Tag: 2016

  • Baroness Hamwee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Hamwee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hamwee on 2016-09-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that children subject to immigration control are not separated from their family or guardian during the process unless there are safeguarding or welfare concerns.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    For immigration purposes children may only be separated from their parents where it is necessary and proportionate to do so and after having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the children’s welfare.

    Decisions on family separations are taken in line with published guidance in the Home Office Enforcement Instructions and Guidance at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/removal-actions

  • Gerald Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Gerald Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Jones on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Attorney General, if he will discuss with the Director of Public Prosecutions the findings of the Flynn Report on the neglect of older people living in care homes in Wales and the disciplinary decisions of the Nursing and Midwifery Council about three of the nurses involved in that neglect; and if he will ask the Director of Public Prosecutions to reconsider the decision not to bring any criminal prosecutions in relation to the findings of operation Jasmine.

    Robert Buckland

    The evidence in relation to Operation Jasmine has been carefully considered by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and they have concluded that there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect in accordance with the Code for Prosecutors.

    The Director of Public Prosecutions noted the findings of the Flynn report. She has previously considered and responded to the specific recommendation that the CPS refer the case to the Special Crime Division but considered that to be neither necessary or appropriate given that the Special Crime Division was involved in the original decision making.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance his Department provides to local authorities on establishing 20mph zones.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department for Transport has provided a wide range of guidance for local authorities on establishing 20 mph zones. Local Transport Note 1/07 ‘Traffic Calming’ sets out design guidance on 20 mph zones, summarising the advice provided in earlier Traffic Advisory Leaflets, whilst guidance on signing is provided in the Traffic Signs Manual Chapter 3 and the Area-wide Authorisations and Special Directions Guidance Note. Advice on setting speed limits is provided in Department for Transport Circular 01/2013 ‘Setting Local Speed Limits’. All of these documents are available on the Department’s website.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many applications to the Healthy New Towns programme were made from each local authority area.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department does not hold information on the applications to the Healthy New Towns programme.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential health risks of the use of lasers by driverless vehicles.

    Andrew Jones

    The General Product Safety Regulations prohibit a product from being placed on the market, or otherwise supplied, unless it is safe. The lead department for these regulations is the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

  • Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Will Quince on 2016-05-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to set target levels of reformulation for soft drinks manufacturers under the soft drinks industry levy.

    Damian Hinds

    The Chancellor announced at Budget 2016 that the soft drinks industry levy will be charged on drinks with added sugar and a total sugar content above 5g/100ml, with a higher charge for drinks with more than 8g/100ml of sugar.

    These sugar thresholds provide a strong incentive for companies to reformulate and are set to give industry certainty over the next two years. If companies reformulate their products, as many already have, then they will pay less. But it is up to companies how they respond to the levy.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-06-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what guidance they have issued to ensure that HIV clinics also test patients annually for hepatitis C.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    In February 2014 the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASSH) convened an expert working group, including representation from Public Health England, to formally review evidence and produce Recommendations for testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) men who have sex with men (MSM). The recommendations are attached.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has also published Hepatitis B and C testing – people at risk of infection, recommending testing to all services users at increased risk of infection. A copy of the guidance is attached.

  • Baroness Rebuck – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Rebuck – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Rebuck on 2016-09-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the finding in the House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Committee’s Fifth Report of Session 2014–15 that the ability to gain literacy and numeracy skills is a fundamental right of all adults, what steps they are taking to ensure that the one in six of the population with poor literacy skills have opportunities to gain at least entry level literacy skills.

    Lord Nash

    This Government understands the importance of strong literacy skills and makes English provision a priority for support within the adult skills system. We fully fund, through a statutory entitlement, all adults to achieve their first English GCSE at grade C or above as well as other qualifications which help them get to that level. We also support English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision, in addition to DCLG’s community-based programmes and investment in Syrian refugees’ English Language training through the Syrian resettlement programme.

    This provision is available for a wide range of learners including:

    • Prisoners, through the Offender Learning and Skills Service;

    • Learners in the community, including through Family English, Maths and Language;

    • People who need ESOL;

    • Trainees as part of their traineeship;

    • Apprentices as part of their apprenticeship;

    • Jobseekers.

    To enable these learners to improve their literacy skills, we have embedded English at the heart of all our major programmes. This means:

    • Learners who did not achieve a good GCSE pass in English by the age of 16 are now required to continue to study the subject post-16;

    • Since 2014/15, the English requirement for Intermediate Apprenticeships has been stronger, with all apprentices who have already achieved level 1 English having to work towards level 2;

    • Since 2014/15, young people undertaking a traineeship have been required to study English unless they already have level 2 qualifications in the subjects;

    We have reformed GCSEs to ensure they are more stretching and provide greater assurance of core literacy skills than the old GCSEs. In line with the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee recommendation, we recognise that some people are not ready to take GCSE so we are also improving the rigour and relevance of English Functional Skills qualifications, which are taken by many students and apprentices aged 16 and over. We have commissioned the Education and Training Foundation to revise the National Literacy (and Numeracy) Standards and reform Functional Skills with the new qualifications being delivered from September 2018.

    To ensure high quality provision is delivered, we have invested over £30m over the past 3 years to improve the quality of the English (and maths) workforce in further education, driving forward improvements in governance and leadership.

    To ensure prisoners have the opportunity to improve their literacy skills, Government accepted in principle the recommendations of the review led by Dame Sally Coates on prison education which will include developing a new curriculum for the teaching of basic literacy in prisons.

    Lastly, we are undertaking a range of research to better understand where Government investment in English has the greatest impact and delivers value for money. As recommended by the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee in their 14/15 report, Government is using behavioural insights to identify how to motivate adults to improve their English and encourage learners to keep studying once enrolled on a course. I am pleased to report that very positive trial results will be published shortly by the Behavioural Insights Team. This report includes trial findings working with the Army as a significant provider of workplace literacy training.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of ticket machines were fitted with labels advertising ticket offices of each train operating company on the most recent date for which figures are available.

    Claire Perry

    Under the terms of the Ticketing Settlement Agreement

    “the opening hours of each Ticket Office must be prominently displayed at a location nearby that is accessible to members of the public at all times unless the Authority agrees otherwise” (s6-16, p.144).

    It is for the operator to decide where the times are displayed. Therefore, the Department has no information as to how many would be on ticket machines.

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the estimated radiological dose uptake was in terms of (a) individual whole equivalent dose in milli-Sievert and (b) collective dose in man-Sievert for (i) Services and his Department’s civilian personnel involved in and responding to the incident, (ii) civilian emergency services personnel responders attending and (iii) members of the public during each Astral exercise between February 2011 and November 2012.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The Ministry of Defence maintains a Defence Nuclear Emergency Organisation (NEO) to respond in the unlikely event of an emergency involving the transport of defence nuclear materials. The NEO organises regular exercises to test the effectiveness of its emergency response planning and arrangements. These include the Astral series of exercises, which are designed to be challenging, and thus simulate the extremely unlikely event of a release of radioactive material from the transport containers. No radioactive materials are used or released to the environment during the exercises. The specific exercise objectives do not require assessments or estimates of decontamination, environmental or other post-incident decontamination costs or of radiological dose uptakes. The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) undertook the modelling for each Astral exercise between February 2011 and November 2012.

    I am withholding information about the physical state, mass quantity, release fraction and total released radioactivity assumed for these exercises as disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice national security.