The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2016-03-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons Network Rail bought back rail lands in October 2014; and if he will make a statement.
Claire Perry
This decision was made by Network Rail, and I have sought clarification from the company as to the reasons. I am informed that the purchase was made to increase competition and efficiency across the freight industry, opening up the market to operators.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kramer on 2016-04-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 7 April (HL7284), what was the initial budget agreed for the advertising campaign for the Married Couple’s Allowance.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
HM Revenue and Customs’ plans for advertising Marriage Allowance evolved over time.
HMRC does not hold data on the number of customers that have applied for Marriage Allowance by Local Authority or Parliamentary Constituency.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33135, on employment and support allowance: inflammatory bowel disease, how many new claimants there have been in this Parliament.
Priti Patel
The information provided in response to Question 33135 dated the 18th of April is the latest data available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Scott Mann on 2016-07-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of imposing fines on the Rural Payments Agency for late Basic Payment Scheme payments to farmers.
George Eustice
2015 has been a challenging year for a number of well documented reasons. We understand the importance of Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments for farmers and their particular frustration in the first year of this new scheme.
From 1 December 2015, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) made full and accurate 2015 BPS payments which continued throughout the payment window. As of 3 July, some 85,852 (98.6%) of 2015 BPS claims have now been completed and 86,760 have received a payment amounting to some £1.3billion.
The RPA remain focused on making full and accurate payments as promptly as possible. They are also committed to improving payment performance in 2016, and 2016 should be easier as we will have both the systems and data already in place. Ministers have regular meetings with the RPA and closely monitor its performance.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2016 to Question 45359, whether people not from government departments have accompanied him on official visits abroad.
Greg Hands
My Rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade has been only accompanied by Government officials on all foreign visits.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nia Griffith on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the potential effect of Government policy towards reform of EU trade defence instruments on the steel industry in Wales.
Stephen Crabb
I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues, including the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, where we discuss the challenges faced by the steel industry in Wales and what we need to do to address them.
We are strong supporters of effective trade defences to tackle unfair trade practices. There are already a number of ways in which the European Commission can tackle unfair trade where industry can provide the evidence to support such action, including ones before the damage is done through so-called ‘threat of injury’ cases.
We continue to press the Commission to consider ways of speeding up investigations. We recently wrote with specific proposals and are following up at both official and ministerial level.
We have also pushed hard for decisive action on individual trade defence investigations, such as voting to take action on seamless pipes and tubes and on wire rod, and for an investigation into rebar.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications to the Disclosure and Barring Service from people living in Greenwich and Woolwich constituency have taken more than 60 days to process in the last 12 months.
Karen Bradley
The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) provides a formal monthly performance report to the Home Office and Home Office Ministers. This includes updates on the performance of police forces in meeting the Service Level Agreement (SLA) standards for the time taken to complete local disclosure checks.
The DBS monitors the performance of all police disclosure units and works closely with any force, including the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) which is having difficulty in meeting its targets. An MPS Gold Group is overseeing the recovery plan in place at the MPS. London Boroughs do not operate their own disclosure units.
The number of applications to the Disclosure and Barring Service from people living in Greenwich and Woolwich constituency that have taken more than 60 days to process in each of the last 12 months is listed in the table below.
|
Month |
Total Disclosures Issued to Applicants from the Constituency of Greenwich and Woolwich |
Disclosures that took longer than 60 days |
|
February 2015 – January 2016 |
11,446 |
1,688 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-03-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost was of non-routine upholstery cleaning for the Government Car Service fleet in each month since May 2015.
Mr Robert Goodwill
No cost has been incurred by the Government Car Service fleet in each month since May 2015 for non-routine upholstery cleaning.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-04-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will give details of progress made by the Alcohol Network of the Public Health Responsibility Deal, including (1) reports on its last meeting, (2) plans for future meetings, and (3) an analysis of the fulfilment made of pledges provided by contributors.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The action notes and papers from the last alcohol network group meeting, which took place on 5 November 2014 are attached. There are no current plans for any of the Responsibility Deal networks to meet, but the Department continues to engage with key stakeholders in each of these sectors as part of its routine policy activity.
