The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Turkish counterpart on military action in the south east of Turkey and the consequences of that action for Kurdish civilians.
Mr David Lidington
I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 16 February 2016 (PQ 26321) to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Catherine West).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-15.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the value of the illicit tobacco trade in the UK in each of the last 10 years.
Damian Hinds
Estimates of tax revenue losses associated with illicit tobacco are published every year. The latest estimates, for the years 2006/7 to 2014/15, are published in ‘Tobacco Tax Gap estimates 2014-15’.
This can be accessed via the GOV.UK website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tobacco-tax-gap-estimates
HM Revenue and Customs makes no other estimate of the value of the illicit tobacco trade.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to introduce a GP registry for autism to allow the collection of population-level data.
Alistair Burt
General practitioners already maintain a register of people with learning disabilities which may include patients on their lists who also have autism where this has been diagnosed. The Royal College of General Practitioners’ Autism Initiative, which is part funded by the Department, is currently looking at the idea of an autism indicator in general practice. This work is at an early stage.
NHS England has been working with the Health and Social Care Information Centre to develop the Mental Health Services Data Set. This mandatory data set will include provision for the diagnosis of autism to be recorded. The data will be published and available for everyone to use to support and develop services based on health outcomes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2016-05-26.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the effect of the Government’s steps to tackle aggressive tax avoidance on the revenues derived from general taxation.
Mr David Gauke
During this Parliament, we have already announced that we will legislate for more than 25 measures to tackle avoidance and evasion, which are forecast to raise £16 billion by 2021.
During the last Parliament, we made over 40 changes to tax law, closing down loopholes and introducing major reforms to the UK tax system. These were forecast to have raised £12 billion by 2016.
During the last Parliament, as a result of actions to tackle tax evasion, tax avoidance, aggressive tax planning and non-compliance, HM Revenue and Customs secured around £100 billion in additional compliance revenue. This includes over £38 billion from big businesses and £1.2 billion extra from the UK’s richest people.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to encourage young deaf people to take part in the National Citizen Service.
Mr Rob Wilson
In order to encourage young people with sensory disabilities to take part NCS, the Department for Culture, Media & Sport is working closely with NCS Trust, the independent organisation which delivers NCS, to ensure that NCS is accessible.
Many NCS providers already reach out and offer support to those with disabilities, including deaf young people. The largest provider, The Challenge, has worked with the National Deaf Children’s Society, and adapted the programme for deaf young people, including providing dedicated support workers.
The NCS Trust is currently developing a detailed inclusion strategy to ensure that over the longer term there is consistent and high quality provision for young people with disabilities to take part in the programme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Poulter on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to provide financial assistance to support rural community pubs.
Andrew Percy
We are providing £1.85 million towards the £3.62 million ‘More Than a Pub’ Community Pub Business Support Programme which will, over 2016/17 and 2017/18, help local communities to acquire their local pubs. The programme offers wrap-round support including specialist advice, grants and loans.
From 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2016 we provided Pub is The Hub with £270,000 to deliver 80 diversification projects and 100 new community-focussed services and facilities for rural pubs, and from 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2015 provided Plunkett Foundation with £80,000 to support communities to own their local pubs.
This is in addition to wider Government measures supporting pubs including the freeze in beer duty at Budget 2016, which followed cuts in the previous three Budgets, and the scrapping of the beer duty escalator.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2015-12-16.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent representations he has received about the level of household debt.
Harriett Baldwin
The government has taken action on household debt by establishing the independent Financial Policy Committee (FPC) within the Bank of England to ensure emerging risks and vulnerabilities across the financial system as a whole are identified, monitored and effectively addressed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Smith on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraph 12 of Advice Note: 05/2015 on the Harm-Benefit Analysis Process, how many project licence applications were withdrawn at the (a) concept and (b) draft stage as a result of advice from the Animals in Science Regulation Unit that the application would clearly fail the harm-benefit analysis in each year since 2012.
Mr John Hayes
The Harm-Benefit Analysis (HBA) is undertaken, on behalf of the Secretary of State, by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit inspectors, all of whom are veterinary or medically qualified and trained in assessing research proposals. The HBA is the process of considering a research proposal to make a judgement whether the likely harms that the animals will experience are justified by the likely benefits. Under section 18 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, inspectors advise the Secretary of State who decides whether and on what terms a project licence should be granted.
The number of project licences which were recommended for grant by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit inspectors between 2012 and 2015 are shown in table 1, column (c).
The Secretary of State has not rejected any of the recommendations for granting project licences made by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit inspectors between 2012 and 2015.
The Home Office does not keep records of applications that have been rejected or withdrawn at the concept or drafting stage [24507]. The Home Office does not keep records of which applications were withdrawn as a result of advice from the Animals in Science Regulation Unit inspectors.
The Home Office refers project licence applications to both the Animals in Science Committee and external independent assessors for critical review. The number of project licences referred to both is given in Table 1 columns (a) and (b) respectively for the years 2012-15.
|
Year |
(a) Project licence applications referred to the Animals in Science Committee[1] |
(b) Project licence applications referred to independent assessors |
(c) Project licences granted |
|
2012 |
9 |
4 |
626 |
|
2013 |
3 |
0 |
604 |
|
2014 |
4 |
1 |
474 |
|
2015 |
3 |
0 |
577 |
[1] Prior to 2013 the independent advisory body was entitled the ‘Animals Procedures Committee’
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will place in the Library a copy of the full impact assessment of the infected blood scheme reform consultation containing the assessment of the potential financial effects of proposed reforms on recipients; and if he will make a statement.
Jane Ellison
The impact assessment we have prepared is an analysis of the proposals and not the final outcome. We will publish the final full impact assessment when we announce the outcomes of the consultation.
On page 32 – 34 of the consultation document itself the Department gives some indication of the impact of the proposed changes on individuals.
All respondents to the consultation have been encouraged to say how the proposals will affect them in order that full consideration can be given to this and other issues before any final decisions are made on the reformed scheme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that schools take steps to promote the mental well-being of primary school students when they undertake Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 examinations.
Mr Sam Gyimah
Good mental health and wellbeing is a key priority for this Government. We have high aspirations for all children and want them to be able to fulfil their potential. Schools should consider how to provide appropriate support to their pupils, based on their individual circumstances, as part of a ‘whole-school’ approach.
We have provided schools with a range of resources to support them in promoting mental wellbeing. We have funded guidance and age-appropriate lesson plans on teaching mental health in PSHE. At KS1 and 2 the lesson plans include teaching children how to describe emotions, talk about anxiety and worries, and develop coping strategies. Teachers and other staff can access MindEd, a free online portal which provides information about specific mental health problems and how to support them.
Other resources include guidance on mental health and behaviour and the provision of counselling in schools.
However, we recognise that teachers are not mental health professionals which is why we are contributing £1.5m to a joint pilot between schools and specialist mental health services, to ensure pupils have timely access to appropriate specialist support where needed.