The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Paisley on 2016-05-18.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government’s policy on the soft drinks levy will lead to a higher rate of tax per volume of product levied on some soft drinks than on some non-spirit alcoholic beverages.
Damian Hinds
The tax rates for the Soft Drinks Industry Levy have not yet been set. The levy will not capture drinks with an alcoholic content above 0.5% ABV, which cannot be purchased by children.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Marion Fellows on 2016-06-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons applicants are charged to apply for (a) naturalisation to become a British citizen and (b) registration to become a British citizen; and how those charges are calculated.
James Brokenshire
Fees for applications for naturalisation and registration for British citizenship are charged to cover the cost of processing such applications and contribute to the wider costs of operating the border, immigration and citizenship system. Fee levels are set in accordance with sections 68 to 70 of the Immigration Act 2014, and take account of a range of factors including the administration costs associated with an application and the various benefits and entitlements that applicants may receive from British citizenship.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of NHS 111 on reducing the uptake of other NHS services.
Mr Philip Dunne
NHS 111 providers are expected to conduct a patient survey every six months for each area they provide services for.
Considering the latest year for which survey results are available (April 2015 to September 2015 and October 2015 to March 2016 surveys), for 11.6% of triaged calls an ambulance was dispatched by the NHS 111 service and in 8.4% of calls the caller was advised to attend accident and emergency (A&E). However, 18% of patients who responded to the survey reported they would have called for an ambulance if NHS 111 had not been available, and 28.3% would have attended A&E.
For the full year period (April 2015 to March 2016), 11.3 million calls were triaged. From this we can estimate the impact of the 111 service. The differences mean that due to availability of the NHS 111 service, over 2.25 million people this year were directed away from using A&E and over 750,000 were directed away from calling an ambulance.
Data about the service to which patients are recommended during an NHS 111 call (“dispositions”) are collected by NHS England and published on a monthly basis. Latest data are for July 2016 and can be found at the following website:
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-01-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made in Project Starter to acquire explosive ordnance disposal unmanned ground vehicles.
Earl Howe
Project Starter passed Initial Gate in October 2014 and is currently in the Assessment Phase.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2016-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers wear body-worn cameras in (a) Northamptonshire and (b) England.
Mike Penning
We know that the majority of forces in England and Wales use Body Worn Video (BWV) to some extent.
However the deployment of BWV is an operational decision for chief officers and the Home Office does not hold information on how many officers are equipped with BWV
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-03-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Tier 2 (Minister of Religion) visas have been granted by each licensed sponsor in each of the last five years.
James Brokenshire
I will arrange for the list of current Tier 2 (Minister of Religion) licensed sponsors and the number of certificates of sponsorship they have assigned to migrants for each of the last five years to be placed in the House Library. This includes certificates assigned to migrants who are within the UK as well as overseas.
Each of the sponsors listed have had to provide mandatory documentation to demonstrate that they are bona fide religious organisations, trading lawfully within the UK. This information is assessed and used to validate an application prior to the issuance of a sponsor licence. Visits may also be conducted at the premises of prospective sponsors, to ensure that an organisation is eligible, suitable and genuine. Those who fail to meet UKVI’s requirements will have their application refused.
In cases where an application has already been granted, UKVI continues to monitor their compliance against the published guidance. Those sponsors who fail to adhere to their duties will have action taken again them; this includes but is not limited to the revocation of their licence.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-04-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of officials of his Department resigned in each of the last six years.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
In the past six years, 334 officials resigned from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. The breakdown is as follows:
|
Resignations |
Resignations as % |
|
|
2010/11 |
67 |
1.4% |
|
2011/12 |
83 |
1.8% |
|
2012/13 |
43 |
0.9% |
|
2013/14 |
46 |
1.0% |
|
2014/15 |
48 |
1.1% |
|
2015/16 |
47 |
1.1% |
The figures do not include staff recruited locally by our Missions overseas.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rupa Huq on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment the Government has made of the extent of variation between local authorities in their (a) per capita spending on physical activity services and (b) facilities for children and young people.
Jane Ellison
Information on local authorities’ total spending on physical activity services and facilities for children and young people is not collected centrally.
The decision on how much is spent on specific local public health services rests with individual authorities who are best placed to assess local population needs and priorities.
Local authorities are required to undertake Joint Strategic Needs Assessments and to develop Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategies which must inform local authority commissioning plans.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-06-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many instant rewards of what value were given to officials of his Department in 2015-16.
David Mundell
The Scotland Office paid no instant rewards to officials in 2015-16.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve NHS triage systems.
Mr Philip Dunne
As part of NHS England’s review of urgent and emergency care, the intention is to develop a clinical decision support system to enable patients to be directed to or connected with the right service to meet their needs, rather than being sent or taken to accident and emergency unless absolutely necessary.
Commissioners, clinicians and the wider governance of urgent and emergency care have requested a next generation system that builds on the success of NHS Pathways but recognises the needs of individuals on the basis of the language they use, links to patient records and crisis plans and has the potential to factor in phenotypic data from wearables and remote monitoring devices.