Tag: 2016

  • Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will amend the Cycle to Work scheme to incorporate a higher maximum allowance for disabled cyclists requiring specialist cycles.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    We are currently in the process of updating the Cycle to Work Scheme guidance published on GOV.UK and we are considering reviewing the maximum allowance of £1,000. Discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and HMRC will be arranged before we confirm any changes.

  • Poulter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Poulter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the budget for Health Education England (a) was in each year since 2012 and (b) will be for 2017-18.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    In 2012-13, the strategic health authorities nationally were allocated £4.879 billion to spend on education and training in the National Health Service. This budget was transferred to Health Education England (HEE) from 1 April 2013 when it assumed full operational responsibilities for workforce planning, education and training.

    From 2013 to 2016, HEE received the following annual budget allocations from the Department: £4.867 billion in 2013/14; £4.933 billion in 2014/15; and £4.912 billion in 2015/16.

    For the current year, HEE’s revenue allocation is £4.995 billion as at 31 July 2016. Further in-year capital and revenue allocations will be made to HEE later in this financial year.

    HEE’s budget for 2017-18 is yet to be determined through the Departmental business planning process.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to amend current charging rules for veterans injured in service before 5 April 2015 on compensation awarded under the War Pensions Scheme being taken into account in assessing the cost of their social care support.

    Alistair Burt

    Armed forces veterans injured in service receive payments either through the War Disablement Pension (WDP) or the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS). The AFCS applies to veterans injured from 6 April 2005. These payments are divided into a personal injury compensation element and other payments. Traditionally, only the personal injury compensation payment has been fully disregarded.

    Since October 2012 Guaranteed Income Payments made to veterans under the AFCS have been disregarded. The Department has been in discussion with the Royal British Legion about how WDP payments are treated. Currently the first £10 per week of WDP payments is disregarded. The Government is considering how WDP payments to veterans should be treated in the financial assessment for social care charging in future.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to improve links between schools and elite sports organisations.

    Edward Timpson

    The national curriculum sets out the expectation that pupils should be provided with opportunities to engage in a broad range of competitive sports and activities.

    Many national governing bodies of sports and elite sporting organisations offer a programme for schools, to engage children and young people in their sports. Through their school sports programme, the Premier League is currently working in over 4,000 schools to support the PE curriculum, provide sports clubs, and deliver enrichment activities. In October 2015, the Premier League announced that they will expand their schools offer to every primary school in the country within 6 years.

    The Department funds ‘On the Front Foot’, a programme designed and delivered by Premiership Rugby to develop character and resilience in primary and secondary schools across the country. The programme delivers classroom based and physical activity character building programmes to 17,250 pupils.

    The Football Association’s Skills programme is a nationwide football coaching programme working in over 1,000 primary schools a year, providing specialist football coaching for children and supporting teachers in their delivery of sport. Sessions are offered during PE lessons, extra-curricula clubs and holiday clubs.

    The Tennis Foundation and the Lawn Tennis Association support teachers with training, resource and equipment to help them deliver tennis in schools. Their aim is to increase access to tennis across schools, further and higher education through a wide range of programmes. They offer support to make tennis inclusive and accessible to all pupils. Over 60,000 primary, special and secondary school pupils take part in schools tennis competitions every year.

    The Rugby Football Union works with hundreds of maintained schools as part of its ‘All Schools Plan’ to help more secondary school children play rugby. This was launched by the RFU and the Rugby Football Foundation in 2012, as part of the RFU’s Rugby World Cup 2015 legacy plans.

    The School Games is the Government’s framework for competitive school sports. The programme provides a national final event where the most talented young people in the UK compete in 12 different sports. More than 150 of the athletes who competed at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow had previously competed at the School Games and 59 athletes claimed 84 medals.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Skills of 10 March 2016, whether the £1.5 billion raised by the apprenticeship levy in England referred to will be part of the £2.5 billion for 2019-20 or additional to it.

    Nick Boles

    By 2019-20 we expect the apprenticeship levy to raise £3 billion annually. We expect to spend £2.5 billion on apprenticeships in England. This is an increase of £1 billion on the £1.5 billion committed to apprenticeships in 2015-16.

    This increase in expenditure demonstrates the importance that the Government places on high quality apprenticeships in supporting employers and growth of the economy.

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of the time taken to conduct its Supported Accommodation Review on the number of beds available in the supported accommodation sector.

    Brandon Lewis

    We understand the importance of ensuring that those people living in supported accommodation, who are generally the most vulnerable members of our society, receive appropriate protections.

    The supported housing sector provides valuable support to some of our country’s most vulnerable people.

