The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many young people are classified as long-term unemployed in the Dorset County Council area.
Mr Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he or his Ministers have had with their Egyptian counterparts on (a) the reconstruction and repair of churches and other Christian property and (b) the granting of licences for new churches in Egypt.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
There have been no recent discussions between ministers and the Egyptian government on these issues. Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials have discussed these issues with church representatives in Egypt. The UK remains clear that the freedom of religious belief needs to be protected and that the ability to worship in peace is a vital component of a democratic society. We look to the Egyptian government to implement the rights contained in Egypt’s constitution, which includes protections for freedom of religious belief.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2015-12-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prisoners who have previously absconded remain in open conditions.
Lord Faulks
In May 2014, the Coalition Government introduced a new policy so that prisoners with a history of escape, absconding or serious temporary release failure during the current sentence are prevented from transfer to open conditions, other than in the most exceptional circumstances. There has been only one case satisfying the condition of exceptional circumstances since the policy was implemented. In addition, any prisoner who absconds from an open prison is immediately returned to a higher security prison.
When the policy was implemented, it was not applied retrospectively. Prisoners already in open conditions were reassessed by senior officials in the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), and any who were assessed as presenting an unacceptable risk in such conditions in light of their previous non-compliance were returned to closed prisons, with the remainder allowed to remain in open conditions because of their compliance with the regime and favourable risk assessment.
On 4 December 2015, there were 15 prisoners in open prisons who were recorded as having absconded between 1 April 2004 and 21 May 2014 when the policy change came into force.
Reliable electronic records for absconds and temporary release failures prior to 2004 are not available, therefore only incidents since 2004 could be considered. The data set used here includes prisons classified as having their predominant function to be open. These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans he has to meet the new President of Burma; and if he will raise the issue of human rights abuses of ethnic groups in that country with the President.
Mr Hugo Swire
Burma’s next president will not be chosen when the new parliament convenes in February 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2015-12-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they next intend to revise or update the Agricultural Land Classification Survey guidelines.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Government currently has no plan to revise or update the Agricultural Land Classification Survey guidelines, but will keep their suitability under review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the new junior doctors’ contract on patients’ safety.
Ben Gummer
The proposals are to introduce a safer, fairer contract for junior doctors that will help improve their training experience to better support patient care every day of the week.
Our ambition for the National Health Service to be the safest healthcare system in the world is underpinned by reducing, not increasing, the number of hours junior doctors work each week. The new contract will include improved, legally (and contractually) enforceable safeguards – including that no junior doctor working full time will be expected to work on average more than 48 hours a week, unless they opt-out of the European Working Time Directive in which case it is maximum of an average 56 hours a week. The number of hours that can be worked in any single week by any junior will be limited to 72 (down from 91 currently) and there will be a limit of five consecutive long days or four consecutive nights.
We will also bring the working hours and service delivery of junior doctors within the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection regime. Putting patients first is the responsibility of employers and staff. Juniors must feel confident that when they raise safety concerns they are listened to. Where doctors are asked to work in conditions that they believe are unsafe, including being asked to work patterns that put patient safety at risk, they will be asked to use the reporting mechanisms available to them (including alerting their line managers/clinical supervisors, reporting through the local incident reporting system which will upload to the National Reporting and Learning System) to raise the issue with both the board of their trust, and reporting data will be available for the CQC to use during inspections. We would expect trust boards to look at any such report and decide how to respond to it; and we would expect the CQC, when it carries out an inspection, to look at how the board has responded to this and other data reporting safety incidents and concerns.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-12-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have assessed the humanitarian impact of increasing the capacity of the Kerem Shalom goods crossing between Israel and Gaza; and whether they have plans to discuss that issue with the government of Israel.
Baroness Verma
The biggest impediments to Palestinian economic progress are the Israeli-imposed movement and access restrictions. The current movement and access restrictions relating to Gaza are leading to a stagnated economy and worsening situation for the people living there. An improved economy is not only essential for the people of Gaza, but is firmly in Israel’s security interests. We have consistently called on Israel to improve movement and access into and out of Gaza, including extending operating times at Kerem Shalom and will continue to do so.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of introducing a fixed recoverable cost regime in clinical negligence cases on the number of claims brought by claims management companies and litigants in person.
Ben Gummer
The Department is working closely with stakeholders to develop the proposal to introduce fixed recoverable costs. We have undertaken a pre-consultation exercise with a number of key stakeholders, including representatives of claimant lawyers, and are planning an open public consultation shortly. We welcome views on the proposal from all sectors.
The consultation documentation, including the Impact Assessment, will be published in early 2016 subject to relevant Committee clearances. We are working upon the assumption that there is nothing about Fixed Recoverable Costs regime which will alter the percentage of unmeritorious claims.
Any scheme proposed will include consideration of the right incentives to support a fairer and quicker process that provides the improvements to the system whilst maintaining access to justice.
The NHS Litigation Authority reported in their annual report for 2014/15 that it resolves over 4,000 clinical negligence cases annually for no payment of damages and in 2014/15 it saved over £1.2 billion for the National Health Service in rejecting claims which had no merit.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2015-12-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will estimate the UK’s current trade deficit with the EU.
Anna Soubry
This data is publicly available and can be found on the ONS website in the ‘Balance of Payments, Quarter 2 (April to June) 2015’.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Margaret Ritchie on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the possible effect of reductions in accident and emergency opening hours on public health and medical treatment standards.
Jane Ellison
Changes to front line health services are a matter for local National Health Service commissioners and providers.
Any significant service change should take account of guidance published by NHS England on 29 October 2015: Planning, assuring and delivering service change for patients. This reflects the objective in the mandate from the Government to NHS England to ensure that significant changes to services meet four tests: (i) strong public and patient engagement; (ii) consistency with current and prospective need for patient choice; (iii) a clear clinical evidence base; and (iv) support for proposals from clinical commissioners.