The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Efford on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many GP practices in Greenwich borough have vacancies for practice nurses; what the consequential cost savings were per practice in (a) 2015-16 and (b) the current financial year to date; and if he will make a statement.
David Mowat
The information requested is not centrally held.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government plans to substitute any funding for High Speed 2 that was part of an EU grant.
Andrew Jones
The funding envelope of £55.7 billion for delivering HS2 does not rely on EU grant funding. HS2 was awarded a grant of €39 million from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for ground investigation works. My Department will work with HM Treasury to see if this should be covered by the government’s commitment to provide continuity of funding for participants in EU programmes (announced by my Right Honourable Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the 13th August). I refer my Right Honourable Friend to my response of the 15th September, UIN 46680, (http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=46680).
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Callum McCaig on 2016-01-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions her Department has had with the operators of the Brae Alpha platform following the gas leak on 26 December 2015 that resulted in the shutdown of that platform.
Andrea Leadsom
The incident on 26 December 2015 was a safety-related incident at an offshore oil and gas installation, the regulation of which falls within the Health and Safety Executive’s statutory remit under the Offshore Safety Directive.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether UK personnel were involved in checking the target selections for any (a) deliberate and (b) unintended breaches of international humanitarian law during the recent Saudi Arabian military action in Yemen.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The UK is not a member of the Saudi Arabia-led military Coalition. British personnel are not involved in carrying out strikes, directing or conducting operations in Yemen or selecting targets, and are not involved in the Saudi targeting decision-making process. We have deployed a small number of military personnel serving as liaison officers in Saudi Arabia’s headquarters to provide insight into Saudi operations. They remain under UK command and control.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2015 to Question 16115, if he will make it his policy to collect centrally data on Flexible Support Funding spent on childcare support.
Priti Patel
The Flexible Support Fund is used at the discretion of Jobcentre Plus District Managers and Work Coaches to support people back into work. Given this is a localised, discretionary fund we do not, and do not have plans to, create additional bureaucratic reporting on how the fund is spent.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department owed in late payments to small and medium-sized enterprises in each year for which data is available.
Anna Soubry
When making payments, the core Department does not differentiate between small, medium and large enterprises as many small and medium sized businesses can be found at various tiers of the procurement chain.
The Department takes prompt payment very seriously and records show that in the current financial year to the end of February 2016, 96.4% of all valid invoices (by volume) were paid within 5 working days. When looking at the overall value, this equates to 99.8% paid within 5 working days and 99.99% of invoices were paid within the 30 day standard contractual terms.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of a vote to leave the EU in the forthcoming referendum on (a) the process for child adoption and (b) the number of children adopted.
Edward Timpson
The EU referendum vote will have no bearing on the UK’s adoption process as there are no uniform rules applicable in all EU countries and every country applies its own rules. The adoption system in England is underpinned by the Children Act 1989 and Adoption and Children Act 2002 and associated statutory guidance. We do not collect centrally information on how many children from EU member states have been adopted in the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2016-06-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress his Department has made on supporting the establishment of marine protected areas in the high seas.
James Duddridge
The UK led negotiations within the Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources which resulted in the establishment of the world’s first high-seas Marine Protected Area (within the Antarctic Treaty area) and supports the establishment of further Marine Protected Areas within the area covered by the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. The UK is also a leading member of the OSPAR Commission which has designated seven Marine Protected Areas in the high seas of the North-East Atlantic and works closely with other regional and international organisations to manage these.
The UK supports, and is fully engaged, in the work at the United Nations seeking an agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity and the need to establish a mechanism to deliver marine protected areas in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure an effective balance between its policies on tackling radicalisation and protecting people at risk of Islamaphobic attacks.
Sarah Newton
The Government is determined to tackle hate crime and extremism wherever it occurs.
The Government’s Prevent strategy, published in 2011, explicitly tackles all forms of terrorism. That includes protecting individuals who are at risk from far right and Neo-nazi extremism, as well as those vulnerable to Islamist extremism.
Prevent is about safeguarding people who are at risk of radicalisation. Prevent does not target a specific faith or ethnic group. Rather, Prevent protects those who are targeted by terrorist recruiters. Currently the greatest threat comes from terrorist recruiters inspired by Daesh. Our Prevent programme will necessarily reflect this by prioritising support for vulnerable British Muslims, and working in partnership with British Muslim communities and civil society groups.
The Prevent programme is implemented in a proportionate manner that takes into account the level of risk in any given area or institution. In some areas the risk of far right extremism may be significant and we would expect in those circumstances for Prevent activity to focus on the far right threat.
Far right extremism often brings with it the threat of anti-Muslim or antisemitic attacks. We have a strong record of action against Islamophobia and antisemitism and deplore all religious or racially motivated crimes.
We strongly condemn the increase in attacks on Muslims that have been seen in this country in recent years. We know the majority of people in United Kingdom join our condemnation, and we have seen great examples of individuals and communities standing together to tackle this hatred.
Muslims make an enormous contribution to British society. They are all too often the victims of hatred and intolerance in this country and overseas. This Government is determined to act to protect British Muslims.
The United Kingdom has in place one of the strongest legislative frameworks in the world to protect communities from hostility, violence and bigotry. We will keep it under review to ensure it remains effective and appropriate in the face of new and emerging threats. We also published a new Cross-Government Hate Crime Action Plan on 26 July which will drive forward action against all forms of hate crime, including anti-Muslim hatred. This will be taken forward in partnership with communities to ensure we target the harm that hate crime causes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to help reduce long-term unemployment.
Damian Hinds
The number of people in employment is increasing and the latest figures show that the employment rate has remained at the record high of 74.5%. There are more people in work than ever before (31.81 million) – up 106,000 on the quarter and 560,000 on the year.
The number of long term unemployment is 443,000 – the lowest level since 2008.
Universal Credit, the Work Programme and the Jobcentre Plus Offer, is reforming the welfare system to improve incentives and provide more effective support to those without work.
Work Coaches have the flexibility to offer all claimants a comprehensive menu of help which includes skills provision and job search support. All claimants who are long term unemployed can access the tailored, back to work support on offer from the Work Programme, which provides support for those who are more at risk of long-term unemployment.
An Employment and Health Related Service is being launched in 2017. The Work and Health Programme is a new programme that will harness the expertise of private, public, voluntary and community sector providers to deliver sustained work for disabled people, disadvantaged groups and the long term unemployed.
There is also to be a new Youth Obligation from April 2017. From day 1 of their claim, young people will participate in an intensive support regime equipping them with vital skills to not only find a job, but build capability to sustain work. After six months they will be expected to apply for an appropriate apprenticeship, a traineeship, gain work skills or go on a mandatory work placement to give them the opportunities they need to get on in work.