The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-02-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many young people were registered with Child and Mental Health services in (a) England, (b) London, (c) each London borough and (d) each London health trust on 1 January of each year since 2010.
Alistair Burt
This information is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Uddin on 2016-02-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 28 January (HL5140), which six projects are to receive some of the £20 million in funding, and for what purposes.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
We have provided £8 million over three years to support six community-based English language projects delivered by e3, Faith Action, the Local Education Authorities Forum for the Education of Adults, Manchester City Council, TimeBank, and the Tinder Foundation. Together these projects will have supported 33,500 isolated adults by the end of March 2016.
No decisions have yet been taken on who will deliver the new £20 million programme. We will use the learning from our current projects, along with the findings of Louise Casey’s review of integration, to ensure it is targeted on and meets the needs of those who need it most.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vicky Foxcroft on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what contribution her Department is making to Government steps to reduce the incidence of serious youth violence.
Nick Gibb
The Department for Education is working with the Home Office on a series of measures to reduce the incidence of serious youth violence.
In January 2016, the Home Office published its Ending Gang Violence and Exploitation approach. Among its priorities, this publication describes action to protect locations where vulnerable young people can be targeted, including pupil referral units and residential children’s care homes. New regulations and guidance, introduced in 2015, make it clear that homes can prevent a child leaving the home where there is an immediate risk to their safety – which would include where a gang was seeking to lure a child away for involvement in gang activities. The Department for Education has also undertaken a stock-take of frontline practice in relation to missing children, which will inform and help to shape ongoing work to strengthen and improve practice with the Association of Directors of Children’s Services.
The Ending Gang Violence and Exploitation publication also states that the Department for Education continues to focus on action to improve school attendance. Regular attendance plays a vital role in keeping young people away from gang involvement and other crime and antisocial behaviour. The Department has, from September 2015, reduced the threshold for ‘persistent absence’ from 15% to 10%, emphasising the message that attending school should be a priority for every pupil.
In March 2016, the Home Office published its Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, outlining measures to strengthen the Government’s response to knife crime. This publication notes that the Home Office is working with the Department for Education to deliver prevention messages in schools; teaching school pupils to recognise and challenge unhealthy and exploitative relationships, to prevent them from being abused or from engaging in abuse themselves. We are working with the Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education Association to train teaching staff in areas that seek help, to help them to teach young people to recognise and avoid exploitation and abuse.
The Modern Crime Prevention Strategy also highlights that the Department for Education will work with the Home Office on how best to raise awareness in school age children about the risks of carrying knives, and the role schools can play to build resilience in children and young people so they do not give in to peer pressure to carry knives.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-04-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the new Network Rail Property company will have responsibility for disposing of any part of Network Rail’s operational estate.
Claire Perry
Before disposing of any asset, Network Rail will have to satisfy its Board, the Secretary of State and the regulator that it is safeguarding the current and future requirements, including operational needs, of the railway. Network Rail’s enhanced property business will lead on disposals.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to assess the case for the proposed Crossrail 2 Eastern Phase.
Mr Robert Goodwill
No final decisions have yet been taken on the Crossrail 2 route. We have safeguarded a route from Angel to Hackney Central, which could form an eastern branch of Crossrail 2 at a later phase of the project, should there be a good business case and funding available for it. However, this is not being assessed as part of the core scheme under current consideration.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Foster on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons the Gender Recognition Panel administrative guidance states that the Statutory Declaration should be dated within six months of the date of the Gender Recognition Certificate application.
Dr Phillip Lee
The date of the statutory declaration needs to be close to the date of application for a GRC (Gender Recognition Certificate) because the Gender Recognition Panel must be satisfied that the applicant and the spouse’s consents are still valid and current at the time of the application for a GRC. The 6 month timeframe reflects this need for up-to-date evidence.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-10-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many UK civil servants, and of what grade, who work in units, directorates or sub-departments within the Treasury are charged with EU policy formulation, advising on EU policy or enforcing EU policy.
Lord Young of Cookham
Staff within the longstanding International and EU group lead on providing advice to Ministers on EU and EU related issues.
Staff within other groups throughout the Treasury also provide advice or analysis on EU issues as required, including policy formulation and enforcement.
HM Treasury do not routinely capture information about each employee’s specific work. Given the interactions between EU policy and other work, it would not be possible to give an accurate figure.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of Iraqi and Syrian Christians and other religious minorities who have been murdered or displaced from their homes by the actions of ISIS in each of the last five years; and what specific plans they have to provide practical assistance and asylum opportunities for persecuted Christians seeking to flee that region.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We do not hold figures for the numbers of minorities who have been murdered or displaced by Daesh. The situation is desperate for many communities within Syria and Iraq. We condemn in the strongest terms the atrocities committed by Daesh against all civilians, including Christians, Mandeans, Yezidis, and other minorities, as well as the majority Muslim population in Iraq and Syria who continue to bear the brunt of Daesh’s brutality.
The persecution of Christians, and individuals of all faiths, anywhere in the world is of profound concern to us. The freedom to practise, change or share your faith or belief without discrimination or violent opposition is a fundamental human right that all people should enjoy.
The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), announced that the existing Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement (VPR) scheme would be expanded to resettle 20,000 refugees during this Parliament. The Syrian VPR scheme is based on need and does not discriminate on religious grounds. As many Christians are likely to be particularly vulnerable it is highly likely that some will qualify under the scheme’s criteria.
Ultimately, the only way to protect Christians and other religious minorities from Daesh is by defeating this terrible organisation, which in turn requires, amongst other things, ending the conflict in Syria. The Prime Minister set out the UK’s comprehensive strategy for defeating Daesh and finding a political settlement to the Syria conflict in his response to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 26 November 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-02-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2016 to Question 23948, what the names are of the seven community rehabilitation companies referred to.
Andrew Selous
The information requested is commercially sensitive. It is normal Government practice not to release commercially sensitive information.
The use of action plans is part of an ongoing standard contract management process used routinely with all 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) to promptly and proactively address issues which have been identified.
We have robust contract management in place to monitor these plans, including commercial and financial specialists to ensure that providers deliver effective services and value for money. Robust performance management systems and audit arrangements are in place to manage the contracts. This approach is in line with National Audit Office contract management standards.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will estimate (a) public and (b) private sector involvement in developing ultra-fast FTTH broadband in 2014-15.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Virgin Media’s ultrafast network reaches around 45% of UK premises, whilst BT plan to make available ultrafast speeds to 10 million premises by 2020. Smaller providers, such as CityFibre, Gigaclear and Hyperoptic, are also investing to provide ultrafast services.
The Government set up a UK Guarantee Scheme to support infrastructure projects, such as the £3 billion Virgin Media ultrafast broadband network expansion. In addition, the government is consulting on a new broadband investment fund, specifically to support the deployment of new broadband networks.