The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-01-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, on what date the second wave Area Reviews for further education college providers he plans to commence.
Nick Boles
As we have set out in the published information relating to the second wave of area reviews, the first steering group meeting, which will be in the Marches and Worcestershire area, is scheduled to take place on Monday 18 January 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-28.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 27 January (HL5040), what assessment they and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) have made of the case for all women and their children receiving equal protections; and what recommendations the HFEA has made to the Department of Health on that issue.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The Human Fertilisation and Embyrology Authority has not made an assessment of the case for women who obtain sperm in a private arrangement (and any resulting children) to have the same protections as women who obtain sperm through a licensed clinic, for the reasons set out in the response to the Noble Lord on 27 January (HL5040).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the level of installed capacity was for (a) wind and (b) solar energy in Yorkshire and the Humber in each of the last 10 years.
Andrea Leadsom
The level of installed capacity for wind and solar PV in Yorkshire and the Humber, for the ten years to 2014, is given in the attached table. Data for 2015 will be available on 29 September, 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure mental health service user groups are consulted in advance about arrangements for mental health conferences organised by his Department or NHS England.
Alistair Burt
The second mental health Crisis Care Concordat national summit was held on 24 November 2015, hosted jointly by the Department and Mind.
The event concentrated on progress with improving crisis care since the launch of the Concordat in February 2014. The Summit was full, with 250 delegates and speakers. All delegates were Concordat activists – either involved in their local Crisis Concordat groups or representatives from national signatory and supporter organisations. People with lived experience and carers attended, as well as members of the National Survivor User Network. Some attendees will have been present representing their organisations but also will have had lived experience, and it is therefore not possible to calculate the number of those attendees who were mental health service users.
All Departmental conferences involve stakeholders and service users as part of the preparation process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rosser on 2016-04-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the Bus Service Operators Grant in tackling isolation and loneliness in rural communities.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Under the Bus Subsidy Operators Grant (BSOG) system, the Government pays out some £250m a year to bus operators and local authorities to support bus services outside London. BSOG plays an especially important role in protecting services in rural areas as it supports an extra 25 million bus journeys a year in those areas, by helping extend the bus network and allowing operators to charge lower fares. Department for Transport analysis indicates that BSOG has helped extend the rural bus network by 13%, equivalent to an additional 38 million kilometres, providing residents with vital links to local services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of staff in her Department were (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff in each financial year from 2010-11 to 2015-16.
Nick Gibb
The information requested is published by the Department on a monthly basis and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-monthly-workforce-management-information which also includes non-Departmental Public Bodies and non-Ministerial Departments across the time period in question.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Dowd on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department plans that the recent proposals to allow Probate Registries to collect fees will (a) produce a surplus for the Department’s income and expenditure and (b) subsidise HM Courts and Tribunals Service.
Dr Phillip Lee
We are carefully considering the responses to our earlier consultation on this issue, and will set out further plans in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering on 2016-10-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their forecast timetable for negotiations on the UK’s future relationship with the EU as regards food and farming.
Lord Bridges of Headley
The Prime Minister has made clear we will trigger Article 50 by the end of March 2017. It is in everyone’s interests that we take time to establish a UK approach and clear objectives for negotiations. We have been clear that we will not provide a running commentary that might undermine our negotiating position.
We continue to receive views across the range of the Department’s responsibilities following the outcome of the EU Referendum. Defra will be working on our future policies in this area, liaising closely with other key departments on future support for agriculture, animal welfare, and the food and drink industry. The Government will work with industry and the public to develop these new arrangements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2015-10-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which three EU countries have the largest number of foreign nationals in UK prisons; and how many such prisoners there are from each of those countries.
Andrew Selous
The three EU countries with the largest number of foreign national offenders in prison are; Poland 951, Ireland 783 and Romania 629 as of 30th September 2015 last published figures.
The EU Prisoner Transfer Agreement is beginning to take effect. Poland has a derogation until the end of December 2016 from the agreement to allow time to improve their prisons.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, by when he plans for his Department to achieve its target strength for the Royal Air Force Reserve.
Mr Julian Brazier
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Statement made by my right hon. Friend the previous Secretary of State for Defence (Philip Hammond) on 19 December 2013, (Official Report, column 124WS) on Future Reserves 2020, and the accompanying document that was placed in the Library of the House which sets out the planned growth of the trained strength of the Reserve Forces, together with the enlistment targets for the next five years.
I also refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 October 2015 to the hon. Member for Strangford (Mr Shannon) to Question 11812 which explained the improvements we have made to ensure we reach our target strength of 35,000 trained volunteer Reservists by 31 March 2019.