The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Manzoor on 2015-10-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) children, (2) kinship carers, and (3) victims of domestic violence, they estimate will be affected by limiting the child element of tax credits to the first two children.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
This information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-10-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 13 October (HL2417), what is their assessment of the impact of air attacks in the United Arab Emirates, on Sa’da and its region; and whether these amount to war crimes.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The UK is supportive of the military intervention in Yemen by the Saudi-led Coalition, which includes the United Arab Emirates. This came at the request of President Hadi, the legitimate President of Yemen, to deter aggression by the Houthis and forces loyal to the former president Saleh. The Coalition has played a crucial role in reversing the military advance of the Houthis and forces loyal to former president Saleh, which is now helping to create the conditions for the return of the legitimate Yemeni government. We are aware of reports of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law in Yemen including by the Saudi-led Coalition – alleged airstrikes resulting in civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure – in Saada and elsewhere across the country. We take such allegations very seriously and have raised our concerns with all parties to the conflict in Yemen, including the Emiratis. Any judgement on whether specific international war crimes have occurred is a matter for international judicial decision rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville on 2015-10-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many homes sold under the Right to Buy scheme since 2000 have been replaced; and whether they will place the figures for each year since 2000 in the Library of the House.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
In 2012, the Coalition Government reinvigorated the Right to Buy scheme, increasing maximum discounts to realistic levels and for the first time ever, introduced a requirement to replace every additional sale nationally with a replacement property.
In the first year (2012/13) following the reinvigoration of Right to Buy by the last Government, there were 3,054 additional homes sold. By the end of Q1 2015/16 there were 3,644 new starts and acquisitions. Councils have three years to replace the additional homes sold.
Right to Buy sales by Local Authority (Table 691) and Local Authority starts and acquisitions (Table 693) can be accessed at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-social-housing-sales
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-10-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to improve the quality of the apprenticeship schemes, in the light of the conclusion in Ofsted’s report that very few apprenticeships are delivering professional level skills.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
We have been taking steps to improve the quality of apprenticeships, including insisting that all apprenticeships should be paid jobs with substantial stretching training and robust assessment procedures and last for a minimum of 12 months. We are committed to delivering employer-led apprenticeship reforms, which are improving the quality of apprenticeships to provide the skills that employers need.
The availability of apprenticeships at a range of levels is essential to meet the skill needs of employers and improve productivity. We are committed to growing the numbers of Higher and Degree Apprenticeships, which are widening access to the professions, and developing the higher level technical skills needed to improve productivity and support British industry to compete internationally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-10-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average response time was of Veterans UK to queries raised with them by veterans in the latest period for which figures are available.
Mr Philip Dunne
The information requested is not held. However, between 1 April and 30 September 2015, the Veterans UK Helpline received a total of 79,636 calls, answered within an average of two minutes 17 seconds. A total of 18,638 emails and approximately 84,500 letters (all correspondence received via the Norcross Post Room – it is not possible to filter out Veteran UK queries, from claim forms and post for other areas of Defence Business Services), were received and acknowledged within five working days with a full response expected to be issued within 10 working days.
Over the same period the Veterans Welfare Service addressed 10,448 queries. A total of 27 per cent were resolved at first point of contact, with the remainder being immediately referred to Welfare Managers for follow up visits; arranged within 10 working days.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2015-10-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether Ministers in his Department were made aware of the Mott Macdonald report 2012 submitted to his Department.
Mr Philip Dunne
Defence Ministers were aware of this report, which was completed as part of a wider study looking into a range of options for the potential future use of RAF Northolt. The conclusion of the study was to keep RAF Northolt as a Government airfield.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2015-10-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to maintain ringfencing for total NHS funding in the Autumn Statement.
Alistair Burt
The Government has protected the funding the National Health Service receives and increased the Department’s budget in real terms year on year. There is no plan to change this, fulfilling the Government’s manifesto commitment. By 2020-21, the Government will increase funding for the NHS by £10 billion a year in real terms compared to 2014-15 to support the implementation of the NHS’s own plan – the NHS Five Year Forward View – to transform services across the country.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2015-10-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress the Prescribed Specialist Services Advisory Group has made on discussions on proposals for a nationally-commissioned specialist lymphology service.
George Freeman
At its meeting on 15 October 2015, the Prescribed Specialist Services Advisory Group (PSSAG) considered a proposal from the British Lymphology Society for a service for lymphoedema to be nationally commissioned. PSSAG’s recommendations on all proposals considered at this meeting will be put to Ministers shortly.
It is for Ministers to decide which services should be prescribed as specialised services and therefore nationally commissioned by NHS England. Ministers make these decisions based on advice from PSSAG.
Regarding the Lymphoedema Services in England: A Case for Change report, published by the National Cancer Action Team in March 2013, the main recommendation for the NHS Commissioning Board (now NHS England) to consider was the creation of a lymphoedema strategy for England.
NHS England is focused on a system-wide approach that aims to ensure improvements in outcomes for all individuals with long-term conditions, including lymphoedema, rather than focusing on individual strategies for specific conditions.
The commissioning of services for the treatment and care of lymphoedema patients is a local matter, and information concerning the arrangement of such services is not collected. People with lymphoedema can usually be managed through routine access to primary or second care services and there is range of guidance to support local commissioning, including: an international consensus document on best practice in the diagnosis, treatment care and support of people with; and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on advanced breast cancer, which provides advice on lymphoedema care. Both sets of guidance can be found at the following links:
www.woundsinternational.com/media/issues/210/files/content_175.pdf
www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg81/resources/advanced-breast-cancer-diagnosis-and-treatment-975683850181
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the level of staff turnover was in (a) her Department and (b) her Department’s digital team in each of the last 12 months for which data is available.
Karen Bradley
In the year to 30 September 2015, the level of staff turnover was (a) 3.37% in the Department and (b) 5.80% in the Department’s digital team.
Note: turnover figures are based on the unmanaged exits of our permanent civil servants; managed exits such as end of contracts, dismissals, and release schemes as well as machinery of government changes have been excluded.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Tami on 2015-10-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what research his Department has conducted or commissioned on (a) how noise emissions from aviation affect local communities and (b) the effectiveness of different noise mitigation approaches in reducing the number of people affected by aircraft noise.
Mr Robert Goodwill
In 2012 a National Noise Attitude Survey was carried out on behalf of the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which included attitudes to noise from transport sources including aircraft.
In 2014/15, Ipsos/MORI conducted on behalf of the Department for Transport a survey on noise attitudes which focused on noise from civil aviation, near to major airports in England. The results of the survey are currently being analysed with a view to publishing a report next year.