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Tag: 2015

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the reliability of the power and propulsion systems of the Type 45 Destroyer.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    I refer my right hon. Friend to the reply given by my noble Friend the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence, Lord Astor of Hever on 2 March 2015, to the noble Lord, Lord Davies of Stamford, in the House of Lords to Question HL 5030.

    Progress continues to be made over the reliability of the existing power and propulsion system.

  • Heidi Alexander – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Heidi Alexander – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when (a) his Department, (b) NHS England and (c) Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust first received a copy of the Mazers report on Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust.

    Alistair Burt

    A search of the Department’s Ministerial correspondence database has identified 40 items of correspondence expressing concerns about Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust. This figure represents correspondence received by the Department’s Ministerial correspondence unit only.

    In 2014, NHS England initiated action including an investigation of the deaths of all patients of the trust who had been in receipt of mental health or learning disability services since 2011.

    We are advised by NHS England that a first draft of the Mazars report was shared with it and Southern Health Foundation Trust in September 2015. The Department has not received a copy of the report and the report is still to be finalised before publication.

  • Joan Ryan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Joan Ryan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will provide more funding to special educational needs schools in (a) Greater London and (b) Enfield.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    We recognise that the distribution of high needs funding needs reform. There are currently wide variations in the funding provided for children with similar needs in different areas. Our aim is to make that distribution fairer. To help achieve this, we commissioned the Isos Partnership to undertake some research so that we could see where changes to the future funding of special educational needs might be needed.

    The research report, which we published in July 2015, contains a large number of proposals which we are considering and is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/funding-for-young-people-with-special-educational-needs

    “

  • Khalid Mahmood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Khalid Mahmood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many arrests have been made in connection with gun crime in the West Midlands metropolitan area in (a) each of the last 10 years and (b) each quarter of 2015.

    Mike Penning

    The Government and police work nationally, and with international partners, to reduce the threat to the UK from the criminal use of firearms. In 2013/14, firearms were used in a small and diminishing proportion of total police recorded crime, 0.2%. We also support local areas to take action against gang violence to reduce offending and protect vulnerable people. Under the Ending Gang and Youth Violence programme, Birmingham was subject to a peer review in 2012 and has implemented and integrated the recommendations from the review into their local strategic plans. The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the number of arrests made in connection with gun crime. The UK has some of the toughest gun laws in the world and the government and the police continue to work together to reduce the threat from the criminal use of firearms. We will be reviewing options to strengthen the current legislation to ensure it safeguards against abuse by criminals following representations made by the police (and other stakeholders) during the Law Commission’s scoping consultation on firearms legislation. The number of offences involving firearms (excluding air weapons) in the West Midlands has fallen by 40% since 2010, from 903 offences in 2009/10 to 540 in 2013/14.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with European counterparts on progress they have made in tackling the waste of imperfect food.

    Rory Stewart

    The successful action we have taken in the UK through our voluntary approach has put us at the forefront in tackling food waste. This was reflected in our recent response to the European Commission’s consultations on the Circular Economy.

    Discussions with our European counterparts on these matters will take place following publication of the Commission’s proposals on the Circular Economy.

  • David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what restrictive covenants exist on the use and disposal of each prison establishment in England and Wales.

    Andrew Selous

    We will consider what impact the existence of any restrictive covenant would have on any future closures and new prison sites. Providing a list of restrictive covenants on the use and disposal of each prison in England and Wales could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that non-target species such as domestic pets are not caught in snares.

    Rory Stewart

    Policy on wildlife management issues including snares is a devolved matter so I can only speak for England.

    In 2012 Defra published research on the extent of use and humaneness of snares in England and Wales. This research included an analysis of the issues covered by the code. Ministers are currently considering options.

    Defra and its agencies do not use snares on their property.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many prisoners received treatment for (a) alcohol addiction, (b) drug addiction and (c) any other addiction in each of the last five years.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England provides local information for performance monitoring in the restricted access section of the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System website, but does not publish national data centrally.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the level of deposition of lead gunshot in wetland and terrestrial habitats.

    Rory Stewart

    The Government is considering the independent Lead Ammunition Group’s report on the effect of lead shot on human and wildlife health and will respond as soon as possible.

    The Food Standards Agency has produced advice on the consumption of lead shot game which can be accessed at https://www.food.gov.uk/science/advice-to-frequent-eaters-of-game-shot-with-lead.

    “

  • Ian Blackford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Blackford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to correct the computer error in the child maintenance system on the collection of arrears.

    Priti Patel

    There were well-documented IT failures in the 1993 and 2003 Child Support Agency (CSA) statutory child maintenance scheme systems. The Coalition government introduced a new Child Maintenance scheme in 2012 which addresses these issues. This is operated by the Child Maintenance Service and used a pathfinder approach to introduce new IT systems in a slow, safe and controlled way. The 2012 scheme systems are designed to be more cost-effective and overcome the key failings associated with the 1993 and 2003 CSA schemes and systems. We will be closing all the cases on the old schemes, and we are continuing to pursue existing debt.