Tag: 2016

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what consultation her Department has held on the draft Adults at Risk policy for vulnerable people detained under immigration powers.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Stephen Shaw carried out a comprehensive consultation in preparing his report of his review of the welfare of vulnerable people in immigration detention, and the draft adults at risk policy forms part of the Government’s response to Mr Shaw’s review. The Government saw no reason to duplicate this in developing the adults at risk policy. However, when the draft policy was published on 26 May, the Government wrote to a wide range of relevant non-Governmental organisations and offered them the opportunity to discuss it. Subsequently, Home Office officials have held meetings with a number of interested organisations, and the views of these organisations have been taken into account as the policy has been developed further.

  • Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the proposals to reform the Civil Service Compensation Scheme on the morale of public sector workers.

    Ben Gummer

    The Government consulted on its reforms to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme and considered the responses it received from civil servants and others carefully. It held several meetings with unions during the consultation and then further meetings with unions that agreed to participate. An equalities impact assessment was published on 26 September alongside the Government’s consultation response.

    The Government believes its proposed reforms will provide a firm foundation for the management of the Civil Service and its people for a generation. The new terms compare favourably with exit terms in the wider economy and will align the Civil Service Compensation Scheme with reforms across the public sector. It will support employers in managing their workforce and simplify the exit process while treating employees respectfully and fairly.

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2015-12-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 15 December (HL3615), whether they will place retention instruments 111 to 119 in the Library of the House.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    As set out in the Public Records Act 1958 (as amended), public records selected for permanent preservation are transferred toThe National Archives or an approved place of deposit no later than 20 years after creation, unless an department is authorised to keep them for longer. Such decisions are undertakenwithadvice from the Advisory Council on National Records and Archives.

    The Access to Public Records Manual published by the National Archives sets out the seven broad grounds for retention, which is attached.

    Retention instruments can cover multiple applicationsby departments to retain records and the number of applications covered by Lord Chancellor’s Instruments 111-119 ranges from 37 to 253, which were submitted by between 8 and 15 departments.

    The grounds provided by departments that were given permission to retain records under Instruments 111, 113, 114 and 119 are 1,2,4 and 6. Records under Instruments 112, 115, 117 and 118 were retained on grounds 1, 4 and 6 and records under Instrument 116 were retained on grounds 4 and 6. Each of the Instruments therefore covers documents retained on grounds of national security, as well as other administrative reasons.

    There is a strong public interest in not releasing information which could undermine the safeguarding of national security.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people had gastrointestinal operations in each of the last five years.

    Jane Ellison

    The information is not available in the form requested.

    For England, a count of finished admission episodes (FAEs) with a primary or secondary procedure of gastrointestinal operation from 2010-11 to 2014-15 is below.

    Year

    FAEs

    2010-11

    1,375,343

    2011-12

    1,472,621

    2012-13

    1,567,615

    2013-14

    1,603,365

    2014-15

    1,699,845

    Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, Health and Social Care Information Centre

    Note: An FAE is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the value of EU funding was for the Great Western Main Line electrification programme on the most recent date for which figures are available.

    Claire Perry

    I have been informed by Network Rail that as of 26 February 2016, the total value of EU funding that has been awarded for the Great Western Mainline Electrification is € 11,085,000.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recommendations in the Royal College of Nursing’s report, Connect for Change: an update on learning disability services in England, published in February 2016; and if he will make a statement.

    Ben Gummer

    Health Education England (HEE) is working with NHS England and other national partners to set out a far-reaching plan to transform services for people with a learning disability, to make significant and lasting improvements to their care and lives. This work is currently focused on supporting the transforming care programme and spreading the lessons learnt from engagement with fast-track sites.

    HEE is predicting an increase of between an additional 1,126 and 1,778 whole time equivalent (WTE), learning disability nurses by 2020 being available to the National Health Service. The range between these figures is the uncertainty over employer’s ability to retain the current workforce. Both of these figures are in addition to the baseline 3,904 WTEs working in the NHS, resulting in a forecast supply of between 5,030 and 5,682 WTEs by 2020. This is in excess of the forecasts made by NHS employers as to the number they believe they will need and therefore could meet demand from other sectors.

    The Department commissioned Skills for Health, Skills for Care and HEE to develop a Learning Disabilities Core Skills Education and Training Framework, which will be launched in May and is aimed at all health and social care workers who have not received training in learning disabilities, especially those nurses from other fields of nursing such as adult, children and mental health nurses.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on development of an early years workforce strategy.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Government committed to develop a workforce strategy in 2016. We want to continue to attract quality staff into the early years, and to support those already working in the sector to progress, which is why we are reviewing career progression routes. We want to understand what improvements can be made to help more staff reach their potential and forge a successful career in the early years.

    We began discussions with a range of stakeholders in the sector earlier this year on the elements of a workforce strategy, and we are continuing to speak to stakeholders as we develop the strategy further. We plan to communicate an update to the sector on the workforce strategy in the coming months.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to tackle speeding by (a) cars, (b) HGVs and (c) buses.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department educates drivers about the importance of observing speed limits through The Highway Code, the driving test and THINK! campaigns. Enforcement of speeding offences is a matter for the police.

  • David Burrowes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Burrowes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the time taken to process applications related to refugee family reunion.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Customer service is a key priority for UK Visas and Immigration, and the efficiency and effectiveness of the visa application process is kept under regular review, including by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration. The published service standard for resolving refugee family reunion applications is within 12 weeks, or 60 working days.

    Where an application is complex and likely to take longer than the advertised processing times, UKVI will contact the applicant to inform them of this.

  • Angela Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Angela Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Eagle on 2016-10-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many outstanding applications for mandatory reconsideration of a tax credit decision by Concentrix there are in (a) Wallasey constituency, (b) Wirral and (c) Merseyside.

    Jane Ellison

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not hold data broken down specifically by constituency areas.

    HMRC is currently focussed on resolving the outstanding cases but will be preparing regional analysis, which will be available in due course.