The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-07-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many companies that provide patient transport services within the NHS have gone bankrupt or into administration while providing that service in each of the last five years.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Department does not hold this information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will take steps to ensure that his Department’s purchasing policies support British (a) industry and (b) agriculture.
Mr David Jones
Consistent with Managing Public Money principles, the Department for Exiting the European Union will ensure its purchasing policies represent value for money, are compliant with legal and international obligations, and follow Government policies and standards on public procurement.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the forecast number of people who will (a) move into work, (b) move out of poverty, (c) have increased income and (d) have increased of income of more than £25 a week following transition to universal credit.
Priti Patel
Universal Credit (UC)is fundamentally different from the current legacy benefit system and supports more people into work and encourages them to earn more. We expect up to 300,000 more people to be in work as a result of UC.
The Government has committed to transitional arrangements as we reform the benefits and Tax Credit system. Those transferred by DWP from tax credits to UC will receive Transitional Protection. In addition, estimates of entitlements under UC of the sort requested are not available as they will vary depending on assumptions on the level of earnings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Smith on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the rural productivity plan published by her Department in August 2015, when she will publish the calls for evidence on reviewing the planning and regulatory constraints facing rural businesses and the measures that can be taken to address them.
Rory Stewart
The Rural Planning Review Call for Evidence will be published jointly by Defra and the Department for Communities and Local Government shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many social media accounts promoting extremist content were recommended for closure by her Department in each of the last 12 months; and what proportion of such content related to Daesh.
Mr John Hayes
We have seen an increase in the scale and pace of terrorist communications by groups like ISIL, encouraging vulnerable young people to travel to conflict zones like Syria and Iraq. This Government takes seriously the threat from online terrorist and extremist propaganda, which can directly influence people who are vulnerable to radicalisation.
Since 2010 over 140,000 pieces of terrorist-related material have been removed by industry from various online platforms at the request of the dedicated police Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU). Approximately 55,000 removals were made in 2015 alone. Removal requests are now at over 1,000 a week and approximately 70% of CTIRU’s caseload is Daesh related.
We are pressing industry to take a lead in tackling the abuse of their services by terrorist and extremist groups.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-03-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the viability of hydro pump storage energy solutions; and what support her Department makes available to that industry.
Andrea Leadsom
Energy storage is one way to provide flexibility to the energy system, alongside demand side response, interconnection and smarter networks. We continue to assess the potential for all forms of energy storage, including pumped hydro, to benefit the UK energy system.
More than £80m public sector controlled support has been committed to energy storage research, development and demonstration activities since 2012. This innovation funding has included DECC grant support for a UK pumped hydro storage developer to assess the potential location of new pumped hydro sites around Great Britain. The developer concluded that up to 15GW of novel pumped storage could be possible, using various criteria such as the presence of existing or potential reservoirs, grid connection distance and whether the site is in an environmentally sensitive area. Other pumped storage developers have independently identified over 1 GW of additional potential pumped storage.
We are also investigating the potential barriers to deployment of energy storage and possible mitigating actions. We are focussing in the first instance on removing policy and regulatory barriers. DECC plans to issue a call for evidence on a smart systems route map in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of servicemen and women recruited from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.
Penny Mordaunt
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 18 April 2016 to Question 33630 to the hon. Member for Barnsley Central (Dan Jarvis).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2016-05-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 25 May 2016 to Question 37198, how many of the leaflets entitled Why the Government believes that voting to remain in the European Union is the best decision for the UK have been returned to his Department; and what the postage cost to the Government has been of such returns.
Andrew Selous
I refer the Hon Member to the Prime Minister’s response of 25th May 2016. This information is not collated centrally by the Department.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-07-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has any plans to move away from a tax-funded NHS towards one funded by insurance and co-payments.
Mr Philip Dunne
There is no plan to change the way that the National Health Service is funded nor any consideration of changes. The Government remains committed to the principles of the NHS, enshrined in the NHS Constitution, that access to NHS services is based on clinical need, not the ability to pay.
The Government is also committed to working with the NHS in implementing its own plan for the future of the NHS – the Five Year Forward View – backed up by the commitment made in the Spending Review to provide an additional £10 billion in real terms by 2020-21 compared to 2014-15. This fully funds the plan.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Attorney General, approximately how many (a) British and (b) non-British nationals are employed cleaning the Westminster estate of the Law Officers’ Departments.
Robert Buckland
The Law Officer’s Departments do not directly employ any staff to clean its estate. All cleaning services are provided via a national facilities management contract or via managed service agreements.