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Tag: 2015

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of legal costs to his Department in defending service personnel in relation to actions carried out in the course of duty; what estimate he has made of the proportion of such costs which relate to cases where the accused service personnel are acquitted; and if he will make a statement.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The total legal costs borne by the Ministry of Defence relating to actions carried out by Service personnel while on duty are over £100 million. The costs of providing the defence for Service personnel facing specifically Courts Martial or a Service Civilian Court, amounted to approximately £750,000 in financial year 2014-15. The costs of providing the defence for current and former Service personnel facing criminal investigations relating to operations in Northern Ireland during the "Troubles" period, has amounted to approximately £142,000 since 7 February 2014. The expenditure on behalf of defendants in Courts Martial or Service Civilian courts related to 394 individuals, of whom 95 were acquitted. The relevant criminal proceedings in Northern Ireland are ongoing.

    The vast majority of Defence litigation expenditure relates to civil cases. As an example, £31 million was spent on the Al-Sweady Public Inquiry which concluded that all of the serious allegations that were raised, were wholly without foundation.

  • Graham Brady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Graham Brady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Brady on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effects on the worst funded schools of adjusting the percentage applied in the calculation of the Minimum Funding Guarantee.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The minimum funding guarantee protects schools from significant changes in their funding, limiting the year-on-year reductions in a school’s pupil-led funding to 1.5%.

    The minimum funding guarantee for schools will continue to be set at minus 1.5% per pupil for 2016-17. We have committed to making funding fairer, but we cannot comment on the detail of proposals prior to the outcome of the Spending Review.

  • Charles Walker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Charles Walker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will ensure that revenue raised by the sale of rod licences is used to maintain and improve fisheries and fish stocks.

    George Eustice

    The revenue raised from the rod licence fee is classed as a hypothecated tax. The Environment Agency Financial Memorandum clearly sets out that this income is used for the provision of its fisheries service.

  • Harriet Harman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Harriet Harman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Harriet Harman on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when his Department last had contact with Rebecca Prosser or her family; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    Members of the consular team in Jakarta have visited Rebecca Prosser twice. The first visit took place on 2 June, shortly after her arrest, and lasted 30 minutes. The second, which lasted over two hours, took place on 10 September when she was moved from house arrest into a detention facility. Normal practice is to visit detainees in Indonesia every three months.

    Consular staff are in regular contact with Ms Prosser’s employer’s representatives, her legal team and her family. Since court proceedings began, we have provided a weekly written update to Ms Prosser, her family and their MPs. Our most recent contact with Ms Prosser’s family was on 21 October.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the ease with which nursing homes find sufficient numbers of nurses to employ; and if he will make a statement.

    Ben Gummer

    In response to concerns about the shortage of nurses in adult social care homes identified in the Care Quality Commission report The state of health care and adult social care in England, 2013/14, the Department held a symposium to discuss the recruitment and retention of registered nurses in the care sector in February 2015.

    Following feedback at the symposium, the Department established a Care Sector Nursing Taskforce to take forward actions to help ease the recruitment of nurses in care and nursing homes. This includes improving the image of nursing in the care sector through the development of career pathways for registered nurses, as well as developing new models of care provision, such as training for care assistants to take on enhanced roles, freeing up registered nurses to manage patients with the most complex conditions.

    Currently, Health Education England (HEE) is responsible for planning and developing the National Health Service workforce, but has no remit over social care workforce. To solve this situation a Task and Finish Group led by Skills for Care, has been established to scope care sector nursing workforce data. Using data they collect, Skills for Care is able to use mathematical modelling to provide accurate workforce predictions for the care sector. An agreement has been reached that these data will in future be shared with HEE to inform their training commissions. This arrangement will be in place to inform the next commissioning round.

    In addition, the announcement made by the Home Secretary on 15 October, that the Tier 2 restrictions will be temporarily changed for nurses so that they can be recruited from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), will enable care sector organisations to recruit nurses from outside the EEA, if they are unable to fill nursing vacancies with United Kingdom nurses.

    The newly released Care Quality Commission report The state of health care and adult social care in England, 2014/15, has highlighted that the recruitment and retention of registered nurses into social care remains problematic. We will continue to work with all the relevant stakeholders, to improve staffing issues within the care sector.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the net change has been in the number of inpatient perinatal mental health beds since 2010.

    Alistair Burt

    Since 2010 there has been a net reduction in the number of inpatient perinatal mental health beds from 118 beds in 2010 to 115 beds in 2015.

    Since 2010 there has been a net reduction of mother and baby units from 17 units to 15 units.

    “

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Royal Colleges on the use of cancer drugs to slow down Parkinson’s disease.

    Jane Ellison

    My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State meets regularly with the Royal Colleges, however he has not specifically discussed this matter. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is currently updating its guidance on Parkinson’s disease to take into account the latest evidence.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much was paid by (a) the Police Federation, (b) UNISON and (c) other trades unions to each police constabulary in England in 2014.

    Mike Penning

    This information is not held by the Home Office.

  • Vicky Foxcroft – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Vicky Foxcroft – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vicky Foxcroft on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment her Department has made on accessibility of utilities bills for (a) people with disabilities and (b) elderly people.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Equality Act 2010 protects service users from discrimination on a number of grounds, including disability and age. In the case of disability, it also requires providers of services to make reasonable adjustments for customers who require them. The government has recently published a memorandum to the Act, on post-legislative scrutiny. A link to the memorandum can be found here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/441838/Memo_to_Women_Equalities.pdf

    “

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-10-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information they have about the claim by the government of Italy that, of the 13,026 children who arrived unaccompanied in Italy in 2014, 3,707 disappeared after arriving; what assessment they have made of where those children are; and what consideration they are giving to the request of Save the Children that the United Kingdom should provide refuge for 3,000 unaccompanied children.

    Lord Bates

    The UK recognises the need to provide protection to those fleeing persecution. However, it is an accepted principle that asylum seekers should seek protection in the first safe country they reach. In line with their international obligations, EU Member States have a responsibility to register and process all asylum claims made on their territory, including those made by unaccompanied children. This extends to providing adequate support and accommodation.

    The Government has been consistently clear that we do not agree with the relocation of asylum seekers between Member States. We believe it will act as a pull factor, and that it does not address the cause of the problem but simply moves it around the EU. Making an exception for children makes little sense as they are on the territory of Member States who have duties to protect and support them.