The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times the National Tactical Response Group has been called out to (a) privately run prisons, (b) publicly run prisons and (c) the youth estate since May 2010; on what date each such callout occurred; and what the nature of the incident was on each of those occasions.
Andrew Selous
I refer the honourable member to my answer given to PQ 22415 on 1st March 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the National Institute for Health Research has invested in research into (a) lung cancer, (b) adult asthma, (c) pneumonia, (d) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, (e) idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, (f) mesothelioma and (g) childhood wheezing and childhood respiratory infection in each of the last five years.
George Freeman
The information requested is not available. Spend on research funded directly by the Department’s National Institute for Health Research is categorised by Health Research Classification System (HRCS) health categories including ‘cancer’ and ‘respiratory’. There are no HRCS health sub-categories, such as for specific cancer sites or respiratory diseases.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-02-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made in identifying ash trees with resistance to ash dieback disease; and if she will make a statement.
Rory Stewart
Investing in research is one of our key commitments in response to ash dieback. We have invested over £21 million into tree health research and the UK is leading the way on the work to identify resistant strains. Defra funded research has already identified three genetic markers for tolerance. This is a significant first step in developing trees with tolerance to the disease and testament to the innovation and dedication of our world leading scientists.
The Government-funded screening trial of 155,000 ash saplings is also unprecedented in its scope.
Collectively, our research is investigating the genetic basis for natural tolerance and screening our native ash trees for genetic markers; work is also underway to further our understanding of the pathogen, how it spreads and local management approaches to protect individual, high value trees.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Gale on 2016-03-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of potential benefits of re-introduction of tick treatment as a requirement for the importation of dogs from mainland Europe into the UK under the Pet Passport scheme.
George Eustice
The requirement for tick treatment was dropped as part of the harmonisation of the EU pet travel rules for movement and import of non-commercial dogs following a qualitative risk assessment and economic impact assessment for the introduction of Mediterranean Spotted fever (MSF) and the Brown Dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2016 to Question 32551, how many reports from the dedicated reporting channel were deemed to have enough information to warrant opening an investigation in each year since 2012.
Jeremy Wright
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is an intelligence led agency and follows the National Intelligence Model (NIM) when sharing information with law enforcement partners.
Every report made to the SFO is assessed by a member of its Intelligence Unit in conjunction with other information available. The SFO passes information on to others when it has appropriate intelligence to share. This could be information from a single report, or a collated intelligence package.
The vast majority of reports made to the SFO are not matters which it can investigate, and are more appropriate for the police or other agencies. Action Fraud is the UK’s national fraud reporting centre. Individuals are asked to report matters directly to them so that Action Fraud can make best use of their information. They will also be given a crime report number for future reference.
The table below shows the minimum number of intelligence referrals made by the SFO to other agencies which are directly referable to reports made through the dedicated reporting channel(1) since these statistics have been recorded. It also shows the number of SFO investigations opened since 2012 where the initial report to the SFO came through its online reporting system.
|
Year |
Number of referrals |
SFO investigations that originated through online reporting system |
|
2012 |
Not recorded |
1 |
|
2013 |
Not recorded |
2 |
|
2014 |
144 |
3 |
|
2015 |
154 |
3 |
1. The SFO does not record statistical information about all types of referrals that it makes to other agencies that are directly referable to reports made through the dedicated reporting channel, so the total number may be higher.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 11 May 2016 to Question 36152, which religious festivals prisoners were released on temporary licence to attend in each year since 2011.
Andrew Selous
My officials are currently working to provide the information requested. I will write to you shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-07-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what facilities are available for (a) lactating mothers and (b) the changing of babies in her Department.
Nick Gibb
The Department for Education’s main office in London has a facility for both nursing mothers and baby changing. This room is clearly signed as a baby changing area and contains a baby changing fold down work top, wipes, and chairs for nursing mothers to sit comfortably.
Other Department sites in Coventry, Darlington, Manchester and Sheffield also have a room available for use by nursing mothers and baby changing which contain seating, worktop areas and wipes.
The Nottingham site is a conference centre, with overnight accommodation facilities. This site is able to prepare a suitable hotel room for nursing mothers and baby changing when required.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-10-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the impact of highway works and their management by utilities and local authorities on traffic congestion and delays to road traffic, they have any plans to review the operation of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 or the Traffic Management Act 2004.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Government wants to deliver better journeys for drivers. Roadworks are essential, but that doesn’t mean they should be in place any longer than is absolutely necessary. We continue to keep the implementation and operation of the relevant legislation and statutory guidance under constant review, and are taking opportunities to streamline, simplify and de-regulate what has become a complex legislative framework where possible.
In addition, we are modernising and updating secondary legislation and statutory guidance where this is necessary and where it will lead to improvements in the way that road and street works are managed. Recent examples include consultations earlier this year on updated statutory guidance relating to inspections and modernised regulations relating to the qualifications regime. In 2015, we updated regulations and guidance on permit schemes that are now in place in over 55% of local authority areas and which are resulting in more effective management of street works and reductions in the duration of works.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2015-11-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the potential benefits to developing countries of the implementation of public registers of beneficial ownership by UK Overseas Territories with financial centres.
Mr Desmond Swayne
The UK continues to lead the way on beneficial ownership disclosure and to encourage others to do the same. We are having discussions at both Ministerial and official level with the Overseas Territories to emphasise the importance of this agenda. Any system should meet the following criteria: UK and domestic law enforcement and tax authorities must be able to access company beneficial ownership information without restriction, subject to relevant safeguards; these competent authorities should be able to quickly identify all companies that a particular beneficial owner has a stake in, without needing to submit multiple and repeated requests; and companies or their beneficial owners must not be alerted to the fact that an investigation is under way.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-01-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of personal independence payment special rules claimants received disability living allowance from 1 April 2013 to 31 October 2015.
Justin Tomlinson
The number of Disability Living Allowance claimants who were reassessed for Personal Independence Payment under the special rules for people who are terminally ill between April 2013 and October 2015 are published and can be found at
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore is available here: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html.
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