Tag: 2016

  • Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering on 2016-04-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many cyclists have been successfully prosecuted in each of the last three years for a breach of the Highway Code; and how many have been issued with a fixed penalty notice for (1) a summary offence, and (2) a more serious offence.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Enforcement of cycling offences and collection of data on such offences is a matter for the Ministry of Justice and Home Office.

    Based on information provided to the Department for Transport, the number of defendants proceeded against at Magistrates’ courts and found guilty and sentenced for some cycling (non- motoring) offences in England and Wales from 2012 to 2014 (latest available) can be viewed in the attached table. This includes the average fine given at all courts for the specific offences listed in the table.

    The Home Office collects data on the number of fixed penalty notices issued for motoring offences only and these data are published by the Home Office in the annual ‘Police Powers and Procedures’ publication. Data on fixed penalty notices issued to cyclists are not held centrally.

    We are not able to provide an overall average financial penalty figure for all cycling offences. Many of these cycling offences are recorded under a miscellaneous offence grouping. The information required to split this miscellaneous grouping at offence level is held in individual court files, which can only be inspected at disproportionate cost.

  • Wendy Morton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Wendy Morton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wendy Morton on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cases of Ehlers-Danios Syndrome have been diagnosed in each of the last five years.

    George Freeman

    These data are not held centrally by the Department.

    Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) is a complex group of heritable disorders of connective tissue with an estimated prevalence of one in 20,000. As EDS appears in a variety of forms rates of diagnosis can be underestimated.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that dairy farmers receive a greater proportion of the profits of their produce compared to other elements of the supply chain.

    George Eustice

    The voluntary Code of Practice on contractual relationships has been extremely important for improving relationships across the dairy industry through greater transparency and predictability in milk pricing arrangements. It is for the industry to review it and check that it is working. The Code was last independently reviewed in 2014 which showed that it has been effective, but the review made some recommendations which its signatories (Dairy UK, NFU Scotland and the NFU) are taking forward.

    The Groceries Code Adjudicator also has an important role to play in changing behaviours and the overall culture of the sector. A review of the Grocery Code Adjudicator is due this year and we will look at how this can help the farming industry.

    The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board has established a Volatility Forum which brings together government, the farming industry and wider supply chain to catalyse knowledge exchange and long-term engagement with new risk management tools. It is exploring options such as forward contracts and use of futures markets, which could give farmers more certainty over price and share risk throughout the supply chain.

    Retailers have also shown their support for the British dairy industry. For example, Tesco has pledged that all own-brand yoghurt will now be made with British milk, Morrisons has launched the ‘Milk for Farmers’ brand that allows customers to pay more if they want to support British farmers and Arla has launched ‘Arla Farmers Milk’ where an additional 25p of the retail price of a four pint carton is paid to its farmers.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many Parish Councils in which areas have been established since 2010; and how many new expressions of interest for creating new Parish Councils are under consideration; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The decision to create, modify or abolish a parish council was devolved to principal councils through the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. The process for creating new town or parish councils does not require an expression of interest to be submitted to government as such the Department for Communities and Local Government does not maintain a definitive list of new Parish councils.

    A local community may petition their local authority to carry out a community governance review to consider the creation of a new parish council; we do not record or receive details of these petitions.

    Principal councils have responsibility for undertaking community governance reviews and deciding whether to give effect to recommendations made in those reviews. In making that decision, they are expected to take account of the views of local people.

  • 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 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people with hepatitis C have commenced treatment under the commissioning policy for the treatment of patients with cirrhosis since June 2015.

    Jane Ellison

    At 10 November 2015, NHS England had received 2,667 applications to treat from clinicians. Applications relate to patients who either meet NHS England’s commissioning policy for the treatment of hepatitis C patients with cirrhosis or who meet the NICE Technology Appraisal guidance for sofosbuvir and simeprevir. The number of applications is likely to be slightly higher than the number starting treatment, as some patients may have decided not to proceed. NHS England expects to have an automated system in place by April 2016 to collect data on treatment referrals and treatment history, including clinical outcome data.

  • Angela Crawley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Angela Crawley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Crawley on 2016-01-27.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many lone parents have received letters from Concentrix since 1 January 2015 questioning their reported living arrangements and requesting proof that they are not cohabiting in order to assess their continued eligibility to receive tax credits.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) routinely carries out checks on tax credits claims to make sure people are receiving the right amount of money and identify fraudulent claims. Since November 2014, Concentrix has been carrying out routine tax credit checks on behalf of HMRC, in addition to the checks HMRC carry out themselves. There are more than 4 million tax credit claimants overall.

    From the number of claimants contacted by Concentrix, HMRC and Concentrix do not categorise data under the heading of lone parent cases.

  • Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what plans the Church of England has to mark the 90th birthday of Her Majesty the Queen.

    Mrs Caroline Spelman

    The Church of England will mark the 90th birthday of Her Majesty with a large number of events and activities at national and local levels, including a national service of celebration at St Paul’s Cathedral. Alongside these events, the Bible Society and HOPE have released a companion book titled “The Servant Queen”, with a foreword written by Her Majesty that discusses how her faith has influenced her service of this nation over the last 90 years.

  • Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether (a) legal costs and (b) compensatory payments resulting from investor state dispute settlement claims relating to acts by the Scottish Government would be paid by the Scottish Government; and if he will make a statement.

    Anna Soubry

    If the UK were to lose a claim brought under the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism of a trade and investment treaty which relates to an act of a devolved administration, the memorandum of understanding between the UK and the devolved administrations would apply. This provides that the devolved administration would be responsible for the payment of legal costs and awards made by the tribunal to the extent that they arise from the failure of the devolved administration to implement or enforce an obligation or fail to meet their share of an international quota. However, the UK has a good record of creating the right environment for investors and treating them fairly – we have over 90 such agreements in place with other countries and there has never been a successful ISDS claim brought against the UK.

  • The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-04-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking in response to the Taliban’s recent announcement of a spring offensive and warnings of large-scale attacks in Afghanistan.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Taliban’s announcement of a spring offensive is consistent with the insurgency’s pattern of activity and was anticipated by the Afghan authorities. The UK is an integral part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s Resolute Support Mission (RSM), which is working to train, assist and advise the Afghan National Security and Defence Forces to meet the challenge posed by an enduring insurgency. Working in close cooperation with the Afghan authorities and RSM, the UK keeps its security under constant review.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of nursing, midwifery and allied healthcare graduates who are expected to pay off their student loan in full.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government announced in the 2015 Spending Review that from 1 August 2017, all new nursing, midwifery and allied health professional students will receive their funding and financial support through the standard student support system, rather than through the current NHS Bursary Scheme. The changes will enable us to lift the cap on the number of students on nursing, midwifery and allied healthcare courses and provide full time students on these courses with access to around 25% additional financial support for living costs. We expect this reform to enable universities to provide up to 10,000 additional nursing, midwifery and allied health training places over this Parliament.

    The proportion of students that will fully repay their loans is estimated for the total full time student population, rather than separately for students on different courses. On this basis, we estimate that between 45% and 50% of student loan borrowers are expected to pay off their student loan in full.