The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-02-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much aid the UK gave to Afghanistan in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12.
Mr Nick Hurd
DFID’s bilateral aid expenditure in Afghanistan for 2010-11 was £99.3m and in 2011-12 was £153.9m.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-02-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his Department’s definition is of a homeless person.
Mr Marcus Jones
The legal definition of homelessness is set out in Section 175 of the Housing Act 1996. Broadly speaking, somebody is statutorily homeless if they do not have accommodation that they have a legal right to occupy, which is accessible and physically available to them (and their household) and which it would be reasonable for them to continue to live in. It would not be reasonable for someone to continue to live in their home, for example, if that was likely to lead to violence against them (or a member of their family).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to increase capacity on public transport links to Heathrow Airport from central London.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Elizabeth line will replace the existing two train per hour Heathrow Connect service from May 2018 providing a 4 train per hour service to Terminals 1 to 4, operating alongside the existing 4 train per hour Heathrow Express service. This will offer significant improvements in connectivity from and to Heathrow, particularly from the West End, the City and Canary Wharf.
Heathrow is also served by regular Piccadilly line services from central London. Upgrading this line is a matter for the Mayor and Transport for London who plan to introduce new modern signalling systems and new trains to provide 60% more capacity (the equivalent of up to 21,000 customers per hour).
For any improvements associated with airport expansion, the Government will agree the nature and scale of the surface access transport as part of its decision on its preferred scheme for additional airport capacity in the South East. The Government has also been clear that it expects the scheme promoter to meet the costs of any surface access proposals that are required as a direct result of airport expansion and from which they will directly benefit.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2016-05-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 April 2016 to Question 34842, how much of the £3.95 million spent on Cyber Streetwise in 2014-15 was spent on (a) media spend and production, (b) PR, partnership and social, (c) research and (d) website; and how much of the £4.1 million spent on Cyber Streetwise in 2015-16 was spent on (i) media spend and production, (ii) PR, partnership and social, (iii) research and (iv) website.
Mr John Hayes
Cyber Streetwise is a cross Government campaign, developed by private and public stakeholder partners and coordinated by the Home Office’s Research, Information and Communications Unit. It is designed to measurably make the UK a safer place to interact and do business online by increasing individual and SME adoption of safe online behaviours.
Government experts estimate that a significant proportion of cyber security issues would be avoided by safer online behaviours. Cyber Streetwise supports this by increasing digital confidence by informing people about the key things that keep them safer online. It does this by:
• Delivering actionable and positive solution focussed advice on how to be secure.
• Creating arresting communications that highlight the consequences and cut through low interest.
• Reminding and reinforcing individuals and SMEs of the core protective behaviours at the point of risk/incidence.
Currently our prioritised protective behaviours are: using strong passwords made up of three random words; installing security software on all devices; and regularly downloading software updates. Government and Industry experts agree that adopting these 3 behaviours will provide SMEs and individuals with the best protection against cyber-crime.
The impact of Cyber Streetwise on behaviours is evaluated via regular quantitative tracking research. Since its launch in January 2014, it is estimated that 2 million adults have adopted safer online behaviours that will better protect them.
The spend for Cyber Streetwise in 2014/15 and 2015/16 is as follows:
• 2014/15 – £3.95m excl VAT
• 2015/16 – £4.1m excl VAT
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-06-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Mental Health Taskforce’s report, entitled The five-year forward view for mental health, published in February 2016, what steps he is taking to implement the recommendation that an equalities champion for mental health be approved; and what responsibilities that champion will have for women’s mental health.
Alistair Burt
The Government is working with delivery partners to carefully consider the independent Mental Health Taskforce’s recommendations and aims to publish a strategic implementation plan in the autumn that will set out how Government and partners will deliver the recommendations, including that of equalities champion.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-09-05.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to review the guidance issued under the Building Regulations 2010, in particular that guidance relating to fire safety.
Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Government is considering a number of issues related to the Building Regulations 2010 and building control system matters in England. We will make an announcement about our plans in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Lumley on 2016-10-20.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average waiting time was for telephone calls to HM Revenue and Customs to be answered in each year for which figures are available.
Jane Ellison
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs publishes regular performance reports, including average speed of answer; details of which are available on GOV.UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Teresa Pearce on 2016-01-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what level of financial return the Government expects from diesel generators who will benefit from payments through the capacity market.
Andrea Leadsom
The Government itself will not make any financial return from generators participating in the capacity market. As with all types of capacity, diesel generators that have been successful in the second capacity market will receive a payment of £18/kw in return for providing electricity at short notice when the system requires it; and may have other sources of revenue outside the capacity market. Diesel engines are a flexible form of capacity that run for short periods to meet peaks in demand, and can reduce the consumer bill impacts by lowering the cost of securing the necessary capacity.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) suicides and (b) attempted suicides were recorded as having taken place on the strategic road network in each year since 2009-10; and what work Highways England has undertaken with the Samaritans related to suicides on roads.
Andrew Jones
Highways England records details on its Command and Control (C&C) database, of incidents that occur on the strategic road network, but only when the Traffic Officer Service have an awareness or involvement. Therefore due to the current Traffic Officer network coverage, the majority of incidents recorded occurred on the motorway network.
The following table records the number of incidents coded as ‘suicide/suicide attempt’ on the C&C database and reflect those incidents that the Traffic Officer Service have been directly involved in or have been reported to them:
|
Year |
Number of suicides/attempted suicide incidents |
|
2009/10 |
93 |
|
2010/11 |
125 |
|
2011/12 |
110 |
|
2012/13 |
84 |
In April 2014 a review of the database was carried out and the closure code for ‘suicide/attempted suicide’ was changed. This created significant anomalies in the data capture which means that the 2014/15 data are not robust. We are in the process of verifying the data and will be in a position to provide the figures later this year.
Highways England (formerly Highways Agency) has worked closely with organisations such as the Samaritans in helping to prevent further suicides on the strategic road network. Highways England has commenced work to take forward a Suicide Prevention Group. This group will comprise of relevant stakeholders such as the Samaritans, emergency services and our service providers to develop and co-ordinate delivery of an action plan to reduce the number of suicide attempts on the strategic road network. We are also working closely with both the Samaritans and Network Rail to identify best practice following their success in reducing suicide attempts on the rail network.
Known suicide hotspots are investigated to look at possible improvements, such as raising the height of the parapets on bridges and introducing or improving crisis signing. Highways England consults The Samaritans when undertaking this work.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-02-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Prime Minister’s Oral Statement of 22 February 2016, Official Report, column 35, on the European Council, whether her Department is undertaking planning in the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the EU referendum.
Amber Rudd
At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government’s position, as set out by the Prime Minister to the House on 22 February, is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.