Tag: Andrew Stephenson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Rt. hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, what recent assessment the Commission has made of the security arrangements for screening mail received by hon. Members of each House of Parliament.

Tom Brake

A procurement process for a new contract for screening mail received by hon. Members is currently underway. A full review of the security arrangements and contract specification forms part of that process. This review is based on advice from the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) as well as on a national standard specification for mail screening (PAS 97:2015).

Following an incident, the Parliamentary Security Department has recently revised and reissued guidance to Members and staff on what to do following receipt of a suspicious letter or package.

We do not comment in public on details of security arrangements. The Deputy Director of Security (Delivery) would be happy to discuss these arrangements in more detail with the hon. Member.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what representations he has received on the potential introduction of a ban on electrical socket safety covers or inserts.

Margot James

The Department has received representations from FatallyFlawed.org.uk putting forward their view that socket covers should be banned as they believe them to be unnecessary and dangerous due to the safety shutter system installed as standard in UK electrical sockets.

Under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005, all products placed on the UK market must be safe and any products that do not comply can already be removed from sale by Trading Standards. There are no reports of injuries or death as a result of the use of socket covers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many inmates are able to access education at HM Prison Holloway each day.

Andrew Selous

At HMP Holloway there are currently approximately 120 places in a morning session and the same in an afternoon session for women to attend education courses. Women may attend in one or two sessions each day depending on the type of course they are on. In addition there are approximately 40 places available to attend Physical Education provision and approximately 60 places in vocational training areas.

The Secretary of State for Justice announced on 8^th September a review of the quality of education in prisons, chaired by Dame Sally Coates. The review will examine the scope, quality and effectiveness of current provision. It will consider the scope and range of the current curricula and identify the most effective teaching and delivery models. Stakeholders are being consulted and a Call for Evidence has been issued. The review is expected to report in the spring of 2016. A copy of the terms of reference are lodged in the library of the House and at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-prison-education-terms-of-reference

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans in (a) Pendle, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West have been helped by Veterans UK since 2010.

Mark Lancaster

I have taken help by Veterans UK to mean assistance provided by the Veterans UK Welfare Service. The Veterans Welfare Service provides Veterans and their families’ with free and confidential advice on a wide range of issues.

Regrettably, the information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

However, the total number of visits to Veterans from the Veterans UK Welfare Service since 01 January 2010 to 20 January 2016 in the Pendle, Lancashire and North West district, are set out below.

District	*Number of Visits
Pendle	100
Lancashire	1,870
North West(1)	7,240

(1) This figure incorporates the Pendle and Lancashire districts.

*In line with departmental policy, values have been rounded to the nearest 5.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-03-01.

To ask the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, how many all-in-one computers have been issued to hon. Members and their offices since May 2015; and how many such computers have had to be recalled due to a fault.

Tom Brake

1,071 all-in-one computers have been issued since May 2015. 14 have been recalled due to a fault.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) former and (b) current coroners responded to the consultation on the post-implementation review of the coroner reforms in the Coroners and Justice Act 2009.

Dr Phillip Lee

The post-implementation review of the coroner reforms consultation closed on 31 December 2015. A response to the consultation will be published in due course.

We received 214 responses to the review from current coronial officer holders. No respondents indicated that they were former coroners.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what support local authorities can provide to British families returning to the UK after a long period living abroad.

Gavin Barwell

Above the statutory duties which they must fulfil, local authorities can provide families and individuals with what additional support they judge appropriate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisons do not accommodate workshops.

Andrew Selous

We want to see more prisoners working productively for longer numbers of hours. We also want to attract more employers who offer both work in prison but also guaranteed interviews and employment opportunities on release. That is why we want to reform the prison estate, building nine new prisons with better facilities for training and rehabilitation.

All prisons provide opportunities for offenders to work and learn new skills which can help them find a job on release and support their rehabilitation. We work continuously with employers nationally and locally to create new opportunities in line with our code of practice.

NOMS uses a specific definition of ‘workshop’ which is only used for commercial and industrial scale work and specific work activities. [1] Currently, there are 10 prisons which are not planning to offer this type of work this year [2], however other learning, vocational training and work opportunities will still be available in these establishments.

Work in prisons continues to grow steadily, up from 10.6 million working hours in 10/11 to 14.9 million working hours in the year 14/15.

[1] Including Enterprise/Contract Services, Engineering, Aluminium, Laundry, Newgate Furniture, Concrete, Plastics, Textiles, Woodwork, Food Packing, Commercial Land Based Activities, Braille, Charity, Printing, Data Entry, Signs, Desk Top Publishing, Retail, External Recycling and other workshops.

[2] Excludes four establishments the Youth Justice Board (YJB) commission from the National Offender Management Service (NOMS)

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much of the (a) conflict pool and (b) conflict security stability fund has been allocated to other states fighting Daesh since 2014.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

For national security reasons, we do not specify how much Conflict Pool and Conflict Stability and Security Fund has been allocated to other states fighting Daesh. I can confirm that in Iraq, we are making a £2 million contribution to the UN Funding Facility for Immediate Stabilisation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cases of toxocariasis have been identified in England in each year since 2010.

Jane Ellison

The data are available in the United Kingdom Zoonoses Report, and are published here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/488376/zoonoses-annual-report-2014.pdf

The data for 2015 are not yet published.

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