The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, on what date and in which location his Department last met with AdvanFort, the operator of the Seaman Guard Ohio; and what subjects were discussed at that meeting.
Mr Hugo Swire
I spoke most recently to AdvanFort’s owner Samir Farajallah on 3 May by telephone concerning the detained men’s situation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect on the public purse of privatising the Land Registry while maintaining ownership of the Land Register.
Anna Soubry
A Government consultation seeking views on options to move Land Registry operations to the private sector closed on 26 May. My department is analysing these responses to help inform a Government decision. The effect on the public purse will also be considered as part of this decision.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he has taken steps to support the Northern Ireland Executive in the regeneration of coastal areas in Northern Ireland.
James Brokenshire
I have visited some of the coastal communities in Northern Ireland and aside from their general beauty I have seen how vital they are to local economy. Since its launch in 2012 the UK Government’s Coastal Communities Fund has helped coastal towns across the UK to strengthen their appeal as places to live, work and visit. In Northern Ireland 11 awards have been made, worth £2.5m.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Young of Old Scone on 2016-10-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether Natural England are planning to report on net loss of biodiversity measurements in relation to Phase 1 of the HS2 project, as called for in the Report published in February of the House of Commons Select Committee on the High Speed Rail (London–West Midlands) Bill (HC129); and if so, when that report will be published.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Department for Transport plans to publish both Natural England’s review of the No Net Loss to Biodiversity metric and the Government’s response before the end of the HS2 Select Committee in the Lords.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many potential overlapping payments between those processed through the universal credit live service and those processed for housing benefit have been identified in the East London Jobcentre Plus district since 2013.
Priti Patel
We do not retain statistics to identify the information requested, however we have safeguards in place to ensure an effective transition in these instances to avoid overlapping benefits.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on how many occasions government departments have paid bills to private businesses more than 60 days after the date the invoice was received since 2010-11.
Matthew Hancock
This information is not held centrally.
Departments publish, on their pages on GOV.UK, quarterly reports on the percentage of undisputed invoices they pay within 5 and 30 days. From the start of the next financial year they will also report quarterly on their liability to pay interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department (a) has taken or (b) plans to take to analyse the reasons for the changes in the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index in (i) Enfield, (ii) London and (iii) UK between 2010 and 2015.
Brandon Lewis
The 2015 Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index was published as part of the English Indices of Deprivation and is the best measure of the proportion of all children aged 0 to 15 living in income deprived families. Changes to the methodology, indicators and published guidance were made following a public consultation in late 2014 to inform the 2015 update.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a national deposit return scheme as part of the Government’s litter strategy.
Rory Stewart
As part of its Litter Strategy, published in 2014, the Scottish Government announced that it had commissioned a feasibility study and a call for evidence investigating the implementation of a deposit return system for single use drink containers in Scotland. This valuable work, published last year, highlighted significant uncertainties regarding the impacts and benefits that a deposit return system would have, notably regarding costs, environmental quality and littering, and existing waste collection systems. The Scottish Government is doing further work on the topic and we will consider any new evidence arising from this in the course of developing our own National Litter Strategy for England.
Defra analysed the costs and benefits of implementing a deposit return system for single use drink containers as part of the 2011 Review of Waste Policy in England, and to seek views in the 2012 consultation on higher packaging recycling targets. This work showed that introducing a deposit return system may increase recycling and reduce litter, but might impose additional costs on businesses, consumers and local authorities (which would lose revenue from recycling). However, we are lacking evidence to appropriately quantify these benefits and costs. The current approach has driven a significant increase in packaging waste recycling rates, from less than 47% in 2003 to nearly 65% in 2013.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the range of prices charged by fertility units within the NHS in England is to provide (a) a cycle of IVF and (b) a cycle of intracytoplasmic sperm injection.
Jane Ellison
The level of provision of infertility treatment, as for all health services they commission, is decided by local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and will take into account the needs of the population overall. The CCG’s decisions are underpinned by clinical insight and knowledge of local healthcare needs. As such, provision of services will vary in response to local needs.
CCGs have a legal duty to have regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. As such, NHS England expects that all those involved in commissioning infertility treatment services to be fully aware of the importance of having regard to the NICE fertility guidelines.
Following a meeting with Fertility Fairness in December 2015, officials from the Department and NHS England are considering options for addressing variation in the prices that CCGs are currently paying for in vitro fertilisation treatment.
Information about the costs of individual treatments is not collected centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will provide additional resources to the Tees Valley Combined Authority and Local Enterprise Partnership to assist them in the key role envisioned for them in the independent report, Tees Valley: opportunity unlimited, published on 7 June 2016.
James Wharton
Officials in the Cities and Local Growth Unit will continue to work with the Tees Valley to implement their current devolution deal – including additional resources of £15 million per year, and over £100 million in already agreed growth deals. Tees Valley Combined Authority is already putting in place plans for implementing Lord Heseltine’s report. Government is committed to work coherently with local leaders to support the economic growth opportunities that have been identified.