The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many type 1 diabetics have received a prescription penalty charge in each of the last three years.
Alistair Burt
Data is not available to indicate the number of diabetic patients who have received a prescription penalty charge in each of the last three years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2016-06-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to facilitate customers switching suppliers in consumer markets.
Nick Boles
We are taking action to make it quick and easy to switch suppliers. Last year, we published six switching principles, urging industry to improve their processes.
The Government has challenged the mobile phone operators to unlock handsets for free, and the major operators have committed to doing so.
We are also legislating for easier switching in the communications markets in the Digital Economy Bill.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing in the UK initiatives for people with (a) fibromyalgia and (b) other central sensitivity syndromes similar to those introduced in Spain.
David Mowat
The Department is aware of ongoing clinical trials and research projects which deal with the assessment and treatment of people with fibromyalgia. Whilst the results of the studies in Spain concerning the merits of ophthalmologic tests in diagnosis and fibromyalgia and helping guide disease management are interesting, larger, high quality clinical trials would be needed to demonstrate the efficacy before introducing such initiatives in the United Kingdom.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many applications to buy public owned land for residential development made between 2009 and 2015 were (a) made, (b) granted and (c) developed as set out in those applications.
Brandon Lewis
As part of the Public Sector Land programme between April 2009 and March 2015, a total of 838 central Government-owned sites were sold. The Department does not hold information on the numbers of applications for sale or disposal of central government land, nor the build-out rates for individual sites.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many sites granted planning permissions for residential development in each year from 2009 to 2015 were subsequently developed in accordance with the submitted plan.
Brandon Lewis
The Department does not currently hold information centrally on the build-out rate or compliance with permission for individual sites.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many sites were available for residential development in each year from 2009 to 2015.
Brandon Lewis
The Department does not hold information centrally on the number of sites that are available for residential development. Local planning authorities are required to identify and update annually a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to provide five years’ worth of housing against their housing requirements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much it cost his Department to send out winter fuel allowance payments in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015.
Justin Tomlinson
The information is not readily available and could only be provided at a disproportional cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2014-03-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to reduce absences from school due to bullying.
Elizabeth Truss
The Government has made tackling all forms of bullying a top priority. It is never acceptable for a child to be bullied, victimised or harmed in any way and the Government does not want any young person to be absent from school due to the effects of bullying.
All schools are required, by law, to have a behaviour policy with measures to prevent all forms of bullying among pupils. Ofsted now holds schools clearly to account for their effectiveness. Under the current Ofsted framework, school inspectors consider pupil behaviour and safety, which includes how well schools prevent bullying, harassment and discrimination.
In the Education Act 2011, we strengthened teachers’ powers to discipline pupils for poor behaviour, including bullying. They can now issue same day detentions, confiscate banned items and search for, and if necessary delete, inappropriate images on mobile phones which might be linked to cyberbullying.
We are also providing £4 million of funding over two years from spring 2013 to four organisations: Beatbullying, the DianaAward, Kidscape and the National Children’s Bureau, to develop effective measures in school to prevent and tackle bullying.
Good schools create a positive ethos with clear expectations about pupil behaviour that prevent bullying from happening in the first place and deal with it quickly if it does occur.
We recognise the effect that bullying can have, that is why on 17 March 2014 we published a factsheet to help schools identify and support pupils which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-tackling-bullying.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2014-03-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken in the last 12 months to reduce the burden of administration for the police.
Damian Green
This Government has acted so that the police focus on fighting crime and not processing paperwork. Our work which has already taken place to reduce bureaucracy could see up to 4.5 million hours of police time saved across all forces every year – the equivalent of over 2,100 officers back on the beat.
In the last 12 months we have established the Police Innovation Fund to support innovative delivery approaches to policing and free up officer time to fight crime. We have extended the use of police-led prosecutions, reducing bureaucracy for officers dealing with high-volume offences. We have also introduced an improved approach to dealing with Missing People so resources are deployed more intelligently.
We are producing digital case files to improve file build and reduce paperwork and we are supporting all forces to develop digital solutions so officers can submit information via mobile devices and not have to return to the station to fill in forms.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2014-03-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to reform anti-social behaviour orders; and if she will make a statement.
Norman Baker
The Government’s reforms are contained in the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and
Policing Act 2014. The Act will introduce two new powers, a civil injunction
and the Criminal Behaviour Order, to replace Anti-Social Behaviour Orders.
Unlike Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, the new powers will not focus solely on
enforcement but can include positive requirements to ensure individuals address
the underlying causes of their behaviour.