The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-12-16.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will reduce the rate of VAT on tourism.
Mr David Gauke
The Government currently has no plans to alter the rates of VAT relating to the tourist industry.
I refer the Rt Hon gentleman to my comments during the Westminster Hall debate on 17th March 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Smith on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Advice Note: 05/2015, paragraph 9 of the Harm-Benefit Analysis Process, how many project licences applications under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 were recommended by the Animals and Science Regulation Unit in each year since 2012.
Mr John Hayes
The Harm-Benefit Analysis (HBA) is undertaken, on behalf of the Secretary of State, by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit inspectors, all of whom are veterinary or medically qualified and trained in assessing research proposals. The HBA is the process of considering a research proposal to make a judgement whether the likely harms that the animals will experience are justified by the likely benefits. Under section 18 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, inspectors advise the Secretary of State who decides whether and on what terms a project licence should be granted.
The number of project licences which were recommended for grant by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit inspectors between 2012 and 2015 are shown in table 1, column (c).
The Secretary of State has not rejected any of the recommendations for granting project licences made by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit inspectors between 2012 and 2015.
The Home Office does not keep records of applications that have been rejected or withdrawn at the concept or drafting stage [24507]. The Home Office does not keep records of which applications were withdrawn as a result of advice from the Animals in Science Regulation Unit inspectors.
The Home Office refers project licence applications to both the Animals in Science Committee and external independent assessors for critical review. The number of project licences referred to both is given in Table 1 columns (a) and (b) respectively for the years 2012-15.
|
Year |
(a) Project licence applications referred to the Animals in Science Committee[1] |
(b) Project licence applications referred to independent assessors |
(c) Project licences granted |
|
2012 |
9 |
4 |
626 |
|
2013 |
3 |
0 |
604 |
|
2014 |
4 |
1 |
474 |
|
2015 |
3 |
0 |
577 |
[1] Prior to 2013 the independent advisory body was entitled the ‘Animals Procedures Committee’
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effects of proposed changes to the way in which drugs are assessed for inclusion in the Cancer Drugs Fund on cancer drug patients.
George Freeman
NHS England has advised that it envisages, under the new arrangements for the Cancer Drugs Fund, that a greater number of cancer drugs will be funded from baseline commissioning. This will be as a consequence of more appropriate pricing arrangements proposed by pharmaceutical manufacturers and better evidence being available through the Fund as to longer term patient outcomes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on whether each local authority area should have at least one school with sixth form provision.
Nick Boles
There are a range of institutions which provide high quality 16-19 provision, including Sixth Form Colleges and Further Education Colleges as well as school sixth forms.
The Department for Education does not prescribe the exact balance of providers across a local area. Instead, it is crucial that we ensure that together the local provider base meets the needs of all young people in a local area with reasonable travel to learn distances. We are currently taking forward a series of area reviews which provide the opportunity to review post-16 provision with the aim of ensuring the provider base is strong and resilient.
The decision about which schools should have sixth forms rests with schools themselves in partnership with key local stakeholders, including Regional Schools Commissioners and local authorities. A maintained school can apply to its local authority if it wishes to extend the age range of its school to add a sixth-form. We would expect this decision to take account of a range of factors including breadth of provision and local demand.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Bradshaw on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2016 to Question 31117, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies of the 2016 paper by Mesher and others, Reductions in HPV 16/18 in a population with high coverage of bivalent HPV vaccination in England: an ongoing cross-sectional study; and whether such findings have been taken into account when assessing the differential impact of the bivalent and quadrivalent HPV vaccines on genital wart incidence.
Jane Ellison
The findings of Kavanagh and others, 2014, and of Mesher and others, 2016, are consistent with the reductions in human papillomavirus (HPV) 16/18 that were expected in the assessments that informed the Department’s policies. Neither of these papers report findings about genital warts incidence, both report no decrease in HPV types 6 and 11; this is also consistent with expectations in assessments that informed the Department’s policies.
The answer of 23 March 2016 stated, ‘data reported to Public Health England (PHE) from genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics shows a reduction in rates of genital warts diagnoses at GUM clinics between 2009 and 2014.’ This analysis has been updated with data for 2013 and 2014. The reductions reported were in patients aged 15 years and older. As the introduction of the quadrivalent vaccine was in 2012, to 12 year olds, no impact on genital warts in 15+ year olds within this time period was expected due to this introduction. Use of the quadrivalent vaccine within this age group prior to its introduction in the national immunisation programme was assessed as a possible but highly unlikely cause of the reductions seen.
The latest data from PHE showing reductions in genital warts diagnoses in GUM clinics amongst ages offered the bivalent vaccine are data for 2014: the future duration of any protection from genital warts associated with the bivalent vaccine has not been (and cannot be) inferred.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-05-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will call on the government of Israel to invite the UN Special Rapporteur on torture to visit places of arrest and holding of suspects in the West Bank, together with prisons and detention centres in Israel.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We have no plans to call on the Israeli authorities to invite the UN Special Rapporteur on torture to visit Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the role will be of (a) Leonardo helicopters and (b) that helicopter’s production facility in Yeovil in the long-term support work for the AH-64E Apache when it enters service between 2022 and 2024.
Harriett Baldwin
Leonardo Helicopters will continue to lead on providing support to our existing Apache Mk 1 helicopters until they are retired from service in 2023-24.We have yet to decide the support arrangements for our new AH-64E Apache helicopters beyond the initial period of support that will be provided through the US Government.
The Ministry of Defence has signed a Strategic Partnering Arrangement with Leonardo Helicopters that will ensure that we continue to work together to enhance national prosperity through export success, and that the right innovation and technologies are available in the UK to meet our future defence requirements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sue Hayman on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his policy is on the removal of asbestos from public buildings.
Penny Mordaunt
Under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, responsibility for managing the risk from asbestos in non-domestic (including public) buildings rests with the individual duty holder. This is the owner or person with responsibility for maintaining the building. The duty holder must assess for the presence of asbestos and put in place a plan to manage any resulting risk. This includes: monitoring the condition of asbestos-containing materials; arranging for repair or enclosure/encapsulation if required; or, in those cases where the assessment shows this to be necessary, arranging for their safe removal.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burgon on 2015-12-16.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what advice UKFI provided to his Department on when and how to complete a sale of Royal Bank of Scotland shares.
Harriett Baldwin
The Government has been consistently clear that its policy in respect of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is to return the bank to the private sector in full. The advice received from Rothschilds and the Governor of the Bank of England relates specifically to the appropriate timing of an initial share sale.
UK Financial Investments (UKFI) is responsible for the execution of share sales, and advised the Chancellor in August 2015 that it would be appropriate to conduct the first sale of the Government’s shareholding in RBS. On 3 August 2015, UKFI sold approximately 5.4% of the bank via an accelerated bookbuilding process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to (a) help up-skill and (b) provide technical education for the Bangladeshi workforce.
Mr Desmond Swayne
DFID is supporting the upskilling of the Bangladeshi workforce through several projects in both the informal and formal sectors. Through our support to the Underprivileged Children’s Educational Programme, a local educational institution, nearly 45, 000 children have received general education and over 13, 000 have received technical and vocational training. Of the latter, 90% have been placed in formal employment or become self-employed. The programme focuses on working children in slums who dropped out of school.
DFID also launched ‘the Skills and Employment Programme in Bangladesh’ in October 2015. The programme aims to provide private sector training opportunities, with a particular focus on supporting women and disadvantaged populations, in the ready-made garments and construction sectors.