Tag: MiDavies

The below Parliamentary question was asked by MiDavies on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what progress she is making on raising the profile of International Women’s Day.

Caroline Dinenage

International Women’s Day has been marked for many years, and is an opportunity to celebrate the progress and achievements of women around the world.

I, and many other ministers, will be attending a series of events, workshops and meetings to celebrate the day. We will also be supporting some of the many events that will be held around the country in schools, workplaces and communities. We are all working together to promote International Women’s Day and each year I am amazed by the creativity and energy that is on display.

I hope that honourable members will also be supporting events to mark International Women’s Day.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the use of air quality management areas by local authorities.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

Air quality has improved significantly in recent decades and we are working at local, national and international levels to continue those improvements. The UK currently meets legal limits for almost all pollutants; however, reducing levels for nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) remains the most challenging.

Local authorities (LAs) have opportunities to improve air quality for the protection of public health and the environment through decisions they make on land use planning, permitting, roads and air quality management areas (AQMAs).

Across the UK, 259 LAs declared 715 AQMAs since 1999. Most AQMAs in the UK are in urban areas and have been established to address the contribution to air pollution from traffic emissions of NO₂ or particulate matter (PM₁₀). Details of the current AQMAs declared by LAs, broken down by region and pollutant, are set out in the table below.

Region	Total LAs	Number of LAs with AQMAs	For NO2	For PM10	For SO2
England (outside London)	294	193	497	38	6
London	33	33	33	29	0
Scotland	32	14	25	21	1
Wales	22	10	37	1	0
N. Ireland	11	9	20	7	0
TOTAL	393	259	612	96	7

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking in schools to help young people spot the signs of mental illness.

Mr Sam Gyimah

Good mental health and wellbeing is a key priority for this Department. Young people have told us they would like to have opportunities to support each other and help to do this effectively.

We recently launched a suite of peer support activities, which include a call for evidence for stakeholders and children and young people and funding of up to £1.5m including a new digital innovation fund, to develop reliable, engaging and trusted advice online to help them understand both their own, and their friends mental health.

We will also be working with a core steering group, and wider advisory group of sector experts, including headteachers, youth leaders and charities, to look at what works in peer support, and how young people can strengthen their own networks.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many councils do not currently have a five-year land supply.

Gavin Barwell

We do not hold information centrally on how many local planning authorities do not have a five-year land supply for housing. A local planning authority’s five-year land supply position changes frequently and is subject to market conditions. The National Planning Policy Framework requires local planning authorities to keep their land supply under regular review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by MiDavies on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of guidance issued to councils on budget transparency.

Mr Marcus Jones

DCLG published a plain English guide to open and accountable local government in August 2014. Ultimately it is for local decision makers to decide what information should be recorded and publicly available on the basis of the national rules and for local electors to hold them to account for this.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the Italian model for screening heart conditions in young people who participate in organised sport.

David Mowat

Last year the United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UK NSC) reviewed published evidence and literature on the risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) relating to a variety of conditions including in young people who participated in organised sport and recommended that screening should not be offered.

Cardiac screening is mandatory in Italy where young people undertake sport. This has resulted in an 89% decrease in mortality of those tested based data published in 2005 from one region in Italy.

There are a number of questions relating to the effectiveness of the Italian programme that are not available in published literature. We are awaiting a response from the Italian Health Minister on behalf of the UK NSC requesting access to the data for the whole of Italy so that the UK NSC could see to what extent the data is representative of Italy as a country overall. The UK NSC will be reviewing the evidence for SCD again in 2018/19 and welcomes any data from the Italian government.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by MiDavies on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how his Department defines a vulnerable and intimidated witness; and what processes are in place to support such witnesses when giving evidence.

Mike Penning

Vulnerable witnesses are defined under section 16 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 as all child witnesses (under 18 years), or any witness whose quality of evidence is likely to be diminished because they are suffering from a mental disorder (as defined by the Mental Health Act 1983), have a significant impairment of intelligence and social functioning, or a physical disability or disorder.

Under section 17 of the 1999 Act, a witness is considered ‘intimidated’ if they are giving evidence in a case involving a sexual, knife or gun, human trafficking or modern slavery offence, or if the court is satisfied that the quality of evidence given by the witness is likely to be diminished by reason of fear or distress on the part of the witness in connection with testifying in the proceedings.

Vulnerable and intimidated witnesses are eligible for special measures to support them to give their evidence. Measures include the use of intermediaries to help communication, allowing witnesses to give evidence by way of pre-recorded video and /or live video links from outside the courtroom, screening the witness from the accused, removing people from the public gallery whilst the witness gives evidence and the removal of gowns and wigs.

The full list of special measures available can be found in sections 23 to 30 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1999/23/part/II/chapter/I/crossheading/special-measures

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans she has to ensure appropriate arrangements are made available to safeguard vulnerable women who participate in criminal justice proceedings.

Dr Phillip Lee

I am committed to making the process of going to court simpler, easier, and more sympathetic to victims. My department’s court reform programme will make sure victims and witnesses, both male and female, continue to be treated with respect throughout the process. For example, the digitisation of the courts services is having a positive impact on victims by providing the ability to give video evidence rather than facing the trauma of attending court.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by MiDavies on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will ensure the adequacy of provision of screens for use as a special protection measure for vulnerable and intimidated witnesses.

Mike Penning

There are many provisions already in place to help victims and witnesses give evidence in court.

Children are automatically eligible to receive special measures – such as giving evidence from behind a screen or pre-recording their evidence or giving it via video link – and these are available to other vulnerable victims and witnesses at a court’s discretion.

We continue to work with criminal justice partners (particularly the police and the CPS) to further increase awareness and ensure the consistent use of special measures for vulnerable and intimidated victims and witnesses.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by MiDavies on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of land in England is covered by an adopted local plan.

Gavin Barwell

244 of 338 local planning authorities (72%) have an adopted Local Plan, compared to 58 (17%) in May 2010. Approximately 69% of England’s land area is covered by adopted Local Plans. In order to ensure areas get plans in place the Government has tabled an amendment to the Neighbourhood Planning Bill to place a statutory duty on every local planning authority to have a development plan document and to give the Secretary of State power to direct the relevant county council to produce a plan if a local planning authority in a two-tier area has failed to do so.