The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Gray on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the number of working parents and carers receiving universal credit who will be required to work increased hours under in-work conditionality that (a) are unable to work full-time hours and (b) will require flexible working arrangements.
Damian Hinds
The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-10-10.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to protect families paying debts over time from bailiff fees, court charges and interest rates; and if he will consider a statutory breathing space for families in debt.
Simon Kirby
The Government noted the report with interest and is grateful for the important work that The Children’s Society does. The Government is committed to supporting individuals in problem debt.
The Government is exploring whether some form of “breathing space” would be a useful and viable addition to the range of formal and informal debt solutions available to consumers and creditors. Officials in HM Treasury and the Insolvency Service have been asked to discuss this issue with stakeholders and the Government will report back this autumn.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-01-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum decisions identified as seriously flawed in her Department’s Quality Audit in the last 12 months were (a) reconsidered by officials as a consequence of that finding, (b) overturned as a result of that reconsideration and (c) overturned on appeal.
James Brokenshire
In the twelve months to September 2015, a total of 29,246 asylum decisions were made. Over the same period, 344 asylum decisions were identified as containing serious errors by the Department’s Quality Audit team. Those cases which are identified as containing Serious Errors before the decision is served are required to be put right before service. The detailed breakdown requested for ‘b’ and ‘c’ is not available and to obtain this data is not economically viable.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the number of weapons confiscated at each UK prison for each of the last five years.
Andrew Selous
Data on the confiscation of all types of weapons for the period requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost. I refer the Hon Member to PQ24706, which contains data on firearms, and PQ24558, which contains data on knives.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the (a) policy and (b) other responsibilities are of each special adviser in his Department.
Mr Edward Vaizey
I refer my Hon Friend to the answer to PQ 27946
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department plans to take after the new terms and conditions for doctors come into effect to encourage people to take up a career in medicine.
Ben Gummer
Medicine is an extremely popular career choice and we expect that to continue. In 2015, there were over 48,000 applications for pre-clinical medicine course of which over 5,000 people were accepted onto a place on this course.
The new contract for doctors in training will have a positive impact on the working life of doctors and on the training they receive. It will introduce stronger safeguards to ensure doctors are not required to work long, unsafe hours, enforced through contractual obligations on employers and external scrutiny of those hours by the Care Quality Commission and the independent Guardian of safe working hours.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-04-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his US counterpart on LGBT rights in North Carolina and Mississippi.
Mr Hugo Swire
Our Consul General in Atlanta raised our concerns with the North Carolina Commerce Secretary on 19 April. We have amended our Travel Advice for the United States to reflect legislative changes on LGBT rights in North Carolina and Mississippi . This Government is opposed to all forms of discrimination. We are committed to ensuring that all LGBT people are free to live their lives in a safe and just environment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2016 to Question 38441, what role he has asked the Chairman of the Parole Board, Professor Nick Hardwick, to undertake in relation to people serving sentences of imprisonment for public protection.
Andrew Selous
The Justice Secretary has asked the Chairman of the Parole Board to improve the efficiency of the parole system.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Hodge on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times his Department has used the services of (a) PwC, (b) Deloitte, (c) Ernst and Young, (d) KPMG and (e) other consulting firms in the last three financial years; and what (i) work was undertaken and (ii) the cost to the public purse was on each such occasion.
Caroline Nokes
We are unable to provide the requested information on the number of times the Department for Work and Pensions has used the services of consulting firms, including details of the work undertaken and cost to the public purse for each occasion. To do so would incur a disproportional cost to the Department because of how the data is held on our systems, and the time and resource required for extracting and analysing it.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure future interoperability of the Boeing Poseidon P-8 platform with the General Atomics MQ9 Reaper platforms.
Harriett Baldwin
The P-8A Poseidon aircraft will form a vital part of the UK’s maritime patrol capability, and interoperability with other platforms and systems is a key user requirement. Work to enable this is under way, however, I am withholding further detail as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.