Tag: 2016

  • Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne-Marie Trevelyan on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many challenges to the new Service Family Accommodation gradings have resulted in a change of banding since 1 February 2016; and if he will make a statement.

    Mark Lancaster

    Between 1 February 2016 and 17 April 2016 a total of 1,675 challenges to the Combined Accommodation Assessment System (CAAS) were received by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation – 24 of these resulted in changes to CAAS bandings.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the reoffending rates are for offenders who have had a conviction (a) under and (b) over 12 months in each of the last five years.

    Dominic Raab

    The most recent proven reoffending bulletin can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/proven-reoffending-statistics. A full report with data going back to 2003 can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/519648/proven-reoffending-July-2013-June-2014.xlsx

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  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of whether eating butter puts people at greater risk of heart disease.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Butter is high in saturated fat. Evidence shows that average population intakes of saturated fat exceed United Kingdom government advice which is to limit saturated fat intake to no more than 11% of total food energy to protect against heart disease.

    The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition is currently reviewing the evidence on saturated fat and health; it aims to publish a draft report at the end of 2017.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Attorney General, what proportion of staff on the payroll of the Law Officers’ Departments who work in Westminster are (a) British nationals and (b) nationals of another country.

    Robert Buckland

    All Government Departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

    Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose.

    More broadly, the Government will be consulting in due course on how we work with business to ensure that workers in this country have the skills that they need to get a job. There are no proposals to publish lists of the number or proportion of foreign workers.

  • Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Green of Deddington on 2015-12-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the EU directives on asylum into which they have opted, and what are those from which they have opted out.

    Lord Bates

    Between 1999 and 2005, several measures harmonising common minimum standards for asylum were adopted. The six measures were the Dublin II Regulation, the EURODAC Regulation, the Temporary Protection Directive, the Reception Conditions Directive, the Qualification Directive and the Asylum Procedures Directive. The UK opted into all of these Directives.

    The Reception Conditions Directive, the Qualifications Directive and the Asylum Procedures Directives were later revised but the UK did not opt into the revised versions and remains bound by the original Directives.

    The Dublin II Regulation and EURODAC Regulation were also revised and the UK opted into the revised versions.

    The Temporary Protection Directive has not been revised and the UK remains bound by the original Directive.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of whether (a) cluster munitions have been used in the Yemen conflict and (b) there is a clear risk that such munitions were dropped from British-made aircraft.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    We are aware of reports of the alleged use of Cluster Munitions by the Coalition in Yemen and we have raised this with the Saudi Arabian authorities. The UK does not supply cluster munitions to any members of the coalition in Yemen. In line with our obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions we continue to encourage Saudi Arabia, as a non-party to the Convention, to accede to it.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effects on children and families of the parental orders procedure following surrogacy arrangements.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Government has made no such assessment. Parental orders provide a mechanism to enable a couple who have entered into a surrogacy arrangement to become that child’s legal parents. There is no obligation to obtain a parental order but a couple who commission a surrogacy arrangement are advised and encouraged to do so in order to achieve a recognisable transfer of parenthood in the UK. In deciding whether to exercise its discretion and award a Parental order, the court has regard to all the facts of the case and the overriding importance of the welfare of the child throughout their life.

  • Rachael Maskell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Rachael Maskell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the staff who manage the gardens in Chevening country residence are employed as civil servants; whether such staff are enrolled under the civil service pension scheme; and under what terms and conditions such staff are employed with what pension entitlement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    No members of the Civil Service are employed at Chevening.

  • Jenny Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jenny Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jenny Chapman on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services on the health, wellbeing and performance of young people in schools and colleges.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    We want children to do well academically. Attainment is supported if students have good health and mental wellbeing and when they have access to specialist mental health services where they need it.

    The Government is investing an additional £1.4bn in children’s mental health this Parliament. Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) across the country have worked with partners, including schools and colleges, to produce local transformation plans for children and young people’s mental health services. These should set out what will be done locally to make the best use of the resources available – changing how child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) are delivered in response to the challenges set out in the Future in Mind report and increasing the focus on preventative activity. NHS England has put the plans through an assurance process before releasing funds and is carrying out an analysis of plans to identify practice that can be shared to inform future planning.

    In addition we have contributed to a £3m joint pilot with NHS England which is testing how single points of contact in CAMHS and schools can secure effective mental health support to pupils. The pilots are involving over 250 schools in 27 CCG areas through joint training, which supports schools and CAMHS leads to identify specific activity to improve support in their area.

    The Department of Health has commissioned a new survey into the prevalence of mental health conditions in children and young people in England, the first since 2004. They expect this to be published in 2018.

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he plans to take to improve the rail network and services between London and Stafford.

    Claire Perry

    As part of the Rail Investment Strategy, Network Rail has delivered a package of major infrastructure improvements in the Stafford area. This includes the grade separation of Norton Bridge junction – which was been brought into use almost 12 months early this May – and has created additional capacity for services on the West Coast Main Line.

    Rail services between Stafford and London are currently provided by the West Midlands and InterCity West Coast franchises. These franchises are due be replaced when they expire in October 2017 and April 2018 respectively. The Department has completed a consultation in respect of the replacement West Midlands franchise, and commenced another in respect of InterCity West Coast earlier this month. The outcomes of those consultations will be published in due course.

    Looking to the future, HS2 will deliver high-speed services between London and Stafford from 2026.