The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to attend the UN General Assembly meetings on refugees and migrants on 19 and 20 September 2016.
Mr Robert Goodwill
HM Government will be represented at the UN General Assembly high level meeting on 19 September and the Leaders’ Summit on refugees to be hosted by President Obama on 20 September.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philippa Whitford on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what preparations his Department has made for the likely relocation of the headquarters of the European Medicines Agency away from London after the UK leaves the EU.
David Mowat
The future arrangements which apply in relation to European Union institutions based in the United Kingdom should be determined once the UK has left the EU. It is too early to speculate on the future location of the European Medicines Agency.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-01-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the average time taken was between receipt and decision for a planning appeal to be considered by the Planning Inspectorate in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what that time was in each of the last five years.
Brandon Lewis
There are different procedures for determining planning appeals according to the nature and detail of the individual case. In some cases the approach can change during the course of consideration of the specific appeal, eg it could start off as a Written Representation and then change to an Inquiry. This all depends on the documentation submitted and the criteria it fulfils. A change in the approach may involve starting afresh with the new procedure which will impact on the timetable of the appeal
The attached table shows, for the three different procedures, the average time taken, in weeks, to make decisions on planning appeals decided in each year since 2006-07, according to the procedure under which the appeal decision was taken.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2016-01-28.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish his plans for the future of the National Citizen Service.
Mr Rob Wilson
The 2015 Autumn Statement announced over a billion pounds for NCS over the next parliament and the Government is committed to expanding the programme to 360,000 places by 2020. In 2013, the NCS Trust, an independent social enterprise, was established to manage NCS and deliver the programme. Cabinet Office is supporting the NCS Trust to develop their plans to meet this ambitious target and further details will be made available in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of funding that will be required for those who may need access to the reformed scheme for providing support for people affected by hepatitis C through treatment with NHS-supplied blood or blood products but have not yet been identified.
Jane Ellison
The assumption is that there would be £570 million available from the unreformed scheme, as mentioned in the consultation, and an additional £125 million, identified in the current spending review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2016 to Question 30262, what plans Health Education England has to reform funding not related to the bursary scheme for postgraduate training in (a) child psychotherapy, (b) clinical psychology and (c) improving access to psychological therapies from 2017.
Ben Gummer
Health Education England (HEE) funding for psychological therapy training is currently determined at a local level based on local need. For 2016-17 HEE will fund those commissions set out in the HEE Commissioning and Investment Plan 2016/17 which was published in December 2015.
The delivery and funding options for healthcare training programmes, such as these, that fall outside the healthcare education funding reform announced in the November 2015 Spending Review may need further consideration as we seek to align systems and ensure that the future supply of qualified healthcare professionals continues to meet the needs of the health service. The Government is working with HEE and other delivery organisations to this end.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-04-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of people who require adapted housing in England in 2016-17.
Brandon Lewis
The Government recognises the critical importance housing adaptations have in sustaining wellbeing and helping older and disabled people to live independently. Since 2010 we have invested over £1 billion in the Disabled Facilities Grant, providing around 250,000 adaptations to older and disabled people’s homes in England. We secured a year on year increase for the Disabled Facilities Grant over the Spending Review, meaning that the grant will increase 79% in 2016-17 to £394 million, rising to over £500 million by 2020.
We also acknowledged the vital part adaptations play in the integration of housing, health and social care by incorporating Disabled Facilities Grant into the Better Care Fund in 2015.
Most recent data on the number of homes needing adaptations will be available in the 2014-15 English Housing Survey, due for publication in July 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made on the National Litter Strategy which was announced on 5 December 2015.
Rory Stewart
Defra and the Department for Communities and Local Government are working on the Litter Strategy for England to improve the way we all tackle the scourge of litter. We have an ambitious goal, to substantially reduce litter and littering in England, ensuring that our communities, natural landscape, roads and highways are clean and pleasant.
The Strategy will focus on three key themes: education and awareness; punishing offenders; and better cleansing and litter infrastructure. These will be backed up by specific actions under each objective.
We have established a Litter Strategy Advisory Group. We held a Litter Forum earlier this year to gather stakeholder views for the Strategy’s content and have begun working with a wide range of stakeholders to develop our approach. We will publish the Strategy this year and a great deal of work will be taken forward in the coming months.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to make a commitment at the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants on 19 and 20 September 2016 to provide more safe and legal routes for refugees to find protection in the UK.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Government has no plans to introduce additional pathways for refugees to come to the UK. The UK is already a leading resettlement state, offering a number of safe and legal pathways for refugees. In the year ending June 2016, a total of 3,439 people were resettled in the UK.
In addition to the 20,000 Syrian refugees and up to 3,000 vulnerable persons from the Middle East and North Africa region that the Government has committed to resettle by 2020, the UK has also committed to relocate unaccompanied refugee children from France, Greece and Italy. Under the family reunion policy we have reunited around 22,000 refugees with their immediate family over the past five years and will continue to do so. The Government supports the principle that those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach. This allows vulnerable persons to receive help quickly rather than risking their lives on hazardous journeys into and across Europe or falling victim to criminal gangs who are exploiting the situation. Providing humanitarian aid in the region is the best way to provide much needed support to the majority of those fleeing persecution while working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to resettle the most vulnerable who cannot reasonably remain.
HM Government will be represented at the UN General Assembly high level meeting on 19 September and the Leaders’ Summit on refugees to be hosted by President Obama on 20 September.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2016-10-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will implement the recommendation made by the Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination to collect systemically disaggregated data on hate crimes.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
There is no current intention to disaggregate hate crime data on the grounds of race, but we will keep that under review. Since 2010, we have improved police recording of hate crime. Forces now capture data on all five of the monitored hate crime strands, and from April this year, forces have started to disaggregate hate crime data on the grounds of religion.
We have noted the findings of the Council of Europe’s European Commission on Racism and Intolerance following an inspection of the United Kingdom earlier this year. The Government’s full response to the report can be found as an annex to the publication.
We are clear that there is no excuse for hate crime against anyone of any nationality, ethnicity or religious background – it has no place whatsoever in our diverse society. This commitment is underpinned by some of the strongest legislation in the world.
We welcome that the Commission has recognised the strength of our new hate crime action plan which will help reduce hate crime, increase reporting and improve support for victims. The hate crime action plan contains specific measures to increase the rate of prosecution and ensure that enhanced sentencing powers are used where appropriate.
These measures include refreshed Crown Prosecution Service policy and legal guidance for prosecutors on racially and religiously aggravated crime and on prosecuting social media cases, and publicising convictions and information on enhanced sentencing outcomes.