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Tag: 2015

  • Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what measures the Government plans to take to address the concerns expressed by the Independent Monitoring Board in its report, HMP Winchester, Annual Report June 2014 to May 2015, published on 2 November 2015.

    Andrew Selous

    The HMP Winchester IMB Annual Report acknowledges the professionalism and commitment of the Governor and his staff at HMP Winchester, who manage a challenging and diverse population. We are currently recruiting prison officers to fill vacancies at Winchester, and new officers are due to start work in the new year. Should a serious incident occur at Winchester or any other prison, the situation would be constantly risk assessed as it develops to ensure the best and most appropriate response. National resources are available to provide assistance at any time, if additional resources are needed.

    A wide ranging programme of work has been initiated to counteract New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) in prisons. The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) continues to work hard to source more work for prisoners across the entire prison estate. This includes working with local and national businesses as well as other Government Departments.

    I wrote to Winchester’s Independent Monitoring Board Chair on 3rd November, providing a full response to the concerns raised.

  • Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what rights protected in the Human Rights Act 1998 the Government plans not to include in the proposed British Bill of Rights.

    Dominic Raab

    We have been clear that the Bill of Rights will remain faithful to the basic principles which we signed up to in the European Convention on Human Rights. Our focus will be on mitigating the expansion of rights by the Strasbourg Court and the Human Rights Act. This government is as committed as any to upholding such rights, which underpin any civilised society, but we also want to prevent abuse of the system.

  • Helen Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Helen Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2015-11-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount received by his Department in VAT payments from further education and sixth form colleges in (a) the UK, (b) the North West and (c) Warrington in each of the last five years.

    Mr David Gauke

    No estimate has been made. Data is not available on the VAT received from further education and sixth form colleges in the United Kingdom, the North West or Warrington in the last five years.

  • Lord MacKenzie of Culkein – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord MacKenzie of Culkein – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord MacKenzie of Culkein on 2015-12-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have received advice from the Council of Deans of Health about the future funding of nursing and midwifery students.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department of Health (DH) received joint correspondence from the Council of Deans of Health and Universities UK about a number of issues relating to healthcare education funding in England.

    The Council of Deans of Health and Universities UK also wrote a joint letter to DH and the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Ministers on 7 August 2015 requesting a meeting to discuss a redesigned system. DH and BIS Ministers agreed to a joint meeting, which took place on the 2 December.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he or Ministers in his Department will attend the heats and further stages of the Bar National Mock Trials Competition.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    I am aware of this valuable initiative for school students organised by the Citizenship Foundation and funded by the Bar. While Ministers have no current plans to attend any of the stages, I wish this competition continuing success.

  • Lord Scriven – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Scriven – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2015-12-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Upper Tribunal’s decision in MSM (journalists; political opinion; risk) Somalia [2015] UKUT 00413 (IAC), what plans they have immediately to revise their country-specific bulletins, and how they will now apply their discretion to asylum and immigration cases.

    Lord Bates

    We do not believe our country specific bulletins are at odds with the Upper Tribunal’s decision in MSM (Somalia) such that they require urgent revision. However, we are constantly reviewing our country information and guidance to ensure we reflect the most up-to-date situation and caselaw.

    A fundamental principle of the 1951 Refugee Convention is that each case is considered on its own merits. That is the approach taken by the Home Office.

  • Rehman Chishti – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rehman Chishti – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how he plans to assess whether clinical commissioning groups in England have met the NHS England planning guidance requirement to give real terms spending increases to mental health services in 2015-16.

    Alistair Burt

    In total, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have set plans for 2015/16 which reflect an increase in mental health care expenditure in excess of their increase in allocation for the year. NHS England is tracking actual expenditure against those plans and it will report to the Secretary of State at the end of the year on whether those plans have been met.

    Departmental Ministers meet the Chief Executives of NHS England and Monitor regularly and discuss a wide range of issues, including funding for mental health services.

    NHS England was formally established on 1 April 2013.Expenditure by NHS England on Specialist Mental Health Services for 2013/14 was £1.780 billion and £1.795 billion in 2014/15. NHS England’s planned expenditure on Specialist Mental Health Services for 2015/16 is £1.859 billion.

    NHS England has published CCG level expenditure on mental health for 2013/14, which was estimated to be £8.1 billion. CCGs are currently in the process of preparing estimates of expenditure for mental health services in 2014/15. Estimates for 2015/16 are not available.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what provision the Government made in the conditions of the sale of Royal Mail for suitable local alternatives to be provided in the event that local sorting or collection offices were closed.

    Anna Soubry

    Decisions on whether to close and re-locate local collection offices have always been operational matters for Royal Mail. The Government played no role in such decisions prior to the sale of Royal Mail.

    Regardless of ownership, Royal Mail, as the United Kingdom’s designated universal service provider, is required to provide a universal postal service that meets the minimum requirements as set out under the Postal Services Act 2011.

    It is the responsibility of the postal regulator, Ofcom, to ensure that Royal Mail provides sufficient access points to meet its universal postal service obligations.

  • Lisa Cameron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lisa Cameron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Cameron on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of slaughterhouses have CCTV.

    George Eustice

    The latest estimates from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) are that 57% of red meat slaughterhouses and 69% of white meat slaughterhouses have some form of CCTV in use for animal welfare purposes. FSA estimate that 94% of cattle, 96% of pigs, 90% of sheep and 99% of poultry throughput now comes from premises with CCTV.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many civil servants in his Department are in the redeployment pool.

    Brandon Lewis

    A redeployment pool is one of the steps DCLG would take if staff were at the risk of redundancy. DCLG is currently not in a redundancy situation, therefore, we do not have a redeployment pool or staff in it.