The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-05-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to tackle speeding by (a) cars, (b) HGVs and (c) buses.
Andrew Jones
The Department educates drivers about the importance of observing speed limits through The Highway Code, the driving test and THINK! campaigns. Enforcement of speeding offences is a matter for the police.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-07-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the time taken to process applications related to refugee family reunion.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Customer service is a key priority for UK Visas and Immigration, and the efficiency and effectiveness of the visa application process is kept under regular review, including by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration. The published service standard for resolving refugee family reunion applications is within 12 weeks, or 60 working days.
Where an application is complex and likely to take longer than the advertised processing times, UKVI will contact the applicant to inform them of this.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Eagle on 2016-10-07.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many outstanding applications for mandatory reconsideration of a tax credit decision by Concentrix there are in (a) Wallasey constituency, (b) Wirral and (c) Merseyside.
Jane Ellison
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not hold data broken down specifically by constituency areas.
HMRC is currently focussed on resolving the outstanding cases but will be preparing regional analysis, which will be available in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Morris of Aberavon on 2015-12-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Home Secretary will discuss with the police whether a protocol should be agreed to rationalise and improve on the present system of names of persons interviewed by the police but not charged being made public on a case by case basis.
Lord Bates
The decision to release the name or details of a suspect in an investigation is an operational one for the police to take.
The College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice (APP) ‘Guidance on ‘Relationships with the Media’, which was developed in full consultation with the police, makes clear that decisions on releasing the names of those who are arrested or suspected of a crime should be made on a case by case basis and that the police should not do so unless there are clearly identified circumstances to justify it, such as threat to life or the prevention or detection of crime. This guidance will be reviewed by the College early in the New Year.
It is the Government’s position that, in general, there should be a right to anonymity before the point of charge. However, there are circumstances where the police decide it is in the public interest that an arrested suspect should be named.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to ensure that clinical commissioning groups (a) improve access to, (b) provide training to health professionals on and (c) increase the number of healthcare professionals working in perinatal mental health.
Alistair Burt
This Government is committed to improving access to perinatal mental health services for women during pregnancy and in the first postnatal year. In January 2016 the Government set out that an additional £290 million will be made available over the next five years to 2020/21, over and above the money identified in the Spring Budget, to invest in perinatal mental health services. This is funded from within the Department’s overall Spending Review settlement and means that in total from 2015/16 to 2020/21 £365 million will be invested in perinatal mental health services.
We are aware that there is unacceptable variation in the levels of access to high quality, NICE-recommended specialist perinatal mental health care for women across England. A 2014 census identified that 40% of women in England have no access to specialist perinatal mental health services and that is why we have confirmed this additional investment. The funding should enable significant progress towards closing this gap and will help to enable women across the country to access evidence-based specialist support, in the community or through inpatient mother and baby services, closer to their home, when they need it. It is anticipated that, by 2020/21, around 30,000 more women should be able to access appropriate specialist support.
This new funding, together with the recommendations of the forthcoming report of the independent Mental Health Taskforce, will enable NHS England to work with partners to design a longer-term transformation programme to build capacity and capability in specialist perinatal mental health services over the next five years. This will include setting detailed plans for how the additional investment will be targeted over the period to 2020/21 and setting clear outcome measures and metrics to monitor the impact of the funding on perinatal mental health provision.
In 2015/16 work is already underway to lay the foundations for this longer-term work programme through targeted funding of activities to build capacity in specialist services. This will include, for example, a £1 million investment in strengthening clinical networks across the country. It is also expected to include the provision of national and regional benchmarking data and analytical support to regions, and work to develop clinical leadership capacity. Work will also continue to support the development of specialist mother and baby units in the regions identified as most in need of new services.
To ensure the workforce are available and appropriately trained, NHS England is working closely with Health Education England and key stakeholders to better understand the future workforce commissioning requirements and how it is best to meet multi professional education and training needs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of how many people in supported housing specifically designated for (a) disabled people, (b) victims of domestic violence, (c) people with substance misuse problems and (d) others will be affected by the change in housing benefit to the Shared Accommodation Rate.
Justin Tomlinson
The information requested is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-03-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has issued guidance to GP practices on waiting times for patients seeking telephone consultation appointments.
Alistair Burt
There is no central guidance to general practitioner (GP) practices on waiting times for telephone consultations.
GPs can conduct telephone consultations with patients if they feel it is appropriate to do so. This could remove the need for the patient to go on to have a face to face consultation, however, it is for the GP to use his or her clinical judgement to decide if and when a face to face consultation should take place, and for the patient to decide if they wish to attend.
This Government is committed to improving access to GP consultations and the Prime Minister’s GP Access Fund encourages practices in the schemes to use innovative methods to provide appointments to patients.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many Russian language (a) speakers, (b) interpreters and (c) translators are employed by his Department; and what steps he is taking to increase the number of such experts working in his Department.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We have 163 Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) employees with some level of Russian capability, ranging from basic Russian to operational skills (equivalent to degree level) recorded centrally.
Russian is a priority language for the FCO, and since 2010, we have increased the number of Russian-language speaker positions in our Russian and former Soviet Union Posts by 30% and increased the minimum duration for Russian-language training from 10 to 14 months.
The FCO does not deploy UK-based staff overseas as translators or interpreters. British Embassy Moscow has one full time locally recruited translator/interpreter position. Our local staff overseas routinely assist with translation as part of their daily work.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-05-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the value was of the salvage expenses deducted by Odyssey Marine Exploration from the Government’s share of the silver recovered from SS Gairsoppa.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Odyssey Marine Exploration deducted 29,228,972 US Dollars as salvage expenses from the total value of silver bullion recovered from the SS Gairsoppa.
The question as to whether or not Odyssey Marine Exploration deducted excessive salvage expenses under the contract, which was awarded in January 2010, is disputed between the parties, and would accordingly need to be the subject of legal proceedings in the United Kingdom and possibly also in the United States of America to resolve. This issue is being kept under review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 11 July 2016 to Question 41528, what discussions the Civil Service Chief People Officer, Rupert McNeil, has had with permanent secretaries of other government departments on meeting external organisations to discuss meeting temporary or permanent skills and staff needs.
Ben Gummer
The Civil Service constantly reviews its capabilities in order to deliver the Government’s agenda. Civil Servants regularly meet with external organisations and stakeholders to discuss how best to deliver that agenda, including seeking advice and assistance where appropriate. Following the decision to exit the European Union, Rupert McNeil, the Chief People Officer, is working closely with departments and functions across government to understand the capabilities required, including considering what new skills the Civil Service may require. To do that, he is in the process of meeting all Departmental Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Function.
Work is on-going to establish the new Department for Exiting the European Union and the new Department for International Trade and all departments are currently reviewing their own structures and resources to ensure we get the best deal for the whole of Britain.