The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-01-14.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Government plans to launch its planned consultation on increasing the transparency of property ownership by foreign companies.
Matthew Hancock
In due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the risk posed to children by domestic violence; and if she will make a statement.
Karen Bradley
Data showing the total number of women who have suffered domestic abuse in the last five years is set out in the Crime Statistics published on 11 February 2016: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime-stats/crime-statistics/focus-on-violent-crime-and-sexual-offences–2014-to-2015/index.html.
Since the 2004/05 Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), the number of women aged 16 to 59 experiencing any domestic abuse in the last year has reduced from 1.71 million to 1.35 million (360,000 fewer victims and a fall of 21%) and the estimate of the number of women experiencing any domestic abuse in the last year is the lowest since the survey began.
Latest data published by the Office for National Statistics from the 2014/15 CSEW additionally show that in 46% of cases of partner abuse, a child was present in the household, of which 20% of children saw or heard the abuse.
Data on children referred to and assessed by local authority children’s social services in England in 2014/15 show that there were 197,700 assessments where domestic violence was identified as a relevant factor. This data is only available for 2014/15.
The Government works closely with charities, academics and statutory agencies to assess and address the impact of domestic abuse on children and wholly recognises the life changing impact domestic abuse can have on the lives of children. That is why we have expanded the Troubled Families Programme for a further five years (2015-2020) to work with an additional 400,000 families, including those affected by domestic abuse.
To further address the impact of domestic abuse on victims and their children, we have introduced a new domestic abuse offence to tackle coercive and controlling behaviour, and in England and Wales we have rolled out Domestic Violence Protection Orders and the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme. Improvements have been made to the police response to domestic abuse, and we are supporting multi-agency working which takes a whole family approach.
We will shortly publish a refreshed cross-Government Violence Against Women and Girls strategy setting out how we will do more still to support victims and their children. The Government has already announced £40 million of funding for domestic abuse services between 2016 and 2020, as well as a £2 million grant to Women’s Aid and Safelives to support early intervention programmes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-03-04.
To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the proposed changes to the Landfill Communities Fund on the restoration and repair of listed church properties and church buildings.
Mrs Caroline Spelman
The Church of England has engaged with the recent consultation from the Treasury over the future of the Landfill Communities Fund. Local churches are able to apply to the fund to support restoration, extension and repair projects.
Local parishes have benefitted from this generosity since its creation in 1996. Over its lifetime the scheme has enabled churches across the country to benefit from an approximate £75 million worth of repairs. As part of its submission the Church of England asked the Treasury to consider reducing the administrative burdens on applicants to the fund.
The Church has since received assurances that the scheme will continue and we await with interest further detailed announcements from the Treasury regarding the operation of the fund.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the UK contribution has been to the UN’s emergency relief fund for Yemen since its creation.
Mr Desmond Swayne
The UK has contributed £36.2 million to the Yemen Emergency Response Fund (ERF) since it was established in 2010.
In 2015 the ERF channelled funds to over 79 projects implemented by UN agencies and national and international NGOs. Through the total resources received from donors in 2015, the Fund has provided critical life-saving assistance to 3.3 million people affected by the conflict in Yemen, including through the provision of healthcare, clean water, sanitation services, food supplies or shelter materials.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-05-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to define the term, fit and proper, for the licensing of taxi and private hire vehicle drivers.
Andrew Jones
The Department for Transport currently provides Best Practice Guidance to assist with the fit and proper person test, which is the responsibility of local authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there have been for insurance fraud in each of the last five years.
Mike Penning
This information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jon Trickett on 2016-09-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many complaints NHS England has responded to outside of the 12 month statutory limit for the period in which complaints can be made in each year from 2010 to 2016.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009 do not place a duty on individual organisations to collect these data; and therefore they are not collected centrally.
There would be a disproportionate cost to provide data in this format, which could in any case only be provided from 1 April 2013 when NHS England was established.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-01-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department spent on children’s playgrounds in each year since 2008.
Mr Marcus Jones
The Department of Communities and Local Government does not collect the information requested.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the human papilloma virus vaccination programme for men who have sex with men will commence.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The Department and Public Health England are currently undertaking a procurement exercise to secure vaccine to support the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme for girls. The procurement will take account of the costs and benefits of all vaccines offered to establish which provides best value for money for the National Health Service.
In November 2015, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the expert body that advises the Government on all immunisation matters, advised that a targeted HPV vaccination programme should be undertaken for men who have sex with men up to 45 years of age who attend genitourinary medicine and HIV clinics. They noted that this should be subject to procurement of the vaccine and delivery of the programme at a cost-effective price. The JCVI acknowledged that finding a way to implement its advice would be challenging and made clear that work was needed by the Department and others to consider commissioning and delivery routes for this programme. This work is already underway and we will announce our plans as soon as we can.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-03-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to ensure that adequate ring-fenced funding is provided to local authorities so they can successfully deliver the Government’s childcare provision targets.
Mr Sam Gyimah
We have already announced over £1bn more for the early years entitlements within the ring-fenced Dedicated Schools Grant by 2019-20, which includes £300m to uplift the funding rate to providers. The increase to the funding rate is based on robust evidence from the Review of the Cost of Childcare. We have made clear our commitment to maximise the amount of this funding which reaches front line childcare providers, and will consult on proposals for achieving this as part of our consultation on early years funding reform later this year.