    We have commissioned an evidence review of the supported housing sector which we expect to report shortly. Building on this review, we will continue to work with and listen to providers as part of developing a long-term sustainable funding regime.

    In the meantime we have put in place a one-year exception for all supported accommodation from the social rent reduction measures and the Local Housing Allowance cap, so there will be no material change in this financial year.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to promote pluralism and religious freedom in Syria.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254, which we supported, urges all parties to the UN-facilitated political process to adhere to the principle identified by the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) to protect the rights of all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity or religious denomination. Through our membership of the ISSG we will focus all our efforts on ensuring that Syrian minorities are included and safeguarded as the political process progresses. In our contact with members of the Syrian opposition who have signed up to the Geneva Communiqué, we have maintained a strong line on our commitment to pluralism, and the need to ensure that Freedom of Religion or Belief is enshrined as a constitutional right. A proportion of the High Negotiations Council, including members of the negotiating team, are drawn from religious minority groups in Syria’s richly diverse population. We are also supporting non-governmental efforts to promote dialogue between different ethnic and sectarian groups and education on tolerance, integration and pluralism.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-07-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they and the UNHCR plan to take to protect Eritrean and Somali families now in Ethiopia, the Sudan, or South Sudan without legal status.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Irregular migrants in Africa are extremely vulnerable. We are working through the Khartoum Process, of which the UK is currently chair, and bilaterally to improve conditions for all migrants in the Horn of Africa. The Khartoum Process is a regional initiative bringing together the Governments of Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan and Libya and the EU, the UK, Italy, France, Germany and Malta to better manage migration in the region, including the protection of irregular migrants. The Khartoum Process is part of a plan of action agreed between African nations and the EU and its member states in Valletta in November 2015. The protection of migrant rights is a critical element of that plan.

    In Sudan, we are advocating through the Khartoum Process for increased rights for refugees in national legislation, including work permits for Eritreans in Sudan. Alongside this, DFID contributes through the European Development Fund to the €100 million EU Trust Fund (EUTF) package of Special Measures for Sudan, which aims to protect and address the development needs of refugees in Eastern Sudan. The EUTF has been supporting UNHCR and local law enforcement efforts over the past 18 months to make camps in the East of Sudan more secure. With this EU support, UNHCR also hosts a unit for unaccompanied minors (UM) in Shagarab Camp, which works to return them to their families in Eritrea wherever possible, houses them separately from other migrants in purpose built dormitories, and provides free meals for all the children.

    In April 2016, the UK together with World Bank and UNHCR signed up to a set of principles on programming to support long term refugees. These principles recommend increased support to a shift from relief provision for refugees towards a more sustainable approach. In line with this, DFID in Ethiopia is providing £125 million over the next five years for basic service and economic opportunities alongside protection programming, working with both refugees and host communities. Research into push and pull factors around migration also forms a part of DFID’s package of support.

  • James Cartlidge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    James Cartlidge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cartlidge on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total cost to the NHS was of (a) aspirin, (b) ibuprofen and (c) equivalent medication prescribed by GPs in each of the last five years.

    David Mowat

    Information on the net ingredient cost of prescription items dispensed in the community in England is provided in the table below.

    Year

    Net ingredient cost2: aspirin (excluding combination medicines) £000

    Net ingredient cost: ibuprofen £000

    Net ingredient cost: other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs1 £000

    2010

    590.3

    9,999.3

    80,767.1

    2011

    443.9

    9,927.1

    71,045.5

    2012

    495.3

    12,182.8

    71,915.7

    2013

    593.0

    13,788.0

    63,617.2

    2014

    512.8

    12,929.8

    62,270.0

    2015

    499.4

    12,835.7

    59,922.9

    Source: Prescription Cost Analysis system provided by NHS Digital

    1 All other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs included in British National Formulary section 10.1.1, using the classification system prior to edition 70.

    2 Net ingredient cost is the basic cost of a drug. It does not take account of discounts, dispensing costs, fees or prescription charges income.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many judges or magistrates have reported receiving threatening correspondence related to hearings they have presided over in the last five years.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    There are around 20,000 judges and magistrates in England and Wales. The number of judges or magistrates who have reported receiving threatening correspondence related to hearings is as follows:

    Year

    Number of Judges or Magistrates

    2011

    20

    2012

    12

    2013

    19

    2014

    18

    2015

    31

    We have a robust security and safety system in place to protect all court users. Any threats to judges or magistrates are taken extremely seriously and within Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service there is a security team to co-ordinate effective judicial security and incident investigation, working closely with senior judiciary and police agencies to provide the necessary support.