The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-10-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many teachers working in young offender institutions are qualified to work with young people with (a) special educational needs, (b) autism and (c) mental health issues.
Andrew Selous
The information requested is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-10-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will set out the record of attendance and participation in sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and its committees by those hon. Members of the UK delegation who were appointed to the Parliamentary Assembly on 10 November 2010.
Mr David Lidington
A new UK delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe was appointed on 10 November 2010 following the 2010 General Election, to provide a balanced reflection of the representation in the UK parliament, in accordance with the Statute of the Council of Europe. Details of participation in sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and its committees by hon. Members of the UK delegation are published on the Parliament website:
http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/offices/delegations/coe2/membership1/
This includes lists of members and in respect of the periods 2010-13 , 2013-2014, and 2014-15, their party affiliations and European political groupings. I have placed a copy in the Library of the House. I am pleased to note that the UK’s delegation has a strong record of attendance.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2015-10-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish his Department’s estimate of the average length of time a person waits between referral for and commencement of alcohol treatment services.
Jane Ellison
Data is not collected in the format requested, however data from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System shows that of the 83,771 people receiving a first alcohol treatment intervention in 2013-14, 77,629 (93%) started within three weeks of referral. It should be noted that some people will receive more than one intervention at the same appointment, so the number of first interventions is somewhat higher than the number of referrals for the same year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding has been made available to each local authority in London and Essex to resettle refugees in each of the next three years.
Richard Harrington
On 2 October local authorities received a letter to confirm that the first 12 months of a refugee’s resettlement costs (under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme) are fully funded by central government using the overseas aid budget. To ensure that local authorities can plan ahead and continue to respond to the overwhelmingly generous response of the British people, the Government will also provide additional funding to assist with costs incurred in future years. These arrangements will be applied to all cases since the 20,000 expansion was announced.
We do not currently operate any of our other resettlement schemes in London and Essex.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-10-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Wilson Doctrine has been consistently applied to the parliamentary communications of the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hall Green; and whether that hon. Member has been subject to surveillance.
Mr John Hayes
The Government’s position on the Wilson Doctrine was set out by the Prime Minister in a written ministerial statement made on 4 November 2015.
As the Prime Minister made clear, the Wilson Doctrine has never been an absolute bar to the targeted interception of the communications of Members of Parliament or an exemption from the legal regime governing interception. The Doctrine recognised that there could be instances where interception might be necessary.
The Prime Minister announced that as matter of policy the PM will be consulted should there ever be a proposal to target any UK Parliamentarian’s communications under a warrant issued by a Secretary of State. This applies to Members of Parliament, members of the House of Lords, the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Welsh Assembly and UK members of the European Parliament. It applies to all activity authorised by a warrant issued by a Secretary of State: any instance of targeted interception and, electronic surveillance and equipment interference, when undertaken by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. This is in addition to the rigorous safeguards already in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) and the Code of Practice issued under it which set out a series of robust safeguards for any instance of interception.
It is long standing policy of successive Governments neither to confirm nor deny any specific activity by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 it is an offence for anyone to identify an individual interception warrant or an individual interception that takes place.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-10-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2015 to Question 11270, for what reason it was decided to make the provision of audio recording facilities available for employment and support allowance assessments but not for personal independence payment assessments.
Justin Tomlinson
In his first review of the Work Capability Assessment, Professor Harrington recommended piloting the audio recording of face-to-face assessments to see if the approach was helpful for clients and improved quality.
Findings from the pilot showed that recording assessments did not improve the quality of assessments. Less than half those claimants taking part thought the recording would be helpful to them and only a handful requested a copy. Having carefully considered the results of the pilot, it was decided not to make the provision of audio recording of assessments a contractual requirement within the specification for Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
However, claimants who wish to record their PIP assessment may do so using their own equipment provided they comply with the conditions put in place; these were outlined in the response provided to your previous question on this subject on 9 September 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Allen on 2015-10-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Wilson Doctrine has been consistently applied to the communications of the hon. Member for Nottingham North; and whether that hon. Member has been subject to surveillance.
Mr John Hayes
The Government’s position on the Wilson Doctrine was set out by the Prime Minister in a written ministerial statement made on 4 November 2015.
As the Prime Minister made clear, the Wilson Doctrine has never been an absolute bar to the targeted interception of the communications of Members of Parliament or an exemption from the legal regime governing interception. The Doctrine recognised that there could be instances where interception might be necessary.
The Prime Minister announced that as matter of policy the PM will be consulted should there ever be a proposal to target any UK Parliamentarian’s communications under a warrant issued by a Secretary of State. This applies to Members of Parliament, members of the House of Lords, the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Welsh Assembly and UK members of the European Parliament. It applies to all activity authorised by a warrant issued by a Secretary of State: any instance of targeted interception and, electronic surveillance and equipment interference, when undertaken by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. This is in addition to the rigorous safeguards already in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) and the Code of Practice issued under it which set out a series of robust safeguards for any instance of interception.
It is long standing policy of successive Governments neither to confirm nor deny any specific activity by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 it is an offence for anyone to identify an individual interception warrant or an individual interception that takes place.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-10-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding her Department has provided to (a) install fencing around the perimeter of the railhead at Coquelles, France, (b) install CCTV at the railhead at Coquelles and (c) strengthen security within the Channel Tunnel since 20 August 2015.
James Brokenshire
HM Government has invested over £20 million to reinforce border security through infrastructure improvements at the juxtaposed ports. This has included £7 million for fencing at Coquelles and we are further supporting Eurotunnel with key physical security costs related to the migrant pressures there. This includes funding 100 Eurotunnel security guards and essential security infrastructure work.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-10-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many training places he plans to commission in England for new entrants to become (a) nurses and (b) midwives in each year between 2016 and 2020.
Ben Gummer
Health Education England (HEE) is responsible for ensuring that the workforce has the right numbers, skills, values and behaviours to meet the needs of patients.
HEE produces an annual Workforce Plan for England, with the 2016/17 plan scheduled to go to the HEE Board in December 2015 and published shortly after. This will include details of the nursing and midwifery commissions for 2016/17.
As a result, there is no forecast available beyond the 2015/16 commissions data published in the 2015/16 workforce plan in December 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2015-10-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason high security vehicles were being used to transport components of nuclear weapons through Glasgow on 29 July 2015 after being withdrawn from service.
Mr Philip Dunne
The High Security Vehicle was withdrawn from service on 31 July 2015 and has therefore not been used for operations since that date. The decision to withdraw the vehicle was taken by Defence Equipment and Support. I am withholding further information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.