Tag: 2015

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people were recruited to the (a) army, (b) Royal Air Force, (c) Royal Navy and (d) reserve forces in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The following tables show the number of people recruited into each Service of the Armed Forces in Northern Ireland in each of the last five financial years (FY).

    Royal Navy: Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Marine (RM) personnel recruited through Armed Forces Career Office, Northern Ireland

    FY

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    Regular (RN and RM)

    40

    40

    45

    60

    45

    Reserve (RNR and RMR)

    35

    20

    25

    25

    20

    Army

    FY

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    Regular

    250

    290

    270

    200

    200

    Reserve

    190

    380

    280

    90

    90

    Note: information is based on the post code on the applicants contact address.

    RAF: Regular Other Ranks Recruitment through Armed Forces Careers Office, Belfast

    FY

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    Other Ranks

    10

    10

    10

    20

    20

    Note: Information relating to Officer and Aircrew recruitment in Northern Ireland is not available.

    RAF Reserve Recruitment

    FY

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    Reserves

    ~

    –

    –

    20*

    60*

    Note:

    ~ = Information not available.

    *= estimated figures.

    Figures have been rounded to 10. Numbers ending in 5 are rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid systematic bias.

    The data on Reserves supersedes the estimated figures for the Royal Navy and the Army provided on 20 October 2015 by my hon. Friend the Minister for Reserves (Julian Brazier) in response to Question 11479 to the hon. Member for East Antrim (Sammy Wilson).

  • Lord Truscott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Truscott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Truscott on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the recent flooding in the UK, the slowing of the Gulf Stream, and the COP21 climate talks in Paris, what strategy they have to address increasingly extreme weather patterns affecting the UK’s climate.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Climate Change Act 2008 requires Government to identify, every five years, the risks from a changing climate, including from extreme weather, and to put in place programmes to address them.

    The first Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) was published in 2012 and identified over 100 risks to the UK, up to the 2100s. Work is well underway on the second CCRA, which will be published in January 2017. The first National Adaptation Programme, which laid out how risks identified in the CCRA are being addressed, was published in 2013, and the second will be produced around 2018.

    In the biennial National Risk Assessment (NRA), the Government assesses the most significant hazards and threats that could affect the UK over the next five years. It considers natural events such as extreme weather and their resulting impacts (for example, flooding, severe storms and gales, low temperatures and heavy snow, heatwaves, drought). The NRA informs the National Resilience Planning Assumptions which support response and recovery planning at both local and national levels.

    The Government also works with the owners and operators of the UK’s most critical infrastructure to produce annual Sector Resilience Plans (SRPs), which set out the resilience of the UK’s most important infrastructure to the relevant risks identified in the NRA. Plans identify potential vulnerabilities and set out a programme of measures to improve resilience where necessary.

  • 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 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome in each of the last five years.

    Jane Ellison

    The information requested is not collected.

  • Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how many prisoners are prevented from progressing towards release because they are unable or unwilling to take specified training courses that the Parole Board insists are the only acceptable evidence of reduced risk on release.

    Lord Faulks

    It is not mandatory for a prisoner to complete specific courses or programmes before he can be considered for release by the Parole Board. The Parole Board is required to assess the prisoner’s overall risk of serious harm to the public and, in doing so, will consider a range of factors, including, where available, the prisoner’s response to specific offending behaviour programmes (OBPs).

    The Parole Board already takes into account other indicators of reduced risk, including where the prisoner has engaged effectively with professional staff on a one to one basis or undertaken education, work and training. In addition, the Parole Board will consider the prisoner’s behaviour in custody, together with evidence drawn from the prisoner’s attitudes – for example, how well the prisoner handles stressful situations.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2015 to Question 13442, what proportion of case workers in her Department received Keeping Children Safe Tier 3 training in 2014.

    James Brokenshire

    1, 329 officials have received tier 3 training, which makes up 7.5% of the Borders and Immigration casework and operational roles within the Home Office.

    Keeping Children Safe training is available to Home Office staff at three levels depending on an individual’s specific role. Tier 3 job-specific training is delivered to a smaller proportion of specialist staff across Borders and Immigration business areas that have regular direct contact with children.

  • Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will set a target for apprenticeship achievements over this Parliament.

    Nick Boles

    We are committed to reaching 3 million apprenticeship starts in 2020. We are establishing a new Institute for Apprenticeships to safeguard quality but do not intend to set a target for achievements.

    Further data on apprenticeships achievements can be found in table 6.2 of the main SFR: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/learner-participation-outcomes-and-level-of-highest-qualification-held

    “

  • Nick Hurd – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Nick Hurd – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Hurd on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what information her Department holds on the global cost of lost economic activity due to blindness and low vision.

    Grant Shapps

    There are a limited number of studies that estimate the lost productivity from all avoidable blindness. However, there have been some studies to assess the impact of specific causes of visual impairment and blindness. For example, it has been estimated that trachoma alone causes US$3-6 billion in lost productivity per year across affected countries. DFID is supporting the prevention and treatment of trachoma in a number of highly endemic countries.

  • Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the NICE Quality Standard for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis treatment is implemented in all NHS bodies.

    Jane Ellison

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a quality standard for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in January 2015. This sets out the markers of high quality in the care of people with IPF and is designed to drive up standards and to reduce inequalities and variation.

    NHS England commissions some services for patients with IPF as part of its specialised services remit. Its respiratory interstitial lung disease (adult) service specification, which includes IPF, sets out what it expects to be in place so that providers can offer evidence based, safe and effective services. This specification is currently being reviewed to ensure it includes the most up to date guidance on IPF including the recently published NICE quality standard. Commissioning of rehabilitation, oxygen services and acute admissions for exacerbations are covered by local commissioning arrangements.

  • Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assistance his Department provides to local authorities and housing associations for English language courses following the withdrawal of ESOL Plus Mandation funding.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    DCLG provides £8 million funding for the community-based English language programme that supports six projects delivering English courses to adults with the lowest levels of English – with the aim of supporting integrated communities. Delivery is over three years (2013-16) and will reach over 33,500 adults – largely Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Somali women. In addition, jobseekers on work-related benefits with poor spoken English can continue to access fully funded English Language training through BIS’s Adult Skills Budget.

  • Andrea Jenkyns – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrea Jenkyns – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Jenkyns on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish her Department’s exit checks data relating to all UK ports and airports for destination (a) within and (b) outside the EU.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office introduced exit cecks from 8 April 2015 to provide more comphrehensive information on travel movements across the UK border since that date. My Department has informed the Office of National Statistics that it is considering the use of exit checks data for statistical reporting purposes, and plans to publish an initial report in May 2016. Any data published will be subject to the usual data assurance standards.