The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the utilisation rate was for Maritime and Coastguard Agency surveyors in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2015-16.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The averaged utilisation rate for marine surveyors for 2013-14 was 65%.
In December 2014 a new system was implemented within MCA and no figures are available yet through the replacement system.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-07-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to correspondence with her from the hon. Member for West Lancashire, for what reasons the Disclosure and Barring Service took from 8 October 2015 to 18 April 2016 to process the certificate application of a West Lancashire constituent.
Mike Penning
The Disclosure and Barring Service is responsible for issuing criminal record certificates and the maintenance of children’s and adults’ barred lists. The Disclosure and Barring Service has a target of processing 85% of all disclosure applications within 21 days. In the vast majority of cases (95%), disclosure certificates are issued within 8 weeks (2015/16).
Criminal record certificates issued by the Disclosure and Barring Service do not expire after a specific period of time and do not include a renewal date. A certificate has no set period of validity. Information revealed through a Disclosure and Barring Service check reflects the information that was available at the time of its issue. Disclosure certificates are primarily designed to be used by an employer at the point of recruitment for a particular position.
Some roles and some employers require the person concerned to “renew” their Disclosure and Barring Service check at specific intervals. The person can do that either by applying for a new certificate or by using the Disclosure and Barring Service Update Service.
It would not be appropriate to comment on specific cases, but there are a number of factors which can affect the timely completion of checks. These include the length of time if can take for an employer to deal with the initial application, the accurate completion of the application form, the clarity of the information provided, the existence of conviction or non-conviction information, legal challenges and the operational effectiveness of the disclosure units of the police forces involved, if any, in the enhanced process. In some cases, forces will ask Disclosure and Barring Service to clarify some details provided by the applicant which requires further investigation and this can cause further delays.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many animals died during transportation to slaughterhouses in each of the last six years.
Nicola Blackwood
The new legislation Welfare at Time of Killing implemented in Wales in 2014 and in England in 2015 introduced new welfare reporting requirements. In addition, during 2015/16 the Food Standards Agency (FSA) introduced new animal welfare measures in slaughterhouses which included increased consistency of reporting of transport related breaches. Both these factors are likely to have contributed to the increased instances recorded in the previous two years.
The FSA does not record the numbers of individual animals which died as a result of transportation to slaughterhouses. The FSA records the number of instances that animals were found to be Dead on Arrival (DOA). The number of DOA instances for the last six years are set out in the following table:
|
2010/11 |
2011/12 |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
2015/16 |
|
144 |
64 |
5 |
16 |
28 |
265 |
The FSA does not record the number of individual animals involved in a welfare breaches in slaughterhouses or during transportation. The FSA records the number of instances of breaches. The number of critical welfare breaches in slaughterhouses and transportation for the last six years are set out in the following tables:
Slaughterhouses
|
2010/11 |
2011/12 |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
2015/16 |
|
158 |
132 |
65 |
113 |
217 |
234 |
Transportation
|
2010/11 |
2011/12 |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
2015/16 |
|
394 |
342 |
308 |
535 |
1,488 |
2,097 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Bourne Report on the incidence of bovine TB in badger cull areas been updated since 2014.
George Eustice
Cull zone results published in the Independent Scientific Report on the Randomised Badger Culling Trials (RBCT) (chaired by Professor John Bourne) were last updated with data up to March 2013. There are no plans to do any further analysis of TB incidence in the RBCT areas
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hain on 2016-02-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the decision by the National Assembly for Wales to vote against the Trade Union Bill legislative consent motion on 26 January.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
Ministers have engaged with the Devolved Administrations on the Trade Union Bill.
As part of our engagement, Nick Boles, the lead Minister for the Trade Union Bill, has received four letters from Leighton Andrews, Minister for Public Services in the Welsh Government on 20 November 2015, 18 January 2016, 27 January 2016, and 9 February 2016. These letters related to specific aspects of the Bill and on the Welsh Government position on their applicability in Wales. On 5th February 2016 Nick Boles had a telephone conversation with Leighton Andrews on the Bill; and on 4 March, he replied to the letters and has placed a copy of the correspondence in the Library.
The Trade Union Bill relates to employment rights, duties and industrial relations, all of which are reserved.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-03-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many arbitration proceedings were started by Acas (a) in each employment sector and (b) relating to each topic on its database in each year since 2009-10.
Nick Boles
The table below provides details of Acas collective arbitrations between 2009-10 and 2014-15 broken down by employment sector and topic:
|
2009/10 |
2010/11 |
2011/12 |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
|
|
Total arbitrations |
44 |
31 |
21 |
17 |
15 |
19 |
|
By sector: |
||||||
|
Aerospace |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
Clothing |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Education |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Energy |
24 |
11 |
9 |
10 |
9 |
7 |
|
Engineering |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
Food |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Health |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Law |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Logistics |
0 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
|
Manufacturing |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
|
Media |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Other |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
|
Ports and Shipping |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
Public |
2 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
|
Retail |
5 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Security |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Transport |
2 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Waste |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Logistics |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
By topic: |
||||||
|
Annual pay |
13 |
8 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
6 |
|
Other pay / employment conditions |
6 |
2 |
8 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
Dismissal / Discipline |
24 |
11 |
8 |
10 |
8 |
10 |
|
Grading |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Other |
1 |
8 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-04-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to assess the potential benefits of applying school food standards to all schools as part of the Government’s childhood obesity strategy.
Mr Sam Gyimah
Tackling obesity, particularly in children, is one of our major priorities. We will be launching our cross-government Childhood Obesity Strategy in the summer. It will look at everything that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese. It will also set out what more can be done by all.
The School Food Standards apply to all local authority maintained schools and to academies that opened prior to 2010 and from June 2014 onwards.
1,420 academies have voluntarily registered to follow the standards, including some of the largest Multi-Academy Trusts. Many academy caterers also hold the Food for Life Catering Mark, which also guarantees compliance with the School Food Standards.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-05-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the role of fast broadband and mobile phones in sending diagnostic information between patients in their own homes and medical practitioners.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The Government supports the wider use of information technologies in health and social care and the creation of a paperless National Health Service by 2020.
Investments in health technology were announced in the autumn statement and will help patients and staff access the services they need and facilitate use of online services and apps including those that enable communication between patients and their medical and other health and social care practitioners.
The Government welcomes the recommendations to increase take-up of internet enabled services that were made by Martha Lane Fox in December 2015. These recommendations will inform the delivery of the National Implementation Board’s contribution to the implementation of the NHS strategic plan for England outlined in the NHS Five Year Forward View.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-07-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will set a target time for processing an application for a refugee integration loan that is less than the 28-day asylum support period that is terminated after refugee status has been granted.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The rules setting out eligibility for integration loans are set out in the Integration loans for Refugees and Other Regulations 2007. All the factors set out in these Regulations are considered for each application received for an integration loan.
We do not intend to set a target time for processing loans less than the 28 day support period given to those granted refugee status. However processes are reviewed on a regular basis and the department aims to respond to all applications as quickly as possible.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which EU commissioners she has met since taking office; and when and where such meetings took place.
George Eustice
Defra Ministers engage with EU Commissioners on a regular basis, including in the margins of each EU Council meeting. I had an informal discussion with Phil Hogan at the September informal Council. The most recent Ministerial discussions took place at a meeting between Thérèse Coffey and Commissioner Karmenu Vella as part of a conference on CITES.