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Tag: 2015

  • Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Government has made of the effect on the likelihood of people’s reemployment of their prior length of absence from work; and what steps the Government is taking to address that matter.

    Priti Patel

    It is not possible to quantify the exact effect of benefit duration on the likelihood of re-employment as information on the destinations of people leaving benefits is not recorded for all claimants.

  • Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to match revenue spending on flood defence and protection measures to capital spending, and whether they plan to move towards a total expenditure budget for such measures.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    We are investing £2.3 billion in 1,500 flood defence improvement schemes over the next six years. This will provide better protection to at least 300,000 households, up to 420,000 acres of agricultural land, over 200 miles of railway and 340 miles of roads. The Government has confirmed that flood maintenance funding will be protected in real terms for the duration of this Parliament.

    There are no plans to move towards a total expenditure budget for flood defence and protection in this Parliament. The Environment Agency have advised us that the current funding is an optimal mix of resources funding (for maintaining defences) and capital funding to rebuild and improve defences as set out in the 6 year investment programme. We do not believe that there would be significant additional benefits from this flexibility at this stage.

  • Gavin Robinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Gavin Robinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in what instances special or additional pension provision has been made for part-time military personnel in the last 20 years.

    Mark Lancaster

    Since the mid 1990s Reserves have had a variety of pension options to choose from when mobilised, including access to an Armed Forces pension scheme for the period of their mobilisation. However, there has been no special or additional pension provision made for part-time military personnel beyond the following statutory arrangements.

    Since 1 April 2015 all members of the UK part-time Volunteer Reserves have been enrolled in the Armed Forces Pension Scheme 2015 and for the first time all their attendance-based paid service now counts as pensionable. Prior to that, from 6 April 2005 to 31 March 2015, personnel serving on an Additional Duties Commitment (ADC) were eligible to join the Reserve Forces Pension Scheme 2005 (RFPS 05). Those members of the RFPS 05 still serving on an ADC on 1 April 2015 transferred to the new scheme unless they met the criteria for transitional protection.

  • Baroness Howe of Idlicote – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Baroness Howe of Idlicote – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Howe of Idlicote on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to implement the recommendations in Barnardo’s recent report Locked Out: Children’s experiences of visiting a parent in prison.

    Lord Faulks

    The Government agrees that strong family ties are an important part of helping prisoners turn away from crime, and the recommendations from the recent Barnardo’s report are currently being considered in the context of the wider prison reforms.

    All convicted prisoners have a long-standing statutory entitlement to a minimum of two visits every 28 days. In addition, prisoners may also be rewarded with additional visits for good behaviour and for engaging with their rehabilitation.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the (a) volume, (b) gross capital and (c) gross revenue costs of planned purchases of renewable energy is from other European countries.

    Andrea Leadsom

    We continue to make progress towards our renewable energy target of 15% final energy consumption by 2020. Provisional figures show 6.3% of final energy consumption came from renewable sources for 2013 and 2014, against a target of 5.4%.

    Progress on renewable electricity generation has been particularly strong with over a quarter of electricity generated, between April and June this year, coming from renewable sources.

    The Spending Review will be announced on 25th November, and a Department for Transport consultation will be running next year on increasing the amount of renewable transport fuel. We will carefully consider the impacts of both on the UK’s progress towards the renewables target of 15%, including whether there will be a role for trading.

  • Lord Lea of Crondall – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Lea of Crondall – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lea of Crondall on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government for what reasons they have decided not to follow the guidance set out in Chapter 14 of the Cabinet Office Guide to Making Legislation in respect of the Trade Union Bill, and in particular the requirement in paragraph 14.10 to publish the final impact assessment at the final proposal stage”.”

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    In line with the Cabinet Office guidance, we will publish a final impact assessment before enactment. The Government has already published consultation Impacts Assessments alongside the public consultations that support the overall package of reforms, as well as an equality impact assessment and will publish a further Impact Assessment on the Bill before Lords Committee.

  • Cat Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cat Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 11 March 2015 to Question 226385, how many local authorities supported by PHE are developing withdrawal services for people affected by addiction to prescription benzodiazepine and drug tranquilisers.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England is currently working with two local authorities and one other area which is part of a Clinical Commissioning Group who want to improve their responses to addiction to medicines. These improvements are wide-ranging and do not necessarily involve developing bespoke services for people affected by specific medicines. There are also other areas which are looking at how they respond to addiction to medicines locally.

    Local authorities are responsible for commissioning effective services to meet the need of their local populations which experience dependence on any medicines or drugs, including treatment for people dependent on prescription benzodiazepines and tranquillisers.

  • 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 2015-12-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment the Department for Health has made of the number of adult carers in the UK, and the capacity of those carers to provide an improved quality of care to individuals in their own homes.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We have assumed the Noble Lady is referring to informal, unpaid, carers rather than to paid care workers.

    The 2011 Census indicated that there are approximately 6.26 million adults with informal caring responsibilities in the United Kingdom.

    The Government recognises the invaluable contribution made by unpaid carers and the importance of supporting them in their caring roles. That is why we continue to support implementation of the improved rights for carers enshrined in The Care Act 2014. This includes a right to an assessment on the appearance of needs for support that will look at a carer’s wellbeing in their own right and what support they may need in their caring role.

    The Department has provided £104 million of funding to local authorities for these rights in 2015/16, which include, for the first time, a legal duty on local authorities to meet carers’ eligible needs for support. We have also made an additional £400 million available to the NHS between 2011 and 2015 to provide carers with breaks from their caring responsibilities to sustain them in their caring role. The carers’ breaks funding of £130 million for 2015/16 is in the Better Care Fund.

    The Department is also leading the development of a new cross-Government National Carers Strategy that will look at what more we can do to support existing carers and future carers.

  • Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many women taken to hospital from Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre have been handcuffed in transit in each of the last six months.

    James Brokenshire

    Provisional management information showing the number of women who have been handcuffed when taken to hospital from Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre over the requested period is detailed in the table below:

    Month

    Number of Handcuffed Hospital Moves

    May

    0

    June

    0

    July

    0

    August

    0

    September

    1

    October

    6

    The increased figure in October 2015 was not due to any change in policy. These cases have been reviewed by the Home Office Use of Force Monitor to ensure that the use of handcuffs was appropriate. The review established that each case had been subject to an individual risk assessment, in accordance with standard policy, and that handcuffs were used on the basis of that outcome of that assessment.

  • Lord Condon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Condon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2015-12-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what new arrangements have been made in 2015, nationally, regionally, or locally, for police forces formally to share operational or support functions.

    Lord Bates

    Chief Constables and PCCs are best placed to consider whether and how their forces’ operational or support functions should be shared. The number of collaborations continues to increase, with at least 4 new alliances involving 9 forces announced in 2015.

    Regional Organised Crime Units, the National Crime Agency and local law enforcement continue to develop specialist capabilities to tackle a range of threats, including serious and organised crime, child sexual abuse and cyber crime. The Government supports the current review by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners into where specialist policing capabilities best sit, and how they should be delivered, to provide a common basis for future collaboration decisions.

    To continue to strengthen and improve mutual aid arrangements, the National Police Coordination Centre is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing to develop consistent national standards.