Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Thomas-Symonds on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what public awareness campaigns his Department has planned to improve awareness of work-related respiratory illness.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), as the national regulator for health and safety at work, takes a lead role in raising awareness of work related respiratory diseases. HSE has run campaigns targeted at specific at-risk workers and/or their employers, a recent example being the ‘Beware Asbestos’ campaign which ran from October 2014 to March 2015 and focussed on tradespeople such as carpenters, electricians and plumbers. HSE has also supported other organisations such as the British Occupational Hygiene Society to develop its ‘Breathe Freely’ campaign targeted at work in the construction industry.

    HSE has recently published a new strategy for the GB health and safety system called ‘Helping Great Britain work well’. One of the six themes of the strategy is ‘Tackling ill health’ which will include long-term and coordinated action across all sectors, bringing in additional partners such as the NHS and others to support the substantial behaviour change and awareness programmes that will be required.

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Commissioners have been appointed to run local authority children’s services since January 2015.

    Lord Nash

    Commissioners are appointed where Ofsted find persistent or systemic failure by a council to deliver children’s services to an acceptable quality.

    Persistent failure is defined as a council being rated inadequate more than once within a five year period. Systemic failure is defined as a council being rated inadequate across the board on all key Ofsted judgements.

    Commissioners are appointed to direct the improvement of children’s social care services; the Council’s leadership and management of them; and, increasingly, to review whether these services should be removed from council control in order to secure more rapid and sustainable improvement.

    Since January 2015 the Secretary of State has appointed five Children’s Services Commissioners.

  • Gerald Kaufman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gerald Kaufman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he intends to answer the letter to him dated 23 March 2016 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regards to Mr C Costigan.

    Jane Ellison

    My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health responded to the Rt. hon. Member’s letter of 23 March 2016 on 22 April 2016.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-07-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of existing regulations on drones; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government’s primary responsibility is the safety and security of our citizens. That is why we apply one of the highest regulatory safety standards for commercial aviation in the world.

    There are existing regulations in place that require users of drones to maintain direct, unaided visual contact with their vehicle and to not recklessly or negligently cause or permit an aircraft to endanger any person or property. Guidance on tackling the risks of criminal drone use has been provided to constabularies across the UK.

    The Department and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) work with a wide range of industry partners across the aviation sector, (including manufacturers, airports, and airlines), to ensure our understanding of potential hazards to aircraft remains up-to-date and mitigations effective. Further work is underway to better understand the risk posed by flying drones close to commercial planes to ensure that regulations remain fit for purpose.

    Awareness and education on current restrictions are vitally important. The Civil Aviation Authority is undertaking activities to raise awareness of the basic safety requirements, including an ongoing ‘Dronecode’ safety awareness campaign, issuing safety leaflets at the point of sale, publishing an animated video on their website, and running ‘small UAS’ Risk and Hazard workshops with industry as part of the Mid Air Collision Programme.

  • Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps to identify businesses that engage in labour exploitation.

    Margot James

    The Immigration Act 2016 creates a new Director of Labour Market Enforcement. They will be responsible for overseeing and setting priorities for the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, National Minimum Wage enforcement and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority. This will strengthen efforts to identify businesses that engage in labour exploitation.

    To enable more effective enforcement, we are creating:

    • A new intelligence hub so that enforcement is targeted at areas of risk; and
    • A new regime of Labour Market Enforcement undertakings and orders, backed up by a criminal offence and custodial sentence, to allow us to tackle repeat labour market offenders and rogue businesses.

    We have already reformed the Gangmasters Licensing Authority into the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority with the ability to tackle labour exploitation.

  • Tim Farron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tim Farron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many school days have been lost to snow closures in each of the last three years.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department does not collect information on the number of school days lost due to snow closures.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what representations he has made to his American counterpart on Guantanamo Bay in the last five years.

    Dominic Raab

    It has been a long standing policy of successive British Governments to seek the release and return of those UK nationals and former legal residents who were held at Guantanamo Bay and, in doing so, assist the US administration in its efforts to close the detention facility.

    We remain committed to assisting the US in its aim to close Guantanamo Bay by facilitating engagement with countries that have agreed to accept former detainees, and by sharing experience and advice on managing the return process.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Office of the Independent Adjudicator is able to send the complaint outcome to the complainant and member higher education provider within 90 days of the reviewer’s determination that the file is complete.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Office of the Independent Adjudicator’s Annual Report (2014), which contains the latest published figures available, states that it took an average of 207 days to close a complaint from the time the student first submitted a complaint form. Provisional figures indicate that improvements have been made since then and the 2015 Annual Report is likely to show a significant reduction in this figure.

    The European Directive on Alternative Dispute Resolution, which came into force on 9 July 2015, now requires dispute resolution bodies such as the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) to issue complaint outcomes within 90 days of receiving the full complaint file, unless the case is highly complex. The OIA and other alternative dispute resolution bodies are required to report to the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, which is monitoring compliance with the Directive.

  • Lord Inglewood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Inglewood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Inglewood on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Forestry Commission permits forms of shooting on any of its land in circumstances which fall within its definition of free shooting”.”

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Forestry Commission only associates the term free-shooting with the control of grey squirrels for the protection of red squirrel populations and the reduction of damage to timber crops, not any other wildlife management activity.

    There may be occasions where free-shooting takes place by the holders of Game Shooting Leases or by its own wildlife rangers. There may also be free-shooting of grey squirrels carried out where there are retained sporting rights over which the Forestry Commission does not exercise any direct control.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle websites which promote and encourage anorexia; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of making it a criminal offence to publish pro-anorexia material online.

    Karen Bradley

    The Government is committed to continue working with the internet industry in the United Kingdom to keep young people safe on-line and to promote access to positive support for those children and young people who are vulnerable to suggestion from so called pro-anorexia and pro-bulimia websites.

    The UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) brings together industry, law enforcement, academia, charities, parenting groups, and government departments to work in partnership to help to keep children and young people safe online. As part of this work, the UK’s Communications regulator, Ofcom, published good practice guidance in 2015 for providers of social media and interactive services, to encourage businesses to think about “safety by design” and make their platforms safer for children and young people under 18. A wide range of partners contributed to this project, including Twitter, Facebook, Google, Ask.FM, MindCandy and Microsoft.

    UKCCIS has also published a guide for parents and carers whose children are using social media. The guide includes practical tips about the use of safety and privacy features on apps and platforms, as well as conversation prompts to help families begin talking about on-line safety. It also contains pointers to further advice and support. The Government is clear that what is illegal off-line is illegal on-line and is not currently considering making it an offence to publish pro-anorexia material on-line.