The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many full-time equivalent staff are employed within his Department’s Child Maintenance Group’s Financial Investigation Unit.
Priti Patel
Child Maintenance Group currently has 33.01 full-time equivalent staff working within the Financial Investigations Unit.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-03-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to strengthen the transparency and governance arrangements of the NHS Strategic Projects Team.
Lord Prior of Brampton
We are advised that NHS England is awaiting finalisation of its review of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group contract with UnitingCare LLP before considering what action might be required with regard to the Strategic Projects Team.
We understand that NHS England will not be making any commitments on any other current procurements until the review is complete and NHS England has had time to consider the findings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-04-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many meetings she had with the Adam Smith Institute between 1 October 2012 and 31 March 2016.
Mr Desmond Swayne
Meetings with DFID Ministers are published on a regular basis at: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/dfid-sos-gifts-travel-hospitality-meetings-may-july-2010
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-05-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans his Department has for the provision of rehabilitation and re-education for perpetrators of coercive control and intimate partner violence who are serving (a) custodial and (b) non-custodial sentences.
Andrew Selous
The Ministry of Justice works with its partners to deliver a range of services and programmes across custody and community which aim to reduce and manage the risk posed by perpetrators of coercive control and intimate partner violence. We use structured risk assessment to understand the risks, needs and circumstances of individual offenders. We then match individuals to appropriate interventions and services, such as the Building Better Relationships accredited programme, to reduce their risk, protect the community and ensure public money is spent in the best way.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-07-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that government offices and departments procure local food.
George Eustice
The Government is committed to do all it can to ensure that UK suppliers are able to compete effectively for public sector contracts in line with our current international obligations and guidance issued by the Crown Commercial Service.
In 2014 the Government introduced the Plan for the Public Procurement of Food and Catering Services and from 2017 central government will commit to buying fresh, locally sourced, seasonal food, so that all food that can be bought locally will be bought locally. This will include use of a Balanced Scorecard approach to sourcing food which recognises factors such as health and nutrition, resource efficiency, and local and cultural engagement. As contracts are renewed central Departments will adopt this approach.
These arrangements will simplify the public procurement process, and should help open up the opportunity to compete to more small and medium sized businesses and local producers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of staff employed by her Department are non-UK nationals.
George Eustice
All Government Departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules. Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose.
More broadly, the Government will be consulting in due course on how we work with business to ensure that workers in this country have the skills that they need to get a job. But there are no proposals to publish lists of the number or proportion of foreign workers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether she plans to provide funding for carbon capture and storage projects in the next Contracts for Difference allocation round.
Andrea Leadsom
Under the Contracts for Difference (Definition of Eligible Generator) Regulations 2014, Contract for Difference allocation rounds are limited to renewable technologies. The next allocation round for less established technologies is expected to take place by the end of 2016. We are currently working with HM Treasury to finalise the budget for future allocation rounds and will set out more information in due course.
Contracts for Difference for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) are issued only on direction from my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 24142, how much is owed in child maintenance arrears by non-resident parents whose CSA liability has ended as a result of the proactive or reactive CSA case closure process.
Priti Patel
The information requested on case closure arrears is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-03-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Earl Howe on 22 January 2013 (WA194–5) and by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Department of Health, Mr George Freeman, on 8 March (HC29426), what control the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has over the contents of any external website, such as that maintained by the Francis Crick Institute; what prior examples they can provide in which (1) either centre 0157 or 0206, or (2) any other licensed centre, has immediately and voluntarily altered the publication on their websites of clinical success rate data or information on costs in response to a request from the HFEA to do so; and what assessment they have made of how any expectations that licensed centres would comply with such requests might be affected by the Francis Crick Institute’s claim that it is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as a private body that has hitherto not provided copies of the patient information and consent forms directly for that reason.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) Code of Practice, at section 4.5, sets out the obligations on a licensed treatment centre regarding information provided on its website; other relevant marketing communications; and in relation to associated satellite and transport centres. This is in line with the Advertising Standards Authority Code. This guidance does not apply to licensed research centres.
Assessment of the websites of licensed treatment centres is made during inspections undertaken by the HFEA, or in response to ad hoc instances where information has come to us suggesting breaches of these requirements. There have been a number of examples where clinics have voluntarily and immediately amended the content of their websites and it would not be proportionate to set out all such examples. The HFEA has no statutory powers relating to the costs of treatment.
The fact that the Francis Crick Institute is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act 2000 has no impact on the HFEA’s expectations of licensed centres’ websites.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-04-18.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, on how many occasions between 2006 and 2011 HM Revenue and Customs officials (a) met and (b) communicated with Peter Twiddy, a consultant who worked at Bircham Dyson Bell.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs officials meet with and receive representations from a wide variety of organisations as part of the policy formulation and delivery process. As has been the practice of successive administrations, it is not the Government’s practice to give details of any such discussion.