Tag: 2016

  • Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they intend to respond to the report by 4Children Britain’s Families Thriving or Striving?, and in particular the surveyed views of young people aged 16–24 that they wanted more political education in schools.

    Lord Nash

    The new national curriculum includes an improved programme of study for citizenship education at key stages 3 and 4. The programme of study is designed to prepare pupils to play a full and active part in society and fosters political awareness. In citizenship lessons, pupils learn about democracy, government, and how laws are made and upheld. These lessons should equip pupils to explore political and social issues critically, to weigh evidence, to debate, and to make reasoned arguments.

    In partnership with youth organisations, the Cabinet Office has published a collection of democratic engagement learning resources developed in partnership with organisations such as UK Youth and Scottish Youth Parliament. They are designed to enable different groups, including young people and students, to discuss the importance of democratic participation and registering to vote. These learning resources, such as Rock Enrol!, are available to download for free and can be used in schools to encourage young people to participate in democracy and register to vote.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 22 February (HL5864), whether the term UK troops includes members of 13 Squadron, based at RAF Waddington, and of 39 Squadron, based at Creech Air Force Base in the US.

    Earl Howe

    This Government has demonstrated its commitment to the war powers convention by its willingness to hold Parliamentary debates in relation to air strikes in Iraq and Syria in 2013, 2014 and 2015. However, we have no intention of defining the precise circumstances, including the identity of specific military units, capabilities or types of operation, under which we might be obliged to act first and to notify Parliament afterwards, in order to avoid presenting our adversaries with opportunities to exploit that definition against the UK or our interests.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Freedom of Information Request release of 1 October 2014, reference BIS/FOI/2014/20352, what the data on referrals is for each financial year between 2009-10 and 2015-16.

    Nick Boles

    The Pay and Work Rights Helpline (PWRH) was replaced by the Acas helpline from 1st April 2015, meaning that the same data referred to in the FOI referenced above is not available for 2015/16. The table below shows the data on referrals from the PWRH to relevant enforcement authorities for the 2009/10 financial year.

    2009/10*

    HMRC

    3000

    EAS

    820

    HSE

    290

    DEFRA

    440

    GLA

    100

    *The Pay and Work Rights Helpline opened in May 2009

    Notes

    1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10

    2. Calls can be referred to more than one agency so the sum does not amount to the total number of calls referred for the period

    3. Calls referred to agencies includes complaints, complex queries and calls where intelligence was passed to other agencies

  • Lord Naseby – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Naseby – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Naseby on 2016-04-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for any grant awarded to Action on Smoking and Health in each of the last five years, how much was awarded in one financial year and spent in a subsequent one.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department has received an application for grant funding from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) for the 2016-17 financial year. The application process is iterative to ensure the final objectives are in line with Departmental aims and the application that the Department currently holds is a draft application. Draft applications for grant funding are not published.

    There was no underspend of the grant awarded to ASH in 2015-16 and, in each of the last five years, the funding has been spent in the relevant financial year.

  • Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many rodent reintroduction incidents have occurred on South Georgia since the commencement of the rodent eradication project.

    James Duddridge

    There has been one confirmed sighting of a rodent in October 2014. It was found in an area baited as part of the rodent eradication project. The source of the rodent is not known. On its sighting a pre-prepared plan was enacted. After intensive monitoring of the area, no signs of rodents have been seen, and it is believed the response was effective and the area remains rodent free.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the ratio of medical staff to administrators is in the NHS.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The ratio of medical staff to administrators in the National Health Service is 1:1.05. The number of medical staff includes only doctors and does not include roles such as nurses, midwives and other non-medical clinicians.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Security Industry Authority licence applications were received in each of the last 12 months; and how many such applications were processed within 25 days.

    Brandon Lewis

    The average time taken to process applications is unavailable in the format requested. The SIA’s new IT system (introduced in July 2016) enables more detailed performance analysis. The system shows that the average number of days for processing applications (including renewals) was 38 days in July and 30 days in August. Once fully embedded, the SIA expect that the processing time for applications will be quicker than under the old system. The Security Industry Authority (SIA) have an annual performance target to process 80% of applications (including renewals) within 25 working days. The SIA met this annual target in the 2015/16 financial year. Performance for 2016/2017 to date is included in the table below.

    Applications

    Percentage within 25 working days

    Sep-15

    11618

    89%

    Oct-15

    10799

    85%

    Nov-15

    10499

    83%

    Dec-15

    8589

    76%

    Jan-16

    9905

    80%

    Feb-16

    10597

    83%

    Mar-16

    10352

    85%

    Apr-16

    9951

    86%

    May-16

    9889

    81%

    Jun-16

    9277

    80%

    Jul-16

    6305

    46%

    Aug-16

    9208

    72%

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of HM Revenue and Customs’ strategy to enforce the national minimum wage.

    Nick Boles

    The Low Pay Commission publish an annual report on the National Minimum Wage (NMW) which includes a full assessment of the Government’s NMW compliance and enforcement strategy. The 2015 report is available here – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-minimum-wage-low-pay-commission-report-2015 – the next report is due to be published in February 2016.

  • Baroness Coussins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Coussins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Coussins on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they are giving to the campaign by Public Health England and various cancer charities to raise awareness of bladder cancer.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The “Blood in Pee” campaign focuses on early symptoms of bladder and kidney cancer. The campaign has run twice at a national level from 15 October to 20 November 2013 and 13 October to 23 November 2014, following successful local and regional pilots and will be re-running from 15 February to 31 March 2016. The campaign will use a wide range of media, including national television and radio advertising, to promote the key message “If you notice blood in your pee, even if it’s just the once, tell your doctor”.

    Public Health England (PHE) works closely with the Department and NHS England to ensure that health care professionals are also targeted with campaign information to encourage earlier diagnoses and referrals. PHE also works closely with the devolved administrations to ensure consistency of messages on their own campaigns and initiatives.

    The Department notifies key stakeholders including charities about forthcoming campaigns and has engaged with relevant charities to review the campaign leaflet and source case studies for the bladder and kidney campaign. A copy of the leaflet has been attached

    Information for the general public will be available on NHS Choices. This is an online only resource.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many civil law suits have been brought against his Department based either wholly or partially on grounds provided by the Human Rights Act 1998; how many such suits were settled out of court before a court judgment was delivered; and how much such settlements have cost the public purse since 2010.

    Joseph Johnson

    The information requested is not available because separate data for cases based wholly or partially on the Human Rights Act 1998 are not recorded.