The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vicky Foxcroft on 2015-10-20.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people in (a) Lewisham, Deptford constituency, (b) the London Borough of Lewisham, (c) London and (d) England receive tax credits.
Damian Hinds
The latest information on Child and Working Tax Credits statistics is available on the Gov.uk website. Link provided below:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-10-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will report on progress with the 100,000 Genomes Project.
Lord Prior of Brampton
Almost 10,000 people have been involved in the 100,000 Genomes Project so far,with more joining through the NHS Genomic Medicine Centres each day.The Project will sequence 100,000 whole genomes from around 70,000 people.Cancer patients have their genome and the genome of their cancer sequenced. Rare disease patients have their genome sequenced as do two of their blood relatives.
As at 12 October 5,234 whole genomes had been sequenced and added to the data centre.Substantial progress has been made across all aims of the project including the establishment of 11 NHS Genomics Medicine Centres who are actively recruiting participants and the first rare disease patients being diagnosed.
Regular updates on the 100,000 Genomes Project including the total number of genomes sequenced are published on Genomics England’s website:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2015-10-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in each year since 1995, how many passports have been issued by the appropriate office in Belfast.
Lord Bates
I refer to the attached table which provides by calendar year the volume of passport applications issued by the Belfast office from 2005 to 2014. Her Majesty’s Passport Office does not hold readily available data prior to 2005 and the cost of extracting this data would be disproportionate.
|
Year |
Number of passports processed by Belfast Office |
|
2005 |
359,224 |
|
2006 |
336,306 |
|
2007 |
364,821 |
|
2008 |
341,898 |
|
2009 |
370,622 |
|
2010 |
364,688 |
|
2011 |
408,628 |
|
2012 |
427,422 |
|
2013 |
433,530 |
|
2014 |
628,528 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2015-10-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government (1) how many Syrian opposition fighters have been trained by British military personnel since January 2015, (2) what military equipment has been supplied to them and by whom, and (3) how many are actively involved in military operations at this time.
Earl Howe
Since January 2015, 268 Syrian opposition fighters have been trained at sites where British military personnel are training. Of these 268, 180 have completed their training and the majority of that number have returned to Syria. The 88 who left prior to completing their training were either removed for disciplinary reasons or opted out of the programme. Whilst they might not all have been specifically trained by a British trainer, it is likely that most had interaction with a member of a British training team at some point during their tenure.
The UK has not supplied military equipment to the Syrian opposition fighters. We do not comment on the provision of equipment by other coalition partners.
We cannot say with certainty how many of the trained Syrian opposition fighters are actively involved in military operations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2015-10-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the recent study by Shelter, what steps they are taking to address the problems faced by tenants in privately rented homes infested with vermin.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
Local authorities have a power under section 4 of the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949 to require owners of premises infested by mice or rats to eradicate the problem and failure to do so is a criminal offence. Infestation by such pests is also a hazard under the housing, health and safety rating system in Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004. Where the infestation is a category 1 hazard the local authority must require the landlord to take action to eradicate the infestation or it may prohibit the property (or the affected part) from being occupied until the hazard has been eradicated. Through licensing schemes under Parts 2 or 3 of that Act an authority can impose licence conditions relating to privately rented homes that require landlords to take measures to prevent infestation of pests and a failure to do so would be a criminal offence.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2015-10-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to compel the housing associations who voted against an extension of the Right to Buy discount in the National Housing Federation ballot on 2 October 2015 to comply with that policy.
Brandon Lewis
We are pleased to see that 93% of the total housing association stock is covered by those associations who said yes to the offer.
We would like as many associations as possible to sign up to the deal – so that their tenants can access the same home ownership opportunities as other tenants – and the opportunity is still there for them to do so.
The Housing and Planning Bill will also introduce a clause where the Regulator will have the power to monitor and report on how private registered providers are supporting their tenants into home ownership.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Royal Navy’s (a) liability, (b) trained strength and (c) untrained strength for each (i) rank and (ii) branch specialisation and arm was in each financial year from 2005-06 to 2014-15.
Mr Philip Dunne
The information requested, from January 2010, is available in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Monthly Personnel Statistics, published on gov.uk at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/royal-naval-monthly-report-personnel-situation-statistics-index
The reports are not available prior to 2010, and this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Bradshaw on 2015-10-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on the number of assessed European fish stocks that are (a) fished at or below and (b) fished at higher than the maximum sustainable yield rate.
George Eustice
European Commission information suggests that in 2015, for stocks with full analytical assessments in the Atlantic EU waters, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, (a) 32 stocks were being fished at or below the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) exploitation rate, and (b) 30 such stocks were being fished higher than the MSY exploitation rate.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barbara Keeley on 2015-10-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the findings of the report, A Charge on Caring?, published by the Carers Trust in September 2015, on the level of compliance by councils with their duty under the Care Act 2014 to prevent carers developing a need for support.
Alistair Burt
The Government recognises the valuable contribution made by carers, many of whom spend a significant proportion of their life providing support to family members or friends.
The Care Act guidance is clear about policy on charging carers. The Care Act statutory guidance, at paragraph 8.50 states that:
“Local authorities are not required to charge a carer for support and indeed in many cases it would be a false economy to do so. When deciding whether to charge, and in determining what an appropriate charge is, a local authority should consider how it wishes to express the way it values carers within its local community as partners in care, and recognise the significant contribution carers make.”
The Care Act replicates the previous position where charging carers was permissible. It would not have been appropriate to impose a blanket ban on charging for carers services, because in some cases small charges are necessary to the viability of services. However, the Care Act provides additional protection to carers by making it clear that local authorities cannot charge carers for services provided to the person being cared for. This means that carers may only be charged for services provided directly to them.
Most local authorities (currently only 5%) do not routinely charge carers in recognition of the valuable contribution carers make to their local communities, and the Carers Trust report confirms that this is still the case. We will continue to make the case against routine charging of carers and to monitor the situation closely.
The Care Act and guidance are clear about the provision of preventative services. Under the Care Act, local authorities have a responsibility to support carers in a number of ways. This includes duties on local authorities to provide information and advice and universal preventative services for carers.
We continue to support implementation of the Care Act 2014.
To support implementation of the reform programme, we have established a joint Programme Management Office between the Department, Local Government Association and Association of Directors of Adults Social Services (ADASS). This unprecedented partnership is driving collaborative working with the sector, influencing the local implementation of these changes to support a consistent and coherent approach. This approach was recognised by the National Audit Office as best practice and should be adopted by other programmes.
The programme includes a series of stocktakes of local authority readiness and the latest, from June 2015, demonstrates an overall positive picture on implementation:
– Councils’ confidence in their ability to deliver the Care Act Reforms in 2015/16 remains high, with 99% very or fairly confident.
– 89% of councils say that they are ‘on track’ with their implementation. The remaining 11% report themselves as only slightly behind.
The Department is also leading on the development of a new National Carers’ Strategy that will examine what more we can do to support existing carers and the new carers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-10-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions the Minister for Public Health has had with the Chief Executive of Public Health England in each month since January 2015.
Jane Ellison
I meet regularly with Duncan Selbie, the Chief Executive of Public Health England, and generally have an informal meeting with him on a monthly basis.