The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many miles of rivers and waterways the Environment Agency is responsible for.
Rory Stewart
The Environment Agency’s flood risk management powers cover over 22,600 miles of ‘Main River’. They are also the navigation authority for over 621 miles (1000km) of waterways in England.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2016 to Question 22908, on prisoner escapes, if he will place a copy of the letter to the hon. Member for Romford in the Library.
Andrew Selous
Once the information requested is available I will write to the hon. Member for Romford and place a copy of that reply in the Library.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many concerted indiscipline incidents of each type have occurred in each prison establishment in each month since May 2005.
Andrew Selous
Violence in prisons has increased in recent years. The nature of offenders currently in custody and the widespread availability of new psychoactive substances have both contributed to making prisons less safe. There is no single, simple solution to the problems we face but we are making progress.
We have launched a two year Violence Reduction project to help us to gain a better understanding of the causes and characteristics of violence. We are also trialling the use of body worn cameras in prisons, training sniffer dogs to detect new psychoactive substances and have made it an offence to smuggle new psychoactive substances into prison. However, ultimately the only way to reduce violence in our prisons is to give governors and those who work in prisons the tools necessary to more effectively reform and rehabilitate offenders.
Many Concerted indiscipline incidents vary widely in nature and duration and many of these incidents are relatively minor and of short duration and cause little disruption to the prison regime.
Note: The figures included in the table attached, have been drawn from the NOMS Incident Reporting System. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Although the figures are shown to the last case the figures may not be accurate to that level.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Winnick on 2016-03-17.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will arrange for HM Revenue and Customs to acknowledge or reply to the letter of 24 February 2016 from the hon. Member for Walsall North concerning a constituent.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs replied to the hon. Member’s letter on 14 March 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what forecast his Department has made of the cost of legal fees for the High Speed 2 project over the next five years; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Department has appointed a joint team of solicitors/parliamentary agents from Winckworth Sherwood and Eversheds LLP to provide support in relation to the HS2 Phase One hybrid Bill. The value of the contract as agreed with Cabinet Office’s Efficiency and Reform Group is £10.5m. The contract duration is from March 2012 until six months after Royal Assent.
The Department has also appointed a joint team of solicitors/parliamentary agents from Winckworth Sherwood and Eversheds LLP to support the preparation of the HS2 Phase 2a hybrid bill, which is expected to be deposited in 2017. The value of the contract as agreed with Cabinet Office’s Efficiency and Reform Group is £4.2m over three years, with the opportunity to extend the contract for an additional one or two years, subject to approval.
The Department also continues to instruct a number of barristers to support the HS2 project. However, the use of barristers is demand led and so the total cost of fees over the next five years is not possible to forecast.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Whitaker on 2016-05-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether UK cluster bombs have been sold to the government of Saudi Arabia; and if so, when.
Earl Howe
The Governments of the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signed an agreement in August 1986 that covered the supply of BL-775 cluster munitions to the Royal Saudi Air Force. The last of these were supplied in early 1989. We are not aware of the sale of any other UK cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bottomley on 2016-07-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the East Lancashire Hospitals Trust first checked the case notes of patient KM; and whether the medical director of that Trust wrote to Mr Agrawal to withdraw and to apologise for believing that the patient had died.
Mr Jeremy Hunt
This is an employer and employee matter between the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust and Mr Aditya Agrawal respectively. The Department cannot comment on individual employment matters that are the responsibility of independent organisations, and that are subject to ongoing legal proceedings or on matters relating to individual clinical cases or other personal information. We understand that the cost to East Lancashire Trust of legal proceedings concerning Mr Agrawal is £296,848.42 to date, and that the Trust does not have insurance costs for legal awards in the event of the Trust or one of its employees being subject to legal action for defamation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the level of parental contributions required to fund extended school activities on participation of pupils pupils from low-income families in such activities.
Edward Timpson
We want to ensure that all young people get the best start in life, with the opportunity to receive the knowledge and skills, the right advice at the right time, and great, challenging life-shaping experiences that will ensure their future success. We know that effective schools personalise their support for disadvantaged pupils, which can include the use of extended school activities. Schools are free to use the funding they receive, including through the pupil premium, to offer these activities. We have committed to protecting the pupil premium at current rates for the duration of this Parliament, providing £2.5billion of additional funding this year alone to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils.
The Department for Education does not collect information on the amount of funding schools receive from parental contributions for extended school activities or how this affects levels of participation in such activities. It is for schools to set their charging and remission policy. Any charges for extended services cannot exceed the cost of the provision, and in setting their charging policy schools can determine the circumstances where they will remit or partially remit any charges.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has contacted the Saudi Arabian government on the human rights element in the case of Waleed Abu al-Khair.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We are very concerned about the case of Waleed Abu Al-Khair and we have raised this case with the Saudi Arabian authorities. Our Ambassador in Riyadh, as well as our Embassy team, continues to make representations on cases like this on a regular basis.
The UK’s position on human rights in Saudi Arabia is a matter of public record. We frequently raise our human rights concerns with the Saudi Arabian authorities using a range of Ministerial and diplomatic channels.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with (a) ministers in the Scottish Government and (b) women’s organisations on devolving competence for abortion legislation to Scotland.
David Mundell
I have regular discussions with the Scottish Government’s Deputy First Minister on all aspects of our implementation of the Smith Commission Agreement, including the devolution of responsibility for abortion law to the Scottish Parliament. UK and Scottish Government officials will continue to work closely on this issue.
I have had discussions with representatives of women’s organisations on this matter. However, with the transfer of responsibility to the Scottish Parliament, it is primarily for the Scottish Government to take forward engagement with interested parties. Scottish Government Ministers have met with representatives of a number of stakeholder organisations to discuss the devolution of abortion law and the delivery of abortion services in Scotland.