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Tag: 2016

  • Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much funding his Department will make available for Public Health England’s awareness campaign on the symptoms of serious infections; and what proportion of that funding will be spent on sepsis awareness.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department funds Public Health England to undertake a range of social marketing campaigns to support behaviour change and public awareness. This work will be funded within the annual budget as will the work on other infections, such as influenza, as well as non-infectious diseases. Further planning work will be undertaken to determine the budget for this activity.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2016 to Question 42517, how many members of staff who are in receipt of a private secretary allowance are Senior Civil Servants.

    Ben Gummer

    There are currently 11 members of the Senior Civil Service who are in receipt of a private secretary allowance. Staff at Band B2 or above who currently work in the Private Office of a Director General, Permanent Secretary or Minister are entitled to receive the Private Office allowance. The authorisation process is robustly enforced within the department, with accountability resting with the Head of Private Office Group.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much coal the UK carbon fibre industry has used per annum in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

    Jesse Norman

    (a) The table below gives the amount of coal used for non-power generating purposes:

    UK coal demand for non-electricity generating purposes(1) (thousand tonnes)

    2006

    10,156

    2007

    10,158

    2008

    10,577

    2009

    9,037

    2010

    9,827

    2011

    9,658

    2012

    9,141

    2013

    10,139

    2014

    10,021

    2015

    8,174

    (1) Includes coal used for heat generation, coke manufacture, blast furnaces, patent fuel manufacture, energy used in coal extraction and final consumption by industry, transport, domestic and other users.

    Source: Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) table 2.4 available at

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solid-fuels-and-derived-gases-chapter-2-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes

    (b) BEIS does not hold data at that level. BEIS cannot disaggregate coal used by the carbon fibre industry from coal used by all industries.

    “

  • Gerald Kaufman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Gerald Kaufman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he intends to answer the letter to him from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, dated 9 November 2015 with regard to Mr S Hewitt.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    A reply to the letter from the right hon member for Manchester, Gorton, was sent on 21 December.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-01-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the global economy of gender equality in the technology sector.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The technology industry contributes over £91 billion to the UK economy and forecasts show the number of tech specialists in the UK will increase from 1.2m in 2014 to 1.6m in 2024. However, women only make up 17% of the current tech specialist workforce.

    That is why the Government is supporting independent campaigns such as Your Life and #notjustforboys which inspire girls to consider STEM careers. Top graduates are being recruited into teaching through bursaries and scholarships in mathematics and the sciences and over the next 5 years up to 2,500 additional teachers will be trained in maths and physics. Since 2010, the Government’s plan for education has resulted in 12,000 more STEM A level entries for women.

    Increasing the number of women in the tech sector will not only be good for women, who will benefit from rewarding and interesting careers, but it will also benefit the businesses they work for, improving both profits and the quality of decision making.

    This government is committed to encouraging women and girls to consider STEM careers and on International Women’s Day, we will be convening a Round Table with key stakeholders from industry, academia and government to agree what more we can take collectively to increase the number of women in digital roles.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the rate of pay is for cleaners in his Department.

    Joseph Johnson

    The rates of pay for cleaners, cleaning supervisors and cleaning managers in the Department for Business Innovation and Skills are £7.93, £8.43 and £12.71 (minimum) respectively.

  • The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-03-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to prevent the rise in cases of scarlet fever in children.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Public Health England (PHE) has endeavoured to keep healthcare professionals, schools and the general public informed of the increased incidence of scarlet fever through timely information, news stories and updates on the PHE website and by using social and other media. These awareness raising measures assist general practitioners and other frontline healthcare professionals in reaching a correct diagnosis more quickly and encourage patients to seek medical advice early so that suspected cases receive prompt antibiotic treatment to reduce the risk of complications and limit further transmission. Guidelines have been developed by PHE to assist local Health Protection Teams in controlling outbreaks in schools, nurseries and childcare settings. In addition, investigations are underway to explore the possible reasons for the rise in scarlet fever and the impact on patients.

  • Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made representations to Sanef Tolling about the length of time taken between a penalty notice being issued under the Dart Charge scheme and the date of the offence.

    Andrew Jones

    Both my Rt Hon Friend, the Secretary of State and I have held meetings with and written to Sanef during the opening year of the service, concerning performance issues and the timely issuing of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs). Highways England worked with Sanef to improve performance and currently the majority of PCNs are now being issued between 5 and 15 days of the contravention taking place.

  • Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) incidents have been reported to trading standards teams of and (b) prosecutions have taken place for packing and selling beef and poultry with an unknown origin in each of the last three years.

    Jane Ellison

    Monitoring food businesses to ensure compliance with legislation on food labelling and composition is the responsibility of county councils, unitary authorities, the London Boroughs and some but not all metropolitan borough councils. These local authorities are also responsible for taking enforcement action, including prosecutions, where non-compliance is found.

    Data are reported to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on the number of food and drink analyses undertaken in relation to compositional issues and labelling and presentation issues:

    23,599 analyses were undertaken in 2014/15, 16,899 for compositional issues and 6,700 for labelling and presentation issues.

    29,324 analyses were undertaken in 2013/14, 19,386 for compositional issues and 9,938 for labelling and presentation issues.

    26,940 analyses were undertaken in 2012/13, 16,982 for compositional issues and 9,958 for labelling and presentation issues.

    Data are also reported to the FSA on the total number of prosecutions concluded for food standards issues. This includes action in relation to composition, labelling and presentation but also for other issues such as chemical contamination. In 2014/15, 2013/14 and 2012/13 respectively, 75, 57 and 78 United Kingdom food establishments were subject to prosecution.

    The FSA has recently established a central register of successful food law prosecutions. Analysis of data collected for the first year of operation of the register is not yet complete, but in future it will provide more definitive data on prosecutions for offences of this nature.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether the Government is ensuring that programmes involving the regeneration of public land require a proportion of the new homes delivered to be accessible for disabled people.

    Gavin Barwell

    The Government is committed to addressing the supply of new land for housing. The Public Land for Housing programme has set an ambition to dispose of surplus government-owned land in England with capacity for at least 160,000 homes by 2020. And at Budget 2016 the Chancellor announced a local government land ambition to release land with the capacity for a further 160,000 homes.

    Individual local planning authorities will decide the type and number of homes developed on the land released – including those for disabled people – in order to meet local need.

    We have put in place new, flexible Building Regulations which allow local authorities to apply appropriate access standards for new homes to meet the needs of their communities while ensuring that development can happen. Building regulations require minimum standards of accessibility for all new dwellings. Local authorities are able to set policies for a proportion of new development to be built to higher standards of accessibility in order to meet local needs in accordance with national planning policy and guidance.

    The Government is committed to helping older and disabled people to live independently and safely in their own homes for as a long as possible. The Disabled Facilities Grant funds the provision of home adaptations (including stair lifts, level access showers and in some instances home extensions) to help older and disabled people to live as comfortably, safely and independently as possible in their own homes for longer. Since 2010 we have invested over a billion pounds into the grant providing around 250,000 adaptations to older and disabled people’s homes in England.

    Government is also boosting the supply of specialised housing through the Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund, with 79 schemes receiving more than £84.2 million to develop up to 2,000 affordable homes over the next few years.