The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, to which destinations (a) Ministers and (b) officials of her Department have taken flights as part of their official duties since her appointment.
Rory Stewart
DFID publishes information about flights and other expenses incurred on Ministerial and senior official overseas trips on a quarterly basis on www.gov.uk.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-01-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans he has to help persuade Overseas Territories leaders to make registers of beneficial ownership publicly available.
James Duddridge
The Government is in discussion with the governments of the Overseas Territories on their plans to improve company transparency. The Territories have agreed to hold beneficial ownership information in central registers, or similarly effective systems, which need to meet the three criteria the UK set out in a letter to Territory leaders in March 2015. These are laid out in the answer my hon. Friend, the Member for South West Hertfordshire (David Gauke MP), gave on 16 October 2015 (PQ10437, PQ10438 and PQ10448).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-01-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to reduce food waste.
Rory Stewart
Through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the Government has made significant progress to reduce food waste through the Courtauld Commitment, the Love Food Hate Waste Campaign and the Hospitality and Food Service Agreement.
Household food waste reduced by 15% between 2007 and 2012 and Courtauld Commitment signatories reported a reduction in supply chain waste of 7.4% from 2009 to 2012, with interim results for Courtauld 3 showing a further 3.2% reduction by 2014.
Interim results for the Hospitality Agreement show signatories achieved a reduction in CO2e emissions of 3.6% by preventing food waste and the food and packaging recycling rate rose from 45% to 57% between 2012 and 2014.
WRAP is currently brokering a new agreement with the food sector to build on this success. The Courtauld Commitment 2025 will take a whole food supply chain approach to food sustainability and will include new ambitious targets to reduce food waste. Courtauld 2025 is expected to be launched in March 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-01-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to address the prevalence of hunger in Malawi.
Mr Nick Hurd
DFID has a significant programme of ongoing support in health, education, agriculture, water and sanitation and economic development, particularly in rural areas and with the private sector, for growth, jobs, incomes and food insecurity. We support increasing access to justice for women and vulnerable groups, accountability and governance reforms.
The UK was one of the first development partners to respond to Malawi’s international appeal for emergency aid in October 2015. The UK has now committed £14.5m through partners including the World Food Programme, UNICEF and an International Non-Governmental Organisation (INGO) consortium led by Save the Children. This support includes:
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with officials of (a) NATO and (b) the EU on the recent ballistic missile launched by North Korea.
Mr Hugo Swire
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), strongly condemned the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)’s satellite launch of 7 February, which used ballistic missile technology in clear violation of a number of UN Security Council Resolutions.
The Government continues to work closely with partners in NATO and the EU to ensure significant and substantive measures are agreed in response to the DPRK’s repeated provocations. In addition, we continue to work with international partners to ensure existing Resolutions are implemented effectively.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-02-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the rate of pay is for cleaners in her Department.
Andrea Leadsom
The hourly rate of pay for cleaners working in the Department of Energy and Climate Change is between £7.85 and £9.15 depending on location.
From 1 April 2016, the rate of pay will be increased to the 2016 Living Wage Foundation rates.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-03-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to address the issues raised in the Independent Investigation into conditions at Yarl’s Wood in January 2016; and what additional steps she will take to address concerns around (a) staffing arrangements including capacity and training and (b) an inadequate proportion of female officers to care for women at the centre.
James Brokenshire
Serco commissioned an independent investigation by Kate Lampard into the culture and staffing at Yarl’s Wood. The report was published in January 2016. Serco has responded quickly to the recommendations in the report and has agreed or completed 32 of the 35 recommendations. These include an increase in staffing levels and introducing changes to policies to ensure that all detainees are treated in a safe and dignified manner. As of 9 March 2016, 55% of Serco’s operational staff at Yarl’s Wood are women.
The Government is addressing the issue of welfare in detention through its response to Stephen Shaw’s review set out in the Written Ministerial Statement laid before the House on 14 January. This includes a new adults at risk policy and a mental health action plan.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many people were refused student loans as a result of their discretionary leave to remain immigration status in each of the last three years.
Joseph Johnson
The Student Loans Company does not hold information on the number of student loan applicants with discretionary leave to remain who have had their application for support refused.
A public consultation on the introduction of a new category of eligibility for those with long residence in the UK, including periods of discretionary leave, closed in January 2016. The consultation can be found at:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department issues on what evidence should be used to determine basic treatment for people presenting with acute urinary tract infections.
Jane Ellison
The Department does not determine which treatments should be available for what ailments. National Health Service commissioners are responsible for making decisions on individual treatments on the basis of the available evidence, taking into account guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) where available.
NICE guidance is always evidence based, assuring us of the latest clinical thinking and research to determine the best treatment for patients.
The guidelines from NICE for urinary tract infections can be found here:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg171/chapter/1-recommendations
NHS England published new guidance on 16 November 2015 to help improve the care and experience of people with continence issues. This includes the most up to date evidence to support commissioners and providers. The guidance can be found on NHS England’s website and accessed via the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/2015/11/16/continence-care/
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-04-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what missions HMS Protector is currently undertaking; and how many missions that ship has undertaken in the last five years.
Penny Mordaunt
HMS PROTECTOR, the Royal Navy’s Ice Patrol Ship, provides a United Kingdom Sovereign presence in the British Antarctic Territory, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and their surrounding maritime areas.
PROTECTOR is currently in the South Atlantic and is focussed on the provision of support to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, including Antarctic Treaty inspections and station visits in support of the British Antarctic Survey, and survey activity, primarily to increase charting coverage of Antarctic shipping routes and the United Kingdom Overseas Territories. She recently successfully deployed unmanned aerial vehicles for the first time to assist with navigating through the Antarctic.
Since entering service in 2011, PROTECTOR has been deployed to the South Atlantic from December 2011 to May 2013; and from October 2013 to April 2015. In October 2015, she again deployed from the United Kingdom, arriving in the region this spring, having conducted a circumnavigation of the globe.