The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what proportion of dairy products procured for her Department was sourced from Northern Irish producers in the latest period for which figures are available.
Mrs Theresa Villiers
Figures which detail the origin of dairy products are not held by my Department.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-06-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data or other information on the deployment of tasers in mental health settings was provided by Chief Constable David Shaw’s review of taser use.
Mike Penning
Data is not recorded centrally on the number of times the police have deployed Taser devices on psychiatric wards. A Taser record is completed by police officers each time a Taser is used. However, this record does not currently show the detailed geographical or type of location.
Police Use of Taser statistics are published by the Home Office and most recently on 28 April 2016. These provide a snapshot of Taser use.
We have been very clear that the public need greater transparency and that is why the Home Secretary asked Chief Constable David Shaw to lead an in-depth review of the publication of Taser data and other use of force by police officers.
The review recommended that the police record and publish the ethnicity, age, location and outcome of all serious use of force by police officers, including physical restraint and Taser. Pathfinder forces started to collect this data from April this year, and it is anticipated that the collection will form part of the 2017-18 Home Office Annual Data Return.
A copy of Chief Constable David Shaw’s review will be placed in the House library. The review contained no data on the number of times the police have used Taser in mental health settings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-09-05.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much funding is given annually by the UK to assist refugee projects in the Middle East.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Department for International Development is providing support to refugees in a number of countries in the Middle East including in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Yemen and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In financial year 2015/16 our support totalled more than £204 million.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the effectiveness of the Need to Sell scheme for residents who are reapplying, (b) the level of flexibility offered by that scheme for those who are reapplying under different criteria, (c) how that scheme streamlines its procedures for those constituents who have terminal illnesses, financial burdens arising from High Speed 2 or any other pressing requirement to sell.
Andrew Jones
The Need to Sell scheme is operating as it was intended, and operating fairly. We have already updated guidance to reflect learning from the scheme since its inception in January 2015. This demonstrates that we keep the scheme under review and act if necessary to improve the way it operates.
Those reapplying for the Need to Sell scheme within six months of their initial application are only judged on the criteria on which they previously failed to meet. Furthermore the assessment panel provides detailed feedback directly to applicants on the criteria they failed to meet. This means that when reapplying applicants can provide targeted evidence that may increase the chance of a re-application being accepted.
HS2 Ltd endeavours to make decisions on all applications as quickly as possible. As all applicants are applying with a compelling reason to sell it would not be fair to introduce a fast-track system for some applicants. We aim to deal with all applications within three months, however currently the average time to deal with an application is seven weeks.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-01-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the existing Vineyard Register is maintained in accordance with EU regulations.
Jane Ellison
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) currently maintains a Vineyard Register for the United Kingdom on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. This was established and managed in accordance with the European Union requirements set out in Regulation (EC) 436/2009. This statutory obligation was removed on the 1 January 2016 as a result of Regulation (EC) 1308/2013.
The FSA uses the register for the purposes of official controls relating to UK wine production and to underpin traceability for the various UK wine schemes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-02-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the time taken for appeals for benefit sanctions.
Mr Shailesh Vara
The First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support), administered by HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) decisions on a range of benefits.
HMCTS does not record data specifically relating to appeals against sanctions imposed by DWP.
In order to increase the capacity of the Tribunal, and therefore speed up the appeals process, HMCTS has recruited extra judges and medical members, increased venue capacity and introduced more efficient processes. This action, coupled with a reduction in appeal receipts, has enabled HMCTS to reduce the overall average length of time to administer appeals from 28 weeks in the period July to September 2014, to 19 weeks for the same period in 2015 (the latest period for which statistics have been published). The median length of time to administer appeals (which will be the experience of the majority of appellants) has reduced from 18 weeks to 14 weeks in the same period.
Information on the length of time taken to administer appeals generally is published by the Ministry of Justice in Tribunal Statistics Quarterly. The most recent report, for the period July to September 2015, published on 10 December 2015, can be viewed at:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the (a) total number and (b) cost has been of (i) flights, (ii) rail journeys and (iii) taxi journeys taken by (A) ministers, (B) special advisers and (C) officials of his Department related to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiation process; and if he will make a statement.
Anna Soubry
The European Commission conducts trade negotiations – including the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) – on behalf of the EU and, where appropriate, Member States. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not therefore incur the direct costs of the TTIP negotiating rounds.
It is rare that travel undertaken by Ministers and officials relates solely to TTIP, but will usually encompass other issues. Officials within the Transatlantic and International Unit in my Department have the lead policy responsibility for TTIP as well as certain other international matters. The total travel expenditure by these officials in 2014/15 was £25,081, in 2015/16 £14,269.
The cost to the Department of any travel undertaken in relation to TTIP is greatly offset by the economic prize that an ambitious agreement offers. Independent analysis shows that a comprehensive TTIP agreement could give an annual boost to the UK economy of as much as £10 billion each year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Nye on 2016-03-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many level 2 Craft, Creative Arts and Design (9.2) vocational qualifications were completed in each year since 2011 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland combined.
Lord Nash
As there is no formal definition of what constitutes “Craft, Creative Arts and Design”, it has not been possible to provide the information that is requested.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2016-05-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment the Government has made of the adequacy of the fire safety regulations governing staffing levels and other procedures on London Underground.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Fire safety regulations on London Underground are a matter for Transport for London (TfL). Under London Underground’s new staffing model introduced in April 2016, all London Underground stations continue to be staffed during traffic hours in line with the London Underground Rule Book – which includes defined minimum numbers of staff at sub-surface stations as required by the Fire Precautions (Sub-Surface Railway Stations) (England) Regulations 2009.
The introduction of the new staffing model followed a review of individual stations’ Congestion Control and Emergency Plans, which identified various improvements to help maintain London Underground’s good safety record.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-06-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which EU (a) legislative and (b) other proposals her Department is leading negotiations on for the Government in the Council of the EU.
James Brokenshire
The Home Office is responsible, along with the Ministry of Justice, for negotiating EU legislation in the Justice and Home Affairs area. The Home Office provides Explanatory Memoranda to Parliament on any proposals defined by the terms of reference of the parliamentary EU scrutiny committees, which can be found online.