Tag: Lord Browne of Belmont

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-01-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the overall performance of the National Crime Agency during its first year of total operation in Northern Ireland.

Lord Bates

Since 20 May 2015, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has been operating with full powers in Northern Ireland. As the NCA recently reported to the Northern Ireland Policing Board on 16 December 2015, from 01 April 2015 up to 30 September 2015, the NCA has recorded 29 disruptions against organised crime groups and high priority threats operating in Northern Ireland. The scope of the NCA’s crime-fighting capability within the jurisdiction has expanded. The NCA has worked in partnership with the Police Service for Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the support that the NCA provides law enforcement partners, particularly the PSNI has been enhanced.

The Crime and Courts Act 2013 (National Crime Agency and Proceeds of Crime) (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 requires the Northern Ireland Policing Board to monitor the exercise of the functions of the National Crime Agency in Northern Ireland. The interim Memorandum of Understanding between the National Crime Agency and the Northern Ireland Policing Board states the Board is required, not later than six months after the end of each financial year, to issue a report relating to the policing of Northern Ireland for the next financial year. The report will include an assessment of the exercise of the functions of the NCA in Northern Ireland.

The NCA is committed to playing its role in tackling serious and organised crime in Northern Ireland. Hence, the NCA will be fully engaged in delivering the commitment outlined in the ‘A Fresh Start: The Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan’ to a concerted and enhanced effort to combat serious and organised and cross border crime.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-02-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) arrests, and (2) convictions, for diesel laundering there were in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) does not break down statistics for oils convictions to separate out those arising from diesel laundering. Total arrests and convictions for oils offences in Northern Ireland for the last complete three years for which figures are available were as follows:

	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Arrests	8	0	13
Convictions	9	9	5

The figures for arrests and convictions in any particular year do not correspond as investigations and prosecutions do not always reach conclusion in the year that they commence.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-01-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what safety and background checks are carried out on people renewing taxi driver licences or applying for new taxi driver licences in the UK.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Government is responsible for setting the regulatory structure within which local licensing authorities in England and Wales license taxi drivers. Regulation of taxi drivers in Scotland and Northern Ireland is devolved to the Scottish Government and Northern Irish Assembly respectively.

Local licensing authorities in England and Wales have a duty to ensure that any person to whom they grant a taxi driver’s licence is a fit and proper person to hold such a licence.

Although the term ‘fit and proper’ is not defined in legislation, the procedure for assessing a driver’s fitness will typically involve a criminal record check, a medical check, a local topographical knowledge test and possibly a special driving test. The inclusion of any or all of these elements and the stringency thereof is a matter for the licensing authority. However, the Department for Transport publishes Best Practice Guidance to assist licensing authorities when setting standards.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-02-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the average cost to the public purse of a parliamentary by-election since 2010.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The average (mean) cost to the public purse of a Parliamentary by-election since 2010 is £228,964. This comprises two main elements: the costs incurred by Returning Officers in running the poll; and the cost of delivering election mailings produced by candidates. The costs of running the three most recent by-elections, for which the Returning Officer’s expenses have not yet been settled, have not been factored into this average figure.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-02-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether a record is kept of persons employed in Northern Ireland whose primary addresses are in the Republic of Ireland, and what steps they have taken to ensure that such data are collected and updated regularly.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

Salaries, wages and other similar remuneration from an employment is normally taxed in the country where it is earned, so the primary address of an employee is not relevant. As such the information is not held in the format requested.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-10-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the ratio of front-line medical staff to administrators in the NHS.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The ratio of medical staff to administrators in the National Health Service is 1:1.05. The number of medical staff includes only doctors and does not include roles such as nurses, midwives and other non-medical clinicians. Administrative staff are managers, senior managers and central functions staff who perform administrative and clerical duties.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2015-11-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what specific steps they are taking to help SMEs to move online.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

As part of our wider support for small businesses, Government has provided funding to Local Enterprise Partnerships to extend the reach of their digital support for small firms. We are also increasing the number of Digital Trade Advisors working around the country to help small businesses expand into new overseas markets.

Government supports the extensive range of private sector-led activity to help small businesses improve their digital skills. We particularly welcome the work that Go ON UK does to encourage and join up this activity.

In addition to this, Government’s Broadband Connection Voucher Scheme allowed businesses to apply for grants of up to £3,000 to help them move to a faster digital market and connect to superfast broadband. The initiative has now allocated all of the £40m available funding since April 2015, with more than 55,000 small businesses across the UK taking up the offer.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-02-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to improve support for children and young people with mental health problems.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Children and young people’s mental health is a priority area for this Government and it is committed to delivering the vision set out in Future in Mind, the report published jointly by the Department and NHS England in March 2015. This is supported by an additional investment of £1.4 billion over the course of this Parliament. A copy of Future in Mind is attached.

Progress has been made on many of the key ambitions set out in Future in Mind. One significant development being that Local Transformation Plans (LTPs) for children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing have been produced covering the full spectrum of mental health issues, from prevention to intervention for emerging or existing mental health problems. LTPs also address the full spectrum of need, for every clinical commissioning group (CCG) in the country. The Local Government Association have produced a spreadsheet giving details of LTPs. A copy of this spreadsheet is attached.

Work is in progress to strengthen the capacity and capability of the workforce and to improve data and information in order to deliver the vision set out in Future in Mind by 2020. In addition, the Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme is continuing to be rolled out across the country.

Progress has also been made on making help and support to children and young people available online through the launch of an online hub for children and young people on the NHS Choices website and further investment made into a campaign to reduce stigma and discrimination as proposed in Future in Mind.

All CCGs, working closely with their partners, have developed and submitted LTPs to transform their local offer for children and young people’s mental health. Plans cover the whole spectrum of services from prevention to intervention for emerging or existing mental health problems and address the full spectrum of need.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-10-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many GPs, broken down by region, are trained mental health specialists.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The information is not collected by the Department.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2015-11-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many UK emergency travel documents were issued to overseas applicants in each month since January 2013.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The table below provides the total number of UK Emergency Travel Documents issued to overseas applicants from January 2013 to October 2015.

MONTH	2013	2014	2015
JANUARY	1,809	2,036	1,687
FEBRUARY	1,735	2,030	1,727
MARCH	2,078	2,638	2,138
APRIL	2,417	3,961	2,237
MAY	2,557	3,947	2,470
JUNE	2,885	5,238	3,208
JULY	3,654	5,351	3,647
AUGUST	3,493	3,970	3,542
SEPTEMBER	2,808	3,346	3,207
OCTOBER	2,262	2,458	2,520
NOVEMBER	1,842	1,766
DECEMBER	2,451	2,429