Tag: 2016

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department has provided to The Future Leaders Trust in each of the last three years.

    Nick Gibb

    The total funding provided by the Department to The Future Leaders Trust in each of the last three years is available via the links below. The accounts for 2015-16 will be published in July 2016.

    For 2014-15 published accounts (page 235):

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/517766/DfE-consolidated-annual-report-and-a-counts-2014-to-2015-Web-version.pdf

    For 2013-14 published accounts (page 157):

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/397024/DfE_consolidated_annual_report_and_accounts_2013_to_2014.pdf

    For 2012-13 published accounts (page 153):

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/275186/DFE_Group_Consolidated_12-13_ARA.pdf

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  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the number of trade negotiators required to negotiate the UK’s trade deals when the UK leaves the EU.

    Greg Hands

    The Rt hon Member will be aware that my Rt hon Friend the Prime Minister has created a new Department for International Trade, which is responsible for promoting British trade across the world and ensuring the UK takes advantage of the huge opportunities open to us. We are building up our trade policy capability. ​The new Department has begun a process to recruit and train staff to work on the UK’s trade policy. We will adapt the resource devoted to trade policy in line with future demands.

  • Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to make available research funding at the same level as currently received after the UK leaves the EU.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government is committed to maintain and enhance the strength of our research base. This is why we have protected the science resource budget in real terms from its 2015/16 level of £4.7 billion for the rest of the parliament, as well as committing to invest in new scientific infrastructure on a record scale – £6.9 billion over the period 2015-2021.

    The Treasury decision to underwrite the grants of competitively bid for EU research funding will give British participants and their EU partners the assurance and certainty needed to plan ahead for projects that can run over many years. We will ensure that the UK continues to be a world leader in international research and innovation.

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will exempt (a) domestic violence refuges and (b) other supported accommodation where higher rates of housing benefit are paid from planned changes to the housing benefit cap.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The introduction of Local Housing Allowance limits to social sector tenants in receipt of Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit will only apply from April 2018 where new tenancies have been taken out or renewed after April 2016.

    The Department is working on the exact policy design details for tenants in supported accommodation which includes domestic violence refuges.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners diagnosed with a mental health illness are being held with another prisoner in a cell designed for one person.

    Andrew Selous

    As the Secretary of State has said, the prison estate is overcrowded and out of date. That’s why we have announced that we will close down aging and ineffective prisons, replacing them with buildings fit for today’s demands, including better management of prisoners with mental health illnesses.

    On arrival all prisoners have a health assessment that looks in particular at mental health, risk of self-harm and suicide, risk of harm to others and vulnerability or risk of harm from others. A cell sharing risk assessment is also undertaken to inform whether a prisoner can share a cell, which includes looking at the health assessment. All prisons have on-site primary health care teams who can provide mental health care, refer prisoners to talking therapies or refer them for a further psychiatric assessment for serious mental illness.

    While the National Offender Management Service collects centrally the data on when two prisoners are held in a cell designed for one, it does not centrally record how many of these prisoners have an identified mental health concern.

    This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to address inequalities in cancer incidence across England resulting from smoking.

    Jane Ellison

    We know that smoking causes over a quarter of cancer deaths in the United Kingdom and that these deaths disproportionally occur in the poorest areas and most vulnerable populations.

    The Government has committed to publishing a new tobacco control plan to further reduce the prevalence of smoking in England. Addressing the health inequality caused by smoking will be one of the key priorities underpinning this strategy and we are working with partners across the system to embed locally, the success we have had reducing prevalence nationally.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to implement the recommendations for trauma-focussed care outlined in the report Future in Mind.

    Alistair Burt

    It is important that awareness of trauma (from abuse or neglect) and the impact it can have on children and young people’s mental health is raised across the workforce and that there is clarity on roles and responsibilities. The Department has asked that Health Education England (HEE) and NHS England work together to consider the training required for the health and wider children’s workforce to become more trauma aware, building this into HEE’s work programme.

    Routine Enquiry (asking about experience of trauma at every appropriate health appointment for over 16 year olds) and sensitive enquiry in all children and young people’s services (which was proposed in Future in Mind) will be tested in key services shortly. However, there is still work to do to make sure we reach out to all parts of the workforce who may see the presentation of trauma in the children that they work with. Routine and sensitive enquiry by frontline health professionals such as general practitioners and mental health professionals is an important starting point, but it will be just as important to use those working in schools and the community to raise awareness more broadly and initiate learning about trauma and its impact on mental health.

  • Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jon Trickett on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidelines he has issued to local authorities to require them to record the proportion of their procurement spent on small and medium-sized businesses.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Government is committed to ensuring there is a simple and consistent approach to procurement across the public sector so that small businesses can gain better and more access to public sector contracts – either directly or as sub-contractors.

    The Government produced guidance as part of the reforms included in the Public Contract Regulations 2015 which aim to make public contracts more accessible to businesses and in particular to small and medium enterprises. The reforms included the abolition of pre-qualification questionnaire for low value tenders; simplification of the pre-qualification questionnaire for high value tenders; advertising all local authority contracts of £25,000 or over (or the authority’s standing order limit if higher) on Contracts Finder; and paying down the supplier chain in 30 days.

    The Local Government Transparency Code 2015 requires all local authorities to publish details of contracts exceeding £5,000 including information on whether or not the supplier is a small or medium sized enterprise and/or a voluntary or community sector organisation.

    However, the Department has made no assessment of the amount or proportion of local government procurement spend going to small and medium sized businesses.

  • Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage investment in (a) sustainable aircraft fuels and (b) other renewable technology.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The UK wants to ensure that the aviation sector makes a significant and cost-effective contribution to reducing global emissions. The Government supports a range of measures to achieve this, including the use of sustainable alternative fuels, technological improvements to aircraft, operational improvements in air traffic management, and market-based measures.

    Sustainable fuels have an important role to play in reducing carbon emissions from transport, particularly in sectors where there are limited alternatives for decarbonisation such as aviation.

    We are assessing the benefits of making sustainable aviation fuels eligible for certificates under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO). We aim to publish a consultation on legislative amendments to the RTFO later this year including proposals for aviation biofuels.

  • Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what the Government’s policy is on continuing to adhere to the terms of the Aarhus Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters after the UK has left the EU.

    Mr David Jones

    I refer the honorable Member to the answer given on 26 July to Question 43162.

    Until we leave the EU, EU law continues to apply so the UK continues to comply with EU law that implements obligations in the Aarhus Convention. The UK remains a Party to the Aarhus Convention.