVs.

    Andrew Jones

    Small passenger carrying vehicles, with 8 or less passenger seats (like light goods vehicles, weighing less than 3.5 tonnes), are also exempt from the EU drivers’ hours rules and the need to use a tachograph. In addition, vehicles with between 10 and 17 seats used exclusively for the non-commercial carriage of passengers are also exempt from the EU rules, along with vehicles used for the carriage of passengers on regular routes, where the route covered does not exceed 50km (local bus services).

  • Mark Williams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Mark Williams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Williams on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans the Government has to ensure that GOV.UK is accessible by Welsh speakers in the Welsh language.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Government is enthusiastically committed to the Welsh language and to providing Government services in the Welsh language where there is demand for them.

    The Cabinet Office is improving the quality of service for Welsh speakers through user research, conducted jointly by the Wales Office and the Government Digital Service (GDS), as well as feedback from subject matter experts in governmental Welsh Language Units.

    GDS has liaised with government departments on a user needs-based review of current Welsh-language content on GOV.UK. The content in Welsh will be more prominently promoted from the equivalent English-language pages.

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  • Norman Lamb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Norman Lamb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on claimants with mental illness of his proposals to extend jobseeker’s allowance conditionality.

    Priti Patel

    We have made no proposals to extend Jobseekers Allowance conditionality.

  • Tim Loughton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tim Loughton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the funding offer for the Pioneer Communities Project was withdrawn; and what the basis was for the withdrawal.

    Greg Hands

    The Government announced at Autumn Statement 2014 funding for the Department for Education for an “Early intervention pilot for 0-2 year olds – to pilot a new approach to ensure that the most effective early intervention actions are taken during a child’s earliest years, to prevent avoidable problems later.”

    This measure was to be delivered by the Department for Education, who worked with a number of stakeholders including Her Majesty’s Treasury, the Wave Trust and the Early Intervention Foundation to identify options to deliver the project.

    As no contract has been signed for this measure, in June 2015 the Department for Education undertook not to proceed with the measure in this financial year.

  • Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of brownfield land in Mid Dorset and North Poole has been redesignated as community land trust in the last five years.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department does not hold information centrally on the amount or type of land held by community land trusts.

    The Department’s annual Green Belt statistics monitor the amount of land designated as Green Belt in England and any changes to the designated area since the previous year. The statistics record the change by local planning authority.

    Of the local planning authorities for which information was requested, the following have made changes to the Green Belt in the last five years:

    East Dorset reduced the area of designated Green Belt in 2014-15 by 160 hectares to 16,720 hectares, a reduction of 1 per cent; and

    Purbeck increased the area of designated Green Belt in 2012-13 by 460 hectares to 8,200 hectares, an increase of 6 per cent.

  • Craig Mackinlay – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Craig Mackinlay – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Mackinlay on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the number of people who will be subject to personal allowance restriction on incomes over £100,000 as a result of Clause 24 of the Finance Bill 2015 (restriction to Landlords’ interest deductibility) in each year between 2017-18 and 2020-21.

    Mr David Gauke

    It is assumed that the questions refer to clause 24 of the Summer 2015 Finance Bill: relief for finance costs related to residential property businesses.

    15897

    The additional taxation receipts arising from restrictions to Landlords’ interest deductibility of the Summer Budget Finance Bill 2015 has been estimated and published in the “Summer Budget 2015: policy costings” page 21:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/443195/Policy_costings_summer_budget_2015.pdf

    15898

    The number of taxpayers who will become higher rate taxpayers as a result of Clause 24 of the plans to restrict finance cost relief for individual landlords will not be estimated. It would only be possible to provide an estimate for the specific years requested at disproportionate cost.

    15899

    The number of taxpayers who will become subject to Personal Allowance restrictions as a result of the plans to restrict finance cost relief for individual landlords will not be estimated. It would only be possible to provide an estimate for the specific years requested at disproportionate cost.

    15895

    No estimate is available of the number of people that will be subject to the provisions of the High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge as a result of Clause 24 of the Finance Bill 2015. The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

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