Tag: 2016

  • Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 20725, (a) on what dates and (b) with which financial providers the Government had discussions prior to the introduction of new rules for Tier 1 Entrepreneur visas in January 2013.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The government has regular discussions with a range of stakeholders, including financial institutions, on visa policies and other issues as a regular part of policy formation. The Treasury routinely publishes Ministerial meetings with outside organisations, including for the period prior to January 2013 at

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=hm-treasury&publication_type=transparency-data

  • Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) longest and (b) average journey time to attend a medical assessment was for Scottish claimants of (i) employment and support allowance and (ii) personal independence payments in each of the last four quarters for which information is available.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Centre for Health Disability Assessments (for ESA assessments) and Atos Healthcare (for PIP assessments in Scotland) do not hold or retain information about customer journey times to attend assessments. Should a customer foresee a problem with travelling to their assessment they are asked to contact the appropriate provider to discuss their circumstances.

    DWP’s requirement is that claimants do not have to travel for more than 90 minutes by public transport (single journey) for a consultation. However, this limit is an absolute maximum and for the majority of claimants their journey will be less than this. A home consultation can be offered, in particular where a claimant is unable to travel to a consultation as a result of their health condition or impairment. More specifically home visits are generally offered when the claimant provides confirmation via their own health professional that indicates that they are unable to travel on health grounds or at a claimant’s request where the assessment provider’s health professional determines this is appropriate for their health condition or disability.

  • Alan Whitehead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alan Whitehead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Whitehead on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many staff of her Department she expects to transfer into the Oil and Gas Authority.

    Andrea Leadsom

    When the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) was established as an Executive Agency in April 2015, 85 Civil Servants were transferred from DECC. When the OGA becomes a Government Company staff will be transferred by a Staff Transfer Scheme. There are currently 130 staff employed by the OGA.

  • David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support Cervical Screening Awareness Week.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England closely monitors the coverage rates for cervical screening in all age groups. NHS England is committed to improving coverage and reducing variation between all age groups.

    Local NHS England commissioners analyse coverage rates within their area and work with general practices to improve coverage by sharing best practice. In addition a primary care cancer screening best practice guide has been developed jointly with the transforming cancer services team, clinical commissioning groups and local authority public health representatives.

    NHS England is working in partnership with Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support on the ACE (Accelerate, Coordinate, Evaluate) Programme aiming to generate knowledge about effective approaches to achieve earlier diagnosis. A number of ACE test sites are evaluating approaches to increase screening rates in a range of groups.

    A range of research studies are also underway, such as Imperial College conducting a randomised controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of texting non-responders on improving coverage. In addition, the Department’s Behavioural Insight team has undertaken a trial to investigate the use of behavioural insights to optimise the content of the invitation letter for cervical screening. Results are due shortly.

    The Independent Cancer Taskforce recognised the importance of screening for cervical cancer and the potential of the new human papillomavirus (HPV) test in their report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, published in July 2015. NHS England has appointed Cally Palmer as National Cancer Director to lead the implementation of the strategy, and an implementation plan outlining the key first steps for the national cancer programme was published on 12 May. In addition, the routine HPV vaccination programme, offering immunisation to girls aged 12-14 years, is expected to reduce the already low rates of cervical cancer in these young women and allow them to be protected for years to come.

    Ministers welcome cervical cancer prevention week and we are fully supportive of the work Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust does to raise awareness of cervical cancer and the importance of cervical screening for eligible women.

    According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report, Health at a Glance 2015: How does the United Kingdom compare?, the UK has cervical screening rates well above the OECD average. Further information is available at:

    https://www.oecd.org/unitedkingdom/Health-at-a-Glance-2015-Key-Findings-UK.pdf

    http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/download/8115071ec053.pdf?expires=1465810879&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=102E30B1A256588EDD14918B5BE3AA4C

    “

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the average cost for each patient of second allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplants for relapsed disease in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    No such estimate has been made.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information schools are required by law to collect regarding their pupils.

    Lord Nash

    Schools collect a range of information on pupils for their own purposes. Full details of all the data collected by law is accessible via the links in the attached list.

    Some of this information is required to be submitted to the Department via various collections which are undertaken throughout the school year. The main types of information collected by the Department are:

    • pupil identifiers (name, date of birth, etc)
    • pupil characteristics (gender, ethnicity, language, etc.)
    • pupil attendance and exclusions
    • pupil special educational needs
    • pupil attainment and teacher assessments

    The school census has collected such data at pupil level from the introduction of the Pupil Level Annual School Census in 2002.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what measures the Government has put in place to ensure that the resettlement programme in Lebanon and Jordan is able to identify the most vulnerable people.

    James Brokenshire

    We work closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to identify cases that they deem in need of resettlement according to agreed vulnerability criteria for the Syrian Resettlement Scheme. The scheme was expanded in September 2015 to ensure more of those in the greatest need are resettled in the UK.

    We are working with UNHCR to intensify their outreach and identification activities in the region, including in Jordan and the Lebanon; to encourage and invite all unregistered populations to avail themselves of UNHCR’s services either by directly approaching UNHCR to register with them or by referral via a third organisation.

    We are also working with confessional groups and Diaspora communities here and in the region to maximise their awareness of UNHCR’s global mandate and scope for resettlement opportunities and/or to refer any unregistered person to UNHCR for registration and potential assessment according to criteria.

  • Lord Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kinnock on 2016-02-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which statistics from local and national sources they use to measure or demonstrate pressures on public education, health, housing and other services in the UK as a consequence of migration from other EU member states.

    Lord Bates

    The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published a report based on 2011 census data, on the changing levels of the non-UK born population in every local area, available at http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-for-local-authorities-in-england-and-wales/rpt-international-migrants.html#tab-Local-geography-of-non-UK-born-and-non-UK-nationals.

    The Home Office also published a research report ‘The Social and Public Service Impacts of International Migration at the Local Level’ (July 2013) which shows the local authorities that have been particularly affected by international migration, including migration from the European Union member states (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/210324/horr72.pdf).

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the implications for his policies are of the effect of the Localism Act 2011 on the discretion of parish councils and local authorities in disqualifying councillors convicted of child sex offences whose punishment is lower than the three month suspended or custodial sentence threshold for disqualification.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Further to my answer to the hon Member on 29 February (PQ28306), our review of the legislation on the disqualification of local authority members, legislation in the Local Government Act 1972, will consider whether the provisions of the Localism Act 2011 have any implications for any new legislative rules on disqualification.

  • Karl Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Karl Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Attorney General, if he will place in the Library data gathered by Crown Prosecution Service Business Area of prosecutions and convictions for (a) rape-flagged offences, (b) domestic violence, (c) child abuse and (d) human trafficking for each year since 2013.

    Jeremy Wright

    The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the number of prosecutions and convictions in each CPS business area flagged as rape, domestic violence, child abuse and human trafficking.

    The attached tables show the volume of defendants prosecuted and convicted in flagged cases for each CPS business area over the last three financial years for which data is available. These also include a number of caveats and explanatory notes which should be observed when reviewing the data. Data for 2015/16 will be published later this year and will be placed in the House of Commons library.