Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce the time taken for the completion of pre-employment checks by the Disclosure and Barring Service.

    Karen Bradley

    Performance data for the Disclosure and Barring Service for March 2016 indicates that average processing time for DBS applications was 14.8 days. Certificates dispatched to applicants by the DBS in March 2016 involving (a) Cleveland Police and (b) the Metropolitan Police Service took an average of (a) 24 days and (b) 122 days.

    Protecting the public is a priority for this Government and it is important that checks undertaken are thorough; a proportion of the applications received by the DBS must be referred to one or more police forces as part of the enhanced disclosure process. In the vast majority of cases these checks are completed within target. The DBS is working closely with the small number of forces, including the MPS, whose performance does not meet turnaround time targets. The performance of police disclosure units is an operational issue for individual police forces and the MPS has established a Gold Group to oversee the recovery plan which they have in place to reduce the time taken. I have made clear to the MPS that its current delays must be addressed as a matter of priority and I continue to maintain close oversight of the progress being made.

  • The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of visits to hospital Accident and Emergency departments during 2015 resulted in admission to hospital.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    In 2015 there were 22,434,007 attendances at accident and emergency departments in England. For 18.2% of these attendances, the patient was admitted as an emergency.

  • Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to introduce a government-run website for the purpose of advertising teacher vacancies so as to reduce the cost for schools of advertising such vacancies.

    Nick Gibb

    In the March 2016 white paper, ‘Educational Excellence Everywhere’, the Department announced the following intention: “To reduce costs of recruitment for schools in a more challenging labour market, we will create simple web tools to enable schools to advertise vacancies more easily and a new, free national teacher vacancy website so that aspiring and current teachers can find posts quickly and easily – transforming the current system and reducing the burden on schools when budgets are tight”.

    Following the white paper publication, the Department has begun to deliver this in the way that meets the needs of schools and teachers and offers best value for money for the taxpayer.

  • Tom Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Tom Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Elliott on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether BT contributed funding to the phase 1 roll-out of superfast broadband.

    Matt Hancock

    BT made a total capital commitment for Phase 1 of the programme of £348 million.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department retains any formal interest in the site of the Royal Hospital Haslar.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    The Haslar Hospital site in Gosport was sold in November 2009 to Our Enterprise (Haslar) Ltd for £3 million. The Department retains no formal interest in the site.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Chapman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to maintain Maritime Patrol Aircraft capabilities during the period before the first Poseidon P-8 is planned to enter service in 2019-20.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 3 December 2015 to Question number 17839 from the hon. Member for Garston and Halewood (Maria Eagle).

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether universal credit applicants who are housing association tenants are informed upon application of the need for a letter from their landlord in order to receive housing cost assistance; and if he will make a statement.

    Priti Patel

    When someone makes a claim to Universal Credit they are advised of the verification needed to receive the Housing Element of Universal Credit. This is re-iterated when the claimant is contacted to book their initial interview at the Jobcentre.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-02-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how many refugees from Syria and Iraq have been accepted by Saudi Arabia and each of the Gulf States; and whether other migrants from Syria and Iraq have also been absorbed into those two countries.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK actively engages with members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, including Saudi Arabia, on humanitarian and development assistance, and the Gulf States continue to contribute generously to humanitarian support for the Syria crisis. The Gulf States are not signatories to the UN Refugee Convention of 1951, and there is no legal refugee status in these countries. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians are living in Gulf States as migrant workers or on visitors’ visas.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help reduce knife crime in Greater Manchester.

    Mr John Hayes

    Tackling knife crime is a priority for this Government. Knife crime offences recorded by the police remain 14% below the level of offences in 2010.

    However we recognise there is always more to do and we are currently reviewing action to be taken on knife crime. We will be setting out the measures in the Modern Crime Prevention Strategy which will be published shortly.

  • Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33485, in what capacity those polygraph examinations have been conducted; and for what reasons polygraph examinations have been so used to examine sex offender behaviour.

    Andrew Selous

    The legal basis for the polygraph scheme is in the Offender Management Act 2007. Sections 28 to 30 enable a polygraph licence condition to be added to the release licence of certain sex offenders. In January 2014, following a successful pilot, the condition was introduced nationally.

    Polygraph testing has proven to be a valuable additional tool for National Probation Service offender managers in the management of certain sex offenders in the community. It increases the chance that those sexual offenders will make critically significant disclosures relevant to their management, supervision, or risk assessment. Furthermore, it has increased the likelihood of preventative actions being taken by offender managers to protect the public from harm, such as warnings and recall to custody.