Tag: 2016

Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2016 to Question 43906, what forecast he has made of the amount that will be spent on UK defence attachés in each country in each year to 2020.

Mike Penning

We are unable to be specific regarding the requirements in each country, as detailed figures have yet to be set for future years. Table 1 below provides a forecast of in-year expenditure for each Defence Section for financial year (FY) 2016-17, including the British Defence Staff in Washington. Table 2 shows an estimate of expenditure for Defence Sections from 2017-18 to 2019-20.

Table 1

LOCATION	Forecast of Outturn 2016-17
ALGIERS	£257,000
BAGHDAD	£1,373,000
NEW YORK	£666,000
SARAJEVO	£324,000
KHARTOUM	£715,000
TRIPOLI*	£258,000
MOGADISHU	£935,000
RIGA	£130,000
HANOI	£475,000
OTTAWA	£523,000
WELLINGTON	£357,000
SINGAPORE	£394,000
BEIRUT	£502,000
BUCHAREST	£272,000
KATHMANDU	£187,000
MEXICO CITY	£453,000
RABAT	£363,000
BRASILIA	£441,000
SANTIAGO	£371,000
SEOUL	£715,000
JUBA	£252,000
VIENNA	£375,000
ACCRA	£357,000
BOGOTA	£536,000
MUSCAT	£608,000
KIEV	£492,000
PRETORIA	£506,000
AMMAN	£690,000
KUWAIT CITY	£345,000
RIYADH	£863,000
MADRID	£299,000
MOSCOW	£949,000
OSLO	£303,000
NEW DELHI	£577,000
NAIROBI	£822,000
KUALA LUMPUR	£385,000
ABUJA	£294,000
ISLAMABAD	£711,000
ABU DHABI	£623,000
DUBLIN	£237,000
HARARE	£302,000
PARIS	£1,453,000
FRANCE**	£1,294,000
RANGOON	£341,000
STOCKHOLM	£386,000
DOHA	£319,000
CANBERRA	£668,000
NICOSIA	£229,000
ZAGREB	£223,000
BANGKOK	£368,000
BELGRADE	£467,000
BERLIN	£900,000
BUENOS AIRES	£499,000
COPENHAGEN	£273,000
THE HAGUE	£303,000
ROME	£563,000
ANKARA	£658,000
ATHENS	£566,000
JAKARTA	£414,000
BEIJING	£1,380,000
PRAGUE	£355,000
TEL AVIV	£766,000
TOKYO	£547,000
WARSAW	£398,000
KINGSTON	£566,000
CAIRO	£523,000
KAMPALA	£275,000
DHAKA	£346,000
YEMEN	£249,000
BAHRAIN	£336,000
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN	£375,000
TBILISI	£361,000
SKOPJE	£473,000
FREETOWN	£266,000
VILNIUS	£33,000
ASTANA	£247,000
TASHKENT	£248,000
KABUL	£406,000
ADDIS ABABA	£519,000
TALLINN	£291,000
WASHINGTON	£3,749,000
DEFENCE SECTIONS CENTRAL FUNDING	£9,882,000***
TOTAL	£52,752,000

* Currently operating from Tunis

** UK Exchange Officers in France paid for through the Defence Engagement budget.

*** Central funding covers expenditure on the Defence Attaché network not attributable to a specific Defence Section.

Table 2

	FY 2017-18	FY 2018-19	FY 2019-20
Estimated Attaché Costs	£39,372,162	£39,899,766	£40,433,147
Estimated FCO Platform Charges	£15,470,882	£15,689,819	£15,970,923
Estimated Total	£54,843,044	£55,589,585	£56,404,070

January 1, 2023

Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people have been convicted of animal cruelty offences in each of the last five years.

George Eustice

Details of convictions for animal cruelty cases for 2010 to 2015 can be found on the Government’s official website relating to Criminal Justice System Statistics in the document “Outcomes by Offence”. A link to the document can be found below. The data for animal cruelty is under the category “108 Cruelty to Animal”.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2015

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January 1, 2023
Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many passengers have used high-speed rail services from London St Pancras station in each year since such services started.

Claire Perry

Whilst Eurostar services commenced in 1994, St Pancras has only been the London terminus for HS1 services since late 2007. Eurostar journeys originating from St Pancras are as follows:

2008 4.3m

2009 4.3m

2010 4.6m

2011 4.7m

20124.8m

2013 5.0m

2014 5.1m

2015 5.1m

Domestic high speed services, operated by franchised train company Southeastern, commenced in 2010. Southeastern journeys originating from St Pancras are as follows:

2010 0.6m

2011 2.0m

2012 2.5m

2013 2.8m

2014 3.0m

2015 3.4m

January 1, 2023
Baroness Massey of Darwen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Massey of Darwen on 2016-02-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children seeking asylum in the UK they estimate not to be in education, and for how long; and what steps they plan to take to tackle this issue.

Lord Bates

Education is a devolved matter. Parents of children of compulsory school age have a duty to ensure their children receive a full time education suitable to the children’s age, ability, aptitude and any special education need the children might have, either by regular attendance at a school or otherwise.

Where a child of compulsory school age (including children of asylum seekers) is not registered at a school or receiving an education other than at a school, the relevant local authority has the power to require that parent to satisfy them as to the suitability of the education being provided for that child.

If they are not satisfied then the local authority can require the child to register at a named school. However, the issue of education provision for children seeking asylum is an important one and the Home Office makes every effort to ensure that families with children who claim asylum support have access to education at the earliest opportunity.