On alcohol, 1.3 billion units of alcohol were removed from the market through improving consumer choice of lower alcohol products, exceeding the target two years ahead of schedule. 101 companies pledged to have 80% of their bottles and cans of alcoholic drinks displaying unit content, the previous Chief Medical Officer’s lower-risk guidelines and a warning about drinking when pregnant by the end of 2013. An independent report (2014) found that 79.3% of labels provided all these three elements correctly, with 92.8% providing correct pregnancy information. The pledge was considered to be met.
On food, around 75% of the retail market and 65% of major high street restaurants and contract caterers have committed to reduce salt. This includes all the major supermarkets, many big manufacturing brands, restaurant chains and contract caterers. 43 companies, including major retailers, fast food and pubs and caterers, as well as the makers of household-name brands are taking a range of actions to help us to consume fewer calories, including through reducing the sugar content of sugar sweetened beverages. 45 major out of home businesses are currently displaying calories on their menus to help consumers make informed choices when eating outside the home, and account for approximately a quarter of all out of home meals served. 23 businesses agreed to adopt the voluntary United Kingdom front of pack nutrient labelling scheme accounting for two thirds of the market for pre-packed foods and drinks.
Employees in a wide range of companies are seeing their health and well-being taken more seriously as more and more organisations (over 500) signed up to the health at work pledges. The focus was on making occupational health more about prevention, as well as looking at improving the management of people with chronic health conditions, the workplace environment, healthier canteen food, encouraging more active travel and helping staff to give up smoking. Over 80 construction firms signed up to the health at work pledges representing over 250,000 employees. Construction is the UK’s largest industry employing 2 million workers, 6% of the entire workforce. It is also the unhealthiest industry. Construction workers are at least 100 times more likely to die from a disease caused or made worse by their work than they are to die from a fatal accident. These diseases are all preventable. This was the first sector-specific health at work pledge.
Working behind the scenes and reaching into the heart of communities, many businesses and organisations – around 300 – made pledges to help get more people, of all ages and backgrounds, more active. Through the physical activity workplace pledge, we estimate 1.5 million more people are now supported to be more active than before in their workplaces.
On 11 March 2016 the Department let all partners know that they will not need formally to report on the progress of the pledges that they have signed up to by submitting their annual updates this year. The Department has not separately analysed the annual reports submitted by partners to date.
This Government has renewed priorities and it is considering how best to work with partners and other stakeholders to deliver those. This includes tackling childhood obesity and wider work on diabetes and prevention.
The Department will keep all partners informed of any developments on the Responsibility Deal whilst the Government is considering how it should best work with industry to deliver its new priorities. In the meantime, the Government expects that all partners will want to continue to work towards the commitments they have already made and welcomes the fact that many organisations have continued to announce significant new commitments.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research his Department has conducted on the level of compliance with NICE guidelines on fertility treatment by each clinical commissioning group in England in the last three years.
Jane Ellison
The Government has not made an assessment of the annual cost to the National Health Service of high risk pregnancies caused by patients going abroad for in vitro fertilisation (IVF).
Multiple births are the single biggest risk to the health and welfare of children born following fertility treatment and present significant health risks to mothers and babies. Over recent years, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has worked to drive down multiple birth rates whilst maintaining consistent treatment success rates.
To minimise the risk of multiple pregnancies, there has been a growing trend for IVF providers to only transfer one embryo, even when more are available, in patients who have a good chance of successful treatment. Elective single embryo transfer is the most effective way of reducing multiple pregnancies. The HFEA has advised that most clinics have shown significant progress in reducing multiple births without compromising pregnancy rates. In 2008 nearly one in four IVF births resulted in a multiple birth but now, with a concerted multiple births reduction policy, this number is one in six.
Although progress has been made, this number is still higher than the rate in conceptions that do not involve assisted reproduction treatment. The overall goal is to reduce multiple births to one in ten.
The level of provision of infertility treatment, as for all health services they commission, is decided by local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and will take into account the needs of the population overall. The CCG’s decisions are underpinned by clinical insight and knowledge of local healthcare needs. As such, provision of services will vary in response to local needs.
Information about CCGs approach to commissioning or compliance with the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence guidelines regarding IVF services is not collected centrally.