The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the value of the (a) production and (b) subsequent support elements in the (i) UK and (ii) US of the Poseidon P-8A contract is; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Philip Dunne
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 13 April 2016 to Question 33059 to the hon. Member for Barrow and Furness (John Woodcock).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-05-10.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of Civil Service Fast Stream employees based in London complete a placement outside London.
Matthew Hancock
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2016-06-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many referrals of child maintenance debtors to credit reference agencies have been made since the power to do so was introduced in March 2015.
Justin Tomlinson
The Department is committed to the policy of referring those defaulting on their child maintenance payments to credit reference agencies.
We are currently working with the credit reference agencies to develop a secure process to ensure safe and accurate data sharing.
As at 17 June 2016 there are a total of 686 cases prepared and ready to share with credit reference agencies; we will disclose this information with credit reference agencies once an appropriate process is in place.
In interim we continue to issue warning letters to prompt action by non-resident parents to settle their arrears, and will where appropriate consider other enforcement actions on these cases.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-09-12.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of making care home expenses tax deductible.
Jane Ellison
Tax relief for the cost of care in residential homes would disproportionately benefit those on higher incomes, whilst being of little or no benefit to those on more modest incomes. Furthermore, about half of pensioners do not pay tax and would be excluded from the scope of such a relief.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps (a) his Department and (b) NHS England is taking to ensure that autism diagnosis waiting times for (i) children and (ii) adults in Northumberland meet NICE guidance.
Alistair Burt
The Department issued new statutory guidance in March this year for local authorities and National Health Service organisations to support the continued implementation of the 2010 Autism Strategy, as refreshed by its 2014 Think Autism update. This sets out what people seeking an autism diagnosis can expect from Local Authorities and NHS bodies.
The Department has also discussed with NHS England the difficulties that people on the autistic spectrum can have in getting an appropriate diagnosis in a timely manner. With support from the Department, NHS England and the Association of Directors of Social Services will undertake a series of visits to clinical commissioning groups to discuss good practice in meeting the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard 51 Autism, and those that do not, with the aim of supporting more consistent provision. These NICE guidelines already recommend that there should be a maximum of three months between a referral and a first appointment for a diagnostic assessment for autism. We expect the NHS to be working towards meeting the recommendations.
We are aware that Northumberland continues to make significant progress in improving access to services. A child will wait no longer between initial referral and treatment than 12 weeks and the majority are seen within nine weeks. Northumberland has also invested in adult autism diagnosis services and has an agreed programme with Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust designed to deliver the NICE guidelines for adults by September 2016. Urgent cases are seen earlier and those on waiting lists, whose needs escalate, are given access to services as required. There is also a newly developed emotional health and wellbeing strategy for children and young people in Northumberland which will aim seek to identify children with autism at an earlier age and ultimately provide earlier treatment.
NHS England is promoting the engagement services with children and young people. All children, young people and adults, including those with autism or a learning disability, who are receiving care from the NHS, should have the opportunity to provide feedback via the Friends and Family Test. There should also be consideration given to capturing the views of parents and carers. In addition, the autism statutory guidance mentioned above states that NHS bodies and NHS foundation trusts should look at people’s experiences of the autism diagnostic process locally and assure themselves that this is acceptable.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what research his Department has conducted on the effect on children of the imprisonment of their mothers.
Caroline Dinenage
The Ministry of Justice has recently published statistics on child dependents of female offenders (located at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/female-offenders-and-child-dependents) but has not specifically conducted research on the impact of imprisonment on children.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2016-01-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures exist, or are planned, to ensure that audit and accountancy firms accused of devising unlawful tax-avoidance schemes are investigated and censured, where appropriate.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
In the March 2015 Budget, the Government challenged the accountancy and tax professional bodies to improve how they deal with their members who promote tax-avoidance schemes.
The professional bodies have responded positively to this challenge and are working with HM Revenue and Customs to agree a new standard with which their members will need to adhere to.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Glyn Davies on 2016-02-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what criteria her Department uses to designate technologies as less established for the purpose of Contract for Difference auctions.
Andrea Leadsom
In designating technologies in the less established group, we considered which technologies could have a significant long-term role in the UK energy mix, and where there remains significant potential for future cost reduction.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2016-03-01.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how, and to what extent, they are working with other donor governments to address the current food shortages in Ethiopia.
Earl of Courtown
Britain is working closely with the Government of Ethiopia and the international community to ensure adequate funding for drought response activities. Britain’s overall funding for the drought to date is £113 million, making the UK the second largest donor.
In December, the Government of Ethiopia and the United Nations launched an appeal for 2016 to fundraise $1.4 billion (~£923 million) to respond to the drought in Ethiopia. By the beginning of March, 53% of the required funds have been raised.
DFID is an active participant in donor coordination fora in Ethiopia, including Ethiopia’s Development Assistance Group, and works closely with other donor governments to monitor the response and to lobby for support from the Government of Ethiopia and UN appeal.
DFID Ministers have discussed the drought at the highest levels with the Government of Ethiopia. We have been working closely with the Ethiopian Government to support their leadership of the humanitarian response. To date, the Government of Ethiopia has allocated $381 million (~£269 million) to address the crisis.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to (a) identify and (b) take action against unregistered schools.
Edward Timpson
We have been working closely with Ofsted and local authorities to identify unregistered schools, and the Chief Inspector has powers to make unannounced visits to any institution that he suspects is operating unlawfully as an independent school. We have also given Ofsted additional resources so that they can go out to locate and investigate unregistered schools and draw up a programme for inspecting them to collect evidence to support prosecutions.
Institutions that are suspected of operating as unregistered schools receive a very clear warning from the Department that it is a criminal offence and that they must cease operating immediately.
To raise awareness, we have published two statements setting how we regulate and intervene in independent schools and details of when we will take legal action against unregistered schools.
The statements were announced by the Secretary of State on 19 January 2016, as part of a package to protect children from extremism. The announcement, the press release and the statements are available on GOV.UK at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/nicky-morgan-speaks-about-tackling-extremism;
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-drive-to-protect-children-from-spell-of-twisted-ideologies; and
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulating-independent-schools
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