January 1, 2023
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-02-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether health managers and practitioners in England have had access to the 2008 Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety Independent Review of Autism Services or to any similar independent guidance regarding appropriate timescale targets for moving from initial autism referrals to diagnosis and appropriate care.

Lord Prior of Brampton

No formal statistics are collected of autism referrals, initial assessments or diagnoses. The Department does however commission Public Health England each year to carry out a self-assessment exercise with local authority areas on progress they are making in implementing the Autism Strategy for Adults in England. Local authorities work with their local partners including clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to informally answer a range of questions.

In the exercise based on 2013 data, all 152 local authority areas replied but some did not answer all the questions. Areas were asked how many adults have completed the diagnostic pathway in the preceding year and 111 reported a total of 4,677. They were also asked the length of the average wait for referral to diagnostic services and 117 answered this question. The average of these figures, weighted for the population in the responding areas, was 27.9 weeks.

The exercise based on 2014 data saw 149 areas respond. They were asked how many adults had received a diagnosis of an autistic spectrum condition in the preceding year and 128 reported a total of 5,109. Areas were also asked the length of the average wait between referral and assessment for all adults and 135 answered this question. The average of these figures, similarly weighted, was 19.6 weeks. Information on the waiting time between autism referrals and initial assessments, and between initial assessments and diagnosis, was not collected during these exercises. The next exercise will be launched later in the spring.

The number of children and young people diagnosed with autism by the National Health Service is not collected centrally. Latest figures from the School Census (2015) state that there were 90,775 pupils with an autistic spectrum condition at state funded schools and non-maintained special schools in England. This has increased from a total of 56,250 in 2010 who were recorded as having a primary need of autism, but it is not directly comparable to the 2015 figures because of a change in collection methodology.

New statutory guidance was issued in England in March 2015 to support implementation of the Adult Autism Strategy. This set out what people seeking an autism diagnosis can expect from local authorities and NHS bodies. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published three clinical guidelines on autism and a quality standard to assist health managers and practitioners in developing services. This includes a recommendation that an assessment is started within three months of the referral. NHS England has commenced a programme to visit CCGs to identify and share good practice in accessing autism diagnosis, and look at possible barriers. NHS England will complete a report on this by the end of April 2016.

January 1, 2023
Derek Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Twigg on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to increase the retention rate of doctors working in general practice.

Alistair Burt

The number of full time equivalent doctors working in general practice has increased by 1,677 since September 2010.

The Department has committed to further increasing the primary and community care workforce by 10,000 by 2020, including an additional 5,000 doctors working in general practice. In January 2015, NHS England, Health Education England, the Royal College of General Practitioners and the British Medical Association’s General Practitioners Committee published Building the Workforce, a ten point plan to address general practitioner (GP) workforce issues.

The ten point plan includes actions to improve retention, as well as to increase recruitment and support GPs to return to practice. As part of this work, NHS England has commissioned a detailed review to identify the most effective measures to encourage experienced GPs to remain in practice.

January 1, 2023

Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many cases of alleged malpractice by directors of companies the Insolvency Service investigated in each year since 2009; and in each of those years how many directors of such companies were disqualified from practising on account of offences committed (a) in the UK and (b) abroad.

Anna Soubry

When a company enters into formal insolvency proceedings, the insolvency practitioner (IP) has to file a report on the conduct of the directors unless an official receiver is in office; and each of those reports is assessed by the Insolvency Service to determine if a more detailed investigation is appropriate. When a company enters into compulsory liquidation, although this is not itself an indication of misconduct, the official receiver will in all cases make enquiries to determine the cause of insolvency and the conduct of the directors of the company.

The number of reports of misconduct submitted by IPs is detailed in the table below, alongside the total number of compulsory liquidations each year.

Reporting year	IP reports of misconduct	Compulsory liquidations	Total disqualifications
09/10	7,030	5,418	1,386
10/11	5,373	4,573	1,453
11/12	5,401	5,125	1,165
12/13	5,335	4,001	1,034
13/14	4,671	3,734	1,282
14/15	4,620	3,588	1,210
15/16	4,277	2,778	*810

*Disqualifications in the period from April 2015 to December 2015, the latest period for which official statistics are available.

All of these cases relate to companies based in and trading in the UK. In many cases, a disqualification will be obtained in a period subsequent to the submission of a report or the insolvency of the company. Each case may encompass a number of directors.

January 1, 2023

Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations he has received from Calderdale Council on the construction of a new rail station at Elland.

Claire Perry

We are aware of aspirations for a new station at Elland but have not received any representations about it from Calderdale Council. The promotion of any new station is a matter for the relevant local transport authority, in this case West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

January 1, 2023
Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the change in defence spending has been since May 2015.

Michael Fallon

The Spending Review 2015 set out the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) budget for the rest of this Parliament reflecting the Government’s commitment to spend at least 2% of GDP on defence. The MOD budget will increase by 0.5% above inflation each year from 2016-17 to 2020-21, during which time the Department will have access to the new Joint Security Fund.

The Defence Budget for 2016-17 is £35 billion.

January 1, 2023
Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2016 to Question 44873, in what month he expects the cycling and walking investment strategy to be published.

Andrew Jones

We have previously said we would publish the Strategy in the summer of 2016. Due to the very large number of consultation responses covering a wide range of issues, there has been a need to assess these and make any necessary revisions to the Strategy. We hope to publish the Strategy shortly but we are not able to specify a precise month.

January 1, 2023