The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-05-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research his Department has conducted on the health benefits and risks of male circumcision.
George Freeman
The Department has not conducted or commissioned any specific research on the health effects of male circumcision.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-06-27.
To ask the Rt. hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, if he will take steps to ensure that the House of Commons Commission’s purchasing policies support British (a) industry and (b) agriculture.
Tom Brake
The House of Commons procurement policies operate within the parameters set out by the UK Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
The House has a Sustainable Purchasing Policy which, amongst other things, requires contracts that are particularly suitable for SMEs to be highlighted as so being, contracts to be divided into lots and processes to be as simple and proportionate as possible to encourage SMEs to participate in our competitions. Further, the policy requires contracts that are suitable for Social Enterprises to be identified at an early stage and that market engaged to ensure their participation.
More generally, the House supports British industry and agriculture by:
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bruce of Bennachie on 2016-09-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the total value of their support to disabled people in developing countries.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The UK’s global leadership and commitment to disability inclusive development has been increasing. Through the Sustainable Development Goals, the promise to Leave No One Behind, and DFID’s Disability Framework, we have committed to promoting disability-inclusive international development through a twin-track approach. This means that, guided by our Framework, we aim to mainstream disability in all of our policies and programmes as well as supporting programmes that target disability specifically.
We do not currently track spend on disability inclusion, but a review of progress in December last year told us that we are doing more to support people with disabilities than ever before. Key disability-specific programming includes funding to important partners such as ADD International and the Disability Rights Fund, and Bridging the Gap – a research project to identify gaps between disability policy formulation and implementation. But people with disabilities also directly benefit from spending across our geographic and thematic portfolios. To make it increasingly possible to determine if programmes are reaching and successfully serving people with disabilities globally, the international development system must get better at disaggregating data by disability status. In response, DFID has produced guidance to inform programmes and policies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the cost to business of the closure of the West Coast Main Line between Glasgow and Carlisle.
Claire Perry
Network Rail and the relevant passenger and freight train operators have been working collaboratively since the closure to provide the best practicable alternative travel options for the traffic which uses this part of the West Coast Main Line with the aim of minimising the adverse impact on users.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the value was to the UK economy of the game meat market in each of the last five years.
Anna Soubry
Official statistics are not broken down in sufficient detail in order to separate the value added and employment attached to the processing and sale of game-meat from that of other meat or poultry products.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-03-03.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to introduce a statutory time limit for dealing with appeals under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Matthew Hancock
I refer the hon Member to my Written Ministerial Statement of 1 March 2016 [Hansard reference HCWS566]
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2016-04-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the reasons why school pupils self-harm, and what measures they propose to tackle that problem.
Lord Nash
Good mental health and wellbeing is a key priority for this Department. We have high aspirations for all children and want them to be able to fulfil their potential both academically and in terms of their mental wellbeing.
Self-harm occurs in relation to a wide range of personal problems, emotional turmoil and psychiatric disorders. The Department of Health commissions the MultiCentre Study on self-harm. This provides essential information on self-harm in the population to inform clinical responses and preventative activity. New data coming on stream through the Public Health Outcomes Framework and the forthcoming prevalence survey for children and young people will help to further improve this assessment and treatment.
To help schools to draw on specialist support where needed, we have contributed to a £3m joint pilot between schools and specialist mental health services, to test single points of contact in schools and mental health services.
While teachers are not mental health specialists, schools can play an important role in building good mental wellbeing and supporting pupils where they have issues. We have taken a range of actions to help them to build a whole-school approach to good mental wellbeing. We funded guidance and age-appropriate lesson plans on teaching mental health in PSHE – which covers teaching about self-harm; training for teachers on self-harm is available through MindEd, a free online portal which has been developed to enable all adults working with children and young people learn more about specific mental health problems and how to support them.
We have also recently revised and updated our blueprint for effective school-based counselling. This provides practical, evidence-based advice, informed by experts on how to ensure school based counselling services achieve the best outcomes for all students, including vulnerable children and young people.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much the UK has provided in development aid to Bangladesh in each year since 2000; and what information her Department holds on what proportion of total development aid to Bangladesh UK aid represents in each of those years.
Mr Desmond Swayne
|
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
|
|
UK ODA (USD Millions) |
103 |
124 |
102 |
260 |
253 |
203 |
139 |
|
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
|
246 |
253 |
250 |
228 |
369 |
311 |
425 |
343 |
Total ODA from all donors to Bangladesh can be found here: https://stats.oecd.org/qwids/
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2016-06-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects HS2 Ltd to implement discretionary arrangements to assist property owners affected by the High Speed 2 route.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The long-term discretionary assistance schemes are available for the London to West Midlands (Phase One) and the West Midlands to Crewe (Phase 2a) sections of HS2. The interim Exceptional Hardship Scheme (EHS) is available for the remainder of the route (Phase 2b). A consultation on the long-term discretionary compensation and assistance schemes to replace the EHS for Phase 2b will be launched at the time of the route announcement in autumn this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to identify properties in Preston that are vulnerable to flooding; and what (a) funding has been allocated and (b) work is being done to protect such properties.
Dr Thérèse Coffey
The Environment Agency has undertaken detailed flood modelling for the Preston area and properties at flood risk are shown on the Environment Agency’s flood map (available on GOV.UK), additional modelling to refine this after the December 2015 flooding is ongoing and expected to be completed in early 2017.
The full cost of a flood defence scheme for the Preston and South Ribble area is £32 million. The Government has allocated £17 million in the current flood risk capital programme to this scheme. The Environment Agency is currently working with partners to explore opportunities to secure an additional £15 million, to address the remaining shortfall. The scheme is scheduled to commence in 2019 and will provide new and improved defences which will reduce flood risk to 3000 residential and 600 commercial properties.
The new Preston and South Ribble flood risk scheme is the main focus of the work that is being done to protect property. However, a number of smaller projects were also completed after the December 2015 flood events including repairs to flood walls at Walton-le-Dale, removal of a fallen tree and repairs to defences at Broadgate and repairs to defences at the Capitol Centre.