Tag: 2016

Lord Wasserman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wasserman on 2016-02-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to introduce a scheme for the registration, regulation, accreditation and vetting by the Disclosure and Barring Service of self-employed personal trainers, especially those who offer personal training services in the area of fitness coaching to children and other vulnerable persons.

Lord Bates

There are no plans to introduce a scheme of this nature.

Those wishing to engage a coach to work with children or vulnerable groups may request the coach provide a criminal record check. A self-employed coach can apply for an enhanced DBS check through an agency, who will process the application and confirm that the activity is eligible to request the check. Alternatively, any individual can apply directly for a criminal conviction certificate which is available from Disclosure Scotland which contains details of unspent convictions and cautions.

Where parents do not want to engage a coach without the reassurance of a DBS check, they are free to limit their selection process to people who can show them a DBS certificate. Ultimately, it is for parents to decide who is a suitable person to coach their child and to take account of the information which is available to them.

01/01/2023
Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans to Answer Question 26990, tabled on 11 February 2016 by the hon. Member for Glasgow South West.

Nick Boles

I apologise to the hon Member for the delay. I will reply as soon as possible.

01/01/2023
Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-04-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have had employment tribunal fees waived or reduced in each year since the introduction of such fees.

Mr Shailesh Vara

This information is published and available within the Ministry of Justice Official Tribunal Statistics and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.

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01/01/2023
Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with Network Rail on delays to the Sheffield to Rotherham tram-train scheme.

Andrew Jones

The Department for Transport and South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, the joint funders of the tram train pilot project, have been advised that Network Rail has initiated a review of the current programme of works needed to adapt their infrastructure to operate the tram train vehicles between Meadowhall South and Rotherham Parkgate.

The Department understands that Network Rail has encountered significant issues with the approval of new bespoke electrification equipment needed to operate the tram train vehicles. The joint funders are clearly disappointed by this further delay.

The current programme showed delivery of these works by early spring 2017, however until the outcome of the Network Rail review is known, no further details can be provided.

01/01/2023
Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the Government’s policy and guidance on the Public Duty Cost Allowance.

Ben Gummer

The Public Duties Cost Allowance is to assist former Prime Ministers with the costs of continuing to fulfil duties associated with their previous position in public life. A copy of the policy and guidance on the allowance is in the Library of the House. The costs are a reimbursement of incurred expenses for necessary office costs and secretarial costs arising from their special position in public life. The allowance is not paid to support private or parliamentary duties. Civil servants are not entitled to claim this allowance.

Current recipients of the allowance are published in the Cabinet Office Annual Reports and Accounts. Previous recipients have included Lady Thatcher; the current recipients who are former Prime Ministers are Sir John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. I also refer the Hon. Member to my answers to him of 9 September 2016 to (UIN 44045, 44048, 44049, 44053, 44054, 44055, 44056).

The Public Duties Cost Allowance rate is currently set at a limit of £115,000 per annum. When originally introduced, the Government stated that it would be the equivalent in amount to the Parliamentary Office Costs Allowance. I would note that that allowance is now known as the Parliamentary Staffing Allowance, determined by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority and that is currently set at the rate of £148,500 per annum.”

01/01/2023
Lord Bird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bird on 2016-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Project Literacy campaign, and whether they have plans to support and promote that campaign.

Lord Bates

The Department for International Development (DFID) share Project Literacy’s view that illiteracy leaves people around the world vulnerable to poverty, abuse and exploitation, and are committed to supporting the Global Goal target of ensuring that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults achieve literacy and numeracy by 2030. The majority of DFID’s education programmes are focused on ensuring all children are able to read, write and count. For example, DFID is helping to increase literacy rates amongst women and girls in Northern Nigeria, where 7 out of 10 women cannot read at all, through the Educating Nigerian Girls in New Enterprises project, which supports 18,000 young women to improve their literacy and numeracy.

01/01/2023
Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-01-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they measure and document parity of esteem as promised in the Belfast Agreement 1998.

Lord Dunlop

As I have made clear in previous answers on this subject the UK Government is committed to affording due respect and parity of esteem to all the people in Northern Ireland as underpinned by the 1998 Belfast Agreement, and in accordance with the obligations on the Government to promote equality and prevent discrimination across the United Kingdom.

01/01/2023
Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many referrals there were to Child and Mental Health services in (a) England, (b) each London borough and (c) each health trust in London in each year since 2010.

Alistair Burt

This information is not held centrally.

01/01/2023

Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Clement-Jones on 2016-02-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect a reimbursement decision on each of the drugs launched since June 2015 that were affected by the pause in listing new drugs on the Cancer Drugs Fund list.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Since June 2015, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published final technology appraisal guidance on the cancer drugs/indications listed in the following table.

Topic title	Final guidance publication
Melanoma (unresectable, metastatic) – pembrolizumab (after ipilimumab) [TA357]	October 2015
Melanoma (unresectable, metastatic, ipilimumab naive) – pembrolizumab [TA366]	November 2015
Multiple myeloma – panobinostat (post 1 prior therapy) [TA380]	January 2016
Melanoma (advanced, unresectable, metastatic) – nivolumab [TA384]	February 2016

NHS England has advised that it envisages, under the new arrangements for the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF), that a greater number of cancer drugs will be funded from baseline commissioning. Under the new process, any drugs that receive either a draft recommendation for routine commissioning or, where uncertainty exists, a recommendation for use within the CDF, will receive interim funding from the CDF from the point of marketing authorisation.

NICE has advised that it is unable to provide a forecast as to when this will occur for technology appraisals published during the first year of the new CDF as this will depend on a number of factors including the value proposition put forward by manufacturers.

01/01/2023

David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department holds data on the amount of heat a tonne of biomass gives off when burned compared to a tonne of coal; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom

The Department annually publishes the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics (DUKES). Appendix A of DUKES contains data on the calorific value of fuels:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/447648/ DUKES_2015_Annex_A.pdf.

The gross calorific value of dry biomass fuels, (the DUKES values have been corrected for moisture content), vary between 10 gigajoules per tonne (GJ/t) for poultry litter and 24 GJ/t for meat and bone meal. A typical dry wood based fuel has an energy content close to 19 GJ/t. Treatments such as torrefaction or charcoal production increase the energy density of biomass derived materials. However these manufactured biomass fuels are not commonly used for heating in the UK.

A tonne of coal can also vary in heat content, depending on the rank of the coal, but lies between 24 GJ/t for bituminous coal as used in the pulp, paper and printing industries and 34 GJ/t of fuel for anthracite used in households. Typical bituminous house coal has a gross heat content of 30 GJ/t.

These values represent the maximum heat available from a fuel in a laboratory test. The useful heat provided by combustion of that fuel to the business or home will depend on the efficiency of the combustor in which it is burnt and the design of the energy distribution system. The combustor efficiency can range from an open fire which may provide 20% of the energy in the fuel as useful heat, to modern condensing wood pellet boilers with gross efficiencies around 90%.

01/01/2023