Tag: Lord Birt

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2015-11-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bridges of Headley on 23 November (HL3395), how many breaches of government websites there were in 2014 where no national security considerations apply.

Lord Bridges of Headley

For security reasons we do not comment on specific details of cyber security attacks. GCHQ typically responds to an average of 70 sophisticated attacks on government networks per quarter.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2016-05-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many midwives in the UK will complete their training in 2016.

Lord Prior of Brampton

It is not possible to predict with certainty how many midwives currently studying in the United Kingdom will successfully complete their training in 2016. All students studying midwifery need to successfully complete their course and pass their exams in order to complete their training and graduate from their courses.

Health Education England forecast that the total number of midwives due to complete their training in 2016 is 1,902.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2016-10-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to respond to the Care Quality Commission’s finding that the adult social care sector is approaching tipping point”.”

Lord Prior of Brampton

We welcome The state of health and adult social care in England in 2015/16 report from the Care Quality Commission. The independent regulator was set up to give a single authoritative account to the Department on issues such as this.

The report shows that 70 per cent of adult social care services are rated good or better and that improvement is taking place all over the country.

Social care is critical in enabling older people to retain their independence and dignity. This is why, against the context of tough public sector finances, the Government has taken steps to protect social care services. The Government is giving local authorities access to up to £3.5 billion of new support for social care by 2019/20. This will increase social care spending in real terms by the end of the Parliament.

Through the Care Act, we have a reformed care system that means local authorities are in a better position to meet the care needs of people who need them most. Councils now have greater flexibility to arrange care, as well as give greater choice and control to individuals.

The Department will continue to work with providers and their trade bodies, who have come together as a taskforce to understand financial challenges in the sector. The Department is also working to support local authorities meet their Care Act duties to improve commissioning and encourage an effective care market.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2015-11-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many police officers there are in the UK per million of population; and what the comparable figures are for (1) France, (2) Germany, and (3) Italy.

Lord Bates

The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers per 100,000 population in England and Wales as part of the annual ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical release. The latest published figures are as at 31 March 2015. These figures can be found in table 4 of the data tables published alongside the release:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/444536/police-workforce-tabs-mar15.ods

As at 31 March 2015, there were 223 FTE police officers per 100,000 population in England and Wales. This excludes the British Transport Police and Central Service Secondments.

The Home Office does not hold comparable data for Scotland, Northern Ireland, France, Germany or Italy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2016-06-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 11 May (HL8238) and the response deposited by Peterborough and Stamford Hospital NHS Trust on 18 May which showed that Peterborough’s City Hospital maternity unit has been closed to women about to give birth 41 times in the past three years, whether they will review the adequacy of the arrangements within the NHS for forecasting and meeting national and local demand for maternity services.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Maternity Transformation Programme (MTP) has been established to drive the implementation of the recommendations of Better Births, the report of the National Maternity Review. A copy of the report is attached. The MTP is overseen by the Maternity Transformation Board which met for the first time on 8 June and is chaired by Sarah-Jane Marsh, Chief Executive of Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Birmingham Women’s Hospital.

The safety of mother and baby is paramount. We want to ensure that women have as many choices as possible, while minimising any known risk to either themselves or their baby.

Maternity services are unable to plan the exact time and place of birth and there are occasions when a unit cannot safely accept more women into their care. In such cases, the only safe alternative is to close the unit temporarily. It is important of course, that where a unit closes, there are systems and guidelines in place to ensure pregnant women have access to the next closest maternity unit and the type of care they have chosen, including midwifery-led care.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2016-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Price on 18 October (HL2097), whether they have assessed that the Secretary of State’s curriculum vitae (CV) demonstrates experience of working inside British business; and if so, which part of that CV.

Lord Price

My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade’s CV is available on gov.uk.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2015-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest estimate of (1) the number of instances of internet frauds committed annually in the United Kingdom, and (2) the level of financial loss that is caused annually in the United Kingdom by internet fraud.

Lord Bates

The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the number of internet frauds committed annually in the United Kingdom. The Office for National Statistics recently published a provisional estimate of 5.1 million fraud offences a year in England and Wales, based on trial data from a survey of 2,000 people. This did not include details of how many frauds were internet related.

The ONS also published the number of frauds referred to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) in the year to June 2015 – 599,689. It is not possible to establish exactly how many of these were internet related.

The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the level of financial loss caused annually in the UK by internet fraud. The Home Office ‘Costs of cyber crime’ working group seeks to agree on the best available data for formulating any estimates and develop an agreed model for assessing the social and economic costs of cyber crime. Working group members are drawn from a field of multi-disciplinary academics, industry representatives and other experts involved in cyber crime and cyber security

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2014-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the ratio of the aggregated value of sovereign, corporate and personal debt to gross domestic product is higher in the United Kingdom than in other leading economies.

Lord Deighton

The aggregate value of general government, non-financial corporations and household sector debt (as a proportion of GDP) for all G7 countries are shown below:

Country	Debt as a proportion of GDP in 2012
Canada	347%
France	335%
Germany	248%
Italy	329%
Japan	476%
UK	309%
US	320%

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2015-10-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will consider introducing identity cards for all United Kingdom residents.

Lord Bates

The Government has no plans to introduce an identity card system for British Citizens. The Biometric Residence Permit is issued to non-EEA nationals staying in the UK for more than six months. These provide evidence of the holders’ immigration status in the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2014-05-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to reduce the ratio of national debt to gross domestic product to below 40 per cent; and, if so, in which year.

Lord Deighton

As set out in Budget 2014, given the costs and risks of high levels of debt, once the supplementary debt target has been met, any future government will need to ensure that debt continues to fall as a percentage of GDP. Even in the absence of future shocks sustained action will be needed to bring down debt.