The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Tyrie on 2015-10-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the value is of the freehold of Chichester Combined Court Centre.
Andrew Selous
There is no estimate of the market value of the freehold of Chichester Combined Court Centre. No decision has been taken to close the court.
Disposal strategies will be developed once a decision is made on individual courts following the outcome of consultation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Lewell-Buck 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 South Shields; 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 Jo Churchill on 2015-10-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people aged between 18 and 21 in the constituency of Bury St Edmunds were in receipt of housing benefit in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14 and (e) 2014-15.
Justin Tomlinson
The information requested about how many people aged between 18 and 21 were in receipt of housing benefit in the constituency of Bury St Edmunds is published and available at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2015-10-15.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much revenue was raised from VAT on road fuel in (a) 2011, (b) 2012, (c) 2013, (d) 2014 and (e) 2015.
Mr David Gauke
The information requested is not available. HM Revenue and Customs does not collect data on VAT receipts from particular goods and services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-10-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to encourage diversity in the police service.
Mike Penning
It is vital that the police reflect the communities they serve and the Government is determined to improve BME representation in all 43 forces in England and Wales.
Decisions on when and how to recruit individuals are for the chief officer of a police force. It is important that they use equalities legislation, including positive action provisions, to make better progress in terms of recruitment of under-represented groups.
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Home Secretary announced on 22 October the publication of data showing the gender and ethnicity of police officers by force area. This will make it easier for the public to access the data they need to see how representative their force is compared to the local population. It is clear that the current representation of women and officers from minority ethnic backgrounds in the officer ranks is not good enough and the Home Secretary has challenged forces to do more.
The Government’s reforms have already made improvements. For example, we set up the College of Policing, which has embarked on a major programme of work, BME Progression 2018, looking at recruitment, retention and progression of black and minority ethnic officers, including the development of an evidence base of successful approaches used by forces.
As part of this programme the College recently published Positive Action Practical Advice, which advises forces on the use of lawful positive action to support the recruitment, retention and progression of officers from under-represented groups, and it has published case studies from forces showing what can be done.
We have also developed innovative schemes such as Direct Entry and Police Now. These are increasing the number of BME recruits to the police, showing that you can achieve better representation while attracting the best and the brightest into policing.
Of the nine direct entry superintendents who began their superintendent training on November 2014 four (44%) are women and two (22%) are from an ethnic minority background. This is significantly more representative than the current make up of the superintendent rank which is comprised of 17% women and 4% ethnic minority.
Police Now, implemented in the Metropolitan Police, appointed 69 people to start their training, up from an anticipated 50 owing to the high calibre of applicants. Of these, 43% are women and 9% are from a BME background, compared to the national BME proportion of 5.5%.
With the joint leadership of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime and the Commissioner, the Metropolitan Police also introduced its London residency criteria for recruits in August 2014. Recent Metropolitan police figures show that in the three months from June to August 2015, 26% of new Metropolitan police recruits came from a black or minority background, more than double the 12% recruited in the same quarter of 2014, and the 12% of Metropolitan police officers currently from a black and minority ethnic background.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-10-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many places were available for new entrants to study medicine in England in each year between 2010 and 2015; and how many places for new entrants to study medicine are planned to be available in each year between 2016 and 2020.
Ben Gummer
The number of places available for new entrants to study medicine in England from 2010 to 2015 are as follows:
|
Year (academic) |
Commissions |
|
2010/11 |
6,195 |
|
2011/12 |
6,195 |
|
2012/13 |
6,195 |
|
2013/14 |
6,071 |
|
2014/15 |
6,071 |
|
2015/16 |
6,071 |
Source: Higher Education Funding Council for England, Medical and Dental Survey
The number of medical students planned for 2016/17 entry to undergraduate training in England is 6,071. Health Education England (HEE) will be establishing a review of medical student numbers as part of their wider workforce planning process to inform future year intakes. Any changes to student intakes will require careful consideration by HEE, Department of Health, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Higher Education Funding Council for England.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2015-10-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent assessment she has made of the level of inequalities experienced by LGBTI people in Northern Ireland.
Mr Ben Wallace
The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, a non-departmental public body established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998, is responsible for equality issues in Northern Ireland.
The Commission is sponsored by the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister (OFMdFM). The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland or OFMdFM would be best placed to provide an assessment of the level of inequality experienced by LGBTI people in Northern Ireland.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2015-10-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people died on the roads in each region in incidents where a driver was using a mobile telephone in each of the last three years.
Andrew Jones
The Department holds information on the number of personal-injury road traffic accidents where the attending police officer judged that a driver using a mobile telephone contributed to the accident. This includes both cases where ‘hand held’ and ‘hands free’ telephones were deemed to contribute to the accident. The table below provides the number of fatalities in road traffic accidents that were reported to the police in which at least one driver was allocated the contributory factor ‘driver using mobile phone’ by region for 2012 to 2014.
Fatalities in reported road accidents in which the contributory factor ‘driver using mobile phone’ was reported: GB, 2012-2014
|
Region |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
|
North East |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
North West |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
Yorkshire and the Humber |
2 |
5 |
1 |
|
East Midlands |
1 |
1 |
4 |
|
West Midlands |
2 |
2 |
0 |
|
East of England |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
South East |
3 |
2 |
9 |
|
London |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
South West |
2 |
4 |
1 |
|
Wales |
1 |
2 |
2 |
|
Scotland |
1 |
5 |
1 |
|
Total |
17 |
26 |
24 |
|
Note: Includes only casualties where a police officer attended the scene and in which a contributory factor was reported |
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to introduce a requirement that private landlords have a certificate confirming their accommodation has reached a minimum condition before it can be let.
Brandon Lewis
Local Authorities have powers under the Housing Act 2004 to assess the risks and hazards in properties, and to require landlords or owners to remove hazards, and to prosecute if they fail to do so. If a property is found to contain serious hazards, the local authority has a duty to take the most appropriate action in relation to the hazard. This could include serving a notice for the landlord to carry out improvements.
The Government wants to crack down further on the small minority of rogue and criminal landlords who exploit their tenants by renting out unsafe and substandard accommodation and are taking forward proposals through the Housing and Planning Bill. The legislation will enable local authorities to:
The majority of landlords in the private rented sector provide decent accommodation with surveys showing that 84% of tenants are satisfied with their accommodation, and staying in their homes for an average of 3.5 years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-10-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times Medway Secure Training Centre has contacted an external teaching agency to request a teacher since it was awarded the contract.
Andrew Selous
G4S, which holds the current contract for Medway Secure Training Centre, has once used an external teaching agency to recruit one member of teaching staff.
Prior to 2010 education at Medway was provided by Manchester College. Information on this provider’s use of agency staff is not held centrally.
All STC staff, both temporary and permanent, must undergo background checks and be approved by the Youth Justice Board prior to appointment.