The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-05-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies have spent on infraction proceedings in each of the last 10 years.
Nick Gibb
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given by my Rt Hon Friend, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, in PQ 36288 on 11 May 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-06-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has taken steps to ensure that any UK Trade and Investment deals with China announced during President Xi’s visit to the UK of 2015 are consistent with the UK’s obligations and stated commitments under the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights.
Mr Hugo Swire
The Government provides guidance to UK companies to help them comply with their obligations on human rights throughout their global operations, including with respect to China. We maintain the joint FCO-UKTI Overseas Business Risk (OBR) service, which ensures up to date information on relevant human rights issues in China. In line with the revised National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (published May 2016) we encourage all companies doing business overseas to follow the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. We have published guidance on transparency in supply chains and reporting requirements under the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The Government is also working to advance the rule of law in China to promote a fair, transparent and predictable business environment for British business in China.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-09-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of registered farm businesses which have access to superfast broadband.
Dr Thérèse Coffey
The Government is investing £780 million in superfast broadband. This will enable 95% of homes and businesses, including those based on farms, to have access to superfast broadband by the end of 2017. Clawback from contracts could extend this further. Standard broadband of at least 2Mbps was made available to everyone by the end of 2015, enabling digital access to all public services, and superfast broadband is now available to over 90% of UK premises – up from 45% in 2010. We are looking at superfast solutions for the last 5%. Farmers will also benefit from the broadband Universal Service Obligation which we are working to introduce by 2020, with an ambition that this will be set at 10 megabits per second.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools applied successfully to the Education Funding Agency for funding for asbestos removal between 2010 and 2016; and what the (a) name, (b) type and (c) local authority is of each such school.
Nick Gibb
The Education Funding Agency (EFA) does not hold a breakdown of funding information, in the format requested, in relation to the removal of asbestos or renovation of school buildings.
Under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, the primary responsibility for managing asbestos lies with the person or persons responsible for the maintenance or repair of a building. For schools, this will be the local authority, school governors or academy trust.
The table below summarises the capital budgets from 2011-12 to 2016-17 that were provided for school maintenance, refurbishment and rebuilding, including where appropriate the removal and/or safe containment of asbestos-containing materials. As these works are covered by the capital funding programmes listed below, the Department does not allocate a separate budget for this purpose; and there are no plans to do so in future years.
The Department does not hold directly comparable allocation or expenditure data on prior years.
|
(All values £m) |
2011-12 Budget |
2012-13 Budget |
2013-14 Budget |
2014-15 Budget |
2015-16 Budget |
2016-17 Budget |
|
School Condition Allocations (funding provided to local authorities and voluntary-aided schools) |
1,054 |
861 |
749 |
699 |
690 |
661 |
|
Devolved Formula Capital (funding provided direct to schools) |
185 |
162 |
149 |
138 |
134 |
130 |
|
Funding for academies, multi-academy trusts, state-funded special schools and other specialist providers for state-funded pupils (including DFC). |
161 |
376 |
504 |
562 |
576 |
617 |
|
Priority Schools Building Programme (PSBP) (delivered by central government) |
0 |
0 |
90 |
603 |
999 |
1,050 |
|
Total |
1,400 |
1,399 |
1,492 |
2,002 |
2,399 |
2,458 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-01-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make provision to apply fixed recoverable costs across the range of fast-track cases, and in the lower reaches of the multi-track, as recommended by the judiciary and referred to in the Lord Chief Justice’s Review of the Administration of Justice in the Courts of 2015.
Lord Faulks
The Government remains supportive of the principle of extending fixed recoverable costs and we continue to consider areas in which implementation might be appropriate and workable.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-02-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, on which dates (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have met with BT to discuss separating Openreach from its parent company.
Mr Edward Vaizey
This is a matter for the independent telecoms regulator, Ofcom, who is currently reviewing the markets for digital communications in the UK and is due to report at the end of this month. Government has no role in this process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2016-03-01.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many offenders have been sentenced and imprisoned in the UK after having been returned to the UK under a European Arrest Warrant.
Lord Faulks
This information is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The National Crime Agency publishes statistics on the operation of the European Arrest Warrant. These can be found on their website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Prime Minister, which representatives of the UK’s Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories the Prime Minister has met since August 2013.
Mr David Cameron
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish (Mr Gwynne) on 14 January 2016, UIN 21230.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-05-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will raise with his Algerian counterpart threats of legal proceedings being instituted against a church in the North Eastern province of that country for conducting religious services.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We are aware of the Algerian investigation of two Protestant house churches in the north eastern area of Algeria, known as the Kabylie, in January 2016. We understand that the issue has been resolved and that the churches continue to conduct their business.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-06-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to address the decline in cervical screening uptake in the 25 to 29 age group.
Jane Ellison
There is a range of work going on to understand the reasons for the decline in cervical screening uptake amongst women aged 25 to 29 and to try to address them. They include:
a) Data and information – access to data, cleansing, benchmarking for providers, timely and useful information for commissioners;
b) Behavioural insight – communication with commissioners, providers, patients and public;
c) Commissioning levers – commissioning contracts in public health (S7a) and primary care;
d) Partnership work – relationships with commissioners and providers; and
e) Sharing best practice – what works well, evaluation and how to embed quality improvement
Public Health England (PHE) is working with colleagues in NHS England and Health and Social Care Information Centre to implement the Accessible Information Standard which is intended to improve access to services for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. Through the re-development of cervical Information Technology systems opportunities will arise to review how to help improve uptake.
PHE supports providers to help meet the Accessible Information Standard through the provision of high quality information for people with learning disabilities or sensory loss. A national group of experts and service users has been set up to oversee this work and will be updating the existing easy read leaflets and developing new materials over the next 18 months.
PHE is aware that there are a range of factors which may act as barriers in hindering women from attending cervical screening. It is hoped that through the STRATEGIC (Strategies to Increase Cervical screening uptake at first invitation) interventions will be identified to help minimise barriers and assist women to attend screening whilst increasing uptake across all quintiles. The STRATEGIC trial was completed in 2015 and researchers are expected to publish findings later this year.