The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what financial support his Department has committed for accommodation for the Quick Reaction Force project for Jordan.
Penny Mordaunt
We have spent £709,800 on accommodation for the Quick Reaction Force project on Jordan. This is based on an exchange rate of £1=1.10 Jordanian Dinar.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michelle Donelan on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment her Department has made of humanitarian conditions inside the town of Daraya in Syria.
Mr Desmond Swayne
The United Nations has been unable to deliver assistance to the 4,000 people besieged by the Syrian Regime in Darayya since November 2012, despite repeated requests for permission. The UN report that humanitarian conditions there are dire, with reports of severe shortages of food, clean water, medicines, electricity and basic commodities. The United Nations stands ready to deliver assistance to Darayaa as soon as access is granted by the Syrian regime.
Across Syria, Assad and other parties to the conflict are wilfully impeding humanitarian access on a day-by-day basis. It is unacceptable and illegal to use starvation as a weapon of war. We have given support to the UN and international NGOs since the start of the conflict to deliver aid to these areas and are pushing for humanitarian access to be granted to all besieged and hard to reach places in Syria through the International Syria Support Group Humanitarian taskforce and our position in the UN Security Council.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-05-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on medicines policy and management of the reduction in the number of consultant clinical pharmacologist posts within the NHS.
Lord Prior of Brampton
Figures published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre show that there has not been a reduction in the number of consultant clinical pharmacologists employed in the National Health Service in England.
As part of its workforce planning, Health Education England (HEE) take account of a range of factors including forecast rates of retirement. HEE has recently undertaken a review of the clinical pharmacology and therapeutics workforce, the findings of which will contribute to future workforce planning for this specialty in England.
It is for the respective Governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to consider workforce planning for their health system.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Clwyd on 2016-06-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Bahraini counterpart on the prison sentence handed down to Sheikh Ali Salman; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We are concerned about the recent extension of the imprisonment of Al Wefaq’s Secretary-General, Sheikh Ali Salman. We continue to raise his case with the Government of Bahrain, including most recently on 30 May when The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised his case at the highest levels during a visit to Manama. We understand there is a further stage in the legal process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-09-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to work with NHS health trusts to identify and resolve problems in recruiting the required number of doctors, nurses and other health professionals necessary for the effective delivery of services.
Mr Philip Dunne
The ultimate responsibility for recruitment and staffing rests with National Health Service organisations as they are best placed to ensure they have the right staff, in the right place, at the right time to provide safe and effective care for their patients.
Health Education England was established in 2012 to undertake responsibility for the forecasting and planning of future workforce supply, working with NHS organisations to meet their needs. On 4 October the Secretary of State announced that the number of medical training places available to students each year will be expanded to ensure the NHS has enough doctors to continue to provide safe, compassionate care in the future. From September 2018, the Government will fund up to 1,500 additional student places through medical schools each year.
The latest workforce data for June 2016 published by NHS Digital in September showed that there are almost 22,700 more professionally qualified clinical staff working within the NHS than in May 2010. Health Education England data shows that more than 86,000 professional staff were in training as of March 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-01-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which EU countries her Department has recorded as not complying with the Dublin Convention in their treatment of asylum seekers and other claimants for international protection.
James Brokenshire
The Government accepts that the European Court of Human Rights’ ruling in the case of MSS v Belgium and Greece (21 January 2011) prevents the return of asylum seekers to Greece under the Dublin Regulation until the situation there has improved.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-09.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will reform taxation arrangements for temporary and contract workers to ensure that they are equitable in comparison with those of direct employees.
Mr David Gauke
The taxation of temporary and contract workers’ income will depend on their employment status for tax, as is the case for direct employees and the self-employed.
Decisions about tax policy are made by Treasury ministers. However, as recommended by the Office of Tax Simplification, officials from HM Treasury, HM Revenue and Customs, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will form a Cross Government Working Group for Employment Status early this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Open Doors World Watch List on the persecution of Christians, what discussions his Department has had with the Jordanian government on ensuring that Christians in that country are not persecuted.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We have had discussions with the Jordanian Government on the status of Christians and other religions in Jordan. The Jordanian Government and His Majesty King Abdullah II are explicit about the need for religious tolerance, as demonstrated by King Abdullah’s 22 December 2015 message to the nation on the occasion of Christmas and the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK Ambassador to Panama has held any meetings with representatives of the firm Mossack Fonseca since May 2010.
Mr Hugo Swire
No
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-05-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the BHS pension fund has now transferred to the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) or whether the owner, former owner, or secured creditors are still able to make a financial contribution to obviate a need to transfer the fund to the PPF.
Baroness Altmann
The BHS pension schemes are in Pension Protection Fund (PPF) assessment periods. During this period the schemes are able to accept contributions from the sponsoring employer to cover its debts to the schemes. They are also able to receive recoveries as a creditor or through the use of the Regulator’s powers. If the scheme assets are shown to be sufficient to buy its members annuities at least as good as the compensation paid by the PPF, the scheme will not transfer into the PPF.